Catch me (again!) in New Sunday Times featuring HM4HB Malaysia!

18th September 2011, Sunday - Yet another happy day for me and HM4HB Malaysia! All thanks to Tan Choe Choe of NST who did a very good write up about milk sharing for us :D

Part of the lovely (ahem!) mama behind the stage - The administrators for Human Milk 4 Human Babies Malaysia network in Facebook! Can you spot my lil QQ? :D

We (the ladies with bubs in the above pic) met Choe Choe on 3rd day of Hari Raya (2nd Sept) at Subang Jaya, one of HM4MB administrator's house for the interview. She is very keen to know about our milk sharing network in Facebook thus she wanted to do a write up on this interesting topic. By publishing this to the public, we all aim to create better awareness to everybody especially to those who are still skeptical about milk sharing as well as those who are not aware of such activity.

There are a few more admins in our group, but unfortunately some of them were out of town thus only 4 of us could make it. This round QQ was in the picture too, at the far right corner :) If you have missed out reading my very first milk sharing story which was published in The Star newspaper back in May 2011, that time only a photo of YY and I were captured. QQ didn't want to join our cheesy smile action back then.  In the above picture, QQ was standing beside Jean and her 11mth old son, and 3 of them pretending busy on the lappy. Jean was also my junior in my secondary school! What a small small world heh!! I really love the picture very much, as it portrays us nursing our loved ones calmly. Portrays only?? Hehehe. The truth is, yeah,  not all of us nursing our baby in real at that point of time :P In fact it was only ME who acted out! A big credit to YY who was very cooperative with me and the photographer. I had nursed her in the car, while on the way to this house. So when the photographer wanted to snap a picture of us nursing our baby, I was worried a bit coz YY had enough of my BM less than an hour ago. So, how to latch her on leh?? To my surprise, she didn't make a fuss at all when I put her to my boob. She didn't want to latch on but she stayed on that position exactly like latching on! It was funny to me as I looked at her acting skill. She was facing my boob, her eyes started to wander around - looking at the ceiling, then the stand fan, the sofa and my blouse. She gave me the look "are we done yet??" LOL!! She didn't perform any acrobatic stunt - arching her back with both legs stretch out straight, which she would definitely be doing it at home when I tried to latch her on and she wasn't keen on it. Even the photographer asked me, "you both are acting or for real?". I said "she's acting". Photograher was laughing and said "good actress!!". Oh YES she is!! ^_^

Here's the link to read the articles in NST. If you want to know who and how HM4HB being formed, have a read! Choe Choe came up with 3 write ups! Awesome-moresome!!!

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/18ccmik/Article/



http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2milks/Article/


http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/18ccmilk/Article/

EBM is needed for an 8yo liver cancer boy

After a long missing in action from me....here's my very first back-to-blog post. A very unique one, but a sad post. 

This is a very special story of my milk sharing journey. When I saw a post by Mich in HM4MB page in Facebook, asking for donors for her 8yr old nephew who suffered from liver disease, not only me, but a few other mommies responded to her whether the request was for 8mth old or 8yr old? Any typo error? NO. It was indeed for her 8yr old nephew. Poor boy ;( According to Mich, her nephew had Hep C first, and by the time his family knew it, already too late as the disease has turned into cancerous. Doctor has recommended to feed the boy with EBM so that it could help his own body to produce some antibody and hoping that he could live a little longer (for a few months). His family has no objection on this thus Mich immediately approached HM4MB for donors. 

The respond was simply overwhelming. Within the same day (or perhaps within few hours after her posting in that page) many mothers with surplus of EBM contacted her. In total, she has collected 80 bags of frozen EBM (each bag 5-6oz). Thereafter she and husband drove all the way to Tangkak (near Johor) to deliver the frozen EBM to the hospital. Her nephew took 5oz of EBM twice a day. A month later, again, Mich appealed for another round of EBM donation. This round, I have given out 32 bottles (each 5oz) of frozen EBM to Mich. Due to her meeting many other donors on that day, HubB sent me to Mich's house to pass to her my stash.With this, the boy was my 11th milk "baby".

My stash of frozen EBM ready to be delivered to Mich

QQ my helper!

By end of August 2011, Mich has informed me that her nephew was not doing so well +_+ Hoping for miracle only, and the family was trying to fulfill his last wishes. It was really sad to hear such news. On 9th September 2011, the boy has returned to God. Sob.....  ;(( My deepest condolence to Mich and family. May her nephew rest in peace.

As for the remaining of the frozen EBM, Mich has asked us, the donors, whether her 10mth old son can consume it or not? Well, of course YES from all of us.

Teacher and Parents Day

Haiiiiih....time flies like nobody business! I always ask myself, what have I done? Tik tok tik tok....Nothing much actually (except for diligently being a moo-moo cow for the past 7mth down the road serving my 2 lil fella) but time is always not enough for me. Not that I'm super busy in the office (thank God!) BUT a new CEO came in lately  +_+ therefore....I am busy now (oh God!), and that makes my blog covers with spider web, untouched for almost a month. I have so many rubbish things to write actually. Everything is in que now, till I don't know where and which topic to start. And I've got sooo many photo to be edited and uploaded here. My Sabah trip lah, YY's milestone lah, YY's skin issue lah, QQ's silly update lah, Father's Day celebration lah, etc etc.... All no time to update, cum M.A.L.A.S is part of the reason as well.

Anyway, this should be a very short update (minus the above long intro) So, I met Teacher Nel couple of weeks ago for QQ's first half year performance review. Fuuuh...I tell 'ya, it was just like yesterday I met Teacher Nel for the same matter. Now I did it again.

It's funny to meet my ex-school mate to get feedback about my own child's academic performance in the pre-school. Never thought this could happen. Hahaha. And of course, it was a very relax and happy moment with Teacher Nel coz we were not only talking about QQ though. Kepoh a bit of other student's (and some silly feedback from other parents) performance lah :P Not back-stabbing lah Ok. Info sharing sahaja =)

Overall, I am satisfied with her performance this far. Teacher Nel commented that she pays attention to the teacher in the class, she follows teacher's instruction (and disregard mine all the time!!) and also a fast learner. But even if she doesn't perform very well, I will not force her either. She is just 3.5yo, she still has a looooong way to go in study. Knowing every single thing perfectly is not a good idea actually. My colleague shares with me that her son reads and writes very well in kindergarten. But when her son started Primary 1, he began to complaint the school work was boring. You see, the primary teaching will start from the scratch ie ABC and 123. That's the reason why the boy felt boring. I will feel the same too.

QQ's weakness lies on Mandarin and Bahasa Melayu. For Mandarin subject, she recognises words, quite a number of it. I'm so impress by her lah actually, knowing myself got no exposure on it at all coz I came from Convent Sentul ^_^ So now I'm literally learning Mandarin from my 3.5yo girl. To me, she champions it well as compare to myself! Hahahaha! Occasionally, I will buy some exercise book for her. Too many toys liao...enough of toys. So I would rather spend my money on coloring/exercise books instead, just to keep her occupied and to kill time on the weekend. 

Currently the school is busy with daily concert rehearsal (Teacher Nel told me that she gotto train 80 different "species" LOL!) and QQ is very active and sporting in this matter. Guarantee my lil dancing queen can never failed to give full cooperation to the teachers lah. She keeps on performing part of her dance to me, and sing "and the turtle rock, Yeah Yeah!!" That's the loudest and most "understandable" part of her rehearsal so far :P

From flower girl...to bride

QQ loves to be a flower girl, ever since she had been appointed as one last year. Basically she loves to throw the petals on the floor lah, that's her favorite - throwing things all over the place to be more precise!

2nd time @ May 2011 for my close friend

1st time @ November 2010 for my cousin

And as a result of being hired as a flower girl twice, she has decided to be a bride instead! A run away bride with her very own D.I.Y. gown made out of a Disney  princess bed sheet which Popo bought from the pasar pagi. By just tucking in the bed sheet behind her tee and voila! a no sew bride's gown for herself.

She has been very very obsess with this bed sheet lately. She sleeps with it (not sleep ON it ya coz she uses it as her blanket konon). She plays with it. She eats with it. As usual, Popo starts to nag and nag telling her don't walk around the house with it! She practically dry mopping the floor day and night with the bed sheet hanging behind her tee.

Carefully re-arranging her "veil" before she does the cat walk

Pausing her cat walk for this killer pose to the paparazzi!!

I think her 3rd assignment as flower girl might take place sometime in October 2011. Betul ka, cik Teng Teng? =)

More scary news from daycare centre

In today's The Star newspaper, yet another horrible death story of a 2yo girl found drowned in a bathtub. It happened in a daycare centre +_+ 

Before this case, there was a news about a young child was chocked to death while bottle feeding. Again it happened in a daycare centre. I know accident does happen, anywhere anytime, but if it happens in a daycare centre, does that mean the daycare centre is short of teacher/child care taker thus lead to these unnecessary raising death tolls of the innocent kids? It's really really sad to hear this kind of news. First thing comes into my mind is my own children. So many "what if" linger on my mind now, although my kids are taken care by my parents.

And this reminds me of a real story about my ex-neighbour, Mdm Chew. She has been taking care of her grandchildren for years, since they were born. When her 2nd daugther gave birth to her 2nd child, Mdm Chew also helped to take care of the newborn and live in with her daughter. One day, while she was preparing hot water to shower her grandson, (I'm not sure how old is the kid when this incident took place, but definitely above 1yo) the telephone rang and so she left the bathroom and answered the phone call. Within seconds, she heard a loud scream. She rushed over to her grandson, and found him got burn by the hot water. Due to this case, the relationship between Mdm Chew and her daughter turned sour. And Mdm Chew finally moved out from her daughter's house. Mdm Chew's husband has passed away long time ago. So she moved in to stay with her youngest daughter. I believe she must have a hard time to forgive herself for what has happened to her own grandson. Luckily her grandson still survive, though still suffer from skin burn (not sure how severe it was). See, this kind of accident can happen even from own family member, all because of careless mistake. 1 single careless mistake can really steal a person's life away. Always remember DO NOT take things for granted.

Rashes, Hives, Eczema - what are the differences?

3 of them relates to skin disorder/disease which is kinda confusing for me. But 1 thing for sure, catching one of them is not fun. I have not even heard of hives. And I certainly can't differentiate rashes and eczema coz both share some common symptoms like red bumps on skin, itchiness, scaly and dry skin. As I Google further about rashes, I found this website which explains the difference of that 3 types of skin disorder. I get a better picture of it now.

So, after reading that article, I would say that YY's skin condition (rough, dry, itchy) on her shoulders are consider as rashes. I hope my findings are right. Ok at least it tallies with what the Paed has informed me earlier. As per the article and  Paed, we need to apply lotion/moisturizer on the affected part to prevent skin from further drying up. Also gotto stop her from scratching since itchiness has developed. Scratching will make it worse +_+

I am still not sure what is the root cause of the rashes on YY's shoulders. I have sensitive skin where rashes will develop, together with red marks and itchiness if I apply perfume directly on my skin. Be it perfume oil or EDP spray, rashes will appear after applying it on my skin for about 3-4 times. But I love perfumes! So I will only spray a bit on my clothes, avoid direct contact with skin. Now I'm wondering whether the perfume on my clothes has caused the rashes/itchiness on YY. I try not to use perfume whenever I have outing with my kids. Somehow, sometimes I still use them a bit, unconsciously! Too used to the routine in bathroom after got dressed up. Strange but true, even Jonhson and Johnson baby lotion doesn't click with my vulnerable skin also leh. It says " this product is hypoallergenic, dermatologist and allergy tested" and yet I can experience itchiness with red bumps on my skin after using it for less than 10x. There's a Chinese song entitled " yoong yi sao seong dik lui yan", literally means "easily hurt woman", best describe me. Hahahaha.

Since YY is not using any body lotion after bath from birth (and also not using any bath gel too, just plain warm water to wash up), now I'm searching for one which is designed for sensitive skin - no fragrance, no color, no preservatives, no paraben, no SLS, and non-chemical base lotion. If it's organic, better still. You may say that's my kiasu cum kiasi action, but to live with sensitive skin is so annoying and suffering. Dealing with my own skin problem is enough, so I want to avoid from dealing with a baby who can't talk but cry or fuss over her itchy skin later. Will update again stuff that I found from the web.

Itchy bitsy tiny and more

Scratch scratch....

Couple of weeks ago, I noticed that YY skin has developed some rashes on both shoulders, a bit on her upper chest, a bit behind her shoulders, and recently found some on her elbows. I wasn't too sure what has caused those rashes, so during 1 of her routine check up, I showed the affected area to her Paed. Dr. Tan explained that those were rashes, and it would get worst when the weather is hot hence made her sweaty. Yeah, that was so true. Whenever YY started to sweat (even sat under the fan!), I can see the rashes turned red. Initially, she did not scratch on the rashes, so I assumed no itchiness lah. The affected area will look dry, and when touch on it, it was rough. Also can feel "yat lap lap", like mini pimples. Aiseh, I don't know how to describe lah. Dr. Tan has advised us to apply some lotion or moisturizer on the affected parts. It seemed like she is having sensitive skin. I did probed the question whether those were eczema? He briefly said that it could be eczema, another term for rashes, depending how severe it is later. Well honestly, I did not apply any lotion on her body since birth, after her shower. So during the recent Parenthood Fair in Mid Valley, I've searched for some organic and fragrance free cream/lotion for YY. I must do something to stop it before it becomes worst.

And this is what I've finally bought, after checking out a few brands available in the Parenthood Fair. I have heard and read about this brand way before I have discovered the rashes on YY's body. Upon inquiring within about the suitable cream/lotion for YY skin condition, the sales lady recommended this to me - Mei Mei Atopicare Cream to relieve the dry skin and itchiness. According to her, many people has used it and commented that it is very effective for sensitive skin, even to those who had eczema as well. It's quite pricey (RM49), although I bought it at a promotional price there. My mom has been applying it on YY for 2 weeks. The result? Not as what I had expected for. The affected area has indeed became smoother but lately she started to scratch her shoulders +_+ Oh dear....itchiness strike!

Below picture was taken yesterday evening, just before I gave her a quick shower (more on sponging her body with warm water only lah coz her body was so sticky due to her sweats). I noticed that if she didn't sweat, the affected area will looked normal but the moment she sweat, the rashes will turn red as you can see from the picture. That was the best picture I can take coz YY kept turning to my camera each time I held it near her.

 

Here's my naked YY  after a quick shower. Those red marks behind her ears was not rashes lah. It was due to me holding her on the bath tub. Sigh....since the itchiness has developed, I am getting more worried now. I really do not want the rashes to spread any further. These few days I've been checking on the internet to find a better product for YY to combat this rashes before it becomes my nightmare. I don't want my poor baby to suffer from any kind of itchiness and skin inflammation +_+ Will share my search result on next post.

My 10th EBM recipient

Last Sunday was a very busy yet happy day. Morning, had a quick brunch gathering with my 2 ex-colleagues at Wangsa Maju. Then left the place at 12noon coz HubB's cousins would be coming over to our house at 1pm. Main reason for meeting up with the cousin was, cousin's wife read my milk sharing news last week from The Star newspaper. Thereafter, she contacted me and was asking if I still have any surplus for her 3mth old baby. Yes I have! So she had arranged to come over to my house to collect my frozen EBM for his baby. She is still breast feeding her baby now, but she doesn't have enough time to express her milk during daytime. She is a FTHW, so I know how it feels to juggle between house chores and taking care 2 kids at the same time. Though I'm not a FTHW but to handle my kids without my parent's help on the weekend is darn tiring!! I had given her 28 bottles of frozen EBM (each bottle 5oz milk), and with this she is my officially number 10th recipient  =)

Moving on to the next agenda in the evening, we attended another cousin's son's birthday party at Subang. We all had a great time there. YY wasn't cranky at all. Cousin sisters were busy taking turn to carry YY and play with her. That allowed me to have plenty of my own sweet time enjoying my meal there. I don't really have to focus on QQ too coz she was happily running around playing with the birthday boy and other kids.

Here's my favorite shots with YY, with a bling bling party hat on her! See, YY was on my ring sling. I have started to put her on my sling recently and she loves it a lot. I bought this sling from Mama Patch. Actually I've bought their cloth pads way earlier during my pregnancy, wanted to try it out during my confinement lah but then ding dong here and there, I have not collected it from Chinnee (our house are near to each other). So after YY's full moon, I asked Chinnee whether she would allow me to exchange my cloth pads with ring sling. She said OK! =)  My first encounter with it was not successful. Really need lotsa practices to get use to it. I really need a sling and gotto ensure that YY is comfortable sitting on it  coz next month, we will be flying to Kota Kinabalu. Will tag along QQ and YY too. I'm excited and looking forward to a holiday trip, and this will be YY's very first flight. She beats her jie jie coz jie jie only had her first flight when she was 18mth old to Guangzhao, China. I hope, and pray hard that YY will not mess up the short flight coming June 2011. HubB bought the tickets last year when Air Asia offered zero fare promotion. Gotto start planning what to pack and I bet it's gonna be a massive packing job again.

My angry bird!!

Catch me in The Star newspaper today!

Tadaaa!!! I certainly don't anticipate this. Never. But it happens today, that my breast feeding story is featured in The Star newspaper. Check out Star2 pull out section and you'll see a lady clad in pink top on the 2nd page. That's ME ^_^ I read the article at 6.50am this morning and it really makes my day. You may read the article here

It all started when Siok Hui, a senior journalist from The Star newspaper read my milk sharing story in Human Milk 4 Human Babies Malaysia page in Face Book, sent me a message asking whether I would like to be interviewed (in a form of questionnaire) about my milk sharing experience. Without second thought, I said yes. Siok Hui shared with me that she was supposed to publish this write up since April, but due to some circumstances, she has to postpone it until the month of May so that is how I came into the picture now.

I really hope that my milk sharing story is able to create awareness to the public, and to encourage more mommies to BF their babies. I am so overwhelmed by my friends' lil note congratulating me after they have read the article, not because I become a "star" today (1 hit wonder :P) but their positive acknowledgement on what I've done means a lot to me. I would like to thank Teacher Nel again for lending me her entire freezer compartment for me to store my "gold" and also thanks to Gina, the lactating consultant who is now my friend, for giving me infinite support during my very first BF journey with QQ. It wasn't a rough BF journey though but I did called her day and night (yes! at night about 10pm++) whenever I have doubt during my confinement period. She has never failed to reply me on time.

My close up! Glad that YY was smiling to the photographer that day =)

Apart from this happening news, today YY turns 6mth old too. Yay!! My double joy of the day!! YY is still not able to crawl nor sit up right by herself. But when I hold on to both her hands while she is lying down on the mattress, she knows how to push herself up to sitting position, without me pulling her up at all. She's quite wai-sek too. Each time she sees us eating, she'll start to move her lips and starts munching! Munching her gums :P I hope that when we really start her on solid food/puree, she cooperates well with us and give us a fuss free feeding time. Happy 6th month old to you baby!

 

7-11 in the house!

Not the virtual shop though.  I'm talking about my 2 girls. Yesterday I brought YY for her routine check up cum injection. Phew....that was the 2nd last injection for the first 6 month of her life. Next month she's due for the Influenza jab and that's it. The very next jab will only take place after her 1st birthday.

YY's weight fluctuates a bit this month. Her milky appetite doesn't seem to be so good lately. Like Kit Kat, now you want it, now you don't. Last month check up (on 21st April 2011) she weighted 6.8kg. Then on 28th April, we brought her to see Dr Tan coz her right eye had greenish discharge. When put her on the weighing scale, the reading was 6.2kg! Haaiihh...sakit hati ooo to see her weight dropped so much. We noticed the problem arised since she was born. Initially she just had clear discharge very frequent, only from her right eye. Paed said it was due to her blocked tear duct. We need to constantly massage the side of her nose as it helps a bit to prevent from further blockage. We did it but it doesn't help much lah ;( Paed said that this problem will go away when she's reaching a year old. Hey, that's quite a long wait leh. But since the discharge looks greenish already, she has been prescribed with an antiseptic eye drop.

See her big small eyes? :D

Yesterday, her weight reading was 7kg, and measuring at 66cm height. Aaahh...at least got put on some weight and taller by 1cm! Haha! YY will turn 6 month old by next Wednesday, 25th May 2011. Yippie!! Can start feeding her some puree very soon. 

Ok back to the subject of this post, 7-11. My 3.5yo QQ is only weighing at 11kg since...erm...last year!! +_+ So here we have this 7-11 duo in the house. YY @ 7kg, QQ @ 11kg =)

7-11 ^_^

I've hit the Baskin Robbin Age

Happy Birthday to ME!! My birthday has passed way too long but still within this month, so this is a belated post. Didn't realize how time travels lah. Sekejap saja I'm touching 30-ish age group already. Feel so old :P I was just trying to recall back my sweet 16 day.....any sweet memory? Can't think of any actually! (That shows how fast I've started to loose my mind oredi) But to be honest, I think I love my life now more than before. I have a good HubB and 2 beautiful monsters daughters now, and living in a world of motherhood has changed my thinking, my perception, and my lifestyle.

Tagging along my 5mth++ bumbo while dining out, we can't really enjoy our food for longer time coz everything gotto be hurry up. Eat fast fast, drink fast fast, but not drive fast fast lah. YY doesn't really like lying flat on the stroller anymore. She wants to be seated on our lap and enjoy the view of every angle. As if there's nice view in the restaurant huh. We didn't go far that night, just had my favorite chicken and turkey ham cabonara fettucine at Key's Garden, Desa Park City. That's my favorite spot to hang out with Teacher Nel together with QQ most of the time.

My sweet 13 moment. Yeah...still sweet 13, no typo here.

  

After a quick dinner, we went back home for the cake cutting ceremony. As usual and by default, QQ will always be the one to sing for me, blew the candle for me, and cut the cake for me =) So that's all for my birthday celebration this year. Nothing special, BUT with an added family member ^_*

YY eyeing on the cake!

Muaahh!!

Sweet roll of the day

Yesterday, 26th April 2011 (Tue), YY was exactly 5 month 1 day old. My mom told me that YY had made her first roll over all by herself in the afternoon. Yay!! 

That's all I want to pen down today :P Just wanna mark down this date coz I had forgotten when did QQ made her first roll over stunt last time. I want to read this again some other day....the day when my memory runs out of space!

My EBM with freezer burn condition

See the geli looking frozen EBM here. These are mine. At first glance on it, looks like fungus infection ha? This is call freezer burn BM. I've never came across this until a friend of mine posted this issue on The Breastfeeding Advocates Network in Facebook. At that point of time, my frozen EBM were still good, never in this ugly looking condition. But last week, as I was sorting out my stocks to be given to KC, my regular receiver, I was shocked to find this +_+ I didn't give away these affected stocks to other people, coz I can't even accept it myself to feed YY with it.

Date from L - R : 10 March, 10 Feb, 27 Jan 2011

I got to know that freezer burn BM is still Ok for baby. But if we have enough of BM supply, and yet still can't decide whether to feed our baby with it, discarding them would be fine :) I agree, coz no point keeping them and keep asking myself whether to use it of dump it. I have plenty of affected bags in my freezer now. I will just thaw them and offer my dry feet a nice and warm foot spa :P Will do it when I have the extra time lah. Juggling with 2 kids are not easy lah. Wanna find time to go pangsai (poo poo) also very hard!

There are a few factors which can cause our frozen EBM in freezer burn condition. Do check out this link, it has good explanation on how it happens and how to prevent the same.

I've google about it too, and found an article which says it is not safe for baby. I really have no idea who's right and wrong now. So to play safe, I choose not to feed YY with it, nor donate to other babies. The conclusion is, don't keep EBM for too long in the freezer. Too long means more than 1 1/2 month lah, that's what I observe on my affected EBM. Sigh...what a waste.

 

YY is 5mth old now

Last Thursday, YY was due for her check up. Luckily this round no feverish at all after the jabs.  Yesterday she turned 5mth old and is now weighing at 6.8kg and 65cm tall. Also glad to know that there isn't any more phlegm in her lung, but still have very little bit left in her nostril/throat. See, it all started during CNY. It took her almost 2 month to get rid of the stubborn phlegm. She still can't roll her body 100% yet, just half way thru only. But each time I carry her in front facing position, she will not lean against my chest and she'll be in up right position. When put her on the bed in tummy position, she doesn't want to lift her head up! Confusing.....she's just being lazy or what ar?

Anyway, that doesn't really bother me much. She'll do it right when the timing is right.  QQ was pretty slow  in performing the same rolling stunt too. YY smiles and laughs a lot throughout the day. Each time we just stare at her without  noise, she'll look at us and smile back without fail. But she starts to  cry when my cousin, who's a stranger to her, carried her few days ago. This is the so call  "recognizing people" stage lah.  She really loves to interact with QQ. No matter what kind of funny or weird noise QQ made infront of her, she'll laugh out loud. And her favorite activity would be having her to sit on our arms and gently swing her front and back while QQ  jumps  up and down non stop +_+ I tell ya....my lidi arms cannot tahan any longer!!  I can't barely have her on my arms (and gotto swing her some more!)  for more than 5mins. 

YY's favorite position on my skeletal arms

Overall, YY is growing well and eats well. Currently she's taking 5oz - 6oz of my EBM at every 2.5 to 3 hour in day time. But sometimes when she is asleep for longer hour, the interval may varies. So that sums up to at least 3 to 4 bottles of milk per day while I'm at work.

I notice that YY shares the same birth mark with her jie jie. See the small patch near to their belly button? Almost the same spot huh. QQ's one is getting more and more unnoticeable as she grows. It was once looked exactly like what YY is having now. 

Happy sista!

4th SOS call for my EBM

Last Friday at about 10am, I received a message from a mother asking for my EBM. VC needed BM to feed her newborn as she was having very sore nipple, I guess to the extend of bleeding and cracked badly. VC's husband called me to arrange for the collection of my frozen EBM. He told me that for the first 2 days after her wife has delivered their baby, her wife was able to BF baby successfully. But on 3rd day onwards, the soreness began plus the cracks and bleeding. The nurses advised her to rest for a day first before she  could continue to BF her baby again. Unfortunately, her condition didn't seemed to recover thus VC contacted Gina for help. That was how VC got to know me, thru Gina again =) VC was not able to pump out her milk and would like to take my milk to feed her newborn. I told her husband that he may go to my mom's house immediately to collect 5 bottles of my frozen EBM which could last for about 3days. As what Gina has advised earlier, the mother should be producing her own milk thus I may just help her out with 5 bottles as a start.

On Sunday, he called me again that VC was still recuperating but not able to pump out much milk yet. Thus he needed more of my stock So I met him again and given him another 5 bottles of my EBM. Later in the afternoon, VC sms me sharing with me how the soreness developed. She has a friend whom delivered a baby on the same day with her. And her friend was having the same problem that she is facing now. A Paed checked the baby and found out that baby's tongue is rather short, and that has caused the soreness, cracks and bleeding on mommy's nipple. VC said the Paed snipped a bit of the baby's tongue and voila! No more painful BF experience for the mommy! So, VC will bring her baby to the Paed and might go thru the same procedure. Hopefully all went well for VC's baby lah.

On the other hand, I have also donated 15 bottles (each bottle 4.5oz) of my frozen EBM to another mother, AW last Sunday. Her daughter is touching 1yr old soon but her milk supply has dropped tremendously due to her hectic job. From a freezer full of EBM, she's now left with 5 bottles only. She couldn't find time to pump in office and can only nurse her daughter when she's back home. Glad that I can help her out, but not much though.

And with that, my freezer is now left with less than 10 bottles of frozen EBM. But I still have plenty of stocks which I would say "spoil" milk. Will talk about this separately.

3rd SOS call for my EBM, plus a heart wrenching news

It was on 14th April night, after we had our finger licking good birthday celebration with HubB, I've received a call from my cousin sister that a friend of her needed my EBM stock. Her friend, CY called her as she saw my BM offer in Facebook. So happened that CY noticed the mutual friend between the 2 of us is my cousin sister, thus she contacted my cousin in order to look for me. I allowed my cousin to give CY my contact no so that I can liaise with CY directly for the BM collection. It seemed to be a very urgent case too. I've asked my cousin how old is CY's child and she said, "not small kid.can walk can run already wor". Huh?? Already grown up so much, and yet still want to give BM to her son? Wow!

I've spoken to CY that night. Here's our conversation.

CY : Hi, do you have BM stock with you now?

Me : Yes I do. How old is your baby?

CY : 3 days old. They are twins.

Me : Twins? Wow, that's good! (I was a bit confuse too actually, just now cousin said the child is kinda grown up de) May I know why do you need my BM stock ya?

CY : Actually, they are a pair of premie twins. They were born 2 months earlier than the expected due date. But unfortunately, 1 of them couldn't make it. The baby was pronounced dead yesterday. 

Me : OMG!! I'm so sorry to hear that. [wanna cry already =( ]

CY : So now only left 1 baby who's in the incubator with life support. Baby is very small size and very weak too, and refuse to eat (drink milk). Mother's milk has not "arrived" either. Doc said that if continue to feed the baby with formula milk, this might worsen the baby's condition. It is best to provide BM to the baby. My friend called me informing me the condition of her baby. Luckily I found you in Facebook about your BM offer. 

Me : Wait a minute. You mentioned that your friend called you about her baby? Erm, sorry to say I'm a bit confused now, who's baby is that actually? Not yours?

CY : No lah! If I am the parents of the baby, I wouldn't be talking to you so calmly now. I will be crying out loud non-stop! 

** Doink!!! What a miscommunication!**

Me : Ooppss!! Sorry for the misunderstanding. So where's the baby now? and how many bottles you need?

CY : Baby is in Seremban Hospital now. It is so sad to know that initially, the parents was rejected by 2 private hospitals due to the wife's condition (having a pair of premie twins). So in the end they were being referred to the Govt Hospital. Mother's milk has not "arrived" yet, and I don't think a premie can take so much of milk now. I'll take 6 bottles from you first. We are heading down to Seremban tonight to deliver the milk to my friend. 

Me : Ok, no problem. I'll give you the fresh EBM stock dated 13th April. Baby is weak, better give her "fresher" milk. 

Half and hour after our chat (almost 10.30pm), CY arrived at my house and I've handed over to her 6 bottles of my fresh EBM. I am glad that the mother of the premie baby has such a wonderful friend to help her. Though it is not very far to drive from KL to Seremban, but CY and her husband have shown great support to their dearest friend who needed help under this emergency circumstances. It involved life and death. I do not know how much my BM can help the lil baby to survive, but that is the best of help I may render out, at least.

I pray that the lil premie baby is of good health and has strong will to survive! May God bless you.

* An hour after I posted this, I sms to CY, asking about the baby's condition.CY responded that on that night upon arrival at the Seremban GH with my BM supply, the Paed and nurses didn't allow her to store and use it to feed the pre-term baby. Luckily the mother's milk came the next morning, thus she was able to supply her own BM to her lil baby. Well, can't blame the hospital for rejecting my BM. Coming from the hospital's point of view, they were trying to take high precaution treating the pre-term baby. All I can think of is, they do not know the donor of the BM (that's me) and they were worried that if anything goes wrong to the baby, the Paed has to be answerable for it. I think so lah. CY immediately freeze my EBM on the same night. She will return back to me soon, so that I can keep it for my "regular receiver", KC . Yesterday, KC came to return to me the 40 over empty bottles. I had given him another 20 bottles (4.5oz each) + 17 bags (10-12oz each) of frozen EBM. Sad to know that his son is down with flu and has lots of phlegm too. Even the Paed had to let his son to use the nebulizer twice a day to ease his breathing. Get well soon baby.

Hub's birthday

14th April was HubB's 33rd birthday and we had a finger licking good celebration for him at KFC. He's a great fans of this White Head Uncle =) See, so easy to celebrate for him, no need to crack my head for special preparation in terms of food and venue!

HubB and QQ both love kai-pei (drumstick) very much. QQ was so happy when we let her hold the kai-pei and eat it on her own.

After the chicken feast, we headed back home for a birthday cake treat. QQ sang for her Baba and soon-bin blew the candles for him! This is by default lah, can't escape.

I love the below picture! Check out the toothless kepohchi, she was smiling and eyeing on the cake!

Happy Birthday to you Hub!! May you be blessed with wonderful health (and wealth :P)!!

Baba's fav girlfren :P

QQ enjoying the white chocolate strip from the cake. See, this is what I mentioned before, the once in a blue moon sweet treat.

Geez, I'm feeding QQ with 11-15 teaspoons of SUGARY milk everyday

Sigh....I guess many mommies must have got shocked over the latest TVC about the sugar level content in the growing up milk powder which are available off the shelf. When I first saw that TVC, I told myself that maybe QQ will not be the "victim" coz she's not taking those ordinary milk powder.  Don't know why  my first impression over that TVC was "aaah, COW's milk powder is high of sugar".  QQ's  milk is meant for picky eater and needless to say, price is sky high. So it is not really a pure cow's milk powder. The purplish color tin. Can guess which brand ka? Hehehe.

But later due to my itchy hands, I went to check out the ingredients printed on the tin. And after reading my friend's blog about the same matter, that add on my worrisome so the more I wanted to find out the fact or rather the sugar faith between QQ and the milk powder she's been taking.

Here's the result @_@ Very the scary and disappointing. You may check the sugar level contain for your choice of formula milk brand at this website www.semakgula.com

There were once my dad tried QQ's milk (the leftover from the bottle) and he told me that the taste was superbly sweet. So now it is proven that the milk which QQ has been taking really contains high sugar level. But what can I do ya? Change to the brand which the company declares that it has zero added sugar?  QQ is a picky eater. She's very much underweight (11kg @ 3.5yo) but luckily she catches up pretty well in her pre-school. Only when she started attending pre-school last year, I can see some slight improvement on her appetite. She eats the most while in pre-school. She takes 8oz of milk as breaskfast, then 9.30am snack time and lunch at 12.30pm. Dinner time at home is the most pathetic lah, but she eats more than before lately (with so much of nagging and scolding from us!) For the past 1mth, she's kinda addicted to the milk, where she'll ask for a small bottle of milk (5oz-6oz) before she sleeps. Even if she took quite big amount of dinner, she still asks for her milk.

11-15 teaspoons of added sugar per day for her milk intake is crazy. I forbid all sorts of sweets for QQ - lollipops, gula-gula, chocolates, etc. She only gets to try some on special day, which happens once in a blue moon. My thinking is, she's already a picky eater so why want to let her help herself with these unhealthy food? Yes, she's just a small kid and some told me EVERY kid EATS chocolate/sweets as they grow. NO. I don't grow up with these junk food, same goes to my elder brother and sister. So in my family, none of us fancy sweets/gula-gula, or anything that is sweet. And I thought that giving her this special milk as food supplement is a wise choice. Now think twice.

With my over supply of BM, how I wish that QQ accepts my BM now. Once again, it is proven that breast feeding is the best feeding =)

I did it again - 2nd SOS call for my EBM stock

Mother's instinct can never go wrong lah. Few days ago, I was thinking to post my 2nd offer of my extra frozen EBM in Human Milk 4 Human Baby (HM4HB) page in Facebook. My "regular receiver" didn't come to collect my stock, but I've already told him earlier than I can still give out to him. So on 1 fine afternoon, I decided to post my offer again, coz I just had the feeling that there might be some other babies out there who need my BM under emergency circumstances.

Yesterday noon, I got a message from SN asking about my EBM stock. She has to travel for 1 week and already have some frozen EBM stock but she worried that her stock might not last till she comes back to KL. She was actually a bit hesitant, whether is it alright to share breast milk. I have my own theory of formula milk vs BM, so I've decided to share it with her, hopefully she can make up her mind after reading it.

Mommy can naturally produce milk for her own baby. Some people might think that it's a bit geli/yucky to take other mommy's milk to feed their own child. But how about formula milk? Formula milk powder derived from HUNDREDS & THOUSANDS of UNKNOWN COWS :D You don't know the cow, you didn't meet the cow. Just because it comes in a form of powder, looks clean and presentable in a tin, so people feels that formula milk is better lah. So if you can accept formula milk (means accepting milk from sooo many different unknown cows!), why not accepting milk from a human? You'll definitely be meeting the donor face to face!  Again, this is my very own personal theory ok =) Not that I'm trying to hard sell my stock :p So after SN read it, she replied saying that she would like to have my stock for her baby. I gave her my add and contact no. Now waiting for her call to arrange for collection.

And here's the 2nd emergency request which I got yesterday night. At 11.30pm just before I hit the sack, I checked my email via my HP. I get another message in my Facebook with regards to my BM. LC wrote to me that her newborn baby is having breathing difficulty, thus baby is now under ICU. Paed doesn't allow baby to latch on mommy's breast due to her weak lung. Unfortunately, LC could only expressed out very little of colostrum milk which is not enough  for feeding. Nurses have told her that baby is starving already, and the 2 choices given to them were either feed baby with glucose or formula milk. And that was how LC stumbled upon my post in HM4HB in Facebook. So she quickly wrote to me so that she could get some of my stock to feed her baby. 

As soon as I read her message, I immediately sms her that I can offer her my stock and to call me back immediately for arrangement of collection. We spoke yesterday night. She told me that  Gina, my breast feeding guru, has also given her my contact no too. Haha, looks like I'm the top (BM) supplier in Gina's mind :P LC's baby is in Pantai Hospital, Bangsar. Great!! Coz my office is just nearby the hospital! I do have fresh EBM in my fridge but due to I'm having minor cough now, I guess frozen EBM would be better for her baby. I really do not want her weak lung to become worst. So to play safe, I've packed 6 bottles (each bottle 5oz) of my frozen EBM for LC, all nicely wrapped with newspaper to prolong  the coldness. And yesterday midnight, I've already transferred another 2 bottles of frozen EBM to the fridge, so that by the time I meet her, she will have 2 bottles of defrost EBM. See the below picture, that 2 bottles of frozen EBM already half way melting =) Just nice for her to feed her baby today.

I didn't get to meet LC as she had C-section thus it's not convenient for her to move around too much. So her hubby came down to collect from me this morning. Hubby was overwhelmed with my offer - 8 bottles of EBM for her newborn. I had advised him about the storage method, and I called LC again to inform her the best way to defrost/thaw the frozen EBM. 

Once again, I felt very happy and glad to be able to help the little newborn baby girl, effortless! Wishing her baby get well soon ya!

SOS call for EBM

Last Sunday morning, I received an SMS from Gina, my BF guru, whether I still have extra frozen EBM stock or not. She was asking on behalf of a new mommy, whose milk has not "arrived" yet but was pestered by the doctor to feed her baby with formula milk. I immediately replied Gina, "got got got!!". 

30mins later, a man called me. It was the little baby's daddy. He sounded so American, to the extend that I couldn't even catch his name :P I always have this kind of problem lah, cannot really digest those thick American accent. I gave him my address and he said he would see me in 2hours time. I have told him to get a cooler bag/box and a pack of ice cubes form 7-11. 

Upon his arrival, I was pretty shocked that he was actually an Indian :P I thought he's a mat salleh. Hehe. He bought a brand new Spectra cooler bag, inclusive of 4  milk storage bottles and 2 small cold pack, which were not frozen. Since he needed my stock urgently, I lend him 1pc of my cold pack to keep cold of my fresh EBM in his cooler bag. In total, I've given him 5oz x 7 bottles of my fresh EBM. He was overwhelmed! ^_^ The small cooler bag can only fit in 5 bottles, so my mom lend him a big cooler bag (those in silver color) which she bought from Tesco. We placed the ice cubes on the bottom of the big bag, then we put in the Spectra cooler bag on top of the ice cubes, plus another 2 more bottles of my fresh EBM. That should be safe enough for him to drive back to the hospital in Subang Jaya.

We had a quick chat with him about his wife and his baby girl. Apparently, doctor found out that her baby girl had jaundice and also low sugar level. During the pregnancy period, his wife had high sugar level. Erm, actually I didn't quite get him about this, I was confused then :P Mommy's milk has not arrived,  but was able to produce little bit of colostrum. Still, that was not enough for her baby. According to the doctor, if they don't feed the baby with milk, baby's life is in great danger! Doctor insisted them to feed baby with formula milk, since mommy couldn't provide enough BM to baby yet  +_+ So that was the reason why I didn't give him my frozen EBM, coz her baby was only 3days old and need to be fed urgently. Luckily I have not transferred my fresh EBM to the freezer lah. I had labeled my fresh EBM with date (all dated 26th March 2011), and I have thought him about the storage method. If baby can't finish the milk in 3days time, he needs to freeze it.

I felt so good and proud of myself, that I was able to help the little baby girl, and the anxious new parents too. Felt like being a paramedic personnel whom attended to an emergency : D 

4mth old milestone

Oooh...at the moment the stone is not moving that far yet. YY is 4mth 3days old now. She's not ready to show me the full flip stunt, just half golek only for now. When put her on tummy position, the most she does is lifting her head up, no mini push up. Ok no problem, take your time ya.

Other than that, 1 thing which she excels is she squeals, gurgles and coos much more than she usually does (since she was 1.5mth old). Is that a sign of her becoming a talkative girl soon, just like her jie jie? As I remember correctly, QQ started to talk - 1 word at the age of 8mth old and in full sentence when she was around 18-20mth old. Also, YY grasps toys easily and hold 'em tight very often too. Since 2 weeks ago, her milk intake has  also increased  thus currently it's between 4.5oz to 5oz/feeding. Thank God that she is not (and hope not at all) showing any drastic sign of rejecting bottle for the time being. Once in a while, she did reject bottle but the most will only last for a day. QQ started to reject bottle feeding when she was 4mth++ and the terror began from thereon +_+ Cup feeding, syringe, spoon....all these were so time consuming and tiring for my mom. I pray hard that YY will not let us experience such historical torturing milk feeding moment again.

Mei Mei...last time Popo used this cup to feed me milk...slurrpp...fun for ME but torturing for Popo! :P

 

Mom, must you snap picture each time I sh*t?

My rock-a-by babies

See my big baby and small baby here....they love this new rocking chair quite a bit. New item in the house, but a pre-loved one. First saw it in my MIL's house, my SIL bought it for her baby. Hers is also a pre-loved one, so that's how I've got the idea to get 1 for my gals as well. I find it a bit silly to get a brand new one coz it'll cost me a bomb. Fisher Price brand ma....sure mahal gile neh. Original price is RM369 and I've got mine from a blogshop which sells branded pre-loved items at RM89 inclusive shipping. I tell ya, this item is  really selling like hot cake among the pre-loved stuffs! I've browsed thru many blogshop which sells pre-loved branded stuff, and all sold out. Don't know why my fingers were itchy that time, I text to this particular seller just to ask whether she still have it  or not. Jeng jeng jeng!! She said YES and would upload the picture onto her blog shortly. Lucky me lah.  It is still in very good condition (no scratches at all on the metal legs of the rocking chair) and not really worn out (the kain part) so I'll say it's a steal! By right it comes with a toys bar but I guess the owner misplaced it so no toys bar for YY. Not important at all so I don't mind. This baby rocker supports up to 18kg child's weight. My big baby who's now 3.5yo is only weighing at 11kg, so she has a loooooong way to go with it =)

It has 2 reclining position. The one in the below picture is the lowest position which is just nice for baby to nap on it. Push 1 level up will be best for feeding. It also vibrates, a very mild vibration only lah, to sooth baby. Can see the white box at the bottom of the rocker? It's battery operated but I never used this function.

Most of the time YY will be using it. I've already told QQ upfront that she needs to share it with her lil mei mei, so no rebut rebut action. So far, QQ is kind enough to let YY use it more often. YY's favorite past time on this rocking chair is to enjoy her fingers and sometimes half of her fist inside her mouth!! Yummy....

It's nice...trust me.