Babies Unite @ Fara's Place

That's the boy i'm talking about. He was "jeling"-ing (peering?) at the Foxy Mama...

I finally met Sue & Baby! I asked her along to visit Fara & her baby and she much needed the excuse to go out.. so...

Lil SiddiQ - 2 months old

Would have been fun-ner and more kecoh (chaotic) if Nisa had been there. Alas, She had to attend a wedding.

I hafta say it was the most empowering feeling to go out on my own without Zubair. I dont need him. At all.

Anyways. We chatted for hours!! While feeding, burping and changing the babies in between.

Poor Fara had only about 15min to prepare for our arrival. I had confirmed with her if she'd be at home on Sunday but didnt say i was coming till the last minute. I intended not to burden her to prepare anything (read: food) for our impending arrivals. Then i forgot to tell her earlier on that day and i realised this could cause chaos for the host as well. The house might not be ready to receive guests. Sorry Fara. She is such a proper host kept on apologising that she didnt prepare anything for us etc etc... But she still served us the yummiest mutton something with ghee rice, which to my surprise i cleaned it up! (i was allegedly turned off by rice otherwise.)

Hearing them mamas talking about all the Dos and Donts, i felt fear. I think i'd be a very inept and unprepared mother who knows nothing. They brushed it off saying that my own mum will be there to guide me as im still staying with them.

True but still... i have no inkling for eg that...

1. You were supposed to push in the belly button
2. Dont let boys cry too long as they are more prone to fits
3. No need to bind babies after 1 month.
4. Sterilising ur baby's bottle is VERY important
5. the pros and cons of electric / manual breast pump

I even have problem recognising babies' faces. To me all babies look the same esp if their skin colour is similar.

There was a fearful moment when the babies were first laid out on the bed and two mothers were not around then i panicked and thought, "Oh no... which is which now??"

Pakis and Malays have very different practices of baby caring as well as after delivery caring for the mothers. Traditional Malays have all sortsa spices to air out the body to prevent wind, all sortsa herbs to drink to shrink and heal and lose weight effectively... Imagine, herbal baths, therapeutic (spellcheck!) massages not to mention the layers and layers of cloth to bind the tummy so it wont protrude leaving a hideous pregger tummy.

Pakis would press the baby's head this way and that to "shape" it. It seemed torturous to our untrained eyes. and they would dress the baby hmm... heavily even in treacherous Singapore weather.

One tip i learnt tho that right from the beginning, DONT EVER let ur baby sleep between u and ur hubby nor rock him to sleep. Bcos the baby won't ever let go of u nor sleep on his own thereafter! Thank Goodness i've already convinced Z that the baby should sleep in his own cot / bed, preferably in the hallway (not much space in my room) for fear one of us might roll over and suffocate the baby!

Oh another thing about traditional Pakis is that they mostly dont wanna know the gender. At first, Zubair didnt wanna know either wanted to keep it a surprise... Its a nice thought but again i told him, "But we need to know to buy pink or blue, gown or ... whatever it is that boys wear." He said oh ok. Good.