Surviving Exclusive Breastfeeding- My Way.

My beautiful son is now 1 year and 6 months old. Time flies. It doesn't feel 18 months + 9 months (pregnancy phase) at all. It seems so surreal that I have actually breastfeed (BF) my baby for this long.

Since most of my friends now are married,and some of them are now already mothers and soon to be mothers, I really want to share my own experience of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) with you all. I believe that no other milk in this world is more superior than mothers' milk. It is one of Allah's treasures for humans.

Let me first share this dialogue that happened some time ago.

Me: Susu ibulah yang paling baik. Tengok binatang, mana ada diorang bagi susu lain.

Makcik K: Yelah, sbb diorang xtau bancuh susu. Kalau diorang tahu, mesti diorang pun bagi susu botol. Senang.

Me: (silence. xtau nak cakap apa dah. cakap lebih2 kang, dikatanya aku ni kurang ajar.)

Soon after giving birth, I couldn't wait to BF my son. Nurse kt hospital tu siap kena marah dengan I sebab dia bagi my newborn baby susu botol although I have told her not to do so. Direct breastfeed (DBF) was not easy for both of us at first. Tangan lenguh, belakang sakit. Then bengkak susu. Pastu, manual breastpump yang tak berkualiti menyukarkan lagi keadaan. I should have not listened to this person's advice to not to buy a breastpump yet because you may not need it. So I didn't do any survey on breastpumps; ended up buying 2 pumps before I finally bought Medela Swing. I definitely look forward to using it again for my future babies.

I thank my mother for her advice to start pumping and storing milk as soon as the baby is delivered. Alhamdulillah, berkat nasihat ibu, I dapat store up to 60 auns of EBM, which was my ultimate solution sebab terpaksa masuk kerja sebelum habis pantang. Baru 38 hari dah terkepit2 berjalan naik turun tangga kat sekolah. Kalaulah x pam awal2, mmg terpaksa bg susu lembu...

Kat sekolah, berkepit dengan breastpump selama 8 bulan. Orang lain, masa free gi rehat, minum2 kat kantin, I gi nyorok nak mengepam. It was unbelievable to think back that I managed to juggle between all the school workload and pumping. Nak seribu daya, tak nak seribu dalih, kan?

Unfortunately, during fasting month, my milk supply dropped. I could not produce enough milk stock for my baby. So, he started drinking formula milk, which he hates so much until today. Now that he is cleverer and wiser, he will wait for me to pick him up from his nanny's home.

Some mothers prefer formula feeding than BF. Senang kata mereka. Memang pun, bila anak nak susu, just bancuh dan anak tu minum sendiri. But with BF, you are glued to ur baby. Xboleh nak buat apa sangat. Lagi2 kalau keluar shopping, time anak nak susu, kena pulak cari tempat yang sesuai dan selesa. Nak tinggalkan anak susah sebab dia x nak susu botol. Tapi, disebabkan anak tu melekatlah, terasa kasih sayang mengalir dalam badan dia. The baby will feel the love and love us back too.

From my experience yang xseberapa ni (sebab anak baru sorang), there are few tips I want to share:

1. Importantly, pray to Allah swt that you will have good flowing supply of milk for your baby. He is the ultimate Giver.
2. Choose a baby-friendly hospital to give birth. Baby-friendly hospital will make sure ur baby is with u within 1 hour of giving birth and they will educate you about BF.
3. Get a good pump and get pumping as soon as your baby is born. JANGAN MALAS! Pump everytime you feel sore. Pump the other one yang baby tak susu, e.g. kalau baby susu belah kanan, pump belah kiri.
4. Wear comfortable lingerie. Unwired is the best.
5. Buy a nursing cover/poncho so that u have the freedom to nurse ur baby in public.
6. Eat healthily. Now, your baby is what you eat and drink. Cut down caffeine intake.
7. Last but not least, enjoy the nursing time walaupun tengah malam buta. Cuddle and kiss your baby, because the baby soon will grow up and doesn't want to be cuddled or kissed.

Please don't be lured by formula milk 'power' : 4X DHA, gangliosida, no added sugar and whatnot. Whatever they say, our milk is still the best! And I am very thankful that my dear husband, Mohd Hasbullah bin Basir supports me all the way. Love you!

The journey of a magical experience

Wah..lama gle x update! Dari sebelum bersalin sampai la umur baby dah sebulan... Biasala, busy yang teramat sgt... This time, I want to share some of my experience of being a pregnant lady, and the experience of giving birth.


The Pregnancy

Both husband and I plan to have a baby. But not this soon as we thought that I will only conceive a few months after stop taking my pills. But His plans are better. Alhamdulillah, my pregnancy was a very smooth one. But not that easy as I was quite tensed up by pressure from BPG (thanks to her for all the mess). Nasib baik dpt gak graduate.

Although the pregnancy was uneventful, I gained so much weight even though I didn't a lot. Mengidam..takde sangat, tapi selera berubah-ubah. Kejap nak makan tu, kejap nak makan ni. Yang tak berubah cuma fav drink: Sunkist Orange Juice. Hopefully, I will get my pre-pregnancy weight and shape back ;p


The Labour

Pagi sehari sebelum kelahiran Mohd Raihan, I had a weird dream and suddenly I felt a kicking from inside my womb. I was shocked, awaked from my sleep and quickly stood up. And there was a trickle of water coming out. Tak panik pun sebab tak rasa sakit. Confuse ada la; is it really coming? So I call my husband yang tgh ada important meeting, and he said: 'Nak abang balik ke?' Haha. Funny.

We went to the doctor and she said I had a leaking and labour is still far away, it will be tomorrow. So we went to One Utama to buy our cats' food and had tea at Old Town, then we off to the birthing centre.

That night, contractions coming in slow and steady at first, then fast and furious. I couldn't sleep at all. Bengang je dgr my hubby berdengkur sedangkan I ni menahan sakit macam nak berguling-guling. Nak tunggu pukul 4 pagi sementara doktor dtg utk bagi pain killer rasa macam bertahun-tahun. Dah bagi pain killer pun still sakit and x leh tido. Lapar tapi whatever goes in, went out. Sepanjang mengandung tak pernah muntah, ni la baru pertama kali...

Finally, my OBG doc came in and said I am going to the labour room. Can't wait for the pain to be over. Dah masuk labour room tu, doc heran apsal air ketuban x pecah2, so she did it for me. X sakit pun tapi rasa pelik air tu keluar. Haha. Then, she injected oxytoxin in my drip. After that, the contractions were really strong and painful. Allah je tahu macam mana sakit nye. Tak pernah rasa sakit sampai macam tu skali. Macam sakit maha senggugut! The doc said it will be 4 to 6 hours before the baby arrive, and I couldn't imagine how I am going to survive with the pain.

Thank God it wasn't that long. After 1 hour or so, I had the urge to push. So, I pushed and pushed with any energy that was left inside of me, and then finally, I heard the nurse said: 'Dah nampak kepala baby, cepat panggil Doktor Ummul!'. Pastu, lg la semngat I push, then Mohd Raihan pun kuar.....sume sakit pun hilang..............



Being pregnant and giving birth is really an experience so special that Allah swt granted to women only. Walaupun susah dan sakit, penghujungnya amat best skali. Now only I truly understand why Allah swt says we have to put our mothers first before our father.

I am Back!!!

Time passes quickly that we barely realised how much time we have actually wasted. As for me, I don't really want to admit that I wasted my summer vacation doing nothing. I wasted some time, but most of the time I spend it with my mom and preparing for my incoming wedding.

The journey to Malaysia was a tough one. Flight got cancelled and delayed, stranded alone...It took me almost four days to land in KLIA! Boy it taught me a lot about live and being thankful. The survival in this world. The persons who matter most, and to whom you matter most. Thank you Lord, for this invaluable lesson.

Being in Malaysia was lovely. Being with your family members, enjoying the flavours of Malaysia (I loveee char kue tiaw in Penang) and eating my favourite fruit: Mangosteen. Sedap nyerr... Tak teringat langsung kt beri-beri England, nothing beats tropikal fruits! Mangga, manggis, rambutan, durian, jambu batu, jambu air, buah naga....yummy!

Cerita politilk pulak...menyampah. Sumpah sana, sumpah sini. Me, who doesn't like politic can't even stand the political issues. I just hope things will get better in time. Tapi nanti jadi cikgu pun tak boleh terlibat dengan politik. Bagus jugak, kalau tak, pening kepala. Institusi agama di Malaysia pun dah tercalar dek politik. Hampeh.

Lari dari politik. I want to share an experience. It was second, or maybe third of Ramadan. My mom and I on the way to Econsave. That day was quite sunny. While waiting for the traffic lights to turn green, I looked at the car next to us. Ada tiga orang remaja. At first I thought budak cina, or maybe Bumi yg bukan Islam. Yela..sedap je diorang makan what looked like kerepek to me. But then, I looked more carefully. Kat cermin utk tengok blkg tu (can't remember what it is called) tergantung hiasan tulisan ayat-ayat Quran. So I told my mum, I asked her to look. The teenagers, realised we were looking at them, tried to hide the accessory. Trying to hide the fact that they are Muslims and they should be fasting. Perasaan malu dan sedih membuak-buak. Even until today, I can't forget that incident. Kalau ye pun yang perempuan-perempuan tu tak puasa, tak payah la makan dengan bangga sambil menyuap si lelaki di sebelah. And for the rest of the journey, I had to bear with my mum's nag.

Now, I am back in Plymouth. Barely see sun shining brightly. I am still recovering from flu and cough. Surviving to do my dissertation which I haven't started yet. Surviving to heal the old wounds and to open new beginnings...

Saya dah kembali (' ',) - My reflection of the travel

Assalamu'alaikum wbt...

Alhamdulillah...selamat kembali ke U. Lama betul saya travel. 20 days of non-stop travelling! I won't call a 20 day of travelling as vacation, because I didn't stop walking and walking and walking! Tak pernah dibuat sepanjang hidup saya! Walaupun banyak cabaran dan dugaan yang datang pada saat-saat akhir perjalanan, semuanya dapat ditangani dengan cekal, Alhamdulillah for the strength and perseverance that He has given us.

The journey really made me realised that I have to be really really and very very thankful that I am a Muslim. It also made me realised that I have a big responsibility to spread the teaching of Islam.

Saya amat bersyukur kerana dikurniakan Allah swt rezeki yang cukup untuk pergi ke negara-negara tersebut. Hurm..banyak ilmu yang saya dapat daripada perjalanan saya. Adopt and adapt to the different surroundings tu macam biasa la, rasanya semua orang pun belajar benda ni apabila berkelana.

Rasanya cukup setakat ni dulu. Saya ketandusan idea, huhu....

The Interview

Assalamu'alaikum . . . Wah . . . lama betul saya tak menulis! I have been busy with my assignment and alhamdulillah it's done now. Harap-harap dikurniakan Allah markah yg bagus, amiin... Hari ni (Jumaat 280907) tak de kelas. But I have an important 'event' that is an interview with a reporter from BBC Radio Devon. She is doing some research about multi faiths. Jadi beliau nak interview beberapa students Muslim di MARJON ni (memandangkan Muslim majoritinya senang dicari di MARJON). Tak lama pun interview tu, just about 1 and half hours. Before the interview, beliau (Jane) ada bagi soalan yang akan ditanya. So boleh la kami (3 of us) be prepared. Berikut adalah soalan-soalan yang ditanya & jawapan saya yang tak seberapa (tp dah diedit grammarnye (ternervous sikit time interview, ayat pun tunggang langgang, hihihi ;p)

• What are the benefits of having a strong faith? What does faith means to you?
• There are lots of benefit of having a strong faith, for example, it acts as your guidance and it makes you realize the aim/purpose of your life. Faith, literally means a belief that you hold, and personally for me, faith means everything for me. It gives you the answer to everything such as why this happened to you, not to other people, why some people are rich and some people are poor and so on.

• What is it like being a Muslim in Plymouth - are there any difficulties, what are the good things?
• There are not many difficulties, I would say. It's just that when we go out to the town during the night, we would usually being called names & laughed at mostly by the teenagers. But it's not a big problem now. I think I'm used to it now.
  

• To discuss Ramadhan, its significance, whether fasting, prayer etc is more difficult when the majority of people aren't doing the same thing.
• I think the significance of Ramadhan is to differentiate other beliefs' fasting practices. For example, in Christianity (Catholic), on Fridays, the believers fasting by not eating meat. In other beliefs, the believers fast, but they can drink but not eat; or they can break their fast at a time that they decide on themselves. But in Islam, we start fast from the sun rises till the sun sets. We cannot eat, drink and involve in sexual activities. Fasting also disciplines us because we have to constrain ourselves from doing non-beneficial things. We are encouraged to read the Holy Qur'an and do good deeds. Fasting also makes us feel the hardship that poor people face, like hunger.
  
• Its not hard at all to fast when other people are not doing the same thing. This is when the strong faith comes in, again. If we have a strong faith, nothing is hard for us to do what is being told. It's vice-versa. But I believe it is quite important to have people of the same faith besides you so that you get the support and motivation to practice the belief.
  

• How much would it mean to local Muslims to have an official mosque?
• It would mean a lot! This is because a mosque is a place where all Muslims can meet, pray together and have discussions. It is also a place that can strengthen our relationship as we can meet regularly.

• Has the perception of Muslims changed in the light of terrorist attacks etc.? How can this be countered by both the wider community and the Muslim community themselves?
• Hurm...I think some people stare at us. But we as Muslims never agree with terrorism as the teaching of Islam doesn't have this. It is certainly not in Islam. However, we do get the negative effect of terrorism. Its not fair. We all are blamed for something that we don't commit.
• I think the misunderstanding can be countered by having forums or discussions so that this issue will be clear. These will help people to understand what is the real teachings of Islam.

• Can you explain briefly on how women is treated in Islam.
• Basically people will think that women is treated unequally mainly because we have to cover up and wear scarf. We are actually treated as princesses. We have to cover up as our beauty is only for our husband, not everyone. Our Prophet also taught us that we have to put our mother first before our father. By covering up we also show our modesty as we don't show our beauty and body to everybody. We also have the right to have education; ot's up to us whether we want to grab the chance or not

• Do you feel local people are interested in finding out more about your culture and beliefs?
• I think so. It's a human nature to know something that they don't know. Even if they are not interested, we still would like to tell them about the real Islam. This is because I believe that many people still do not know about our belief; some think Muslims worship a black box in a desert (Mecca), & kiss the ground 5 times a day!
  

• Drinking alcohol - do you feel left out?
• Not at all. There are other ways to enjoy ourselves. Besides that, by looking at the students' behaviour in Marjon here especially after they had parties, I'm very thankful that I don't drink. They usually shouting here & there, and bottles are scattered around. And we all know that alcohol has more negative effects than positive.

• As students, why did they decide to study here?
• Because the opportunity for me to travel in Europe is bigger than other places. Besides that, I don't like Science and Maths!
  

Sebenarnya byk lagi soalan Jane (yang beliau 'chip' in), tapi saya tak ingat. Lupa pula nak rekod interview tu. Seronok jugak menerangkan tentang agama yang dicintai ini pada orang lain. Saya belajar byk benda, seperti bagaimana nak menceritakan agama dengan bahasa yang mudah bagi yang tidak memahami apa itu Islam. Pemilihan perkataan pun amat penting. Nasib la interview dlm bahasa Inggeris, jadi memang kena fikir dulu baru cakap. Saya berdoa agar penemuramah itu dikurniakan taufiq & hidayah oleh-Nya, amiin.

Sesiapa yang mahu memberikan pendapat/jawapan pada soalan-soalan di atas amatlah dialu-alukan. =)

Long Day...

Assalamu'alaikum semua. . .

Harap semua sihat & dalam rahmat-Nya, dan masih bernafas dalan nafas nikmat iman & Islam. Seriously, lepas 'karya' yang lepas, saya betul2 ketandusan idea untuk menulis! Hurm..bagaimana ya para penulis novel sentiasa banjir dengan idea?

Jadi, sementara nak tunggu banjir idea melanda, saya nak kongsi pengalaman saya semalam. It was such a long day! Sampai je di rumah, saya terus 'pancit'...




JAM 0700
Malas sungguh nak bangun...Itula, siapa suruh tidur lambat! Tapi digagahkan juga bangun dan bersiap-siap, demi interview untuk kerja di Royal Mail Disember nanti. Kalau nak rezeki halal yang lebih, kena la berusaha lebih, betul tak?

JAM 0805
We were on our journey there, by a taxi. Sepanjang perjalanan, saya asyik recall semua dokumen yang saya bawa. Semua lengkap, Insya Allah. Harapnya semua berjalan lancar, sampai la sejam setengah kemudian . . .

JAM 0930
"Miss, your bank letter doesn't have an issue date. We can't accept this." Ya Allah, biar betul! Pelik la pulak surat bank tak de tarikh ... Saya pun panik. "So what should I do now?" Tanya saya pada pegawai itu. Dalam hati, saya redha dengan segala ketentuan-Nya. If this is not meant for me, then I know His knows that this is not good enough for me, so I don't really mind if I don't get the job. "Why not you come back later, this afternoon, with another bank letter with a date?" "Ok. I'll try." Jangan panik! Tenang...Jadi saya pun call kawan-kawan saya yang akan interview petang nanti, minta tolong mereka. Alhamdulillah, kawan-kawan sudi menghulurkan bantuan. Jazakumullah khurair (esp. empunya Nokia 73 & Motolora D&G, housemate & the 'letter carrier'). Maybe this is meant for me, cuma Allah nak uji.

JAM 1030-1330
Saya menghabiskan masa 3 jam menunggu dengan membaca novel. Nasib baik saya terasa nak bawa novel tu. At least I won't let time goes by me just like that. Tapi terpaksa menunggu di kantin. Perut yang tak lapar pun jadi lapar. Tapi terpaksa ditahan; I have no other place to sit & read. Ujian . . ujian . .

JAM 1330-1345
Alamak...kenapa diorang tak sampai-sampai lagi ni. Risau sungguh. Saya pun sms kawan saya, rupa-rupanya teksi driver diorang bawa ke tempat yang salah, jadi diorang terpaksa naik teksi lain dari situ untuk ke tempat interview. Kesian...mesti byk duit keluar untuk bayar tambang. Ujian lagi, buat mereka & saya. Akhirnya diorang pun sampai 15 minit kemudian, Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah!

JAM 1440-1515
Menunggu teksi. Teksi yang tak kunjung-kunjung tiba. Cuaca semakin sejuk. Saya menunggu dengan kesabaran yang semakin menipis. Sabar Syafwah..sabar...saya pujuk diri sendiri.

JAM 1520
Teksi pun tiba. Saya pun dah semakin lemah. Dalam teksi tu, saya cuba sedaya upaya buat diri sendiri distracted supaya mabuk hilang. Perjalanan yang sebenarnya pendek dirasakan sangat lama. I was on the very edge to vomit when we arrived at our location; at last, home sweet home!

JAM 1600
Sambil berehat di atas katil, diselubungi duvet yang empuk, saya menghabiskan bacaan novel saya sambil merefleksi peristiwa hari ini. Pasti ada hikmah di sebalik semuanya. Pasti ada sesuatu yang penting yang Dia nak ajarkan kepada saya, and I know exactly what it is.

"Jika Allah menimpakan sesuatu kemudaratan kepadamu, maka tidak ada yang dapat menghilangkannya kecuali Dia. Dan jika Allah menghendaki kebaikan bagi kamu, maka tak ada yang dapat menolak kurnia-Nya. Dan Dia memberikan kebaikan itu kepada sesiapa yang dikehendaki-Nya di antara hamba-hamba-Nya dan Dialah Yang Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang." (YUNUS: 10)

What do you think that He wants to teach me?
Tell me, I want to know other people's opinion/advice.
Jazakumullah kepada yang bagi respon. =)