Her Routine

Baby Hana’s day is pretty much a routine these days. I know this might change anytime, especially during the growth spurts, but, at least for now, it’s more or less predictable. Just don’t interrupt her nap times, then she’ll be a little cranky. (I can see The Hubby smiling and say “sounds like someone I know…” :-p ).

02:30 Midnight Snack
02:45 Continue sleeping
04:30 Morning Feed
04:45 Continue sleeping
07:30 Breakfast
08:00 Bath
09:00 Morning nap
10:30 Snack time
10:45 Sleep
13:00 Lunch, change clothes
14:30 Afternoon nap
15:30 Snack time
16:00 Sleep
18:00 Dinner, bath
19:30 Nap
20:30 Supper
10:00 Sleep

Normally this schedule will have variations of 30 minutes to an hour. Baby Hana dictates it herself. And I accommodate her as long as her sleeping time at night is between 10pm to 11pm. If she sleeps at 11pm, she will skip the midnight snack at 2:30am. Even is she wakes up, it’s usually less than 5 minutes, feed a little and she just go back to sleep. She’ll continue sleeping even when I’m changing her diapers. :-)

I breastfeed her for breakfast, and sometimes after her bath where she just falls asleep. When I come back in the evening, that will be around 7pm I will usually breastfeed her before her nap. Night time is breastfeeding session all the way. She only takes EBM* from my mother. She will reject any attempt from me. I only managed to gave her EBM once, and that I believe was because she was too sleepy, too hungry to argue! Ha ha ha… She feeds about 3oz to 4oz during major feeds and 1oz to 2oz during snack time.

I normally express twice at work, and bring back around 8oz to 10oz everyday. Morning expression yields around 8oz to 10oz. Therefore, there is always about 16oz to 18oz at home. And I really belief that a mother produce what her child needs for a day. Because, regardless how much I bring back, it’s usually enough for Baby Hana for the day. My frozen stock, they are still frozen. She rejects thawed EBM and only take it when she’s really hungry. I do not plan to go outstation until she’s six months old. So, I belief we will be okay with the current arrangement. :-)

I plan to breastfeed her as long as I’m able to until she’s two years old. The Hubby pretty much let me decide on this, as he says it’s up to me. You can tell from this post that I’m an advocate of breastfeeding. As long as a woman is able to do it (special condition is exceptional), I belief she should. I know mothers who really love breastfeeding their children, but had to stop early either because the milk stop flowing or because of medical condition. I’m sure there is hikmah for everything, so must belief He knows what’s best for us. Don’t be sad.

Someone asked me how to increase milk production because hers is dwindling, and her child is younger than my daughter. I don’t do any special extra thing, I just make sure I drink a lot during the day, and drink milk (when I remember!), and watch what I’m eating. InsyaAllah.

* EBM – Expressed Breast Milk

Time for a new smarty?

The Hubby has asked me to replace my Motorola V9 since last year, but I always said that since I could not keep the phone when I leave the company, there is no point for me to buy. And besides, my V9 is still working fine.

One of my colleague is leaving for greener pastures this week. All the best to him! The rest of us are still searching and waiting. Good luck to us! He gets to keep the company phone and sim card. Of course the telco account will be transferred under his name.

This new development suddenly makes me browsing for a new smart phone. He he he…

I am a tech-lover. I used to be a tech-geek, to the extend being an unofficial advisor to my friends when they are looking for new mobile phones or laptops or PCs. I used to be well informed on the latest technology or software updates etc. These days, I just find out the information that I need when I need it. I haven’t heard about Android OS until two months ago, even then I was not intrigued to find out more about it. I didn’t really care about the iPhone until I started to use iPad in February. I am a BlackBerry user since early last year, but that was only because The Hubby is a user too; I can chat with him anywhere, anytime. Until today, I only have 15 people as my messenger contact, and I only chat “actively” with one third of them.

So, today, the moment my colleague told me the news, I started to look at HTC Desire Z. I don’t know why.

I am weighing the pros and cons. And I am also going to compare it with other Android based phones. And then I will decide. You have any suggestions? Let me know.

When The Baby Cries

I have not blogged for quite a bit. I started work after a long leave, and my boss gave me at least three major tasks to do. Well, three projects to be exact. Two of which more like a garbage cleaning activities. I am happy, to have something to do at work. And I believe I’ve proven that I have influence and do a great job, when I managed to call for a meeting that even my boss was unable to achieve.

Anyway, I am not blogging tonight to talk about me. More, as expected, I am going to talk about my daughter. I believe her separation anxiety comes very early. The first day I went back to work, she was already expecting me back home by 4p.m. This was because during the “trial” run, I left home around 10 a.m. and came back before she woke up from her afternoon nap. On that first day, I came back around 7p.m.

Thankfully, she was just sobbing a little and hugging me as tight as her little arms would allow. And I was able to console her quickly.

Today, however, she cried inconsolably. I arrived home about ten minutes before 8 p.m. I knew I would be late, when I could not drive 200 metres after 5 minutes. I called home and told my brother that I would be late. It took me about an hour to get her to calm down. An another hour for her to start smiling and communicating with me.

I could not stand listening her crying, it breaks my heart. But I guess, this is something that I will be facing until she really understands what’s going on and why her Mami could not be home at the same time everyday. I do my best to be home by 7p.m. every day.

My daughter always wake up with a smile in the morning. I don’t fancy her going to bed with a tear or a sob. I’ve only started to put her back into her cot at night since last weekend. She had been sleeping in the big bed since the first night The Hubby is away. I’ve gotten used having her beside me. But, I also know it is not right to change the habit that we have trained her since she came to us. Thankfully, there was no drama putting her back into her cot. I am tempted to have her sleep beside me tonight, out of guilt on my part. But, no, she is sleeping now, peacefully in her cot.

When people ask me, I am telling the truth by saying that she’s an angel baby. Easy baby. And by the book. Even Mak agrees that taking care of her is a breeze, until her routine is disturbed. For example when her sleep time is interrupted by visitors. Then, it will be a challenge to get her settled down again. Baby Hana sleeps through the night these days. She sleeps the 5-hour stretch and only wakes up once for her feed. The next feed will be in the morning, when the sun comes up. Alhamdulillah, it’s easy on me too.

Maybe I could not see how my eyes light up when I watch her, or how my voice gets a little excited when I talk about her. But it is true when people say you will only understand the feelings of a parent once you hold your baby in your arms. It’s surreal.

Owh, I still breastfeed her. I am not concerned that I don’t produce double digit ounce like other mothers. Because I believe that I produce enough for what Hana needs. I will blog about this another time. For now, I am to bed.

Hubby, I am missing you extra today.

My Baby is a Big Girl

Today, Baby Hana received her first set of shots. She handled it quite well, I should say. She cried, of course, but she calmed down soon after. Unlike the first appointment, when she was only 12 days, where she was inconsolable just by using voice and hugging. Of course, she was a lot smaller then. :-)

Doctor asked me to put Baby Hana on the bed. She said it’s safer, just in case I got nervous and dropped the baby! Ha ha ha… So, I put Baby Hana on the bed, and put my right hand on her chest and my left hand caressing her head. I spoke to her all the time, and recited doa for her. She got a little nervous when she caught the scent of the medicine. And when the doctor injected her, she cried. But she didn’t scream. So I kissed her forehead, and when the doctor said okay to do so, I picked her up quickly and hugged her tightly. She calmed down real quick, Alhamdulillah.

Mak and Abah was waiting outside. And Baby Hana already quieted down when we got out from the doctor’s office. Her next appointment will be in early May. I will have to see how our schedule look like during that time. If need be, I might take her for that appointment by end of April. And the doctor said she’s fit for travel. Yeay!

Baby Hana is now 55cm in length and weigh about 4.4kg. Not bad for a girl, eh? My baby girl is strong, healthy and a very good girl! And she’s growing up on me, so fast! I am a little afraid that I might miss something. I’m going back to work in a week. I hope I will stay connected, grounded and patient with her, however tired I am coming back home. There’s a challenge ahead of us, for Baby Hana and I. I pray we’ll get through it okay.

And, we are missing The Man in our lives so much! Muah muah!