The Original Juice

Wed 28th Oct 09 - 7months 1 day old

I just came home. He was on his tummy on the carpet in the living room. Syifaa' was standing above him (but not ON him) and suddenly Tufeil crawled to me!!! As though fleeing away from his cousin. LOL

And he was pretty fast too!

It's not the kind of efficient crawling yet but at least he's started using his knees a bit. and he was getting somewhere... going places, ya know... and his butt is raised even higher. Macam cute gitu bontot ternaik2 hahahahaha.

I actually have a video of that first discovery but er... well.. not suitable for public viewing. Sorry. I'll try to get another session.

The one that says I'm Fat, or the one that says I'm not fat bordering on thin. BUWAHAHAHAH

Well how about this....

Covering Your Aurah leads to rape! or the obvious Revealing clothes lead to sexual crime.

I was very shocked when this non-muslim friend of mine offered this view. Before that, she was asking me why do i cover myself. and i said to preserve decency mah. She did not agree. She said pple with little clothes on, there's nothing much left to the imagination. But with baggy clothes being such a teaser, men might not be able to take it and just wanna rip it off and see what's hidden underneath.

Hmmm I don't know. I'm not quite convinced. What say you?

Tuesday, 27th Oct 09


I suddenly had an idea the day before that Tuesday would be an excellent time to take half day afternoon off to myself. and started scouring Cathay website for the opportuned timely slots.


Decided to tell Mum first so she won't be calling my office and gotta know from somebody else that i'm off having fun while she's stuck at home taking care of the baby.


It was nice how it also coincided with 2nd sis availability. Being a teacher, she CAN finish work early but its hard to know for sure as they might hafta stay back to relieve somebody ... or extra classes... or just irritating almost pointless meetings. However, with P6 done with their exams, she was able to finish timely and join me!!!


Left the office at 12:48pm after a 40min pumping session. Rushed my way to Somerset, stopped by Burger King for smuggled lunch to catch this:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with a pair of free ticket :D


I can just say: WOWWWW!!! I mean.. what IMAGINATION!! I LOVE IT!


Even before the credits appeared, we made for the exit to not miss the start of...


My Sister's Keeper.

Now all 3 of us sisters have already read this book. The scenes from the first 15min or so were terribly terribly fast! If you haven't read the book, u wouldn't notice the subtle points like the pendant. It was just a brief touch n go i dont see the point in showing it at all!

Several circumstances were changed, a few small additional pple... but one main character was omitted totally. Well... I can understand because it could then take 3hours!! I was quite irritated by the lack of presence from the lawyer character!

However, the biggest disappointment of all, the ending is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the book.

Nonetheless, i enjoyed it. Mostly I like to watch movies from a book i've already read to see how does my imagination measure up to the "real" one and then reimagine them all over again. Especially the layout of the house and everything. I'm running out of ideas cos we live in a totally different kinda buildings.

I cried quite a bit too. (Spoiler now) Like the scenes where they took the bone marrow aspiration from Kate and then when Anna was being restrained onto the hospital bed... (end of Spoiler)

basically i can't take any Parent-Child, child-trauma scenes, i will definitely cry. Now i understand how my mum can cry over such a small emotional scene on TV. Motherhood has changed me so.

Initially, i wanted to catch a 3rd movie Imagine That with Eddie Murphy... but it would finish at 6:40pm and i feel guilty leaving T for an hour longer at home so i decided against it and we shared a cab home. Reached slightly earlier than i normally would if i'd been to work.


To sort of "make up" for the "guilt", I took him to the library. Borrowed 18 books!! 6 baby books, 5 novels for me (2 are light readings so not so bad) and 7 Parenting Guidebooks!! HAHAHAHA Ambitious, i know! But i can't resist borrowing Tracy Hogg's books... a (simple) Brain Games book... 2 on First Foods bla bla bla...

Now that i can leave Tufeil on the floor/bed exploring on his own, I have free hands to browse thru the parenting books (with one eye on the baby, of course).

But seriously, novels are my saviour. With a good book in hand, i actually LOOK FORWARD to take the TRAIN home. The only down side is, i lose a bit more sleep. Oh well... You can't eat cake and NOT GET FAT. Tit for Tat.

So it's been a WHOLE month since Tufeil's started eating solids.

The first food i ever properly gave him was pureed pear which he ate alright.

Then mummy started giving him instant rice cereal for 2 weeks. He ate well. sometimes even skipping one bottle. Mummy gave him water after cereal to "wash off". Hmmm

However, the past week or so, Mummy reported that he's been refusing the cereal for lunch. I deduced that he's tired of soft textured food or simply tired of it. But even when mum gave an apple flavoured cereal, he refused.

So i gave him fruits to eat for dinner... namely apple and peach and he lapped up very happily. When i tried potatoes, he was not too keen.

At this, i decided he prefers the SWEET Stuff and something not too foreign from milk taste.

I thought of introducing porridge with carrot / chicken / fish... but afraid it might still be too early. its only been a month since he's started solid.. but i read that older babies might not like pureed food for long and they might start to dislike solid food totally since its always so bland so boring!

so what i plan to do now is to rotate the pureed fruits ie not everyday same fruit... but somewhere in between remind him of veges - the pureed carrot and potatoes i made. Maybe for another week or two then will start with fish porridge. Let's see.

Will study the Feeding: Solved book i borrowed.

Today, it is located at Temasek Tower (Tg Pagar) a few restaurants after Starbucks with mainly Al fresco dining. (It's wayyy to the back)


Lunch menu starts from $6.80 for main dishes + Ice Lemon Tea. Or add $3 for a bowl of soup.






This is Tomyam Chicken Soup and its TO DIE FOR!!! I've never tasted anything so.... innovative!


The good thing is they have a list of what soup on which day so you can plan ahead WHEN to go over esp for pple like me who dont like Corn soup or minestrone (however it's spelt). Basically, i only like cream based soups. hah

I ordered Szhechuan Chicken with pasta.

The portion of the chicken thigh is fairly large. My pasta has finished long before my chicken did. which is rare for me cos i try to balance everything and finish at the same time.

UPDATE!

Forgot to write: Tufeil is now wearing Mamypoko diaper L size, even though the package says its for 9kg above and he's only 7.6kg. (6months 3 weeks)

`````````````````````````````````
Ok my colleague's children actually started crawling first (at 5 or 6 month) then sitting up. I think Syifaa' started crawling quite early too. Tufeil is now 7 months old!

Tufeil starting sitting about 5.5months... and now i'm anxious to get him to crawl. Actually he shows more potential to walk first than crawl. Often would grab our hands or push him himself up from other furniture. PLUS, he gets upset now when i put him on his tummy.

I continue relentlessly to put him on the belly and entice him with a toy.... in an effort to get him crawling

The clip is over 2min long but the first few seconds will do. Towards the end, Syifaa' disturbed the "Adik" already.

You will notice that he stretches his arms to reach for something and uses his TOES to go forward rather than knees. Therefore, i deduce this is the Commando Crawl.

Ok Tufeil, one step at a time. I love you, babe.

Sat, 24th Oct 09

Got another free pass from Ash who works at Cathay. We watched it together just at Causeway Point. It required quite a lot of planning - which went thru the window cos she woke up late.



I had class first at home then at 1.30pm went out. Left Tufeil with the maid. Alone. Kak Ly is due back in half an hour or so.

Name: Jussaemon

Child(ren) and their ages:
7months old Boy

How many children would you like to have, ideally?
4. 2 boys and 2 girls. God willing.

How long did it take to conceive?
6 months after going off contraceptive methods.

Brief version of your Birth Story:

Induced thru a tablet inserted. No progress in 18hours. Returned to normal ward, walked around, had a bath and waterbag burst just as i started to have dinner. All this in less than 1hr. at 3cm, i asked for Epidural. 7 hours and 5pushes later, baby was out.

Baby's Birth Date, Weight and Height:
27th Mar 09, 3.1kg, 50cm

Weight gained during pregnancy:
12kg

Weight shed after delivery:
12kg

How did you name your child(ren)?
First name we took from his paternal great grandfather. Second name is request from MIL.

Working or Stay-At-Home Mum?
Working =(

Formula / Breast milk?
100% Breast Milk so far

Your Favourite Baby moments / actions:
During feeding/sleeping time, he would hover his free hand searching my face, and i would either kiss it or bite it gently... It's a very tender loving moment.

His/Her/Their First Word:
Er.... AWAWAWA??

I would like to tag SUE, NISA, FARA, WANA, Butterflyrubrics (I know you're reading *wink*) and allllll mothers out there!! Please let me know when you've done it. i'm DYING to know your answers!

Yay!!... my leaves have been approved!

My parents are going for Haj this yr (Alhamdulillah!) and so i need to take leave from work to look after Tufeil.

Thank god i still have 13days of annual leave. I havent used much cos the first 3 months i was mostly only on MCs and 2 half days, then maternity leave! Then i got 1 more day credited from Deepavali on Saturday. Add 6days of child care leave = 20 days! and to date, i have 2 more days of maternity left.

I've applied for leave starting 23rd Nov 09 all the way to after Xmas, with one week break in between since 2nd sister is on school holiday (she's a teacher) and can help to care for T.

She's excited to start our holiday together... lotsa outings like last June i bet. More so cos we would have the car!!

Er.. but frankly, i'm a bit apprehensive at the notion of spending the WHOLE day with a baby everyday. Even just spending weekday evenings with him, i already feel clueless at what to do to entertain him, what more a whole month 24hours a day? And if he's started crawling by then... i doubt i can even go to the toilet!

But i suppose im looking forward to the "rest"... as long as Tufeil sleeps with me... and SWIMMING... and GOING OUT. Maybe i may even introduce... the theatre to him? *wink*

Tues, 20th Oct 09. (6months 3weeks ols)

On half day afternoon. Tufeil went to class with Mummy and they picked me up at midday and straight to KK. Even Ash joined in today!

First was an appointment at the ENT centre. I actually postponed the last one cos Mummy said there's no need for an ear check up since Tufeil seemed to be hearing well and that there will be a hearing assessment at poly's 6month check up. *Shrug*

The reason we were called for this test is because i declared some history of hearing problems from his paternal genes. When i received the letter urging us to come, i scheduled it to be on the same day as the physiotherapist's, so save one trip.

When i came into the room, T was asleep. The doc said its better so he won't cry when given the earphones to do the test. But, as usual, T the lightsleeper came awake just a min after the test started. Thankfully, he didn't cry. He was much intrigued by the sound he was hearing (not the mention the cute yellow star soft toy the doc had in her hand), while the doc was looking the monitor screen reading the feedback frequency Tufeil's earlobe is giving off.

He had to go thru the test like... 5 times to get a A* reading. previous 4 were just passed. But doc assured me that his hearing is normal. Told me to go to the neonatal follow up check up the following monday to go thru the report. which, Actually, i dont intend to go...

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Next up, his toes.

I don't hafta tape his right toes anymore. Nor do i have to do the bend-the-knee-and-press-the-foot-flat-on-the-floor exercise since he is standing ok already. But his left toe is still unsatisfactory though improving.

She introduced me to a set of new exercise. Just push the left pinkie toe upwards 10x of 10counts. and continue with stretching the toe outwards - now 3 toes. Ill take a picture some time tonight.


After that, we went to visit the Simei Gang Chief. He was warded into TTSH. It started out as a simple bacterial infection from one of his teeth and led to surgery! As of today, he's out from ICU and into normal ward. We pray for your Speedy recovery!


Long after i reached home, i realised i probably could have used my CDA account to pay for Tufeil's two appointments. close to $40's worth. Huarghhhhhhh

Payday just came in over the weekend and i'm left with $200?? How did that happen?

Let's see:

1. Mummy $350
2. Maid $122.50
3. Mobile $60
4. School loan $200
5. Credit Card $350
6. 2 x Insurance $150
7. Watch $100

Ok.. The last item is totally a ONE OFF thing. i have gone for 4months without a watch and decided that i could afford it now that Eid is over. Apprently, NOT! ARGHHHH!!

Let's start with my Iqra' lessons already.

And maybe im gonna have a garage sale or something.

A certain somebody better pay up soon, OR ELSE!

I have a plan.

I wanna take a day's leave from work but go out as usual in the morning.

Check in to an hourly hotel and....


SLEEP!!!

SLEEP!!!

and sleep some more...

Maybe check out at 2pm... have lunch... and watch 2 movies.

I'm so needing a break.

Tufeil, please start sleeping thru the night soon or i'll just... die.

Sunday, 11th Oct 09


Syifaa' turns 3yo today! Highlight of the day:

1. Zoo in the morning,
2. Lunch @ Swensen's and
3. Dinner @ Sarina's 2nd Birthday Party.

We got the car for the day. Parents had other appts and Ash cldn't wake up in time to follow us to the zoo. Designated driver of the day: NOT ME. Bah!

Sat, 10th Oct 09 - 6months 2 weeks old


I mentioned my worry to Nisa before, that my turn is next to host a gathering of sort. But it happens to be a Hari Raya period when i can only offer Pizzas for dinner. Thank God Fara made an open house cum her son's first birthday party. So i was saved!



Er.... i was the FIRST guest to come at 2.10pm and became the longest staying one to leave at 7pm! Ahaks! Thank God Nisa came just after 10min or so.

For picture below, From left: 1yr 6 weeks old Siddiq, Tufeil, 1st Bday Boy Uzair

Mon, 12th Oct 09 (6months 2 weeks old)

Courtesy of two of my Besties, Hairiah and Fit, I managed to see a lactation consultant in the comfort of my room.

She came at 6pm. I beamed when she remarked how strong/tough Tufeil is sitting upright and what a lovely happy family we have at home everybody laughing away.

LC commented right away that my skin is very dry. then set about to remove the plug with a sterile needle. Again. this is the 3rd time! Sis and mum winced and squirmed, which in turn made me wary too though i didnt even glance at the needle. Actually.. the needle wasn't too painful, Tufeil's improper latch hurt more but her nails were poking at me! Ouch!

At first she told me that the duct might be OUT OF ORDER for now. But not to worry, i have plenty of other ducts to continue supply. In fact, she did remark on its abundance. So that's really one biggest worry that she had lifted for me.

After 3 months, milk in that duct has hardened. Although she kept picking at it in an effort to open it up, she didnt risk to go any deeper lest more blood and scar would occur. Told me that the skin will heal and the scab will drop on its own. (That's what i thought would happen 3 months ago!)

Alhamdulillah in the end, i managed to squeeze milk out from the blocked duct!! However, she still prescribed to me

1. longgg warmmm showers and
2. Lanolin afterwards as well as
3. Breast Compression when pumping to aid the Medela Mini Electric. (Really when she did it, a lot of milk came out fast and furious when previously, i had been complaining of little and slow flow)

With regards to Tufeil's latch, she actually didn't comment/teach much. Problem being T kept getting distracting by the LC's voice when trying to guide me. He wriggled so much!!!! But a few pointers i picked up:

1. prop a pillow under my thigh/knee when sitting cross legged to support the elevation
2. keep pushing it inwards so baby can get the whole areola
3. keep baby's head close to you.

I also found that Hairiah's style for side lying position suits better for me and baby. That is elbow on the bed, but hands supporting your head. ie more upright. After latch is on, i will slowly lower myself into a more comfortable position.

Thank you to ALL my friends for your concern and support. I believe things will get better from here on out. Ameen.

Ok i'm currently blogging from BOTH sites ie BLOGGER as well as WORDPRESS.

The latter is for password protected entries. Click on the "password" page for hints. Or just email me to ask/confirm/verify. If the PW doesnt work, sorry, not for you. :P

ANyway, i'm having a HEADACHE with these blog templates.

The other time i got a nice orange template all set and lovely... BUT there were a few flaws, that is they didn't insert the code/design for Bullet points (prolly for quotes too) and they didn't have the blogger Dashboard header, and when i inserted codes for my Nuffnang Ads/Counter, it doesn't appear!

This current one is too cramped. So i'm still on the hunt for the PERFECT one. So God Help Me.

Features i like:

1. White background
2. Orange coloured theme
3. Right sidebar
4. two columns ONLY
5. STRETCHED
6. Not flowery
7. Not dark
8. No random model nor celebrities
9. No navigational

Do continue to check my Wordpress for password protected entries.

Ash ever said that whenever she sleeps in my room she will get nightmare.

Well... can't blame her... i get nightmares often too... so much so that i've quite used to it already that i dont remember it.

Mostly it's like being chased, teeth dropping out, swollen tongues, Tsunamis.... but lately its been ghoulish too! It's like getting trapped in a Harry Potter movie with strange creatures trying to kill my character. at some point i seemed detached from it and watching from behind but i feel the fear all the same.

Maybe its the Vampire books i've been reading, its a chick lit really but with vampire theme, or maybe because i was facing left when i slept. i definitely read all the prayers and verses before i sleep.

All these non-stop running in dream and waking up every 1-2hr to feed Tufeil is making me super tired!

Baby, when are you gonna start sleeping through the night again?

When Tufeil was 3 months old i suffered from a Plugged Duct on my left side.

How i knew it was a plugged duct? Only the bottom part was engorged and not the rest. and a yellowish dot sprouted. Called a friend and she said to just continue nursing the babe on that side and it will go away... The engorgement was gone in slightly more than 24hours. but the DOT did not.

For the next month i suffered from searing pain during and AFTER feeding. I read up more on the internet and realised its prolly due to poor position/latching. So i started sitting up when giving on my injured side to properly align his tummy to my tummy and such. The pain was gone during the 2nd month but the dot was still as prominent as ever.

On top of that, my supply was also affected. Very little and the flow was VERY SLOWWW!!! 30min pump to get 80ml at the most if i was lucky.

Then come the 3rd month, the pain was back again. So I called KKH's lactation nurse. She told me to just keep rolling it and to use warm packs to dislodge the plug but to call her if it doesnt work. Well.. i can't really tell her if it works or not cos i had NO CLUE HOW TO DO IT! I mean what does "rolling" entail? and i have a hot/cold pack but im not sure how to heat it? and how to hold it if its HOT, damn it!

So i just bore the pain... Until...

The thursday before the Hari Raya weekend, i woke up with extreme pain. I called in sick. (Or is it the other way around? *Wink*) Went to the GP and she poked me w a sterile needle. She said it worked on the last and only patient she had for this condition. But milk still didnt come out. She thought it might be cause the milk just below the plug has hardened and told me to continue with warm pack. When i exasperatedly told her i dont know how she told me to use WARM towel.

Er..... I didn't get the 2 days MC as intended. You see.. one of the CAUSES of plugged duct is fatigue and i sure am fatigued! and needed ample of rest and relaxed nursing sessions to cure it.. and right ambience to "Air it" (like you could air it at work, huh!) but still didnt get... Aiyah!


As it prolonged... my supply has decreased even more! Average i can only get 40ml over a 30min period of expressing. Its sooo tiring lor! But i know this is because im afraid to give baby my injured side. My mind was practically flinching at the thought of the incoming pain. But i still manage to pump between 350 - 400ml a day for baby. How? My right side compensated for it. Alhamdulillah.


Second Hari Raya weekend was a nightmare! Left side got engorged. this time it is milk blister. The difference? Its clear and look like a blister on your foot lor! Mum helped me a lot applying the HOT towel and massaging me. Thank god for that cos im sooo scared of hot water i can't think of squeezing the towel! no way! Again, in about 30hours, the engorgement was gone, but not the blister.

This time around i was wiser. I used a moist cloth to rub the blister away! But it wasn't that easy. At first, i managed to deflate it.. i think there was a hole somewhere... but in a second it would be filled with milk again. It took prolly a week. I got fed up and literally PICKED at it and tore the skin away. i dont want another duct to be clogged ok! The supply is already dismal enough!

THEN! at work when i pumped, BLOOD oozed out instead of milk. there were like 5 GIANT DROPS. I paused and expressed the other side first and returned to it and it was ok. The next time it happened a few days later, it persisted even after leaving it to air dry for a bit. It came out to 30ml of 80% blood!

I was scared shitless, i tell you! How how how?! i screamed in my head. If i dont pump, i wont have enough for baby. If i continue to pump blood, i will prolly faint from its loss! Oh God oh god!
I called a few friends who told me to put ice on it to heal as you would to a nosebleed or something. and hold off the pumping for a few hours.

But im still worried, it was 4pm and the last pumping session was 8:30am! If i dont pump soon, the body would prolly think baby is not drinking and produce even less milk. not to mention it was starting to engorge. but supply was my ultimate worry.

I got in touch with a private lactation consultant. She could see me the very next day! Which was a friday. I was sooo happy! "Finally, i can fight this supply issue with proper positioning!" i thought. When i asked what do i do now? she told me to pump on the LOWEST pressure.

When i got home i did just that and then nursed Tufeil on that same side too and it was all ok.

Then i started to reconsider my appointment w the consultant. Do i really need it? For one, i dont have $100 to spare. For another, i have a busy day of PLAY @ Work with the mid-autumn celebration PLUS i also have a much awaited lunch appointment. So i decided to cancel it. I promised to myself to read more on positioning the baby and correct it myself.

BMSG - Breastfeeding Mother Support Group (Singapore) FINALLY returned my call. Their consultant can pay me a visit at $65. OK i think i will consider that at the next pay day.

Ya Allah, please help me enjoy breastfeeding.

1. I cant help looking at toddlers and young boys, laughing at their antics and think, "How will my Tufeil be?"
2. After having Tufeil, I absolutely CANNOT READ about abuse to children or sick ones. i will definitely CRY!
3. Ash thinks Tufeil will be one of those children who will skip crawling stage and straight to walking. Me thinks, "Please crawl first. i wanna see u crawl, please."
4. He went for 6months development check up this morning. Weight: 7.6kg, Height: 76cm mum thought. Hmmm but can't be so tall?? *shrug* dont know.
5. I can't help it!! I bought Tufeil a $49 bear with a big mirror on its belly cum music plus everything from Mothercare. Now I need suction bottom toys. For Tufeil, that is. LOL

Er... im pretty sure there's more but can't think right now

2nd /3rd Oct 09 - 6months 5days old


Thurs night i finally went to Kiddy Palace to hunt for Baby's food. Two of my friends recommended Heinz Baby Cereal - White Rice. Somehow, i couldn't find it but settled for PUreed pear in a small jar instead @ $1.89


Mummy fed him that first day. Asked her to give after his mid day milk. Although Tufeil has been grabbing at other pple's food and drinks a lot, he still has this knack for thrusting his tongue out as if drinking milk. So... more practices needed, babe!


Sat, was too tired to go visiting. So instead i spent quality time at home with the baby.. just napping away mostly. Also got the chance to feed him myself! Recorded this with camera in my left hand, spoon in my right and bowl on my lap!

In the evening, with nobody at home and nothing much to do, i suddenly got an idea, "Hey let's cook some food for Tufeil."

Boiled a stick of carrot and a piece (bud?) of potato till soft. Lucky i remembered to grate the skin off the carrot first. I'm THAT amateurish at cooking, i admit. Then mashed them manually using this mini pestle somebody gave as present.

Showed Tufeil the mashed carrots - he seemed interested enough!

Alas, i think the carrot wasn't soft yet. I still got some flaky stuff in the lot.. or is it because it didn't grate it deeper ie some skin is still there?

I remembered Butterflyrubrics telling me to add EBM to veges but not fruit since the latter are already sweet, so that the babe would have a taste of something new as well as the familiar old mother's milk. Added some 50ml to this batch of tray!

When parents got home, i saw Mum bought this for Tufeil.


I got two mixed feelings. Initially, i felt happy that Mum remembered Tufeil while shopping in JB. But for another, Hmmm i wanted to be the one deciding which one exactly to buy. Both me and mum were upset over this episode.


Reason i'm being very particular is bcos i dont want Tufeil to get constipated like Syifaa' did when she started on cereal suddenly! but one of the besties said its better not to sweat the small stuff and that its something working mothers hafta contend with. Besides, as long as the baby is breastfed, INsya'Allah with God's grace, he will not have a prolonged episode of constipation.


So help us, ya Allah.

26th, 27th Sep 09 - Exactly 6 months old.


In Malay (or is it Singapore's?) Culture, we celebrate Eid for the whole month of Syawal - logic being we fasted for all 30 days of Ramadhan. So 2nd weekend is pretty much filled with MORE visiting!

I think we didnt visit much on sat and only come up with 2 interesting nice pictures:

@ Aunty Roza's place



Kak Lina's (Aunty Roza's daughter) place




Babies asleep!




I'm wondering myself if i'd be prone to Alzheimer's disease at a young age, though God forbids. But look, no pictures = no recollection. How??

MOved to wordpress. Again. maybe temporary. Again. But Let's see.

go to: http://jussaemon.wordpress.com and go to http://jussaemon.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/ive-moved/ to see the reason why.