Blogwalking and..hope

Alhamdulillah... my milk production for today is 28.5 oz. Yay!! That's 1.5 oz increase after getting 26.5 oz for three consecutive days. Alhamdulillah. Allah has grant my wish. Allah memberi ilham supaya aku masak lobak putih yang aku beli since last week. Hehe. Alhamdulillah.

Ok, that's not the story that I want to write today. I just finished pumping for today and while pumping, I did some blogwalking. And from blogwalking, I knew there are still hope that Shakir will be able to fill his hungry stomach thru direct-feeding. These days, he did latch on. But, it lasted for 5 minutes....max. Then, he would let go my B, resulting in mommy giving up in trying to get him to the B one more time. Ya Allah... berilah aku kesabaran. Kena banyak berdoa dan bersabar. Remember .. Allah is the best of all planners.

My fourth breastfeeding journey

Alhamdulillah... I'm still expressing my milk for my baby Shakir@52 days old. Alhamdulillah ... because he no longer needs the help from formula milk since he's at 41-days-old. Alhamdulillah.. that I managed to pump a constant figure between 26-28 oz per day. And Alhamduillah ... that I even managed to get my EBM stock in the freezer (a lifetime achievement! never managed to do it before! (",)v.

Muhammad Shakir Azhad @ 1 month old

My fourth journey here didn't start out well. I've planned to start expressing one week before my EDD because I want to stimulate my B, so that as soon as I delivered, I will have milk for my baby (learnt from previous experience). However, Allah is the best of all planners. I've delivered Shakir 10 days earlier than my EDD. So, as expected, no colostrum until Shakir is 4 days old. So, by that time, Shakir has already consumed FM. And yes... I gave him my B, but, after a minute or two, he would be furious. I got sore nipples at the end.

So, this means that he's already developed nipple confusion. Aiyaaa.... not again! Hence, whether I like it or not... I have to express regularly, every three-four hours to create demand for milk (breastmilk is based on supply-and-demand). And, after feeding, I tried to make him latched on my B. He did try...but my baby is still learning. He had poor latching technique, and I myself find it hard to force the aerola into his mouth. So, the result is, he didn't get the milk which made him furious, and I got cracked sore nipps. It was bleeding, and there were times when my expressed milk turn to 'peach' colour instead of 'off white'. There's blood in my milk. Hmmm....

Shakir's sleeping beside my 9-years-old Medela Pump-In-Style. This picture was taken in the wee hours of the norning while I'm doing my pumping routine.

Therefore, I've decided to wait until he's a little bit older like Aisyah (start nursing at the age of 2-months). But, at the same time, I've mentally prepared myself to be an EP-mom (exclusive pumping mom). Yes, who knows... he would still reject my B in the future even at 4 months old like Nadya. So, I did a lot of reading on EP mom's blogs.. and even this article from Kellymom which helps a lot. So, ganbatte ne! I did pumping religiously and here's the result:

End of week-1 : 4.5 oz per day (had to top up with FM)
End of week-2 : 14.5 oz per day (had to top up with FM)
End of week-3 : 17.5 oz per day (had to top up with FM)
End of week-4 : 20 oz per day (had to top up with FM)
End of week-5 : 24 oz per day (had to top up with FM but vey minimum, 2 oz at most)
End of week-6 : 27 oz per day (no FM)
End of week-7 : 27 oz per day (no FM)

Some people consider this as 'Liquid Gold'. Why...? Because it's very precious.

Alhamdulillah.. and I'm really praying to Allah that this journey will continue until baby Shakir is 24 months old, insyaAllah. This time, I have the highest motivation as compared to the other three. During my previous journey, I only knew that it was stated in the quran, but, I never bothered to look at which sentence is it. I was ignorant. Memang jahil. So, this time, aku ikhlas ingin menyusukan anak kerana Allah, bukan kerana permintaan suami semata-mata, because it is mentioned in Quran twice.  One is in surah Al-Baqarah  ayat 233 (2:233)

Dan ibu-ibu hendaklah menyusukan anak-anak mereka selama dua tahun genap iaitu bagi orang yang hendak menyempurnakan penyusuan itu; dan kewajipan bapa pula ialah memberi makan dan pakaian kepada ibu itu menurut cara yang sepatutnya. Tidaklah diberatkan seseorang melainkan menurut kemampuannya. Janganlah menjadikan seseorang ibu itu menderita kerana anaknya, dan (jangan juga menjadikan) seseorang bapa itu menderita kerana anaknya; dan waris juga menanggung kewajipan yang tersebut (jika si bapa tiada). kemudian jika keduanya (suami isteri mahu menghentikan penyusuan itu dengan persetujuan (yang telah dicapai oleh) mereka sesudah berunding, maka mereka berdua tidaklah salah (melakukannya). Dan jika kamu hendak beri anak-anak kamu menyusu kepada orang lain, maka tidak ada salahnya bagi kamu apabila kamu serahkan (upah) yang kamu mahu beri itu dengan cara yang patut. Dan bertaqwalah kamu kepada Allah, serta ketahuilah, sesungguhnya Allah sentiasa melihat akan apa jua yang kamu lakukan.

 And Al-Ahkaf ayat 15 (46:15)

Dan Kami wajibkan manusia berbuat baik kepada kedua ibu bapanya; ibunya telah mengandungnya dengan menanggung susah payah dan telah melahirkannya dengan menanggung susah payah. Sedang tempoh mengandungnya beserta dengan tempoh menceraikan susunya ialah dalam masa tiga puluh bulanS. Setelah ia besar sampai ke peringkat dewasa yang sempurna kekuatannya dan sampai ke peringkat umur empat puluh tahun, berdoalah ia dengan berkata: "Wahai Tuhanku, ilhamkanlah daku supaya tetap bersyukur akan nikmatmu yang engkau kurniakan kepadaku dan kepada ibu bapaku, dan supaya aku tetap mengerjakan amal soleh yang Engkau redai; dan jadikanlah sifat-sifat kebaikan meresap masuk ke dalam jiwa zuriat keturunanku. Sesungguhnya aku bertaubat kepadamu, dan sesungguhnya aku dari orang-orang Islam (yang tunduk patuh kepadamu)".

So, I'm highly motivated to do this, because not only that I will get rewards from Allah for following His qalamullah..I get my husband's blessings,  I also get healthier baby and it is cost-saving. That's 4-in-one huh? So, if I'm destined to be Ep-mom... then, EP-mom it is. Takpe. Ganbatte!

So, in order to make this journey a successful one.. there're many things to do to boost your milk supply/to ensure you milk is sufficient for your baby. Direct-breastfeeding mothers don't have to worry about milk supply, but, for EP-moms...that's the greatest concern/problem because babies who are bottle-fed tend to require more milk since there's continuous and easy milk flow from the bottle. . One- pray to Allah s.w.t. The following are the dua's that you can make ...

1. Al-Baqarah aayah 60 (2:60)

And (remember) when Mûsa (Moses) asked for water for his people, We said: "Strike the stone with your stick." Then gushed forth therefrom twelve springs. Each (group of) people knew its own place for water. "Eat and drink of that which Allâh has provided and do not act corruptly, making mischief on the earth." 

2. Recite one of Asma'ul Husna which is YA MATIN (The Firm One) 70 times a day.

Number two... get help from galactagogues. These are the galactagogues that I've used and I think works for me. From food :

1. Dried longan + red dates drink
2. Soy milk
3. white radish soup
4. oatmeal
5. unripe papaya (made into soup)

And I also get help from pills ...
1. Pil ASI (fenugreek's base)
2. Moringa pill (based on Moringa leaves)
3. Alfalfa

Notice the Motillium pills there? That one is given by my gynae and will be needed during under emergency times only. Hehe

Let me remind you, during my third BF journey, I only took Alfalfa and at that time, I think my production got stagnant after I got 15 oz per day on week-4. Then, upon seeing the amount was not increasing and I still had to top up with FM, my motivation level went down, so did my production level. So, this time, I'm taking various kind of galactagogues so that when it become stagnant, I will change the dose/galactagogues used. I believe that this style suits me because I managed to put aside FM now. My baby is now on full EBM. :)

Number three ... make sure you have an expressing schedule. And note down the amount you get after each pumping session. So, you will know whether your supply is increasing/decreasing. And, if you notice any extreme changes in the difference, you will be able to find out what causes it.

An example of my pumping schedule

Phew... that's a long one. And I've done this on and between two pumping sessions. I need this to motivated myself. InsyaAllah... I can do this (",)v

My third breastfeeding journey

Nadya @ 2 months-old

My third baby, Nadya, was born five years after we had his brother Syazwan. She's the first baby I had working as a teacher. And being a teacher while carrying her in my womb, teaching in SMK Telok Panglima Garang some more, I would be furious over the smallest matters. At that time, I was teaching 3KRK2, 3D, 3G, 3K and 3P. That was classes ranking from number 3, 8, 11, 15 and 17 (this is the last class). Phew!! No wonder-laa I was so garang (fierce) back then. Some naughty students from 3K and 3P would came in and out of the class whenever they please. Haish... apalagi, teacher pun cubit la diorang. I was so much into action at that time because yelling rarely gave an impact, unless you yell at the top of your lungs, but it was tiring of course!

On her Akikah cum Cukur Jambul Day@20 days old

So..tadaa..the result is, I get I very 'fierce' baby. Nadya would throw tantrums everytime she didn't get the things that she wanted. She would even pinch and bite everyone including me. And her tantrums is getting worse as soon as I delivered Baby Shakir. On top of that, she would just irritate me by unplugging/dismantling the wires of my Pump-In-Style while I was expressing my milk for Shakir. Duh! this kid is always testing my patience limit. So, mothers...be reminded not to be too fierce while u're pregnant, ok?

Nadya, as I've mentioned in one of my entries before, only managed to drink my EBM until she's four-months old. Pity her because I gave up expressing milk way earlier than I should. Reason being is lack of knowledge and stress. One, I didn't know that exclusively pumping-mom exists until I stumbled upon some EP (exclusively pumping) moms' blogs recently. At that time, I never thought that expressing throughout the two-years duration is possible. I expect that Nadya would latch when she turned 2-months-old like Aisyah, so expressing milk will only be part-time. Direct feed is not as tiring and stressful as expressing. After four months of waiting.. I gave up. I was also stressful at that time because ten days after I delivered Nadya, Syazwan broke his leg. Haii... macam-macam hal.

As a result, despite being the prettiest, Nadya had always been seeing Dr Selva, our paed, because of asthmatic symptoms. So, that adds to the guilt. Sedihnya.....

I'm sorry Nadya sayang...

My second breastfeeding journey

Today, Shakir is 49-days-old. And I'm still an exclusive pumping mother. He would latch at times, but mostly for comfort, not to fill him up. How I wish he would be able to latch on...hmmm.

Ok, enough abt Shakir. I'll save that for "My fourth bf journey". My second BF journey, on the contrary to the first one, is very easy. Muhammad Syazwan latched on the day he was born and had no problem afterwards. But, (haish...why there must be a 'but' eh?), I was called to report to IPTeknik for my KPLI programme 21 days postpartum. Yup, we decided that I should take a career change when I was expecting my second baby. At that time, I was an engineer mother, and having to spend 12 hours outside our home for work was not tempting anymore. Our babysitter always told us that by 6 p.m. Aisyah would stare at her front door and ran towards it whenever she heard 'Assalamualaikum'. And she was upset to find that it was not us. At that time, I  only came home at 7-7.30 p.m. Upon arriving home, we would be occupied to pray, eat, bathe and sleep. So, how much time is left for our lil' Aisyah?On top of that, MDH's new scope of work is he had to be out stationed a lot. So, we decided that I should resign my post as an engineer and became a teacher, in order to be able to spend more time with my kids. So, I went for my KPLI and had to left Syazwan to my husband and Emak for one week because of orientation programme. Thus, he was on formula milk. I was so sad back then, but decided that I have to be strong for our better future. I brought my PIS to college and expressed my milk eventhough I knew the EBM (Expressed Breast Milk) went straight to the drain afterwards (no place to store them). That's a must to maintain my milk supply. But, miraculously, after that one week, he still wanted to latch on like he used to be before that one-week separation period. Alhamdulillah.

So, there goes my second BF journey. Latching on went smoothly, but, since I was studying, I don't have time to express due to the packed schedule. So, when I was in college during daytime (7am - 2pm), Syazwan will be on FM and on the rest of the day, I will breastfeed him. That went on and on until he was 20 months ++. I had to wean him because of his teeth (he loved biting my B, urghh!)

So, in a nutshell... I was quite satisfied eventhough I had to mix with FM.

 Ok, since I'm writing abt my BF journey with Syazwan, today (06 Nov 2012) he receives his first academic excellence award on Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan S.K. Methodist. This is what I call from zero to hero (he started in Standard One January this year as an illiterate kid because he still couldn't read after spending three years in kindy and we even suspected him of being dyslexic). Tahniah Muhammad Syazwan and I'm really proud of you. ^_^

 

Syazwan on the stage for the second time for 'Terbaik MP'. I couldn't get the picture when it is his first time on stage with Dato' Shafie Salleh because I had to sit at the back.

Showing his prize

Nadya's expressions while waiting for Abang

My first breastfeeding journey

Breastfeeding... interesting topic, eh? Yup..it has always been an interesting topic for me. There're lots of things that I can share with my kids about it.I want to document my fourth BF journey here. So, I'll start with the first journey first. Let me start on how it got started. 9 years ago, I was so excited about breastfeeding during my visit to a gynae in Putrajaya. I was 7-months pregnant back then. The gynae promoted breastfeeding to us saying that it's very good for the baby and even suggested a good breastpump, Medela Mini Electric.

I was not that interested to buy the pump at first because I believed that breatfeeding was so natural and easy. Every mothers in the world can do it. My mom, working as a teacher, managed to BF all her eight (8..ramai tuu..hihi) children even up to 2/3 years old, without even expressing milk at work (but, she top up with FM during working hours). So, if mom can do it, why can't I, right? But, that is just a myth. It seems that many people had problem with breastfeeding, including my MIL. She didn't bf all her children because she said that there's 'no milk'. That's why MDH was so concern about bf. He said that he's 'lacking' because he was not being breastfed. So, he digged out as much information on breastfeeding. We even went to a BF Seminar organized by Pa&Ma magazine back then. With RM100 fees for 2-pax, it was worthwhile. We even get one 1kg Anmum milk (free gift) and a breastfeeding support pillow (lucky draw).It was during the seminar that we get to know Pn Jasmeen Tay (Who is she? You might ask. I'll tell you about her later). Then, we went to Ampang to buy Medela Mini Electric which costs us around RM450 (it's pricey, but it's worth it!). Through reading from lotsa resources on the internet, we've decided at that time that I shall BF my baby, and even express milk at work... no FM shall involve.

Then, Aisyah Najihah was born on Sept 4, 2003. Alhamdulillah. Everything went smoothly eventhough I was induced. I was taught to breastfeed..but, it was not easy. On top of that, my nipps weren't even wet. Oh my! The nurse said there should be 'getah-getah sikit' (she was referring to colostrum), but, in my case, my B was completely dry. Nothing. To make things worse, my roomate showed her milk spot, eventhough she haven't even delivered her baby yet. So, there I was... all stressed up, thinking that I got no milk.
Astaghfirullahal 'azim.

Then, upon arriving my MIL's house, things got worse. Aisyah was hungry and refuse my B after a minute or two. I was discouraged to force her to latch on, thinking that there's no milk. Then, when she cried, MDH requested some milk from his cousin who gave birth two months earlier than me. So there and then, Aisyah got her ibu susuan, and adik-beradik susuan, Harish. After Ayong's (MDH's cousin) milk had finished, we had to feed her with FM. I cried and cried but at the same time I keep on using the Mini E eventhough nothing came out from my B. It was on Day-5 that my colostrum finally came. By that time, Aisyah already had nipple confusion and preferred to be fed thru bottles. So, MDH tried to find a solution to overcome this. I even cried on the phone when I explained my problems to jasmeen. Pn Jasmeen was the seller of Medela products who also sponsored some prizes during our Pa&Ma seminar.So, he went to Mums and Babes to buy Medela SNS. I remembered trying using it twice. But, it didn't suit me.

So, to keep the milk coming in, I had to pump every 3-4 hours. But, thru reading, I knew that I must find a dualpump for better stimulation. Hence, my husband contacted Pn Jasmeen Tay once again and she asked us to come to her Mums and Babes at Dataran Prima, Ampang, to find the pump that suit our needs. So, we went there and tried Pump-In-Style. I've read reviews about it and even contacted one of PIS user thru 'ummi-kusayang yahoogroups'. The review was very good and the kakak that I contacted said that she's been using it for all her 4 children, and PIS is still working fine with her. So, once I've tried it... I bought it right away. It costs us RM1.5K back then. . Alhamdulillah, my milk production increases even without any stimulation from my baby. But, I cannot catch up with Aisyah's demand (eventhough I had tried dried longan, red dates, fenugreek). I still had to top up with FM. Sad but, I was rather satisfied because for me, that was much better than nothing at all. So, there I was.... pumping even in the wee hours of the morning.

Finally, a miracle happened. As soon as I started working, Aisyah wanted to latch on. Yay! Finally! So, by then, I considered myself a successful breastfeeding mother. I expressed my milk in the office and at night, Aisyah would be directly breastfed by me. It went on until she was 19-months-old. I weaned her because I was pregnant. Pheww... a long story on my first BF journey. To be continued on my 2nd journey..insyaAllah. ( ^,___, ^)

2012 updates

Mak aih..bersawangnya. Rumah sapa ni..haha. Yup, it's been a year since I last update. I know that there's no reader to this blog. except that I want to keep this blog going as long as possible so that my kids will be able to read it in future. (If they don't, then, I'll be the one who read it..Reminiscing the past..hehe).

Ok, to recap what is going on in my life throughout 2012.
1. January - Doctor Siti confirmed that I'm pregnant! huhu... I was kinda shocked because we're planning for our umrah this year. On top of that, Dr Siti and Ustazah Ummi discouraged me from going to Mecca, saying that there's a possibility for miscarriage. I was disheartened by their advice, but at the same time, happy that I'm expecting. :)

2. March - My brother's wedding.And there's a new update to my umrah plan. I went to Klinik Mesra Jenjarom for vaccine shot and was told by Dr Rosdi that it's safe for me to travel to Makkah during my second trimester. He gave me a few reasons to support his belief. One, he had known some people who went there while expecting and nothing happened to them. Secondly, there's no 'air pocket' during the 7-hours flight to Saudi Arabia. So, it should be safe from miscarriage (wallahua'lam). And thirdly, performing umrah is not as extensive as performing hajj. so, expecting mothers who went for umrah should know their limits and refrain themselves from overdoing things. (note : at this point, I was relieved. But, I was still doubtful). On another note, Syazwan had to to be circumsized because he's going for umrah too.He was so fussy and didn't allow anyone to touch his 'angry bird' for almost two weeks after the surgery. Therefore, we (MDH and I) made a mental note that we should circumcised our son (if the one I was carrying is a boy) when he is still an infant. Make things a lot easier I guess.

3. May -Three weeks before our scheduled flight for umrah, I was still doubtful (Astaghfirullah a'zim) because I was 5-months pregnant and my little Nadya is just 20-months old (pls be reminded that I had to carry my 'heavy' body, carrying a baby inside my tummy and carrying a toddler on the outside as well). But all my doubts disappeared into thin air as soon as I heard Prof Muhaya's recorded IKIM slot on youtube. In her slot .. one caller was asking her on whether he should bring his mother for umrah or not since his wife is pregnant (5 months to be exact!). He was scared to leave his wife alone but at the same time he wanted to fulfill his mother's wish. Subhanallah ... thanks to the caller. Prof Muhaya's reply was .."satu fakta yg pernah sy baca, orang yang sedang mengandung 5 bulan berada dalam tahap kesihatan yang paling baik sepanjang hidupnya .."(lebih kurang macam tu lah). Upon hearing that, I gasped. I keep on saying Subhanallah and Astaghfirullah .. Subhanallah because Allah had chosen the BEST time for me to perform my first umrah - being at the healthiest stage of life, and not having any menses throughout the two-weeks duration. Subhanallah. And at the same time, Astaghfirullah.. for being doubtful. "Ampunkan dosa hamba-Mu ini ya Allah".
So, we went there, 7 of us .. my little nucleous family, FIL and MIL. And Alhamdulillah... everything went smoothly. I'm lost for words to explain how great the experience is....... Alhamdulillah.

Kakak & Abang dan tertido lps tawaf. Adik pulak ilang tudung dah

Ladang kurma di Madinah

4. September - Celebrated the birthdays of three of us (Mama - 17/9, Aisyah - 04/9 and Nadya - 05/9) on 15 Sept 2012. Four days later... we are gifted with our new bundle of joy.. Muhammad Shakir Azhad @Pusat Perubatan Islam Azzahra, 2.7kg, c-sect. "Semoga anak ini menjadi seorang yang bersyukur dan zuhud. Amin"

So, that is the updates thus far. Will be updating on my BF journey for Muhammad Shakir Azhad soon. InsyaAllah.