The wait is finally over!!! :)

Alhamdulillah!! Khairaldin has started his first day at nursery yesterday. THE wait is definitely over and Masha'Allah he was so excited and couldn't care less about us leaving him behind. We have been telling him over and over again about his 'school' and he was definitely looking forward to it. We told him it's an Islamic school and he will learn about Islam  on top of other things. When we arrived school, he was the only one wearing uniform and jumping around wanting to go in. Other kids were in normal clothes, maybe because their parents didn't want them to know that they were going to 'school'. Most of the kids cried their head off when their parents were leaving, unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you wanna see it), not our 'big' boy!! Iskandar and I were the ones holding back our tears even though it was only 3 hours school session!!!!!

It was tough. Being a stay at home mom and having your children with you every day and night makes it really tough having to let them go. His teacher even looked at us and said "It's okay, he'll be alright!" Sigh. I guess he's been waiting for this "freedom". hehehe Nevertheless, I feel really fortunate that I didn't have to go through all the crying and shouting. Alhamdulillah. I am also glad that we managed to put him in an Islamic school at least I know he will be in good hands, Insha'Allah. All the hard work I have put in during his babyhood will not be a waste Insha'Allah. All the du'a we have instilled in him will only get better Insha'Allah. So yes, I am thankful, Alhamdulillah for this opportunity given to us.


Anyway, here's a short update as I am kinda tired, it is 12am now :)

So, let the pictures do the rest of the talking alright?

Layina on the other hand, was kinda bored and lost when Abg Khalid left for school. She couldn't sleep and was going back and forth their playroom. As soon as we fetched Khalid from school, she felt sleepy and slept in the car. Poor baby girl! So used to having his Abang around and suddenly she's all alone. But today, she's grasped the idea that Abang Khalid's in school for 3 hours and will be back soon. She slept soundly, Alhamdulillah. Btw, after 15months of hanging onto Mommy, she's also slowly weaning off breastfeeds. However, I'm not in a rush, so we're really taking our time on this.

I've got a lot to talk about and Insha'Allah I will be able to update more frequently because.........Iskandar bought us a new laptop!!!!! After 3 years without any laptop, we finally bought one. :) So, be prepared for more updates. INSHA'ALLAH!! 

Sneak peek- Khalid's lego birthday cake & Layina's cake pops

Celebrated Khalid and Layina's birthday today because he wanted to wait for Daddytok and Nana to be here. Alhamdulillah it all went well. Managed to catch up with old friends, had some real good fatty food..If I may say so myself. :)

Anyway, we're super tired! InshaAllah will blog more soon. Enjoy the home made cakes...well, at least just the pictures :)

Mind over matter

Alright, is it just me or is it weird when people contemplate on whether to breastfeed or formula feed their baby? I have never thought that a mother could actually think about feeding formula milk to their baby even before the baby is born.

When I went for my antenatal class before, we had to make a timetable of our life after baby was 3 days old. So obviously, Iskandar and I put in lots and lots of feeding time in our timetable, because we thought that was rather the norm. However, there was a couple who ended up with a timetable which included 'washing bottles'. The midwife then asked, "why do you need to wash bottles at 3 days old?" The couple answered, "My SIL ended up with no milk when she gave birth so she had to formula feed." Right, the midwife just agreed and moved on.

It kinda made me think for a moment as well. Oh gosh, what if we are one of those people with 'no milk'? Are we just gonna let the baby suffer since we're not stocking up on formula milk. Iskandar being Iskandar, he is just too positive minded! Sometimes it scares me (and I'll be saying this again and again) :D Anyways, he then questioned me, would Allah give us a child to care for and yet not provide 'food' along with it? Hmmmm I thought, that made sense but you know the 'what ifs' just happen since I'm a first time Mommy. We still did not stock up on any formula milk, even until today.

Speaking thru experience, I think in order to achieve the goal to fully breastfeed your child begins even before the baby is born. If you think that you can't do it, then obviously it's impossible. Yes, it's always mind over matter (Psychology, much?). After all, there are a few hormones that needs to be 'released' when breastfeeding. So obviously, the breast will tell the brain to release so and so hormones and of course this can also be done if we keep telling the mind that we NEED to breastfeed. In this case, there shouldn't be a question of whether one should breastfeed or formula feed. Doubting yourself is the key to all failures! At least that's what I think :) Even without research we could tell that anything given 'directly' to us from god would be the best for us or in this case, our child.

When Khairaldin was approximately 4months old, I was suffering from what I would say a bad case of Mastitis (nipple infection). My doctor first did not prescribed any type of medication. She said to continue BFing and if it gets sore just express some milk and rub it on the nipple. Of course that worked for a while until I started reading on a few websites that there are creams for this infection. My infection became worse, I can assure you the only reason it got worse was because I stopped believing that without creams it could still cure the infection.

Long story short, I didn't dare to feed Khairaldin on my sore nipples and ended up only feeding him on one side. Since there is also a need of supply + demand in breastfeeding, my left breast milk started to decrease. I keep telling myself, there's no milk because I haven't been feeding him on the left side. Try telling yourself that every day and night, I'm sure your milk will get bored of it and gets the point that you're not even going to try. Hehehe So yeah, I am now only feeding him on my right side. Sometimes, I do try to give him the left side but because he's an 'active' drinker, he can never tolerate my very slow letdowns. We both then gave up and just continued on the 'best' breast. Alhamdulillah though, he is still loving every drop of milk he gets from me. Even with one side feeds, I think it's still sufficient enough for his growth. Well at least I can tell from his weight that he's not under nourished.

So Mommies & Mommies to be, here's all you need to prepare yourself for a healthy breastfeed session with your li'l bundle. At least for the first 6 months:
1) Your very own positive mind
2) Very positive minded Husband
3) Very supportive Husband
4) Your baby, to suckle on you day in and day out :)
5) Smile on your face when baby end up falling asleep on your breasts.

Other than that, a breastpump to combat those sore breasts due to yummy milk being produced!

You go Mommies!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

The 5 months old baby?

Khairaldin turned 5 months yesterday. I used to keep track of his age by weeks but once he turned 3 months, I rarely keep track of his age. Thanks to the conuter above to keep me updated with his age! hehe So, Hubby & I will be busy google-ing recipes for his first solids NEXT month. That's definitely not long to go. I always feel butterflies in my tummy when thinking about him having solids. I'm not sure how to start........

His nursery nurse did come for a visit to brief on how to slowly wean him off. However, I'm not planning to wean him off breastmilk until he's about 2years old, at least! I'm not sure whether I need to start expressing my breastmilk and give it to him in a bottle or just continue to give him milk from the breast. It's rather challenging to give him milk from the bottle. I used to feed him from the bottle when he was about 2months old but he didn't take it too well. He used to cry his head off and my mom stopped me from feeding him from the bottle because it was THAT bad. So ever since, I've not touched his bottle at all! My breastpump is only being used when I have engorged boobs but most of the time he's already awake when my boobs are too engorged! hehehe

I'd also prefer to cook his food rather than buying those off the shelf. I read in one of the Islamic books about feeding a child. Apparently, the child will grow up to be "soleh(ah)" if the person who cooks the food are those who follow the rules of Allah (ie; praying 5 times a day etc etc). So really, I would prefer to bring up my child as a good muslim and if that's being the case, I'd rather cook for him. (I know at this point people will argue that the way we bring him up does matter as well, and YES I am aware of that. However I also believe that "air tangan" when cooking the child's food matter as much!)

So where do I start? Khairaldin's nursery nurse said that on his 6th month, I have to start the morning by giving him breastmilk first then only start with solid foods. But how much is too much??? :-S I'm also looking up for easy to cook recipes for the first few weeks because I know he won't have as much for the first week. Gosh, I'm already missing the time when he only depends on me for his source of food! Now it's like anyone and everyone can feed him. I miss him already! :-|

Above it all, I'm really thankful to get the chance to fully breastfeed him until today and Insha'Allah until he decides to wean off. Although I had my episodes of wanting to stop because of some infections I still managed to be strong and put my head up high! Alhamdulillah. Without Hubby's help and "cheerleading" I definitely wouldn't be writing this right now. It's not easy to feed him but I managed. ALHAMDULILLAH. I hope it'll be an easier journey for me with my next ones. Insha'Allah.

For this next few days, I will try to update as often since once he starts solids I will be busy in the kitchen! heheheh