Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Aisyah's EBM Drinking Habit

Baru2 ni aku cam risau sbb Aisyah minum x sampai pon 2 botol of 5 oz milk a day. Setahu aku, dari blog kwn2 working BF moms yg lain, kalo babies diorg umur 6 bulan ke atas tu, stok mcm x bercukupan. Tercungap2 nak pump kat tempat kerja, nak kejarkan stok. Aku ni plak dah terbalik. Aisyah buat x kisah ngan EBM dia, minum pon main2.

Bila jumpa health visitor, dia kata normal sbb Aisyah dah start mkn solid food, aku cam x berapa percaya. Ye ke? Sbb aku jumpa tu general health visitor je kan, bkn lactationist, so aku agak ragu2.

Sblm aku dtg UK ni, ingatkan ramai mothers kat sini yg aware psl BF, sbb paediatrician Aisyah masa kat An-Nur ckp susu formula susah nak dpt kat sini (which is true), and kerjaan British bg 6 month paid maternity leave utk menggalakkan BFing, so I was under the impression that BF awareness is better here. Tp oops, aku silap, sini teenage pregnancy rate agak tinggi, so bebudak 'townies' yg quite possibly high school dropouts ni cant be bothered psl BFing, so aku tgk ramai gak yg bg botol aje. Tu yg aku bertambah x yakin ngan Health Visitor tu (but she was very, very nice, and dia sgt2 impressed aku berusaha giler2 buat stok EBM , and juga impressed dgn usaha Hubs yg bersungguh2 menjadi house husband yg caring dan bg EBM pd Aisyah semasa ketiadaan aku).

But I kept feeling worried about my daughter's EBM drinking habits. The only thing yg membuatkan aku rasa Ok sket ialah Aisyah suka menyusu mlm, byk plak tu. Tp letih sket la, sbb bila kitaorg dah tido pon kdg2 dia minta (mata dia pejam, tp mulut bunyi minta susu). Lebih 5 kali la satu mlm tu terbgn2 (aku la, dia mata pejam lg). Nasib bg susu dlm posisi baring, so x perlu aku fully awake jg utk BFing.

Aku takut perbuatan BFing sambil tido ni adalah salah. Ye la, mcm org malas aje. Pas tu aku takut bottle rot, sbb menyusu dlm tido. And aku x sure sama ada Aisyah ni nyusu betul ke, comfort nursing aje (buat pacifier dodoikan dia tido).

Tp selepas baca artikel ini on reverse cycling (http://www.workandpump.com/reversecycling.htm), Alhamdulillah, rupa2nya mmg ada 'smart' babies yg allign kan waktu mkn dia dgn waktu ibu dia ada kat umah (meaning less during the day, more at night). So, betul approach aku tu. In fact, sgt2 disarankan bg BF sambil tido, sbb benefit kedua2 baby n ibu (ibu dpt rehat lebih sbb yah bgn gi ke cot baby jauh2, n babies pon dpt coordinate kan waktu tido sama mcm ibu). Plus, babies mcm ni akan tido siang, so senang la keja Hubs. And when it's more on the breasts, I can pump less at work! A Godsend!

And psl bottle rot tu, baru la aku tahu bahawa kerisauan aku x berasas, sbb breastmilk does not rot the babies teeth. Hanya formula milk and juice will, and kalo baby dah start mkn solid, that is most likely the culprit. Phew!

So Alhamdulillah skali lg, and x perlu la aku risau2 tentang eating pattern Aisyah ni. Asal sihat n selamat, syukur....

Monday, December 29, 2008

Last night was like any other nights,..

.. it was a Sunday, and it meant it was laundry day in our house. I settled in front of the telly with a huge pile of clean laundry and started folding the clothes that had just came out of the dryer, whilst Hubs was busy 'fixing' the holes underneath the window sill (and thank God he fixed it well, bcoz it's freaking freezing in Plymouth since the last week, and we've been having a gush of cold air seeping into this hole into our living room every now and then. Apparently, winter has just arrived and is adamant to stay!)

As the parents were busy, Aisyah was left to her own devices. She was on her playmat fiddling around with her soft toys, and every now and then I would turn my head towards her and smile, or got up to pick her up from the door/electric cables/door mat/celah sofe, etc.

She moves quite swiftly now, but she had not yet mastered the skill of crawling, and had always been doing the 'golek-golek' (tumbling) act to get from one place to another. Sometimes she would move sideways (mcm ketam buat tu), and that would usually get her from point A to B. Most of the time though, when she tried to crawl, she'll just get backwards and even further than wherever she intended to go, as most babies start out, much to her frustration.

Anyway, when both parents were busy, she did the commando crawl for the first time ever! And she managed to move FORWARD!

I screamed at Hubs so that he could witness it but Aisyah didn't want to do it anymore. I had to do a commando crawl for Hubs bcoz he did not know what it looked it. After using several of Aisyah's favourite toys as baits, she finally repeated her feat and she did it so gracefully it looked like she ahd done it forever. She even wouldn't stop commando crawling afterwards.

Ah, babies... one blink and you'll miss it..

Monday, December 22, 2008

Another Quick One

Aci x kalo kalo tulis sket walau pon aku kat lab n byk giler keja x wat?

Ok, another quick post. Maap, x de gambar. aku x transfer lg dari kamera. Sbb utama, x dan. Sbb kedua, aku sebanarnya berkobar2 nak tulis blog, tp dari umah la, the goody-two-shoes that i am, x nak wat kat opis, tp BT yg patut psg line tepon umah kitorg hari tu screw up, pas tu terpaksa re-schedule tarikh baru lps xmas, yakni 7 januari utk psg line tepon. eeeiiii... geram x terkata, sbb aku nak telepon msia, aku nak psg internet n blog from home, n aku nak tepon 0845-numbers kat sini utk settle kan byk bills lain, api, air, gas, etc.. (otherwise kena pakai HP mahal giler babeng utk wat call, dah la kalo kena customer service manjaaaaang je put on hold, sakit hati aku!). ok cukup luahan rasa wat pg ni.

aku kat lab ni, tp x de manusia pon. sbb nya, term dah habis. org semua balik kg bercuti daaaa... plymouth ni mcm serdang gamak nya. uni town. kalo cuti aje, ghost town. mmg terasa berbeza la time cuti ngan x. bebudak msia pon byk yg pegi berjalan2. ada yg balik msia, ada yg tour europe, ada yg pulun keja overtime. aku? aku lead life mcm biasa, pg gi lab, ptg main ngan aisyah sampai mlm, mlm tgk tv sampai tgh mlm, tgh mlm bergurau lg ngan aisyah sampai pkl 1 pg (budak tu tgh mengalami fasa x mo tido awal, apa bole buat). aku x ke mana2 sbb x de duit, byk keja, x de tempat nak tuju, plus korg la, x dtg visit aku kat sini. kalo x bole aku bwk jenjln hehehehe... sedap salahkan org hehe..

tp kalo korg nak dtg pon, tggu summer kot baru worth ur money. sbb skang mcm sejuk ajer, tp x snow pon. so kalo nak harap nak main main snow, bkn di plymouth tempatnya. temperature dlm 8C hari ni. kira suam2 la tu. kalo 1C ke, baru sejuk betul.

psl PhD plak, dah mula susah. biasa la tu... aku nyer prof suka approach yg mana aku x yah la baca2 sakan LR tu, wat dulu programming part or test dulu available tools. bagus juga gitu, sbb kalo baca teori aje pon aku blur gak, better get my hands dirty from the strat kan. masalahnya, aku ni sgt la x terror bab2 technical ni, tp terpaksa la beb. nak wat cam ne. nak x nak...

kdg risau aku, takut x leh bawak ke.. ntah la, aku pon baru lg, so i should give myself time. jgn cpt panic! tp tu la, manusia2 kat sini mcm fokus sgt wat keja. dah la aku sebilik ngan 2 org postdoc, tertekan aku. lebih membuatkan tensen tu sbb aku budak baru, budak lain dah masuk third year pon, so in comaprison nmpk byk sgt la ketinggalan aku nih. prof M baru nak amik budak baru nak recruit semula starting april depan, so i guess aku la antara batch baru itew... huhu...

masing2 kat sini pakai headphone je manjang, ngadap PC, so x de la nyembang2 sgt dlm lab.. mkn pon dlm lab, x kuar gi cafe ke. not to say diorg sombong, time giler tu ada je menyanyi2 n main gitar (computer music nyer lab kan?) lagu xmas ari tu diorg, tp jarang sgt la. aku rasa work attitude dia la, sgt serius.

plus aku rasa mcm insan kerdil pon ye jgk. mmg pendek pon. lg satu, aku sorg2 nyer female dlm group nih. lain2 semua laki. tua plak tu (kalo muda x pe, acah je). ada yg viva baru ni lg tua dari bapak aku, anak dah 3, besar2. amik ko. huhu... yg post doc 2 org lagi tu masing2 nak masuk 40-an. waaa... intimidating sungguh!

tp sorg postdoc tu baru aje berfamili, n expecting twins (i found sama hari ngan i found out farid n dila nak dpt twins, and i thought, man, it's an epidemic! hehe), so dia byk tanya aku mcm2 bab parenting, dari segi stroller la, breastfeeding la (sbb dia nmpk aku relax je pump dlm bilik tu), work schedule la etc. malu aku, sbb post doc pon berguru ngan aku - tp bab parenting je la. lain2 dia power kot :P but enough to illustrate that org sini wlaau dah ada phd, still humble. bole nak blaja dari aku ni, dah la muda (ahem), novice giler plak u...

ok enough la rambling. overall, life is good, work is progresaing, albeit slower than i would have liked (sbb x de previous experience), moeny is a litlle tight, but sufficient (hoepfully!), and most of all, Hubs and Aisyah are all happy and healthy. It's more than what I can wish for right now, though it wouldnt hurt if i could sort out that kink in the installation bit before new year. pray for us people.

happy holidays!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Kenapa Aku Menyepi

Just a quick one here, aku kat lab nih, segan weh...

Still alive, still doing fine, still in UK...

Cuma lambat sket update bcoz last week ari Selasa tu pindah rumah. Sblm tu kan demam2 so x larat nak menulis blog dah. Bila dah pindah tu, sibuk ya amat la mengemas, memunggah dan menyusun plak di rumah baru. Pulak ada byk brg keperluan seharian yg kena beli, mcm kettle la, pinggan mangkuk, vacuum cleaner, bla bla, so kitaorg yg x berkereta ni memborong la sket demi sket, sehari ke sehari asyik ke supermarket aje kerjanya.

Tp x pe la, sbb ni pon musim winter, x leh nak duk lelama pon kat supermarket tu, sbb jarak waktu semayang sgt dekat, kang terlepas plak. Ye la, kdg mcm sgt kelam kabut sbb pkl 12 tgh zuhur, skali pkl 2 lebih sket dah asar, pkl 4.30 dah maghrib, pergh.... mmg x kan shopping lelama la... akan ku gunakan waktu itu sepenuhnya pada musim summer nnt bila maghrib pon pkl 9 mlm nnt hua hua hua...

Cuma yg best ialah 2 minggu lps gi umah Che Fadh kat Bristol. Best, best dan best! Nnt la aku letak gmbr jejak kasih kitaorg skali ngan entry dia lps ni. Malu ah nk upload gmbr kat sini, kang reseracher lain nmpk, kantoi! Best kan reunion nih. Aku sempat singgah blog sazly psl k dlyn melawat diorg.

Speaking of umah, hmm... mmg berzaman lg nak dpt internet. sian sgt kat Hubs... kitaorg dah masukkan SKY utk TV, dah apply utk BT line, tp lmbt giler lg diorg nak dtg install... bosan betul la... tu yg akan menambahkan lg kelembapan blog ini being updated. i guess it's good in a way, x de distraction kat umah, tp ndak jg tahu perkembangan semasa.

tp siap la, kalo dah psg, akan aku berborak lama2 ngan family aku kat msia (kitaorg amik plan yg akan bole dpt free international calls). And che fadh, siap sedia, kita akan call awak ptg2 or weekends, hehe... (sbb dpt unlimited calls evening and weekend - weeee!).

ok la, that's for now. nnt aku upload gmbr rumahku syurgaku soon. take care guys, and stay warm!