baby iyad's ophthalmology appointment and vaccination

it has been a very long day for both me and baby iyad..baby iyad took his bath at 6 in the morning as he had an appointment with the ophthalmologist at 10.30 am...we had to go early as we followed papa to work today...

while waiting for his appointment, we stayed at mama's room and chit chatted with mama's friends... iyad put his very best behaviour in front of sweet aunties...we went up to the clinic at 10 and met with lovely prof j (the ophthalmologist)...baby iyad got his pupils dilated with medication...my poor baby was struggling letting the doctor to drop the medicine into his eyes...his eyes pressure was checked with tonopen and again he struggled and cried, feeling uncomfortable and angry...

we waited for a while to let the medication works as to dilate his pupils...a few more drops of medication was put into his eyes as the pupils were not well dilated at the first examination...in between i breastfed him and he vomited quite a lot after that due to the side effects of the medication given...on the second examination, the pupils we well dilated and the optic nerves, macula, fundus and its peripheries were well visuaalized..alhamdulillah, they were all normal...iyad's next appointment with prof j will be in january next year...

we had a break before the next appointment with the paediatrician, prof r at 4.30pm for iyad's vaccination...i was very hungry and sleepy...ate my potato salad and peanut butter sandwich with a cup of hazelnut coffee...baby iyad also had his lunch of mixture of peanut butter-potato-coffee tinge of breast milk (walla)...had my prayer, breastfed iyad again (this time no more vomiting, alhamdulillah) and changed his clothing and nappy...off we went again to the clinic upstairs for his vaccination...

his current weight is 4.3kg and length is 56cm...he is growing well within 1 month since his last follow up...as expected, iyad screamed out his voice for a while due to pain..then he was off sleeping again comfortably in our wrap...we were very happy on iyad's development as it was at par as other babies at his age...

we went home feeling very tired...now iyad has already asleep after multiple doses of breastfeeding session since we got home..hopefully he won't develop any fever after the vaccination...good night, sleep well everybody....

selamat hari raya aidiladha, baby ahmad develops social smile

selamat hari raya aidiladha...baby ahmad has something special to show you...

at just about a few days to his 2nd month old birthday, he begins to develops social smile...he smiles whenever people talk and coo at him...he becomes very excited when we start a friendly conversation with him...and he tries very hard to get our attention by letting out his soft cry and gets pretty angry when we do not attend to him...

baby ahmad's social skills currently is at par with normal babies at his age...his head control is getting better and we are so proud with this achievement..alhamdulillah, he is not as floppy as a baby with down syndrome usually is and he has good oral muscle tone as well that supports his sucking skills...up to now, he is on full breastfeeding and i'm just glad that he does..

he's going to be 2 month old next week and it's time for another check up with the pediatrician and  also another dose of immunization..we are looking forward to another weighing session too and praying for a good growth on the graph...

papa's masters (specialist) convocation

alhamdulillah, after 4 years of hard work and determination, my dear hubby is now a specialist in his field..he is now a specialist in clinical microbiology and insya allah to continue working hard to become an immunologist in a few years time...and in that 4 years, he also produced 2 heroes- imtiaz and iyad...a superdad indeed..!

last weekend was his convocation day at UKM Bangi...i went there with my dear friend dahlia and we were very glad that we attended this auspicious ceremony...it really boost up our motivation and spirit to finish our study within the given time frame (for me it will be May 2013, insya allah)...

baby iyad stayed home with jihan and imtiaz and wan and atok...i left him 5 bottles of 3 oz EBM...hopefully that should be enough for him...we left home at 6.30 am and only reached home at around 3pm...that was about 9 hours away from my baby iyad...

during the ceremony, i expressed my breast milk using my manual pump...i covered myself appropriately with my shawl and started pumping while dahlia helped me to capture those memorable event with hubby's D7000...i managed to get 5oz of EBM which was sufficient to relieve my engorgement..

after the ceremony, we took a studio photo that was available there...then went back home feeling very hungry..couldn't wait any longer there, it was hot, and we were hungry, and i really missed my baby and the bigger ones and my breasts were engorged again...i expressed again my milk in the car and got another  4oz..

we packed home the ayamas chicken rice for them at home...baby iyad took 4 bottles of EBM during my absence, and behaved well too...

at home, we took a family photo with the children..they were excited having got to wear the robe and the hat...

baby iyad is now 7 weeks old..he's growing well and getting heavier and chubbier each day...he loves taking his bath and gets very excited when we take off his clothes, as he thinks it's his bath time...he doesn't like to be left alone though...he will give us a soft cry when nobody is at his sight...

to my dear hubby, congratulations on your outstanding achievement...you are such a great husband, a great father and a great hero to many of us...we pray that you will continue to succeed in everything you do dunia and akhirah...and whatever you do, we will always support you and be by your side...

bottle-training baby iyad

i still have about 1 month plus of maternity leave...i have been direct breastfeeding baby iyad since he was 2 day old..  now that baby iyad is about 7 weeks old, i feel that now is the right moment to train baby iyad to drink expressed breast milk (EBM) via bottle...

so we started to train baby iyad early this week..i put about 2 oz of EBM in the feeding bottle..warmed it in a mug of warm water..then wan tried feeding baby iyad with it...at first, baby iyad was refusing it..he kept on thrusting his tongue out refusing the teat and some of the milk dripped from the corner of his mouth...occasionally he let out a soft cry trying to tell us that he was hungry and wanted to be fed...wan kept on offering the bottle to him, baby iyad sucked for a while and letting it go...

after a while. baby iyad can't stand of being hungry...he took the teat well into his mouth and started sucking regularly in a perfect rhythm...he finished drinking 2 oz of milk that afternoon and was satisfied...he slept soon after...

the next day, i planned to go to work for half a day...i breastfed baby iyad at around 6.30am...i left him with 5 bottles of 2.5-3oz of EBM...wan and makngah struggled to get baby iyad to drink his milk...when i returned home at around 1.30pm, he already took about 2 bottles of 2oz of EBM...that was quite a success...i pumped once at work at around 10 o clock, managed to get about 6 oz with 15 min pumping session..when i returned home i pumped again as i felt that my breast was quite painful with engorgement and then continued direct breastfeeding baby iyad...

yesterday, we tried once more the bottle-training session...this time round, he didn't take it well...and i ended up direct breastfeeding him...

so today, we tried again...makngah had trouble at first to get him on the bottle..after 20 min and a few soft cries and cannot stand of being hungry, baby iyad took the teat into his mouth and started drinking efficiently and finished 2 oz of EBM...phew...! and now fell asleep..

ok baby iyad, you need to drink EBM when mama is not around and we need your cooperation to ensure that you are well-fed and well-nourished..so far, alhamdulillah, he can breastfeed directly from the breasts without being nipple-confused...

this saturday, mama will leave you for about half a day again to attend papa's graduation...so, baby iyad , i'm sure you will drink my EBM via bottle and will give your best cooperation to wan, ok...

our babywearing journey

baby iyad is now 7 week old...he's getting chubbier and heavier although some said he's still tiny...you peeps wait for another few weeks or month, i'm sure my little hero will plump up like his elder brother and sister when they were babies...alhamdulillah, baby iyad is still breastfeeding fully, feeding on mama's breast milk only...getting stronger each day, loves to kick his legs around to wake mama up at night for his feed, and moving his arms actively when he wants our attention or wants to be lifted up and cuddled...occasionally smirks his face spontaneously but we love more when he smiles spontaneously as he looks very handsome indeed...

adorable baby iyad..don't you just fall in love with this baby..?

i've been babywearing baby iyad since he was 5 day old when we went to the hospital for his blood taking...i carried him in a pouch and he was comfortably snugged in it... then i started wearing him in the woven wrap, wrap conversion mei tai (WCMT) and ring sling, they are very much loved by both us too...we got a very special (WCMT) that was made specially for us by Bebe Sachi (as mentioned in my previous posting)..it's the one and only available in the world, made from woven khandi...a dear friend of mine, RRO has specially designed it for us as a very special gift...

i started my babywearing journey with imtiaz when he was about 1 month old...i used the baby pouch to carry him in cradle hold then i used minimonkey baby sling when imtiaz was about 1 year plus to facilitate me carrying imtiaz in hip carry position..i really love both carriers as they were lightweight.,foldable and easy to toss into the bag and made our life easier when we couldn't bring the stroller around at non stroller-friendly place...babywearing made me close to my child and they love to be carried and be close to their parents..even atok loved to carry imtiaz in the pouch last time as it made him easier to carry imtiaz..and makngah loved carrying imtiaz when they ventured interesting places in penang and australia while mama needed a break...

then we moved on to soft structured carrier (SSC) when we made our trips to penang and australia and thereafter as it was difficult to bring our stroller on the plane and we wanted to be mobile and less luggage on board..the SSC was more comfortable and sturdy when carrying a toddler around...imtiaz loved to be carried on my back on the SSC as he was able to look around at the beautiful scenery and enjoyed the trips very much...occasionally he got off the carrier and walked and ran around, then hop on again when we moved on...

now, when baby iyad was born, i really love to continue my babywearing journey...babywearing baby iyad is good for him as touch and warmth can stimulate his senses which is very important for his  growth and development...there are many other benefits of babywearing that can promote a happy, healthy baby as well as competent and confident parents (and making their life easier too)...

multitasking

since baby iyad is quite a small size newborn baby, at this moment i love to carry him in the woven wrap or ring sling...we had the opportunity to attend a babywearing workshop during the weekend to learn about the safe way to carry our children...imtiaz had fun being back carried in a woven wrap too, which i've not mastered the technique yet..

in conjunction with the international babywearing week from 8-14th october 2012, the malaysian babywearers organized an international babywearing walk at the curve yesterday...it was held to create the awareness among public on the beautiful of babywearing your children...mums, dads and even little children joined this walk and we were among them too...it was an happy occasion that we got to meet old and new friends and shared and exchanging stories about babywearing and everything...

babywearing need not be expensive...even a long batik lepas can be used provided you practice a safe babywearing...when you wear your baby right after they are born, you are giving them a transition environment from womb to the outside world...if you realized some babies tend to cry a lot during their early days when they are left in an open space, like in a cot and become settled when they are cuddled...so when you wear your baby, you are actually providing a safe and secure environment for your little ones... how lovely it is when your baby is placed on your chest and she can listened to the perfect rhythm of your heartbeats that she had been listening to for the past 9 months while in your womb..that will make her feel safe and secure being closed to the person who care and love her the most..

read more about babywearing and let me spread the joy of babywearing to all of you... 

Babywearing International Resources

La Leche League International - the benefits of babywearing

imtiaz is drawing a ferrari and a volkswagen

let this video tells the whole story of what my handsome young man doing... ; )

weekend outing with papa...

yeay, papa came back home in the afternoon after one and  a half day being away from mama and the kids...mind you it's not easy to handle 3 kids even though i have extra helps from wan, atok and makngah...

baby iyad was very active in the morning and had many times of mama's milk before he could settled and fell asleep...i carried him in a ring sling and he loves it very much..he might have a growth spurt now as he can't be enough of single feed at a time..so, when papa came home, he was asleep throughout until we left for an outing to alamanda with kakak jihan and abang imtiaz..the two of them were looking forward to have their meals at TGIF...

at TGIF

baby iyad was very comfortble being carried in a very special Babe Sachi Mei Tai, exclusively made for us as a very special gift..Thank you auntie rita..mama still have to practice more to tie and untie it in public... ; )

while kakak jihan and abang imtiaz had their favorite meals at TGIF, baby iyad had his too...as usual, he poo-ed after he was full and we changed him after we finished and did some groceries shopping after that...

having his meal

abang imtiaz and his groceries

in the car on the way back home, baby iyad seemed not to be settled and wanted more milk so i repeatedly nursed him until we reached home (after making 2 pit stops at the R&R surau for papa to pray and at KFC Tesco Nilai to buy makngah's dinner)..

he finally settled and fell asleep after bouts of feeding at around 9pm and slept throughout until 4am when he woke up for feeding again...mama also had an uninterrupted sleep for a few hours and now i'm wide awake at 5am, blogging after nursing baby iyad and a session of milk expression (got a full bottle of 5 oz after baby iyad's meal)..

oh yes, abang imtiaz already knows how to draw cars by himself...

baby ahmad goes to abang imtiaz's school

dear papa was not around this weekend as he had to attend a workshop in Melaka..so mama had to bring abang imtiaz to his school (playgroup session) in susuibu.com Bangi...and baby ahmad had to follow too and he was very excited to see abang imtiaz at school ; )

baby ahmad sleeping in abang imtiaz's class

makngah took care of baby ahmad while mama attended to abang imtiaz...abang imtiaz had fun dancing and doing his artwork...halfway through, baby ahmad cried for milk and mama and makngah switched places...baby ahmad got to catch a glimpse of abang imtiaz dancing and doing his breakdance...

abang imtiaz's video

abang imtiaz at school

after the class, we went to auntie dahlia's house and had a marvelous lunch and brought home a dish of tuna casserole freshly baked, hot from the oven..yummy...!

later in the evening, mama's friends came to visit baby ahmad, but baby ahmad slept throughout their presence nicely snugged in front wrap cross carry (FWCC) in didymos wrap..

at 1 month and 1 week old, baby ahmad loves to reach out for colourful toys above his head...he is able to focus on bright coloured items and loves kicking his legs and stretching his arms out...my chubby little baby is getting stronger each day and his head control is getting better...

looking at colourful toys and try reaching them

we have registered baby ahmad at kiwanis, now waiting for the physiotherapist assessment before starting his class in january...