Developmental Milestone : 9 months

Assalamulaikum,

Lamanya tak update blog with Firdaus' progress. Last milestone recorded was when he was 6 months. Sekarang dah 9 bulan. Terlampau banyak perkembangan dia sekarang.

OK last check up, he dropped a little weight ; currenly 8.9 kg with I think dalam 73cm length kot. I don't think the nurse record this in his chart. Nevermind. 

Dia sangat aktif sekarang dan dah ada kehendak, which means kalau dia taknak, dia akan toleh dan tepis dan kalau dia hendak sesuatu, dia akan bergerak ke arah benda yang dia hendak tu lah.  Sekarang dia dah pandai merangkak. He started crawling dalam 7 1/2 month and got stronger dalam 8 bulan lebih sikit. Now dah 9 bulan, dia dah pandai berdiri dan meniti along the furniture. Harap-harap tak lama lagi berjalan la tu.

He is still breastfed dan sangat susah nak makan. He can live a day tanpa solid food and he hates solid food - tak kisah la apa jenis food pun. Since he is a picky eater, my mother suggested Cerelac. I never wanted to give my baby Cerelac / Nestum or whatever processed food like that tapi memandangkan kalau suap real food kat dia, dia tepis/tolak/menangis/terajang semua, I had to consider the option so I tried bagi Cerelac and he likes it. Aduh anakku ini. Why? But considering that dia memang takkan makan anything else, I had to relakan he eat Cerelac once a day and in between, I try sneaking some mashed rice or fish or sweet fruit into his mouth whenever I am eating. 

He is also now very vocal. He says "ababah" or "bababababa" sometimes "papapapa" and occasionally kalau dia menangis and I dont care, he will say "maaaaa". Not sure if he intends to call us or just saje suka suka blab bunyi bunyian. 

 

My father says he is such a jovial kid. Memang pun, he smiles at almost anyone and whatever tricks. 

Two days ago, I started him on a routine. Kerananya, dia selalu tidur jam 2 pagi. Balik dari taska, selepas penat lelah bermain, dia akan tidur jam 7 sampai jam 9 selalunya dan terjaga dan tidur semula at 2 am. Oih, I cannot do lah liddat. Penat kot. So, 2 hari sudah, after returning from Taska, I fed him solids (Cerelac), mandikan dan carry him around the house agar dia tak tidur. And then we play together and let him watch babytv for 30 minutes sampai la dia mengamuk. On the first night, he slept at 10pm straight sampai pagi with 3 to 4 hours interval wake ups in between for comfort nursing. Semalam, he dozed off at 8pm, sama juga terjaga di tengah tengah malam 2 3 kali untuk confort nursing. Overall, it has been going on well. I got more sleep to walaupun, sebenarnya pagi pagi memang senantiasa mengantuk. I hope he can stick to this routine.  

 Masa ni dia dedor dedor nak demam, kita tak perasan dia tak sihat. Keje menangis tak renti renti. Memang agak naik darah jugak la.. tergertak sikit kat dia - ape ni keje nangis tak renti renti, penat la macam ni - terus dia merajuk tersedu sedan kat hujung katil. 

Tak lama kemudian, dia datang balik kat dia, baring cam ni... Ye la, nak merajuk dengan siapa lagi kan. Dengan Mama dia je la walaupun kena marah. T_T. Kesian baby! I put him to sleep, and then in his sleep baru terasa badan dia panas. Demam rupanya. Patutla merengek tak renti renti. Sorry, sayang! 

I kiss him like hundreds of times every day. Last night, since Firdaus is under sleep-training, my husband couldn't play with him lepas balik keje. He watched him sleep and then menangis, tacing sebab tak dapat main dengan anak. Ahehehe. Tak pe lah, for his own good jugak tidur awal kan. 

We love you, Firdaus. You are our everything!

Developmental Milestones : 6 months

Hi,

Come this 21st May, Firdaus is going to be 6 months. This is the time I have been waiting for. Mainly because I am looking forward for something new to do in terms of child bearing and upbringing; feeding!!

Firdaus has shown interest in grown up food since he reach 5 months but I dare not experimented him with grown up food just yet. Nonetheless, I could not stand seeing him staring and drooling over our hands when we eat so I let him have a taste of various fruits for starters. The first fruit he tasted was watermelon. Boy this boy lovessss cold watermelon. We just cut a chunk of it and let him suck out its juice. He liked it so much that he held my hand locked to his mouth so I won't pull away. Not until last few days, I let him suck on mango pit. This is wondrous experience for him I guess, because he likes it so much. Me as a mother, I am more than happy seeing him tethering on the pit and completely enjoying it. He also has a taste of durian. Nope, didn't like it. I gave him apple once. He seems to like it but it is hard to suck on the juice out. I tried. Unless, you really suck it hard, the juice is hard to get. And then, oranges. One of his faves, too. I read that oranges are not supposed to be introduced to babies below 8 months, I think. But, too late. I suppose there is no harm is giving him a taste of a slice of orange. It is hardly one teaspoon of juice. He had not show any adverse reaction to it, so I think we are good here. 

mangoed

He has also tasted banana, mashed and whole. He likes his banana whole better and I can say he hates it when it is mashed. Dia macam geli geli gitu. I also started to give him organic teether cracker which is basically flavoured rice cracker but fret not, it is for babies. It is mildly flavoured - almost tasted "tawar" - bak kata husband. He can't hold it yet without later on throwing it all over the place but he seems to like to nibble the cracker. 

The worst thing I gave him to taste was chocolate ice-cream. I mean, I cannot look at him drooling. And he actually watched our hand going back and forth to our mouth. So, yea I let him tasted it. I mean who does not like ice-cream? My child is not one of the exception. Sikit sikit boleh la. 

On rolling over, yes! He has mastered rolling over back and forth but he doesn't like it being on his tummy. Often when put on tummy, he would just cry. 

 before the water works

He now can sit with support. But he cannot keep quiet. His arms and legs are often on the movement (read : fidgeting). Changing diapers is like a battlefield with this one. So, we switched to pants diaper - still a challenge, though especially when he poops. Oih... he likes to grab things.. including his own poop under his butt in the diaper while changing. While sitting is fairly new to him, he likes standing better. His abdomen muscle is very strong now because I have been "training" him to sit up while me holding up his hand. He can actually immediately stand from laying flat. Kegiatan lompat-melompat masih diteruskan seperti biasa sehinggakan semua orang dukung jadi penat. 

 stand tall, sayang

He is currently 8.5kg (last checked during 5th month vaccination) and 66cm long, fully breast-fed. I am a proud Mama!! I mean every inch of his flesh is from me. Mana boleh tak proud kan? No no I am ok with formula-fed babies. I am not one of those breastfeeding mother yang kerek, yang mengharamkan formula kepada babies. It is one's personal choice. 

Pergi ke kitchen sebentar to take a gulp. 

Return to the hall, seeing him almost fell off from the rocker.

 

Hari hari nak kena cium dia sebab he smells so good.. and those chubby cheeks, no one can resist!

Breastfeeding Journey

Hi, 

I am writing this so I can read later in the future.

Since I got pregnant, I have been wanting to exclusive breastfeeding my baby kurang kurang takat 6 bulan dan dalam masa yang sama berharap rezeki diberikan pada my baby to enjoy my milk sampai ke 2 tahun. Reason utamanya adalah it helps us, financially. Dengan taksanya yang mencecah RM5000.00 ++ setahun, I think it is appropriate to panic when it comes to the cost of raising a baby. Jadi, kat mana boleh cut cost, I normally berusaha ke aras itu. Cuma, tang nak cut cost membeli pakaian baru kat anak tu macam tak boleh nak master lagi.

From diaper, bermula dengan Mami Poko, I downgrade to Petpet. Bagus juga. So far bum bum Firdaus tak de rashes pun. Bocor tu ada la sekali dua kalau salah pasang tape nye atau dia poop massive goop. Naik sampai ke belakang nun. Tapi I have no complains using slightly cheaper diaper. Lagipun baby poops a lot, tak sempat nak peram baby dalam urine diorang for them to develop nappy rash. So, nak beli diapers mahal-mahal rasa tak berbaloi sangat.

So coming back to my breastfeeding journey. I have been doing it for three months now. I can say it was fun. Breastfeeding adalah sangat menyeronokkan especially masa direct feeding. Plus, it keeps my baby to relax dan more importantly, I am the only who can calm him time dia mengamuk atau terkejut sebab mimpi. #PowerofBubis bak kata pak dia.

Menurut support groups, mindset is the most important and the milk booster yang paling terberkesan. I guess it is right, I do not really experience shortage of milk supply lagi sekarang. Susu pun tak de meriah macam sesetengah mothers tapi kalau pam tu selalunya ada la benda keluar. Mungkin sebab dari mengandung dah set nak susukan anak exclusively, maka susu tu selalu je ada.

Preparation

Truth be told, I started collecting information tentang breastfeeding selepas Firdaus lahir. I thought what is so hard about breastfeeding, it is there kan, bila baby nangis just stick into their mouth. It is not like that. Lucky, I bought breastpump sebelum beranak lagi. So, masa dalam pantang, I fully gunakan my breast pump to feed my baby. My first challenges come just after three days of delivery. 

Challenge #1

Susu tak keluar

I did not get the chance to bond skin to skin lepas delivery sebab I was very high on drugs. In fact lepas I declared he is a boy, I ask them to feed him dengan formula, which I truly regret. Tapi in my defence, I was really stoned masa tu sampaikan sanggup bagitau husband suruh bagitau doktor I wanted a C-Section sebab tak tahan sakit nak teran. So, my baby had been feeding on formula two days. Day 3 kat wad, lactation consultant try nak ajar untuk DF, baby mengamuk sebab susu tak kluar. He sucked but I don't know lah, susu tak kluar. Picit picit ada susu tapi mungkin dia dah biasa susu dari botol keluar laju, dia tak puas bila DF. I tried both sides sehinggalah nipples crack. Masa ni tak perasan lagi nipples dah crack.

Balik je rumah, terus panggil bidan untuk urut. Bidan tu urut kemain la sangat. Dia gentel, tarik semua cukup. Dan kena dengan gaya urutannya, susu memang keluar. Sekali, nipple crack. Bila my baby started suckling, the pain is unbearable sampai menangis nangis nak susukan anak. Disebabkan ilmu yang sangat cetek pastu ketidaksabaran merajai hati dan masa yang sama dok fikir jiran jiran marah anak meraung raung. Maka dibancuhkan lah formula untuk Firdaus

Challenge #2

Cracked nipple

Rasanya almost SEMUA new mother akan experience benda ni. Cracked nipple is no monkey business. Sakitnya sangat OMG suatu penderitaan yang kalau boleh tak mahu diharungi. It is painful bila baby sedut. It is painful juga bila pumping, just a little less dari direct feeding. Bila pump dapat la 2 oz from both sides. Masa tu tengok susu dalam storage bottle ~ alahai sikitnye la. Anak pulak kat kat hospital dah diajar minum 2 oz sekali hadap, maka demand dia tinggi. Susu badan pulak every three hours baru "refilled" balik so nak kejar demand dia 2 oz setiap sejam - sejam setengah tu rasa sangat la memenatkan. So, berselang seli la dengan formula. Kesian anakku itu.

Challenge #3

Kekangan masa

Dalam pantang, I had time. Dah dalam maternity leave, I sure had a lot of time. But I use that time to sleep sebab I was sleep deprived like big time. Dengan husband kat KL, only visited sehari seminggu, dengan my mother sekali sleep deprived. I fully utilise my privilege di mana "the mother should sleep when the baby sleeps". So, sebab letih senantiasa, dan nak yield 2oz in 30 minit (each pumping session), rasa leceh sangat. Masa ni guna Lacte Duet Elite. It is a heavy duty double pump tapi, hanya reti buat sebelah sahaja each sessions sebab sebelah tangan kena pegang botol, sebelah lagi nak massage breast to stimulate. So, 15 minutes each sides utk dapatkan 2 - 3 oz tu rasa bercinta sangat. Lebih baik tidur. Haa.. masa ni tak motivated lagi nak breastfeed. Tambahan pulak, formula tersedia. So, Firdaus berselang seli FM dan BM (tapi gradually BM tu lebih banyak dari FM). 

Masuk minggu ke 4, boleh dikatakan Firdaus fully breastfed. Stok pam harini guna harini. Setakat ini, tak berani tak bagi direct latching sebab dia tak pandai latch, kita pun tak pandai nak position kan dia dan ditambah pulak dengan sakit belakang dan trauma cracked nipple. Dalam hati berkata - pump pon pump lah, janji dia minum susu ibu. Formula dah tolak ke tepi.

As far as I could remember, Firdaus minum dalam 3 kotak kecil formula Anmum tu je.. 200gm X 3. Ada beli satu yang besar 600gm kot sampai skrg tak guna sebab susu badan kian bertambah.

Challenge #4

Stok susu

I DID NOT KNOW THAT YOU MUST START MAKING STOCK MASA DALAM PANTANG. Dan bila dah tahu, I thought of "rumah tak de fridge besar so how la?". Percaya atau tidak I started keeping stock 2 hari sebelum masuk kerja. Memang jenis kais pagi makan pagi kais petang makan petang la kiranya. To date, I have collected dalam 25 x 3oz packs. Lagipun, the idea of keeping BM dalam freezer sampai 3 4 bulan cam agak tak best. Kalau boleh setiap feeding nak bagi yang fresh kan. Alhamdullillah, so far boleh kejar demand anak.

To me, breastpump tu sangat penting. After joining support groups, I notice ramai ibu ibu beli 2 3 4 jenis breastpump sebab ada yang tak kena la, suction kurang la, ntah kenapa I rasa membazir. Kenapa tak invest terus untuk satu pump yang berkualiti terus?

I use Lacte Duet Elite. This is the first pump I beli, dengan harapan I can pump efficiently dengan menggunakan double pump.. Jimat masa. But I never used both of the cups sekaligus sebab rasa suction kurang kalau gantung kat bra semata mata. So, I tend to buat sebelah sebelah.. kalau rajin dpt la pegi 30 minit X 2, kalau tak rajin, 15 minit X 2... Leceh kan? And then, I learned ada sesuatu dipanggil "Freemie". Google punya google... amboi cecah RM400.00 utk cup sahaja. Mahainyaaaaaaaa... nak nangis..

Challenge #5

Tuntutan kerja yang memerlukan pekerjanya sentiasa on the go.

But, I thought at that time investing in freemie cups won't be a waste. Lagipun, boleh claim tax exemption under the 2017 budget. Trust me when I say, this is the best decision I ever made. Sebelum ada freemie, or lebih tepatnya sebelum tahu kewujudan freemie ni, I dah serba salah dan susah hati how to restock EBM di kala I have to go out of town for my Court trials. Siap plan perjalanan nak berhenti kat R&R to pump and then continue the journey. Dengan adanya freemie, I just stop kat R&R to put on the cups and then boleh teruskan perjalanan. Berhenti kat next R&R untuk simpan expressed milk dalam storage bottle/bag aje. Mudah sangat dan sangat menjimatkan masa. I also find that freemie ni amatlah mudah digunakan kat office. Jadi tak de la curi masa sangat nak pumping masa waktu bekerja. Maintenance pun senang. Tak renyah nak cuci. So yea, freemie is the best investment I did to exclusive BF my son. I bought my freemie for RM340.00 with postage (2017). I think this the cheapest sold so far.

Challenge #6

Pumping while at Court. 

Setakat ini belum lagi pernah pump kat Court. Pump dalam perjalanan ke Mahkamah pernah dah sekali ~ guna Freemie. Ada one time, almost nak pump kat Court tapi kes habis awal. Yang ini, bila tiba masanya I think it is either I have to do it in the surau or pump dalam kereta je. Waktu pumping 3 jam tetap kena jaga.

Challenge #7

Motor pump rosak

This happened before I returned to work. One of my double pumps motor rosak. Mujurlah pusat service Lacte ni dekat dengan my house. So, I went there one day sebab pump masih under warranty. Rupanya, susu dah berkerak kat dalam motor pump akibat back flow. (Susu tersedut ke dalam motor). Masa tu dah susah hati. Kalau kena tinggal pump kat service centre cemana nak pam susu. So, I invested in a manual pump. This one I beli second hand je. Medela Harmony. But it is good as new. In fact kotaknya pun cantik berkilat lagi. Rupanya previous owner tak sempat nak guna pun. Beli beli konon nak pam susu, susu tak nak keluar. So, she sold it to me for RM100.00. Ok lah kan? Yang ni tak berkesempatan nak guna lagi. Harap harap tak perlu guna tapi saje la beli, mana tahu kan berguna kelak. Nak marmet tak reti.

Challenge #8

Susu LDR. Kemudian membazir. 

Ini sepatutnya berada antara cabaran yang terawal sebab before I learned tentang milk collector, collecting milk yang LDR ketika anak menyusu adalah sangat hazab. Ye lah, tak pandai. Alatan bantuan pun sikit. Masa ni I tak purchase lagi Freemie or Medela harmony tu. So, every time LDR berlaku, tekap tuala je kat bubis. Sayangnya susu. Kadang kadang tengah berjalan pun boleh LDR dah menitik atas furniture, atas lantai. Maka my mom mengamuk la kena mop satu rumah. So, for this, I invested in the Hakka Milk Collector. Sebelum kenal Freemie, I am super impressed dengan milk collector ni. Just lekap dan leave. In 30 minutes, collector tu dah almost full dah. Baru la tahu, ibu ibu tandem guna cara ini lah selain dari pumping sebelah dan DF kat sebelah lagi. Kemudian, Firdaus pulak fuhh kaki dia kuat macam badang. Dia sangat suka terajang, jadinya ada la beberapa insiden dia terajang milk collector tu sampai terpelanting tertumpah susu. Sedih weh tengok susu badan tertumpah.

Challenge #9

Storage refrigerator

This is becoming really fast as a challenge for me kerana Alhamdulillah, Allah bagi rezeki dapat 5 ke 6 pack of 3 oz every day kalau pam kat office. Maka peti ais ku yang kecil tu kini memang khas utk susu je. Bahagian sejuk beku kini tak de dah lauk mentah, digantikan frozen EBM. I am thinking of getting a new fridge now hanya untuk letak susu. Tapi susu tak banyak mana sangat pun. So I am 50 -50 tentang getting a new fridge.

So, buat masa sekarang dah 3 bulan breast feeding Firdaus, inilah cabaran yang I hadapi dan I berjaya harungi. Panjang lagi perjalanan ni. Harap harap Allah kekalkan memberi rezeki untuk Firdaus merasa susu ibunya sampai ke usia 2 tahun.

counting days to three months

Hi,

I just returned to work 1 February haritu. Lucky me Boss extended my maternity leave for another week sebab I had 5 days baki Annual Leave last year.

Firdaus now is around 10 weeks and is fully breast-fed. Cuma in the first month tu ada campur formula few times sebab mild jaundice.

His progress now is that he can smile, laugh and make really squeaky sound bila upset or marah or even happy.. His choice of word or sound actually, is Aiii.. Everything is Aiii.... hek hek Aiii... Haa Kalau Aiii tu makna nak tidur la tu.. Kalau lapar, dia akan nangis terus.. Using the same sound, he is very talkative juga. He talks a lot and melayan dia adalah sangat seronok. Dia sangat vocal especially selepas mandi.

His weight masa 2 month check up was 6.7 kg, kalau tak salah. Sekarang ni macam lagi berat je. I don't know. Generally, dia tak banyak ragam. Tapi agak kuat memerap kalau mengantuk. Normally, memerap tu tak amik banyak masa la. Dalam 15 minits selepas didodoikan atau disusukan, dia akan doze off.

My husband and I are so obsessed with him. I mean, we cannot stop ourselves from kissing him.. Sehari mahu lebih dari 50 kali dia kena cium. Selain dari cium, I spent most of my money on his clothes. He has many clothes now. Some of them, dia tak boleh pakai pun lagi sebab I deliberately bought yang 6 months and above punya. In the first few weeks lepas beranak tu, I got so emotional just by looking at him. I mean, he is adorable and I just couldnt express into words how much I love him, so I cried. I cried because I love him so much. Gila betul. 

Few days ago, husband saw dia mengiring sendiri, twice. Bila kami try nak tengok lagi sekali, dia tak mengiring pulak. I don't know if it is too early for babies to mengiring at this age. But kalau betul dia mengiring, that's another achievement that I am very proud of.

fatso before a month is called "Awang Kenit". He is so small when I dukung him..

fatso slightly after a month old... not so fatso sangat lah.. kuruih lagi..

fatso ketika 9 minggu... 

this is a video capture.. I mean omg.. so obsessed!

Gosh, major love for this little nugget. 20hb ni kita cucuk utk vaccination bulan ke 3.
#bukanantivax

#vaxsaveslife

It is the littlest thing that makes everything counts

I do not know how to title this entry. 

I think it was so sweet that I want it to be a memory ~ a reason for me to smile when I read my blog in the future.

Last night, husband could not get to sleep. I didnt know why. Neither did he. 

I dozed off quite early last night, may be dalam jam 12.30 ke 1 am cam tu. Kira early la tu, sambil melayan Si Loki bawah katil. Husband pulak tengok sports (Rio 2016) kat depan. And then, I didn't remember what happened dah. Tau tau I was in my spot in the bed, sleeping and husband was beside me. It was 3 am cam tu kot. His hand was on my tummy. Tu pasal la terjaga. Sebab ada orang sentuh. I am a very light sleeper. Senang betul terjaga. 

Husband said "ni tidur telentang, bahaya utk baby". So, I shifted my sleeping position to my left. Sebenarnya, at this stage, no positions works sebab I have backache. But gagahkan jugak tidur on the side. Husband kata baby aktif sangat. Keje dok terajang while I was sleeping.

And then I dozed off again.

At around 4.30 am, I woke up again...kerana husband sentuh perut lagi sekali dengan alasan, tak boleh tidur (T__T) Why me? Takde keje betul, tak boleh tidur je, nak rasa baby gerak gerak.

At 7.00 am this morning, he was still up. Cheerful and full of excitement "Nak nasik lemak tak?". "Ok aje. Ambe dok kisah". He went out, beli nasik lemak and we had breakfast at 7.30 am.  He made hot tea and all... 

7.45 am, I got back into bed and sleep until 8.15 am until I am ready for work.

Husband, terlentang kat sofa dengan  muka mcm tapai sebab mengantuk. Huhu... kissed him on the cheek and pergi Court. I hope he is doing fine now at work. Member masuk keje kol 3 petang. 

I could not help it to feel so blessed having a husband who is so anticipating the birth of our baby, really. Masa lampau, sejarah keluarga made me believe tak de pon lelaki baik dalam dunia ni. At least that was I grew up with la. Nak share benda ni dengan mak pun, takut dia kecil hati because she did not experience marriage like I did, or may be this is too early to tell kan?

Biasa la ada pasang surut, naik angin turun angin tapi since getting pregnant, husband has been an angle. Harap-harap berkekalanlah hendaknya...

Amin!

p/s : I got my second dismissal today. Kalau bukan lawyer mungkin korang tak berapa faham kot betapa seronoknya dapat dismissal. But I cried tadi kat Court. Menggigil-gigil salin keputusan Mahkamah. yeay!~~

Baby Expo (TCE 2016 @ Mid Valley)

This is the event that I have been waiting for.

Memang stock menyimpan wang kaw kaw untuk event ni. Alhamdulillah ada bonus, duit raya dan (yg ni memang tak jangka sebab memang tak de dalam ingatan) duit kutu. Maka, dalam masa yang singkat dapat la menyimpan sejumlah wang untuk event ni.

Membaca dari review review dan pengalaman kawan kawan yang lain, diorang cadangkan pegi waktu weekday dan bukan weekend. Katanya kalau weekend bergembut orang. Nak nak event ni dibuat selepas orang dapat gaji. Jadi, memegang tips kawan-kawan ni, kami husband and wife pon amik la cuti hari Jumaat, untuk ke event ni.

Tips orang yang lebih berpengalaman juga mencadangkan untuk pegi awal-awal pagi untuk elak bersesak-sesak dan agar mudah dapat parking. You see, mendapatkan parking di tempat yang strategik sangatlah penting (buat kami), sebab we planned to buy the big, expensive items here. Yes, plan kami nak beli benda-benda besar je dan yang memang stok makan ratus/ribu sebab kami percaya, the real discounts adalah kat benda-benda camtu. Lagipun, it is too early for us to buy the small stuff (baju, seluar yadda yadda). So, the plan was to get a parking spot dekat dengan escalator atau elevator. Lagipun, mak buyong sekarang malas bonau nak berjalan.

So, we started the day early. The expo starts at 10.00. We left home dalam jam 9.00 am sebab kami dari Bandar Sunway, nak ke Mid Valley tu satu cara je. Federal Highway. The Federal Highway per se tak de la jam sangat. Tapi dari Bandar Sunway nak keluar ke Federal Highway tu, boleh tahan hazabnya. Jadi, kami kasi can la warga yang bekerja bertungkus lumus dulu kat situ (Jambatan Kable). Our target was to reach Mid Valley at 9.30 am. Tersasar!

We reached Mid Valley at 9.45am dan malang sekali tak dapat parking yang betul-betul dekat escalator. Actually tak jauh pon tp kalau boleh nak parking depan pintu escalator tu. Haaa kau, tinggi betul hajat!

Upon naik ke exhibition centre, nahhh selautan manusia dah beratur menunggu nak masuk expo hall. Bakpe ramai orang ni? Dop kije ke? Kami pun beratur la jugak sambil mencari-cari kat mana derang dapat buku senarai merchants dan paling utama kami nak cari map untuk locate kedai yang kami nak pergi.

Our main agenda was to find these items dalam bajet kurang dari RM2,000.00. We brought RM5,500.00 that day to the expo:-

• Baby Cot/Playpen
• Stroller & Car Seat
• Breast Pump
• Feeding bottles

So, when the doors open, we thought we had it all figure out. Husband cecepat grab map dan merchant lists and we moved to the side to study the map and locate the merchant yang kitorang nak visit. 

In all honestly, biarpun dah ada benda dah plan nak beli, we did not know where to start. Dalam masa setengah jam tu, we just walked around tengok kiri kanan. Tapi since kami ada target, kami tak stray from our targets. Husband dah mula complain "orang lain dah ada beg kiri kanan tangan, kita ada map je ni, cemana?". Haihhhh dia ni. Mengalahkan ong puang pulak.

Since, merchant ni berselerak (dalam erti kata, barang-barang tu bercampur - merchant strollers je bercampur sana sini), so kami visit setiap booths. First booth we visited was the one yang jual matress dan baby cot. Allaahh baby cot tu lawa kot...  tapi kami macam tak reti nak tanya apa. So, we just belek-belek pastu I nyot nyet nyot nyet kat husband nak kan baby cot tu. Harga the whole set, RM1,200.00. Tapi, you see when you have accumulated so much money, ada terasa sedikit sayang nak spend wang tu biarpun the baby cot was one of the purposes we've saved the money for. So, we passed sebab nak 'jalan-jalan dan survey' dulu, which I think was our best move that day.

And then we came by another booth yang jual baby bath tub. It is foldable and thus sangat convenient. Plus it is silicone so it is safe. Tapi, harganya RM180.00. It was not our target. I told my husband, "I read that we do not need baby bath tub. Any kind of basin will do. Lagipun sampai RM180.00. I know we are excited but let us not splurge on something we do not need". Husband gave his ok and we moved along. Husband mesti berbangga dengan isteri dia ni. Ahem!!

And then we came by a stroller booth. The one with the fancy brands macam Quinny, Mini (Cooper) and some other fancy brands yang I did not know existed. Price range dari RM1,300.00 sampai ke RM4,000.00 ada. Yes, some of them are quite fancy in terms that dia auto lipat la, ringan la, compact la. Ada few options to consider. My consideration adalah yang practical. Lagipun, salesperson tu tengok kami macam orang tak de duit je, dia pon malas nak layan. Few weeks ago, before the expo I wanted to get the Doona Stoller simpley because dia boleh transform from a stroller into a car-seat. Seemed like it was a good idea and fancy. Price-wise, tak de la burns the pocket sebab you get 2-in-1 item tapi, bila fikir jangka hayat penggunaan item tu, it is not worthy to spend that much. From my reading, it only fits from newborn sampai 18 months. Lepas tu kena beli yang lain. Too bad. So we ruled out terus the stroller. 

And then we visited the next-door booth. Jarron's Malaysia. We were greeted by a young petite malay saleslady. She.got.me.with.her.friendliness. Mesti banyak komisyen budak ni. She was with us from the moment we stepped into the booth sampai la we collected our receipt of payment. Haa beli ape tu?

Baby Cot. It was white, big and fancy. Yes, I use the word 'fancy' a lot dalam post kali ni. Husband's main concern was the mosquito net. He wanted it. I just wanted the whole set of the displayed baby cot. The negotiation did not take long. May be dalam 15 minutes kot and I was sold. The whole set, termasuk dengan musical mobile, net, bedding set, mattress... - RM1,226.00 and to be delivered and assembled at our house in mid-November. It is really easy to shop when you know what you want, really. So why, white, big and fancy?

Here are my reasons why I chose this baby cot:-

• We wanted it big so baby boleh guna lama. Hopefully until the baby is 4 years old
• It has removable side and can be replaced dengan side yang separuh when the baby dah boleh panjat katil sendiri.
• We also wanted it big supaya baby ada space dia sendiri dalam baby cot dia to play;
• We wanted it white sebab our bedroom set is white and white adelah sangat precious for babies.
• Husband likes it sebab ada mosquito net biarpun rumah kami tak de nyamuk. But, by logic when ianya tertutup, it would the give the sense of comfort sebab, ianya tertutup;
• I love the bedding set (bumper kiri kanan tepi depan belakang tu). It is quite expensive but it is sooooo comfortable. Since we buy it the whole set, harga dia dalam RM200++ (discounted from the original price RM300++)
• I love the musical thingy yang tergantung-gantung kat atas kepala baby tu. I tak tahu pon benda tu datang sekali. I did not know ianya berbunyi-bunyi. When they demonstrate, I went "Awwwwww, we'll take this set. Deal".

Inilah cot yang kami beli tu. Dan itu la adik manis yang kemain diabetis mulut dia promote katil ni.
Agak-agak korang boleh teke ke jantina ape baby F ni? ahaks.

Next, we moved to Tommee Tippee booth. Linda sangat menggilakan brand ni. I honestly do not know apa beza Avent, and Tommee Tippee or any other brands. But since Linda ada dua babies and have used both brands, I followed her suggestion to buy Tommee Tippee. I also read online yang brand ni bagus dari Avent dengan harga yang lebih munasabah. Up to this stage, I still do not know apa beza Tommee Tippee dan Avent selain dari harga yang boleh tahan jugak la jauh bezanya. I also read online yang booth Tommee Tippee ni selalunya sesak and yes, the tips and articles were right. It was just a small booth and memang sesak and customers kena beratur to masuk to the booth. Tapi barisan tak panjang pun. We went in and grabbed what we wanted. No! Kami tak grab. We tried to survey. Keyword ~ tried tapi tak berjaya because booth dia sangat sempit. Husband saw the 'close to nature ~ essential starter kit, or something. It was black dan cantik. It has bottle warmer, sterilizer 4 bottles, brushes and priced at RM726.00 kalau tak salah. This was NOT our target but yes, even though dah plan nak breast feed baby pun, I think warmer and sterilizer tu penting. Malas nak fikir panjang, husband grabbed the box and proceeded to checkout. Haa senang kan shopping kalau ada duit (tak de niat nak berlagak - I just want to highlight that while you have your target, kadang-kadang tersasar jua dan lebih baik la bersedia dengan wang untuk tersasar di expo dari dok susah hati buat kira-kira dalam kepala).

Gambar sumber ehsan Google sebab gambar sendiri blurry ngeng! Tapi set ni la kami beli. Tapi awat macam lain sket? Gambar kat luar kotak tu sama, tapi ada few extra items dalam kotak yang tak de kat muka kotak ni. But nevermind. Move along.

And then we proceed to Sweet Cherry booth. I know this brand sebab brand ni banyaaaaaaaaaak kat Jusco. Ramai juga ibu bapa beli brand ni sebab harga dia sangat munasabah dan Linda dan Paan approved! We aimed a stroller with a car seat and we found it. The basket is interchangeable dengan car seat and the price is RM550.00 and I am sold. So was husband. Kami belek-belek, tengok dia demo and then tak de cakap byk, we bought it. The downside of it, stroller ni tak compact. So, we might need to buy a compact one kalau kami nak fly ke Korea ke UK ke bulan ke Mars ke. Haa ahaks.

We bought the red stroller. It comes together with the car seat.

Boleh nak facing parent ke, ke luar sana ke. Terpulang.

And then the last item, we wanted was the breastpump. I chose Lacte Duet. I have been reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and found the best pump would be Madela lah. Tengok la harga dia pun. And then some lactating mothers suka benar dengan Lacte Duet ni. My main concern adelah pam yang tidak menyakitkan dan senyap dan pam yang membolehkan I use my two hands when I am pumping. Lacte Duet fit the characteristics that I want, but that was based on my readings la. I have not use it yet so macam tak boleh nak comment further. 

So, we went to the first booth, Fabulous Mom. The sales person adalah orang melayu. For Lacte Duet, dia ada jual pump sahaja dan pump with the whole extra "gifts" dengan harga RM629.00 kalau tak salah. Kalau pump sahaja RM499.00. Dalam set yang ditawarkan ada 3 storage bottle, 2 packet of ice packs, and a bag untuk letak pam dan storage bottle. I think it is very expensive dan the bag is ugly~ Husband had a small chat dengan another father who was at the expo. He said, there is another booth at Hall 1 yang bagi lagi banyak barang with cheaper price dan beg dia cantik. Since I read about the prices online, I think harga yang Fabulous Mom tawarkan ni mahal. So, we passed. 

Ingatkan harapan nak beli breastpump kat Expo dah hancur. Tiba-tiba terjumpa another booth. Tak ingat la nama dia. Terjumpa lagi sekali Lacte Duet. Sebagai mukadimah, I asked the chinese saleslady, ape beza Lacte dan Madela. Dia kata Madela bising. So I asked, bising makna tak bagus la? She said, benda mahal selalu bising maaa. In my head, BMW tak bising ponnnnnnn. She said, Ferrarri, Lamboghini. OK fine Amoi.. you win! (makes sense kan apa dia sebut??) She said Lacte and Madela almost the same cuma Madela adalah pioneer untuk double motor double apetah lagi. Lacte is a new brand and banyak new brands copy technology Madela dengan harga yang lebih rendah. Comfort-wise, Lacte wins sebab breast cup dia silicon, so dia lembut. Both also offer suction power macam baby to stimulate the breast to produce more milk. Both also ada dua motors. In the end, it is up to the parent la nak pilih yang mahal atau yang murah. I chose yang murah la sebab Madela sampai seghibu lebih while Lacte dalam RM500++ sahaja. In the set, Amoi tu bagi 6 storage bottle, ice hard ice pack to fit all six bottles dan satu beg galas yang sangat cantik to fit the pump di bahagian atas dan cooler bag di bahagian bawah for storage bottles. Price paid : RM560.00 kalau tak salah.

So, there!

Mission accomplished. So to speak lah.

As we walked out from the expo, we encountered a booth yang jual Parklon Play Mat. I wannnnnnnnnnnnnt!!! Tak sure I want it for my baby ke or for myself. Tak tengok lama pun, just sempat pegang, sembang-sembang kejap and then ambil booklet and walked away.

Husband pulak ternampak that baby bath tub yang sama we found earlier. Kali ni kat different booth. Ntah macam mana, husband boleh tergoda dengan bathtub tu. Practically, benda tu memang la penting sebab when we travel especially kalau balik KT atau Ipoh, we can bring it along untuk mandikan baby. Cuma kemekkan je, nanti dia jadi sekeping papan. So dia compact. Nanti baby dah besar pun, blh jadi personal tub dia untuk main rubber ducky dalam tu kan. So, husband bought it at RM150.00. Kami pun gendong la pelbagai beg kat bahu tangan.

Kami dapat jaring untuk diletakkan di atas tub tu supaya we can put the baby atas jaring tu and use our two hands to bath the baby. Tak de la sebelah nak pegang baby, sebelah lagi nak gagau shampu la, bath soap la..

Owh, I also read online yang it is advisable untuk bawak backpack. Kita ni punya la dok paksa husband bawak backpack haritu untuk letak benda - benda kecik. Tapi kami beli benda-benda besar. So backpack tu kosong. Muehehehe.. maka si isteri pun kena bebel la. 

On our way out, we saw booth brand Pureen. Ada jual baju murah2. Untuk buat husband sedap hati bawak backpack, I pun pilihlah few mittens and booties and baju lobang2 untuk baby. Murah. Baju dan seluar lubang-lubang satu set RM10.00, we took two. Mittens and booties satu set RM5.00, we took three. 

gambar mittens and booties takdop. ahaks

Kemudian, we also saw sejenis katil bayi yang boleh rock (goyang-goyang) ahhh sudah!! Pastu bawah katil tu ada laci lagi untuk simpan barang.. Ahhh sudahhh!! Adekah kami telah salah membeli? We check the price, katil sahaja RM1200.00 tak masuk mattress dan bedding set. Total semua semua tu boleh jadi sehingga RM2,500.00. Husband convinced me that we made a wise choice beli dari Jarrons tadi kekekekeke.

So, since barang banyak, stroller besau... We used the newly bought stroller as our trolley that day untuk transport barang-barang ke kereta. Sebab tu penting untuk parking depan pintu escalator tau!

We ended the shopping spree at 2.00 pm. 4 jam je shopping. It was fun, short and sweet, really. We got what we wanted and our pockets didn't burn that much. Memang main target untuk bawak pulang semula wang yang kitorang bawak untuk shopping tu and misi tercapai! Kami tidak membazir dan we spent very wisely ~ kami rasalah!

When we got to our car, dah ada kereta follow kitorang. Memang ramai, jang!! Kat luar, parking Zone A telah ditutup. Siap ada polis jaga. I saw on Facebook ramai jugak yang membebel Mid Valley jem. Itu Jumaat. Hari Sabtu, lagi la semakin ramai menyumpah kat Facebook. Kekekeke.. Sebab tu kena rancang perjalanan, mak mak sume.. OK?

So, adekah betul murah kat expo baby ni?

• For baby cot, I rasa reasonable sebab Ikea punya cot sahaja paling mahal dalam RM500++, itu tak masuk mattress, bantal, bumper kiri kanan sume. Pastu Ikea kot. I don't know, cheap items in Ikea I think tak berbaloi sebab kualiti rendah. And for its quality, spending RM1,200.00 for baby bedding set, I think is reasonable. But, at the same time I am planning to buy the 4moms Breeze to function as a playpen and bed untuk dibawa ke sana ke mari mostly ketika balik KT atau Ipoh supaya anak tidak merayap atas lantai.

• The Tommee Tippee set. I saw few IG shops offer pre-order basis dengan harga RM600.00 sahaja! *cray*

• The breastpump, almost as the same price as the ones offered online. The machine always RM499.00. Yang jadi pertambahan harga tu, barang-barang yang datang sekali dengan pump tu je.

• The baby bath tub, I saw online some shops sell it for RM120.00. *cray* lagi. But ada yang kata, ada tub yang imitations. Kalau yang imitation, bucu plastic antara the colored silicon dan white frame tu tajam dan tak smooth dan butang untuk buang air at the bottom of the tub tak boleh tukar warna kalau air panas dr 37c. 

So, there you go.

My first experience membeli belah barang baby. Biarpun membeli belah untuk baby, ianya sangat la therapeutic. I am looking forward to the next TCE expo. Next one is coming at the end of August 2016 at SACC Mall Shah Alam. But then again, too soon to get the small items. May be, another one in September ke or shopping dengan Tok Ana/Mak Tok pulak ke kat Ipoh. I want my mom to experience shopping barang - barang cucu jugak. 

The total estimated damaged done on that Expo day adelah:-

• Tommee Tippee - RM726.00
• Bath tub - RM150.00
• Baby Cot - RM1,226.00
• Lacte Duet - RM569.00
• Stroller & Car Seat - RM550.00
• Newborn shirt, pants, mittens and booties - RM35.00
• TOTAL : RM3,256.00 (Balance bawa pulang - RM2,244.00) ~ Good job, Mummy. Good Job

My mom kata I started my shopping sangat awal (I am at 23/24 weeks now). My argument is that sekarang yang tak de perut pun dah malas gila nak berjalan, apetah lagi bila dah bawak perut ketika kandungan usia 7/8 bulan nanti. Dah la kat expo tu tak de seats untuk parents bersantai seketika. Kalau ada pun, bapak-bapak yang akan bersidai kat kerusi-kerusi tu. I don't know. It just does not make any sense to shop di hujung-hujung kehamilan sebab expectant mothers akan penat. Plus, kalau shop awal-awal, tak de la rasa duit terbelahak kluar banyak terus sangat. Now, I can focus on saving for hospital maternity packages. Yeay!

Next mission adelah wardrobe drawer (we found the one we like dah, tunggu nak grab je) dan duit simpanan untuk beranak. Ahaks. Yang lain-lain as we go to the Mall, boleh la grab sikit-sikit.

I hope you guys enjoy reading my first baby expo shopping experience as I do writing them. Makes me smile, wehhh...

Update : I think my baby started kicking dah couple of weeks ago but I can't tell the difference between gas bubbles or my baby movement. Rasanya baby kot sebab sebelum ni tak pernah pon ada gas bubbles memberontak dalam perut. But I fart a lot lately. Yes Baby F, you make Mummy fart a lot while squirming inside my tummy.

Berat Badan Turun Ketika Pregnant

Hi,

I am getting into my 16 weeks of my pregnancy.

The last time I checked (this morning), I have lost 5 kgs since I found out I am pregnant. Doktor kata it is not something to worry about. It is normal sebab expecting mothers akan hilang selera dan muntah-muntah. What's not normal is that I don't have morning sickness, nauseas or anything that would make me muntahkan makanan. So, I wonder what could have been the cause of my weight loss.

It occurred to me it is mostly likely because I now take "good" food now that I am pregnant. Tidak seperti sebelum ni, kita tibai je semua benda. Also, I am quite selective when choosing my food. I found that I keep away from fried food, particularly oil drenched food mcm kotiaw goreng, atau cucur badak. Dry deep fried food, okay je macam ikan goreng garing tu. I also tak berapa gemarkan makanan bersantan and I tend to much on fruits, all kinds. So I think, that could have been the cause of my weight loss, which is awesome. 

In addition, I also learn that I could have gestational diabetes sebab during pregnancy hormone insulin utk selaraskan gula dalam darah kurang produktif. My appetite for chocolate has gone down drastically tapi I still live to nibble on M&Ms once in awhile. Untungnya kali ni dapat hamil sambil berpuasa. So, in a way it could help me control my sugar intake. 

I am also very into juice, particularly orange juice. Orang kata juice delima amat baik untuk pregnancy. Rata-rata ibu ibu beli Pati Delima Gulsan. I didn't. I bought BenOrganic Pomegranate Juice yg mana Pati Delima Gulsan tu dibuat dari concentrate tapi BenOrganic mmg 100% pure cold pressed Pom juice. Tapi masamnya ya rabbi. So I stick with orange juice. My choice is Florida's Natural Orange Juice, kerana ape? Kerana ianya bukan dari concentrate dan ingredients dia tak de bahan bahan pemanis tambahan seperti fructose, sucrose. Juice box ni mahal, tapi kita minum bukan utk hilangkan dahaga tapi untuk dapatkan khasiatnya.. So, sastu box tu blh la tahan seminggu. (Tapi kadang-kadang, husband togak jugak.. wuwuwuwu)

Tips : rajin rajin la tengok ingredient list kat juice box tu. Ingredient paling awal tu adalah bahan yang paling banyak dalam juice box tu dan mostly ianya adalah fructose dan/atau sucrose which is kata nama indah untuk "gula". 

I also make it a habis minum air lemon + madu. Oih sangat sedap. Yang ini memang minum untuk nafsu tanpa memikirkan kebaikannya. Kira good habit la ni. Minum sejuk sejuk, fuuuhhhh best best. Orang kata air lemon ni boleh hilangkan selera makan. I don't know. In my head tujuannya adalah, I need sweet beverage dan lemon and honey water adalah substitute yang sihat for me to enjoy sweet beverage. Seperti yang diketahui, lemon sebijik adalah mahal. Dan kalau dapat species pemalas macam yours truly ni, nak belah lemon pon malas. So I bought this bottle. Kat AEON ada. Sama seperti jus oren, jus lemon ni bukan dari concentrate so, I am just going to assume that it is the best choice. Satu sudu besar juice + satu sudu besar madu, bancuh dalam air.. boh ais.. sedappppppppppppppppp...

So, itu lah alkisahnya, kenapa I rasa I am losing weight during my pregnancy. I am hoping it could lost may be dalam 5kgs lagi ke before I bounce jadi bam bam balik. Kekekeke.. That way tak de la susah sangat nak hilangkan pregnancy weight kelak bila selera makan kembali. So far, doktor kata my weight loss does not effect my baby (yet), tapi this weight loss bukan intentional. Rasanya makan tu dah macam biasa dah tapi I admit, makan sekarang memang kuantiti yang sangat sedikit tapi kerap. Dan food selection mmg agak limited sebab selera tak de, so tak de keinginan nak makanan sedap. Janji makanan sihat. Tapi maggi pon aku bedal je kalau dah teringin... Eh ntah la.. I hope this weight loss is a blessing biarpun expecting mother should be losing weight sebenarnya.

Post Wedding Production - Ipoh

Assalamualaikum.

Harini saya nak mempersembahkan "investment" saya untuk wedding saya.

Haa... setelah 3 bulan menanti, akhirnya siap jugak photo dan video wedding kite ni ha.. Although I look superfat dalam video (dengan double triple chinnya), I think the "memories" are bee..auutiful. I watched the video sambil senyum-senyum. I am very happy I invested some expenses to simpan memori ni. 

And untuk pasangan yang nak kahwin, sejujur-jujurnya I would advise korang untuk invest sedikit wang untuk hire videographer untuk abadikan kenangan sekali seumur hidup ni insyaAllah. Ada sesetengah video I tengok, siapa guna dron nak amik aerial shot. Fuhhh cantik sangat... Tak jeles ke tengok video kat IG Hairul Azreen masa dia rakam percutian dia dengan Hanis kat Bora Bora tak lama dulu.. Lawa kan? Cuma sediakan wang sikit la... Dan main ribu jugak lah.. tapi kalau tak mampu, ambik video biasa-biasa pun tak pe.

Saksikanla video I ni.

Wedding I kat Ipoh so as my photographer and videographer adalah based in Ipoh. So harga kat Ipoh tak gegila macam kat KL rasanya.

I share details in my previous post... Do check them out.
Dont forget to view in HD utk kesan efek... ahaks...

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Posted by Motion Touch Cinematography on Wednesday, January 27, 2016