Sketches of Life|Life Lived in Simplicity

He hardly sleeps more than an hour yesterday!

My mom told me that maybe he is going to alternate this pattern; one day sleepy day and one day waking up day.

This pattern is not good for my milk production. On his waking up day, he latches to the extend that I got very hungry the moment he let go. On his sleepy day, my milk leaks and my 3yo son will “enjoy” an ounce of my milk mix with his formula milk. hahaha

I told my mom that I worried that I will be fat and need to look for the best diet pills because I feel hungry very often. No more 2 meals a day for me like before. Now I must take breakfast, lunch, tea-break, dinner and sometimes supper!

My mom assured me not to worry about getting fat when fully breastfeeding because when she was breastfeeding me, she was so skinny that people taught she was sick.

Yay! I can EAT!!!

My 6 weeks old slept like a baby today. He naps for almost 3 hours in the afternoon and I managed to sneak out with my other 3 to do a quick shopping at a nearby supermarket.

In the evening, we went to my mom’s and he naps again for 2 hours straight. I should do my baking today instead!

Now he is sound asleep since 10.30pm.

This baby of mine is so unpredictable.

On some days, he will be crying for my nen-nen all day long and sleeps with it in his mouth without letting it go until he wakes up.

On other days, after a big feed, means he really sucks a lot then he will sleep and sleep and sleep without needing me to lie down beside him or latching to my nen-nen.

I wonder what is installed for me tomorrow.

To celebrate my “freedom” we went out makan at Nando’s, Mahkota Parade with all my children. Why Nando’s? Well, I have Vouchers. Save a lot of money eh. And with the new coastal road, it takes less than 15 minutes to reach Mahkota Parade; straight road and no traffic jam at all. Looks like I’ll be going to Mahkota Parade and Dataran Pahlawan more often then Jaya Jusco.

Then later in the evening, I have this strong urge to bake Muffins. I still have not received my electric oven yet so to my mom’s we went. About the oven arh…kinda upset with the lady whom I placed my order with. I ordered on Friday and she told me that she will let me know by this week about my order status. I called yesterday only to be told that she will place my order. What the heck! What happened to Friday, Monday and Tuesday??? No Order Day? If by this Friday, no news from her, I will buy the oven from Jusco; pay extra RM9 also nevermind lar.

Back to baking muffins. Actually I wanted to bake cupcakes but hubby prefers muffins because he said muffin is more moist than cupcake. Ok lar…muffin is easier and faster to prepare and bake.

Not easy to bake with a newborn who loves latching on my nen-nen. This is how it goes…

Breastfeed, he knock off.
Quickly prepare the batter. Thank God that it only takes 15mins.
Breastfeed, let the batter to sit for a while. Hand him to my mom.
Scoop the batter into the casing and bake.

While the muffins are baking; I tried for the first time making Buttercream. I only use butter, icing sugar, milk and vanilla essense. By the time I am done, my muffins are ready and my baby is wailing!

So I let my 2nd girl and her cousins do the piping of the Buttercream for me while I breastfeed my baby again. Unfortunately, the buttercream is not thick enough and the shape melted as they pipe. Anyway, we didn’t like the buttercream either; too sweet!

I only had my Rice with Sambal Belacan and Salted Fish at 9.30pm. Better late than never.

Missions accomplished all in one day.

Finally! Today marks the 40 days of my confinement period. I can be like normal people again. Tomorrow I will be free to eat whatever I like, bathe cold water, and go out at night without feeling guilty. This is because I did not really follow the confinement practices 100% except not eating those unclean food such as prawns, squids, crabs, see-hum, certain type of fishes etc.

I am going to indulge myself with the food that I miss the most during this 40 days; Sambal Belacan! My lunch tomorrow will be Rice with Sambal Belacan and Salted Fish. Yum Yum.

Next will be Nasi Lemak, Tom Yam, Satay Celup, Beef Steak, Fried Kuay Teow with See Hum, Mee Goreng Mamak, Nasi Goreng Belacan, ABC, Cendol and much much more.

However all of the above I can only take in moderate because I am fully breastfeeding my baby. I can’t take food that is too cold or food that could cause him to have gas (wind in the tummy). The food that I can think of that could cause baby’s tummy to be bloated are coconut milk (lots of Nyonya food uses coconut milk leh… ) and glutinous rice (lots of Nyonya kuih uses glutinous rice leh… ).

Like that I can only be 100% normal after I weaned baby off my nen-nen. That will be in 2 years time!!!

One of the pains that I have to endure after giving birth to my children is nipple cracks. It is because baby sucks on the nipple instead of the areola; the area around the nipple, the colour is darker than the rest of your breast tissue. Mine turns even darker and bigger when I am pregnant! Hey, this happens to all pregnant women. I read that Mother Nature makes it that way so that it will be easier for baby to identify which part to latch.

So, when I complained of nipple cracks, the nurse will tell me that I did it the wrong way. The baby must latch on the areola not just the nipple. I really do not know how to do that coz baby’s mouth is so small. The most he can take in is the nipple and a small part of the areola; how to shove ALL the areola in?

So I endured the nipple cracks. Each time baby latches, it is as though that he is sucking on an open wound. Well, it is an open wound. After a week or two, the wound healed and the nipple become tougher and no more cracks. If you have nipple cracks, just use your own breastmilk and apply on it. It helps a lot to expedite the healing process, better than any cream.

Now I wonder whether the nipples toughen or baby’s mouth is bigger and he can take in more of the areola after 2 weeks being born into this world.

Last week, at every opportunity being out in town, I requested hubby to stop at the electrical shops to scout for an electric oven that I have wanted to buy since ages ago. The first day, we went to Seng Heng. They have the brand that I wanted but their selling price is high and not offering a single cent of discount. The next shop I entered was HSL but the sales person just told me that they do not sell electric oven; only microwave oven. With a newborn in my arm and a hot weather, I can only afford to go in and out of the car twice. That’s it for the first day.

At home, I did some Google search and found HSL do sell the electric oven that I wanted. I gave a call to the shop and the lady who picks up the phone told me that they can order for me. That’s good news. Next is to check out the selling price at Jaya Jusco coz I remembered my SIL told me that electrical item sold at Jusco can be cheaper than the electrical shop.

That was where we stopped after sending my baby for check-up at the hospital. Memorized all the price then went over to HSL to bargain with them! We managed to get it lowered by RM59 and I placed my order. Hope to get it before the school holiday so that I can have some fun baking with my girls during the school holiday. Next in my shopping list is a Mixer and a Mixing Bowl.

Talking about bowl; at one of the electrical shops I saw a few Crystal Singing Bowls on display but not for sale. Looks like the Singing Bowls are not only used for meditation and prayer for the Buddhist but art decoration too.

Something is happening to my eyes! Every day, the moment I open my eyes after sleeping in a bright room, I see everything Yellow in colour! It started a few days ago. On the first day, it gave me a shock because I thought my baby’s jaundice shot up because his face was really Yellow. After a few blinks, everything is back to normal.

I figured that this must be due to sleeping in a bright room for more than a month due to baby’s jaundice and also the colour of my room’s curtain and pillow case; they have yellow colour on it. So I think it must be the reflection. This morning I woke up and see not only my baby in yellow but also my other children’s skin turns yellow too! So I quickly switch off the light and sleep in darkness to rest my eyes.

In the afternoon, while breastfeeding my baby in my sister’s room at my mom’s house, I doze off a lil while and the moment I wakes up, I see everything around me yellowish in colour; no lights were switch on and her bedsheet, pillow case and curtains are all in blue.

Something is terribly wrong with my eyes!

Just now, we went for yet another blood test at the Pediatric Clinic in General Hospital. My 32 days old baby is still with jaundice. His face is still yellowish but he is active and drinks well. I wonder how prolong this jaundice will be. He is the only one among his siblings that pass the 30 days mark and still a yellow baby.

We have tried almost everything that friends and relatives suggested. They are…

1. Feed him with goat’s milk – He refused to swallow.
2. Bathe him in Guinness Stout – One big bottle finished.
3. Chinese Waterchest Nut Juice – Only one time coz my mom said it is too “cold” for baby.
4. Green Grape Juice – still giving the juice from one grape a day but don’t see any difference.
5. Sunbathing him every morning – I think he is getting more tan!
6. Let him drink some Pearl Powder – It helps reduce his heat rash!

2 more tips that we have not tried and will not…

1. Bathe him the Yellow Powder – Tried before with my other children; it does not work.
2. Feed him Formula Milk – Mommy’s milk is THE BEST!

I really don’t know what is wrong with him. The doctor said he has a healthy liver and some baby just take longer time to recover.

Maybe it is because he is fully on breast milk. But then arh…I am not taking any more heaty food except for the past few days I drank some DOM because I took some “cold” food and drink. My mom said must balance it up. All my other children was on formula milk and breast milk because I was working then.

Oh well, let’s wait for the result this Friday.

Today is my baby’s fullmoon; he is 30 days old today. So I can be officially unconfined if I wish to but most Chinese will go for 40 days. Since I have broken so many confinement rules, what the heck. I treat myself with 2 scoops of ice-cream! Something from the freezer which I have been craving for for the past 30 days.

To make my treat even more special, I decided to make my own Ice-Cream Cake. It is very simple to make you own ice-cream cake. Firstly go find a piece of cake, any type of cake will do. As for me I found a slice of Pandan Spring Roll which I bought yesterday. Place the cake on a plate. Then go get your ice-cream. Scoop the ice-cream and place it on top of the cake. There you go; your very own Homemade Ice-Cream Cake. Enjoy.

I enjoyed mine while watching my one month old baby sleeps in his Sarong Cradle.

This usually happens to me on the 3rd day of breastfeeding. This time around I was full of fear when my breast started to engorge on the 3rd day. It was so huge and tight. I think they went from size 34 to 38! And baby is not sucking as much as he should; well, he is only 3 days old, how much can he drinks right?

Why was I fearful? I was so worried that history repeats. 3 years ago, due to breast engorgement, I got Mastitis (Breast Infection) and mine was the worst case because the clog milk in my breast was infected and became abscess. I had to undergo a minor surgery and went through 1 month of “hell”. It was excruciating pain having to go through the dressing almost every day to clean the abscess where the nurse dig and clean your open wound.

So this time around, I prayed hard, I pressed hard and I cleaned my nipples often as not to allow any bacteria enters through it. I even got hubby to help me to express my milk (I do not have a breast pump) because he has strong and bigger hands. I wonder why this time around he does not want to suck the milk out!

Oh ya, if you experienced breast engorgement, another way to get the milk out is to use a cloth, dip it in hot water and wrap around your breast. It will cause your milk to flow out. I have forgotten about this when it happened to me that day!

If your engorged breast turns red, quickly go to the clinic ok! If you are fast to seek help and take the antibiotic, you don’t have to suffer like me.