Harith's 3rd Jab on the 1st of March

On the first of March.... Harith turned 28 days... it was a Tuesday and we headed to the recently opened Klinik Kesihatan since it was really near....less than 10 minutes away by car....

first they asked me to strip harith down...all his clothes..even his diapers...and Harith was weighed... we've been weighing him at home but obviously mesti lah lari kan dgn reading kat klinik...next the nurse gave him back to me to dress..and they proceeded to measure his head circumference and  his length...

all about harith's growth:
weight : 2.62kg -> 3.3kg
head circumference : 31cm -> 33cm
length: 46cm -> 52cm

next they took blood from his heel to check his jaundice count... again...(he cried so loud that later when i went to get the test results some one approached my mum and asked yang ni ke yang nangis tadi)...kuat sungguh..

 and next they checked my weight and took my blood to check my hb level and took my bp... my weight has gone back down to pre-pregnancy weight ( - 6.3kg) but not down to my pre-marriage weight (was that too much to hope for? i guess so) so i'm still overweight (urghhhh)... and the nurse didn't say anything about my bp and hb test..so i guess normal je kot

after all the results came we went to consult the medical officer....
harith is yellow zone baby...meaning he wasn't gaining enough weight..his target weight was 3.6kg and he was 300g... well at least bukan zon merah kan... diorg suruh feed you more lah Harith......more more more... at that time you were taking about 90ml 8 times a day...tak termasuk your BF sessions......so nampaknya kena up lagi lah kan... now at day 45 you are taking 120ml still 8 times a day excluding BF sessions..

and his TSB (reading for jaundice) was 5.6 mg/dl...Alhamdulillah.... dah tak jaundice dah anak mama... for ur information kalau full term babies < 12.0mg/dl dah normal but for Harith yang preterm it has to be < 7.0 mg/dl....

and then we got the green light for you to get your second dose of Hepatitis B immunzation...next up is your DPT scheduled on the 5th of April...

Harith was sleeping when the nurse jabbed him....meraung lah kan... tp keluar je dr bilik tu...dia terus enyap and when i looked at him again dia dah tdo balik...haha....

Harith on day 30... @ ±3.3kg... 2 days after the 2nd Hep B jab

a little trick my mum taught me....

you know how costly babies are...well here's a little trick my mum taught me...just to save a few pennies...

some people might regard the use of cotton balls unnecessary...well i deem them necessary especially when giving a bath to little Harith...i use them to wipe his little face...paying attention to the eyes and the areas around his ears and so on....

well a packet of pre-balled ( tak tau nak describe cam ne...tapi cotton yang dlm bebola tu) as far as i know costs about RM 6.90...not much huh...

 well...this is what we do.... we buy the cotton wool which also costs RM 6.90...and ball them up ourselves... you see that container behind the roll of cotton wool...well i got 4 containers worth of cotton balls from that one roll... i'm guessing it's 4 times more than what you get for 1 packet of pre-balled cotton..

Sebulan bersama Harith....

Harith sayang ....you are 1 month old and so far this is what i know....

• Harith sayang tak suka mandi, tukar pampers dan seangkatan dengannya.... tak suka sejuk kot anak mommy ni....kdg2 mommy tak bukak ur diapers lg pun u dah nangis...mcm tau2 je org nk buat pe.... but once everything is done... you get this contented look on ur face...mcm 'haaaaaaa....dh fresh blk' punya look...
• mommy still tak reti ur signals....aik u ada bg signal ke?... mommy asyik kena  'pancut' je... don't worry ... mommy doesn't mind... i don't know how the washing machine feels though...
• kalau bab lapar...tak reti nak sabar... haaaa.... when ur hungry u will wail like sombody cubit u or something....
• which reminds me...the other day ur grandmother laughingly told me ' haaa...bg lg nama kuat (Harith=kuat)..kuat sungguh... nangis mintak susu kuat, minum kuat, tendang Wan bila lapar kuat...kuat sungguh' and i jokingly said...'haa tu lah...sok sok dpt adik kena bg nama 'sabar' lak...kasi sabar sikit tunggu susu..haha'
• Harith ni special skit...coz u make all these weird sounds that both ur Wan and me agree...we've never heard any other baby make..... sometimes bunyi cm kuda...sometimes bunyi cm kambing...saaa naaa.... tp kitorg dh phm dah...tu signal something is wrong kan....like when ur hot, or when ur diaper ada isi, or even when ur punggung dah jatuh from the bantal which is ur fav tempat tdo....
• bila Harith marah Harith jd merah...cm beet root... and it always starts kat kening...pastu satu muka merah...pastu sampai tangan kaki seme pun merah...

when Harith gets mad...dia jadi beetroot red
• Harith bnyk gila dpt nickname mainly from ur aunties...

                 - heating pad....because ur warm like a heating pad...soooo sedap pegang
                 - loaf of bread....beacause that's how u looked when u kena bedung
                 - clockwise...because when u sleep ... you always turn clockwise from ur original position
                 - awang chik.... awang because my mom says that's what they used to call little boys..kalau girls
                                         diorg panggil che mek... and chik...cause ur kecik...
                 - tomato man... cause you get red when ur mad
                 - beetroot...cause Wan says dia jd merah purple cm beetroot not merah merah like a tomato..
                 - pipi telur puyuh...coz his cheeks have grown to the size and shape of  quail eggs...one on each
                                             side..
                 - popeye....coz ever since we brought him back susah sgt nak tgk dia bukak mata..and when he
                                   finally did..it was with a tenteative peek from the right eye...and then it was the bukak
                                   mata kanan mata kiri tutup look...which my kakak says looks like popeye...so there
                                   you go...
                 - hiro kun....sbb bday dia sama ngan Ari's current professor... Prof Toda Hiroyuki...we even
                                    contemplated naming him Hiroyuki but decided against that...sbb panjaaang sangat
                                    nanti namanya....haha

• Harith bila tdo sgt lasak..and everyone says that comes from me...on day 10 you  started moving in your sleep...you moved 45 degrees clockwise from your original position...

45 degrees clockwise from origina position
• When i put you on your tummy...you will try your best to turn back...or try nak mengiring.. tak suka meniarap eh...tak boleh lah sayang...kena buat tummy time bagi your leher kuat sikit...
• Kalau kena dukung tak mau org duduk...nak kena diri...and believe me he knows when you're sitting down..sebab dia bising when you sit down...haha...pandai la momma's boy ni..

It's been an interesting 1 month... and somehow i love watching you and watching everyone fawn over you... It's interesting to see how your presence changes the people around you... My father your atuk...yang slalu serious tu sekrg cakap ada bunyi2..and it's so funny to watch... when the grandparents get home from work...sure berebut nak pegang cucu... berebut in 'subtle' way mind you... i just pass the baby to my dad and my mum wouls swoop in and take the baby from him.... kesian tak Atuk Harith..haha...

But sometimes rasa sedih...because there are all these things that i said i would try to avoid but in the end i end up doing.... i wanted to fully BF you..but now you get a mixture of both EBM and FM... i wanted you to get a schedule and fall asleep on ur own...that's not happening anytime soon...i didn't want to let you use a pacifier...but ur grandma has been pushing me to get you one and i ran out of alasan to give ur grandma..she just came home yesterday with a puting....aaaaa...

Harith when he tdo baik baik...hihi

Mommy can't wait until your abah gets back and see him see you for the first time... shotaimen tu...slalu dgr suara je kan Harith...tak pun tgk muka kat skype...mana best kan...tak pe saaaat je lagi... abah balik 25hb ni...yeay yeay...

44 hari berpantang.....

hmmm... kejap je dah 44 hari berlalu sejak kelahiran 'awang chik' sorang tu.... nak dikatakan berpantang tak de lah sgt kot... my mum jaga the way her mother did for her...and after talking to my cousins it seems that dlm my mum's adik beradik yg jaga betul pantang sorang je kot... my Aunty Kamar... itu pun because dia pantang ikut her mother in law...

so how did i 'berpantang' ? basically i just stayed away from sayur2 yang 'berangin' or 'sejuk'... like timun, petola, kangkung...ada org cakap sayur berjalar seme  tak boleh... yang pasal ayam, daging seme tu... saya bantai je seme... Mak Cik Tun, my tukang urut cakap, org tak bg makan ayam tu sbb setgh org gatal...tp kalau awak tak gatak mkn je la'...and so i did.... ikan haruan? sekali pun tak makan...hahaha...maklumlah saya sgt memilih bab ikan2 ni...so in an effort to get me to eat fish...my mum proceeded to cook ikan tenggiri, ikan aji-aji, ikan bawal....nak senang ikan2 yg isinya putih la ye....白身魚....

my mum has this　theory that if you pamper yourself too much...it will take that much longer to get well... it's all up to that person... cuak jugak lah...coz i didn't really ask her dia amik cuti brapa lama... turns out my mum just took 1 day leave because harith was born a day before the chinese new year holidays would start.... so since my mum had already hinted on it.... the day i got back from hospital i stupidly tackled the baby's laundry on my home... that was only a day after harith's birth....haa..amik ko...sakit pingang after that...so my mum took over the baby's laundry and all forms of cooking...

i did everything that had to do with harith...change his diapers even gave him his baths since day 2... that first bath at home was quite a laugh...haha... i got half of the bedroom wet when i accidentally let go of the shower head when i was filling harith's tub... dah lah my mum wasn't home...klakar2...hihi.... changing diapers was a no brainer..thanks to ample practice with alauddin dulu...hihi

what about jamu? well yang ni tak try lagi...sebab harith kena jaundice... your not allowed to eat jamu, or large ammounts of spices (termasuk lada hitam - which most people tgh pantang eat a lot of) if you breastfeed...beacause it might affect the baby... masa kena  harith admit kat hosp sebab jaundice tu ada one lady nye baby kena masuk wad ...jaundice disebabkan olh jamu...the lady was shocked since her three elder children had no jaundice even though she took the same jamu... but then evry baby is different right... and so because of that... my jamu is still in the box...

barut...haa...yang ni pakai... Mak Cik Tun even asked me to buy this cream called Krim Mustajab..which is actually a ginger based cream to be applied before the putting on the barut...

banyak kena tegur masa friends and family datang jenguk harith.... even the nurses from the nearby klinik kesihatan who came for a 'lawatan di rumah' pun tegur...mana maknya? i answered...saya...''eh tak mcm org pantang pun dah jln sana sini.'....my cousins pulak ckp...'jgn dok jln sgt...nanti herot'....hahah...dunno lah...

i'm not against the traditional way of 'berpantang'...it's just i think you have to adapt to your own situation... my mom went back to work the next Monday..and harith and i had our 2 day stay in an-nur because of his jaundice... so after day 10 i was on my own...the only thing i didn't do was cook my own meals....mummy did that every morning before she left for work..and bacause i was on my own, i couldn't do some of the more tedious things like mandi daun or pakai pilis....nak mandi pun always rushing...especially if you start hearing the litlle one's cries.... hoping sgt2 that the next time i pantang i get a little more time to myself... things would be easier if hubby was around i guess...at least tak de lah mandi pun nak bekejar kan...

Harith on day 44



Reorganizing the recipe book....

This all started later this evening when my mum suddenly started typing her recipes in her computer... and when she did i quickly asked her for my late grandmother's recipes...the ones she had anyway... the last recipe that i got from Tok was her 'inti karipap' recipe...the karipap that we made every year masa bulan puasa...and our family nye inti lain skit...we use rempah kurma instead of kari...and chunks of meat instead of minced meat...

anyway...Tok's recipe was already printed out and filed but there was something wrong with it.... i used to make fun of Tok's Nasi Dagang recipe cause it was measured in 'cupak' and 'tin laici' s (yes she measured the rice using tins that used to contain syruped lychees)...but i wasn't prepared for 'tahil' or 'hun' ???? i mean i've heared of 'gantang' and 'kati'...

so ape lagi...pak google lah jadi penolong setia....and this is what i found...

16 tahil = 1 kati
1 kati = 600 g
100 kati = 1pikul
1 pikul = 60.48 kg

1 leng = 2 kepul
1 kal = 2 leng
1 cupak = 4 kepul
1 gantang = 4 cupak
4 cupak = ± 2.8kg

seriously....  today first time dengar unit tahil tu.... is it just me or what.... after this kena cari info pasal unit lama for length plak lah...like 'ela' ke....

Breastfeeding : It's ups and downs .... Part 2

So all this while because baby Harith can't latch on, i've been pumping and feeding him EBM (expressed breast milk) for all his feedings until his demand was more tahn i could handle....not because i didn't have enough milk.... but because i don't have enough time to pump.....

the day i got back from hospital serdang...the most i could pump at one sitting was 15ml...it went up to 30ml...than 60ml...and now it varies according to what time i pumped, ranging from 40ml - 180ml.... i don't know if that's sikit ke bnyk ke..but that's all i've got....bila baca kat internet..diorg kata the ammount of milk expressed is not the aamount of milk you produce because u can't completely empty your breast...and that the best breastpump is your baby...hahaha...

well because baby Harith eats a lot and i couldn't pump fast enough...i had to compensate with FM.... Lactogen at firstt but now he's taking Nan Pro 1...

but i still wanted to BF him directly...so i've been offering him BF directly...untl he mangamuk...then and only then do i give him his bottle of EBM...and this practice paid of kelmarin...because finally he latched on...sangat seronok ok...finally...so that day dr pg sampai mlm...i BFed him directly.....

but that happiness didnt last for long.... why? because baby Harith just latched on....he didn't latch on properly... so i ended up getting sore nipples....bila dukung dia sekrg pun when his body touches my nipples mesti sakit...ouch...i tried again yesterday to directly BF him...but my nipples are still sore...rasa cm ada org cucuk jarum everytime dia isap...so my next goal...bg nipples ni baik cepat2 n then try to teach him to latch on properly again...it's a working progress....

in the mean time it's back to pumping full time...yang tak best bila full pumping ni...kita pump je terus dia minum...tak sempat buat stok...so i currently have no stock for when i dah start working nanti...scary!!!!
masa dia minum direct tu dptlah jugak 3 botlles...

so that's about it so far...hopefully i can get him to suck properly lepas ni....and that i can stock susu bnyk2 for when i start work nanti...dah lambat rupanya...biasanya org start buat stock 2 weeks after the baby is born.... tp nak start skrg pun susah..nak angkut gi penang mcm mana kan hahaha...sana tak de fridge lagi...takkan beli hari tu sampai hr tu kan....

wish list:

• more storage bottles
• a double pump (so that i can pump more in less time)
• this little gizmo that allows you to pump w/o using ur hands

• 1oz milk freezing tray

bnyk nye la hai wish list hahahaha...hope evrything goes well

so little time so much to do....

i have so many drafts waiting in the ' edit posts' section... usually baru start tulis skit then i have to drop everything and attend to the little one... pas tu nak start balik dah tak de mood...hmmm

nowadays...nak curi time untuk berblog ni cm susah skit...skrg pun my mum is handling him..so i got some free time... usually klu free time pun cepat try to take a nap...because for me setakat ni the most challenging thing other than breastfeeding about motherhood...is getting enough sleep... ye lah dulu masa jaga alaudin jaga siang je kan..mlm i get enough sleep...hihi...mungkin still tak biasa lagi...no schedule tatp yet....

tommorrow ada reunion MRSMKT batch 01/02...really looking forward to it...mula2 igt x ley gi sbb dekat ngan due date kan..but since budak kecik itu mau kluar awal i get to go...even though tak hbs pantang lagi hahaha.... dah dpt green light from my mom and ari...tp baby tak leh ikut :( .... too small kata mami...