The Human Rabbit

The reality of breastfeeding

mummyjedi 3:46:00 PM

So my breastfeeding journey started 2 months ago, the moment Isa was born. I was really, really lucky that I'm a oversupply mum. I'm blessed with abundant of breast milk and had to pump every 2 to 3 hours. So Isa has more than enough supply of milk for the next many,many months. I even had to purchase a 80 liter chest freezer to accommodate my expressed breast milk. Whenever I open the freezer, I see lights lit up as though you opened a chest full of gold (people don't call it liquid gold for no reason).

Ok, when I was pregnant, even BEFORE I was pregnant, I imagined myself as a mother, dressing up nicely, holding my son's hand, walking around the mall. Imagine Victoria Beckham walking with her children. Hot isn't it. Well, fast forward to 9 months and after Isa was born, I'm STILL clad in T-shirt and cotton pants with nursing bra on the inside even AFTER confinement. Not to mention my clothes smells of breast milk.

What society or men imagined breast feeding is, 'how hard can it be?'. The milk will always be there, all you need to do is get the baby into the correct position and latch on. DONE! How I wish it was that simple. Breast feeding is not easy let alone for working mothers. We have to juggle between pumping and getting your work done on time. 'Drenched' in breast milk, blocked duct, engorgement, mastitis, cracked nipple, etc.

It felt like yesterday when I gave birth to Isa. And now, 2 months has past. At first, I doubt that I could produce this much of milk. I don't really have friends or family members who exclusively breast feed their baby for 1 or 2 years, so it was a wee bit hard to actually learn. So my guru was YouTube. Thank God to the person who created YouTube -__-'

I prepared myself for breastfeeding way before Isa was born. I read, talk to experienced people, watching videos. It's a different experience for each individual. Some babies manage to latch on naturally (like mine) and some are hard. Breast feeding is not hard nor easy, It depends on how you take it in.

I'm still adjusting my new role as a mum. I hardly have enough sleep due to my pumping schedule but I'm happy to do it for as long as I can provide the best for my baby. Only at certain times, when you body starts to shutdown and tired, you just want to quit. But looking at how healthy your baby is after feeding on breast milk, it makes all the hard work worth it.

SUPPORT from you friends and family are definitely the main pillar in breast feeding. You can take any milk booster you want, see the best lactation consultant there is, massage as much as possible, but if you have lack of support especially your partner, it can't work either. I've seen many of my friends just gave up on breast feeding because they don't have support from family. It's sad to see this happen especially when your body has an abundant of supply.

Breastfeeding is hard work and determination. It all comes from the mind. It's amazing how God created women. They have the ability to carry a full term baby for 9 months and produces milk as source of food for the baby. It's just....pure amazement.

How my son changed my life

inspiration 9:02:00 AM

Right after my marriage, 2 years ago, I didn't plan to have a baby. The plan was to travel around as husband and wife, get to know each other and do things together as halal partner. That was before. 2 years later, baby Isa was born. Truthfully, I wished that I had Isa 2 years ago. Meaning, no planning needed . It's actually nice to hear baby's cry in your house :-). Don't include the lack of sleep, by the way, the vomit on your bed, the poo and pee.

Since the birth of Isa, I have not had enough sleep. For someone like me, sleep is on top of everything else in the world. However I was prepared for that when I got pregnant. Sometimes, I lose my cool while taking care of my son due to sleep deprive. Well, I think it happens to everyone.

It was hard for the first 2 weeks because Isa was admitted to hospital due to his jaundice although it wasn't serious but doc didn't wanna take any risk. I was going up and down the hospital like mad woman. I didn't had proper pantang meal, let alone a proper rest. But I was determine. Determine to make sure that Isa's jaundice heal. So although I had to breastfeed him and pump every 2 to 3 hours, I did it. It was tired and I almost gave up. But the strength came out of no where although my body is shutting down but my mind was still going strong.

The birth of Isa has definitely gave an impact to me especially. Isa made me stronger than I was before. A strength that I thought I didn't have. I wasn't like this previously. My priority also changed. Nothing else matter except attending to Isa's need. Whatever I do, it goes back to him. He also make me realize that life is simple. All you have to do is be happy. Isa is a smile-baby. He's in the 'talking' phase now. So whenever you talk to him, he'll laugh or smile. When he wakes up, he smile too.

Now I look forward to see him end of the day. Although I had to travel to and fro on a weekly basis to Perlis, I don't mind doing it and I hope that God will give me the strength to do this for the next 1 year.

Truthfully, having a child really make a different, Your whole world changed. What you think not important, suddenly becomes important to you. Even your reading material changes -__-. That's how much of a changes. Your shopping habit also change. For Juan, his new hobby is collecting Star Wars clothes for his son. Soon our home will turn into a museum.

The birth story of #babyjedi

labor 2:17:00 PM

As I type this, #babyjedi is currently sleeping in front of the TV while my parents are away to visit the passing of our neighbor. So I'm all alone. I'm almost 2 months into motherhood but it has been nothing but amazing and a learning phase for me and Juan.

I'm very blessed to have a smooth pregnancy as well as delivery. Alhamdulillah.

It all started on the 16th Feb midnight around 11pm when me and Juan were about to head to bed. Since it was my first pregnancy, I couldn't differentiate between Brixton Hicks or a real contraction. I don't even know how Braxton Hicks feels like. I assume it was just a normal phase in a final trimester. I tried to switch position like how I normally do but this time, it didn't work. I rule out 50% that it was real labor because my expectation is that I would deliver after my DUE DATE. That's what normally happens to first time mother-to-be. I end up sitting on the couch till 4 am and that was when I felt a sharp pain, come and go, 15 to 20 minutes interval, below my abdomen. I woke Juan up and decided to head to the emergency department at the hospital.

Upon reaching the hospital, I was wheeled to a small room to check my cervix. The nurse told me that my cervix has soften, however there was no opening yet but there was mild contraction. I was hooked up onto a machine for 30 minutes to monitor the baby's heart beat. Juan was there the whole time. After that 30 minutes, the nurse confirmed that baby was in good condition and asked me if I want to be warded. I decided to go home since there was no opening.

Reaching home, I continue sitting down on the couch while Juan went back to bed. I didn't sleep till 8am when my contraction came so hard but bearable that I couldn't even close my eyes. This time, it was around 5 to 10 minutes interval. I woke Juan up and decided to head to the hospital.....AGAIN. This time, I decided to be warded.

It was 9am when I was wheeled into the labor room. It felt like forever before I was told to pushed the baby out. Everything was fine until around 12pm when the nurse came in to check on my progress. I was only 2cm dilated so they has to induced me further so that my cervix dilates faster since my water bag has broken earlier that morning without me realizing it. But I told the nurse that I felt a gush of water coming out while I was in the toilet doing my business earlier on. I thought it was my urine. So to avoid any complications, doctor decided to fasten the delivery process.

Within 15 minutes being induced, I felt as of my stomach was about to burst -__-. I told myself that this is going to be my first and last experience being pregnant. To make it worst, the nurse had to increase the dose. Within 2 hours I was dilated 7cm!!!. Woah!!!, That was the start of everything.....

THE best wardrobe dehumidifier

general 3:29:00 PM

I live in an apartment and nearby to the hills. So definitely the humidity level in my apartment is higher compared to those living on a flat ground. The perks I get living higher up is the cold breeze every morning and night. But it can be quite hot during the afternoon.

So why wardrobe dehumidifier is important for an apartment? Do you need a closet dehumidifier? Well, if preventing mold in your closets is important to you, you might. No one wants to store valuable things in a closet, only to find they've been damaged by mold or mildew.

You should consider a dehumidifier for your closet if:

The closet is in a basement, bathroom, laundry room, or other area of the home that tends to be damp or have high humidity.
You store items in the closet that could be easily damaged by high humidity, especially expensive items like designer or vintage clothing, important papers, musical instruments, or tools.
You store food in the closet (like a kitchen pantry).
The closet feels damp to you.
The closet has a musty odor (that odor is often an indication of mold, so in addition to getting a dehumidifier, you should inspect carefully for mold).
You had problems with mold in the closet in the past.

The purpose of a dehumidifier is to reduce humidity. In other words, it removes moisture from the air. If you have too much moisture in the air, you need a dehumidifier. If you don't have too much moisture in the air, you probably don't need one.

I've been using dehumidifier for as long as I remember moving to this city. It works wonder in keeping the moisture out of my wardrobe while making sure my clothes smells good too :-). My favorite humidifier will be Farcent wardrobe dehumidifier. It comes in 660ml starter pack with value pack refill that cost around RM9.00 for 3 packs (Rose).

Compare to other brands, what I like about this brand is, it has higher capacity in absorbing moisture (660ml), the refill comes in 3 packs and the price is much more reasonable. It could last me around 2 months, well, it also depends on how much of moisture contained in your closet,

For now, you can find them only at your nearest AEON shopping mall.

Sephora 12 Days Christmas Giveaways

beauty 11:41:00 AM

Too little or too much during your pregnancy?

pregnancy 3:11:00 PM

Being a first time mother-to-be, you sure have thousands of questions to be thrown to your gynae or some none at all. Some mother-to-be only listen to their gynecologist advise. Not that I say it's not good. But a little knowledge from reading could be good for you. To prepare you on what to expect throughout your pregnancy journey. In my case, I asked a lot. Sometimes I think too much.

Some mothers could be telling you scary stories about labor that it could make you shit or even cancel your plan of becoming a mother *oh, you can't cancel once you're pregnant -__- *. I chose not to think too much on that part. I was like 'We'll see what it's like when my turn comes'. Too much of reading can be harmful sometimes. So you just need to go with the flow. Be average.

So when I was at my early stage of pregnancy, I've been reading about what pregnancy is all about. The do's and don'ts. I even downloaded the app to monitor my weight, kick tracker and a contraction timer (this is important). The app comes with a daily blog too where it provides you daily information on almost anything you need to know from pregnancy diet, baby's movement, baby's progress, etc. That's how kiasu I was. I was also obsess with my weight. I wanted to make sure that I don't increase my weight by 20kg in a span of 9 months, like some friends I know. It takes hell to lose those pounds. Perhaps it was also my gene that my family are mostly 'small bones'.

Through readings, I asked my gynae for confirmation every time during my check ups. Because some information are not verified by professionals. I ask the basics, not too much and not too little. It's a 2 way communication with your gynae. It's important to build confidence and relationship with your own doctor. This is also important so that when the real day comes, you know what to do and that your gynae has the confident in you too and you don't go panic and haywire.

There were few questions that I asked my gynae throughout my visit:

1. How will I know if my baby has down-syndrome?

2. Can I request for music during my labor, either through cesarean or normal birth

3. Should I call you when I have contractions or should I just come to the hospital?

4. How does contraction feels?

5. Is the baby having ideal weight and is my weight okay too?

6. Can you detect cleft lips through scan?

During scanning, doctors will normally show you how your baby looks like in your womb. The arm, heart, spine, etc. If you can't see clearly, get your gynae to explain what is he actually showing. I do that most of the time :-)

As I mentioned earlier, asking too much or getting too much info can be harmful for you too sometimes. When you know too much, you'll end up giving yourself unnecessary stress and worries.

How is it like to be born in a multicultural family

celebrations 3:05:00 PM

So I was invited by my Communication team in my company to contribute a short article on how is it like to be born and raised in a multicultural family background. To be honest, it was something that I have been waiting throughout my working experience to write something like this.

Well, growing up in a family of mix cultural background is no different with other families. The only thing different is that tolerant, understanding, respect, and patience are the key essentials. There are 2 different religion under one roof so logically you think that there'll be clash of interest or dispute on how should we celebrate Chinese New Year especially when it comes to reunion dinner. It wasn't an easy journey at first for my parents but patience was the only thing that came across my parent's mind at that time until I was born, everything changed. See, cucu can make a whole lot of different :-)

Simple. Previously we used to book halal restaurants or 8 course dining at hotels. As the price keeps increasing, we resulted in organizing our own bbq or hot pot at my uncles's place. Each bbq pit or hot pot will be divided into 2 parts. One is halal and another is non-halal. The halal part is definitely for me and my family, obviously kan. Duhhh. The ingredients were also halal. So it wasn't a problem for us.

I'm quite lucky compared to some families because my dad and his siblings were brought up in a Malay kampung. So understanding some of the basic dos and don'ts in Islam is not something we need to explain to them cause they already know. Even when there's death in the family, we visited too cause it was with pure intention because they're family regardless of which religion or race you come from.

A change of religion doesn't mean you disown your family. No, it's not. In my case, me and cousins were very close from young until most of us were married and have our own commitment but we still say Hi to each other once in a while or a family gathering during festive season. It's very interesting to have different culture in your family, you get to learn each other's culture especially when it comes to FOOD!

As I mentioned previously, RESPECT is important. Don't let your ego get in your way. I mean thinking that 'Why should I follow your way?'. It's about taking in the bad and the good. No one's perfect so best is to embrace and enjoy. It's a unique experience and I will definitely pass it down to my kids.