Finally i am able to log in. Life has been pretty hectic lately, adjusting with two kids at home and trying to get some sleep AND surprisingly i have been thinking about some office work lately (DANG!). I blame my supervisor for the thought of office work during my confinement. She gave me some "things to do and think about" before i left for maternity leave not knowing that i would go into labor 2 days later.
Anyway, just noticed that i had some typos and grammar mistakes in my previous blog. Any idea how i can go and correct it? I do not know how i could improve my writing by blogging but atleast i try kan?
Alot has happened since my last blog entry. I was busy trying to keep up with my confinement schedule i.e: bertungku 2x/day, berurut daily, mandi rempah besides breastfeeding the little one almost 24 hours a day! Arif feeds like a piranha and it is very taxing especially at night. I have lost 10kg but i am also eating like a monster! I eat constantly and almost everything so there goes my pantang :)
My confinement lady had to leave early because her son was involved in a serious accident so that leaves me and arif alone. Having a maid is not helping because Aydin is a handful. Aydin has attempted a series of tricks on his lil bro i.e: a (strong) pat on Arif's tummy and head but i am sure he did not mean it. It must be his way of showing his love for his lil bro.
Oh no! the lil bub is awake. Back to "Supermum"!!
It's been a week that i have been trying to find some time to share my happiness on this blog. It was on Sunday morning 02/03/2008, i gave birth to a cute and chubby little dude named Arif. Let me share with you the details here:
1 Mar, 2008 : I was hoping to go into labor on this particular day because it is Dad's birthday. Well, bub was not ready so i gave it a rest. As i said in my earlier blog, bub is quite heavy for me to carry so i am really hoping that it will come out soon before it reaches 4.0 kg and it would be too difficult for me to go au'naturel. Since it is a Saturday, hubby decided to stay home and relax. The opposite reaction compared to the last pregnancy where he practically dragged me to MidValley almost every weekend! I told him i want to check out the Sales Carnival so let's go to Alamanda since it's the nearest. That's what we did at 8.30p.m! Just for the sake of exercising and trying to induce labor naturally, i walked untill 10.00p.m and bought some last minute stuff i.e: hair rubber band. I was complaining of hunger because we didn't have our dinner before we left because of the time constraint. As soon as we reached home, i ate a little of rice and some soup. I was already not comfortable but i have been feeling this way for quite some time now. So i drank some organic tea to help with my water retention and blood circulation.
2- Mar : Still i couldn't sleep so i sat in front of the tv with hubby watching some football while eating some crackers. Suddenly i felt contractions but it was not a strong one and it lasted only for less than a minute. I thought it was another Braxton Hicks so i ignored it and i still could not fall asleep. The contraction got intense so i woke Hubby up and told him to be prepared. While he was taking his shower, i was trying to ease the contraction by kneeling on my bed and rocking myself when all of a sudden i felt like farting. POP! My water bag broke and water was gushing out and i quickly ran into the toilet. i obviously left a trail of water from my bed to the toilet :)
We drove to Gleneagles and reached the hospital at about 6.45a.m. I told hubby to drive slowly because every single bump and sudden brakes are not comfortable. In fact we are just trying to kill some time before the actual labor takes place. Admit myself at the A&E (Acccident & Emergency) counter (which cost us a couple hundred $$ for being 15mins early and they didn't even treat my case as emergency), i walked myself to the labor room and waited for the whole episode to begin.
Slightly after 9.00 a.m : More intense contractions begins. This time i could not even bring myself to walk around anymore and all i wanted to do was to lie down and rest. I was hoping to catch some sleep since i didn't even got any for the last 18 hours but failed. Suddenly i felt the urge to push. I was doing the breathing technic from Hypnobirthing and it helped until i almost lost control when the urge to push was greater. Doctor and nurse told me to breathe in the "laughing gas" to help me control the pushing urge because i was only 6cm dilated. At this point, i was not enjoying the episode especially when they had to do the internal exam. Yikes! it was painful!! I was trying to recite some ayat lazim and put my focus on something else besides the pain. Aydin was my inspiration and i had his cute face in my mind all the time calling me "By!". Then i was trying to tell my body to progress smoothly so that we will get it over and done with in the next few hours. No more 12 hours labor!
I pushed and pushed and relax for the next hour or so without any pain killer or drugs. It was definitely a stressful episode for everyone in the labor room. I was running out of energy to push and at this moment i surely would appreciate more stamina to help me push the baby out. I was a sprinter and sportwoman alright but i can hardly sprint or run more than 200metres!! I can feel the baby's head crowning and it was like that for God knows how long! I had leg cramps while pushing and i didn't use the stir-up because it would make my cramps worse. Doctor asked me to try giving birth sideways but it didn't work. I was not comfortable. I ended up giving birth with my legs up and wide open with the help from hubby and the nurses (imagine doing sit-ups to tighten your ab muscles with your legs up). God knows what i was thinking at that time: no drugs, no episiotomy... nothing! I almost gave up for that stupid decision on going natural. One thing that was beautiful and indescribable was when you can feel every single part of the body that came out. I can feel the head got trough the birth canal, the shoulders, the hands, the legs and even the cord! It was so amazing (and not forgetting painful) that i didn't know if i wanted to cry or laugh of happiness when they put the baby on my tummy to hold. Forget about screaming "Sakitnya!!" and whatever i said i can't remember... one look at my baby's face calmed me down. I was surely grateful to Allah for giving me the strength to go through the ordeal and i was so proud of myself. I could not stop saying Alhamdulillah in my heart and thank Allah for giving me this wonderful experience and a beacutiful baby and a very supportive hubby. Though i can say it was a crazy decision for a modern woman who lives in a world of science and technology but heck... can you handle it?
I had the opportunity to bond with him and breastfeed him in his first hour of his life. Mohamad Arif Eidlan was born at 10.55 a.m.
I am quite surprise to read this article from www.babycenter.com because it was a comment from an O&G in Malaysia. I mean Malaysian hardly gets credit for anything but i am proud to say Dr. Tan and his colleagues from University Malaya has made me proud :) Check this out:
Wed, Oct 10, 2007 (Reuters Health) — A new study calls into question the folk wisdom that having sex late in pregnancy can help bring on labor.
Women who had sex a few days before they were scheduled for labor induction were no more likely to go into labor spontaneously than women who didn't have intercourse, Dr. Peng Chiong Tan of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and colleagues found.
But this study is not the final word on the subject, Tan cautioned. "Further research in this area is needed — particularly in a less 'pressure cooker' situation than where labor induction was already scheduled for shortly ahead," Tan noted in comments to Reuters Health. "It is possible that regular sex a little earlier on, say from 36-37 weeks onward might have a different effect."
There are good biological explanations for the widespread belief that having sex can bring on labor, Tan and colleagues note in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. For example, semen contains the hormone prostaglandin, which is used to induce labor, while orgasm can bring on contractions in the uterus. But there is virtually no scientific evidence that sexual intercourse near the end of pregnancy can jump-start labor.
To investigate, the investigators randomly assigned 210 women scheduled for labor induction to a group who were advised to have sex as much as possible before their induction, or to a control group who were told that it would be safe for them to have sex but that it wasn't clear whether intercourse could bring on labor. Women received the advice 4.7 days before their induction was scheduled, on average.
Among the 108 women advised to have sex, 60 percent did so, compared to 40 percent of the 102 women in the control group. But among women who had intercourse, 56 percent went into labor on their own, compared to 52 percent of those who didn't have sex, which was not a statistically significant difference.
"We speculate that women very close to spontaneous labor felt changes coming on that might reduce their libido," for example pains and vaginal discharge, Tan told Reuters Health. "If correct, this would mean that those women who had sex were the least likely to go into spontaneous labor soon, so they would do less well in terms of spontaneous labor as outcome in the next few days. We did not have direct data to answer this question satisfactorily, however."
"Based on the findings of our study, women scheduled for induction of labor at term should not be given advice to have sex for the purpose of promoting labor onset," the investigators conclude.
So i guess there goes one option to induce my labor naturally. Let's see... what else can i try? Spicy food? Squatting? Walking?
Just bought me self a digital camera: Samsung L730. As part of EMTC2007 (EM Teambuilding Committee), we were awarded RM500/each to spend on company's account, yippee!! I was surprised because i have never heard of this award before except for ERC (EM Recreational Club) committees. I was contemplating whether to spend it on a holiday or reward myself with something special. Initially, i wanted to spend it on a holiday to Bandung (the RM0.05/way offer) and take the whole family + maid. The cost will take up around RM800++ for everyone. After a warm (not heated) argument with hubby and when he has finally gave me the green light, there was no more RM0.05 tickets!! It was quite frustrating though but looking at the bright side, i can buy something nice for myself. So that's when we have decided to get the digital camera. Not that we do not have a digital camera but the old digital camera was a Nikon with 128MB CF memory card (i doubt we can find a higher MB that is compatible with this camera in the market now), 3.2MP. It is not that bad and we have finally found a card reader that can read the memory card (from a clearance bin) but for convenience etc. i thought it would be a nice buy. Considering the latest features and functions that we get from this new camera... i can take Aydin's picture minus the blur!! Note: Aydin can never sit still so it is difficult to capture a nice picture of him.
On another note, i went to update my ASB account book today. Thought of saving some money (have not been doing that for the past... 1 year? and not that i have that much extra of it to save anyway) but looking at the crowd at the ATM, i thought otherwise. Taking advantage of my current situation ( big belly and all), i just asked the bank officer to just update my passbook. While waiting (it was about 5-10mins wait) to my surprise, nobody gave up their seat for me. I mean out of courtesy, they could have atleast offered me a seat. It was crowded alright and i was standing in front of those who were seated. A lady even rushed infront of me to catch the seat a man just left. So much for Malaysian and their courtesy! Aiyah... when are we going to change?!
I will try to update some pictures i took with my new camera soon. Now i have more the reasons to update the blog when the new bub arrives. I can't wait to share the pictures!!
I just can't help it but to blog this experience down. It was around 4 p.m today where suddenly i felt lightheaded. I just got back from the loo and was experiencing some back pain or it was probably a mild contraction. I sat down in front of my pc and suddenly everything felt dizzy. I seriously thought i was going to pass out because i have had several of experience passing out especially during "that time of the month" so it was a very familiar feeling. The only different is i am not menstruating but i am expecting to give birth anytime soon. So i was telling myself this must be one of the sign of labor and i have to tell somebody in case if i actually passed out.
Minutes gone by and suddenly a friend came up to me and ask, "Did you feel the tremor?" I was like.. what tremor? Oh! It was a tremor.. i thought it was labor! Silly me! So much for experienced mother... duh! Signs of labor pun tak tahu. Yes, it was indeed a tremor because there was an earthquake or something in Sumatera scaling at 6.3 if i am not mistaken. Sigh... i am only at 12th floor and i have felt it. I wonder how's the folks in KLCC twin tower level 20 and above? Any expecting mum out there who's working at KLCC twin tower @level 29 maybe? :))