Review : My Confinement Lady

Now that I've pass my confinement (actually I've passed it 5 months back but was too lazy didn't had the time to blog), I think it is high time to do a review on my confinement lady (CL).

My super love my CL.  I would say that I'm very blessed to get a correct one at first try without actually meeting her in person (she's from Ipoh) and interviewing her. Her name is Ah Mew -  I call her Mew Che because she's obviously older than me. Gotta admit, initially I didn't take a liking to her because she is straight-forward and too "ganas" (she's not the gentle-type la) for my liking. But week after week, I grew fond of her and she's open to my disagreement and I can be very frank as well with her.

Here are the reasons why I love my CL :

1. She's not petty and definitely not calculative. She always offered to cook for the entire family - even if my husband comes back late from work!
   
   
2. Does household chores. In fact, I never tell her to do it. On her own, she will change my bedsheets, wash my toilets, upkeep my household, fold and iron my clothes, arrange the stuff in my drawers etc.
   
   
3. Does not take afternoon naps.
   
   
4. She's relatively young i.e. in her 40s, so she's not that old school and won't impose stupid confinement rules. (Well.. she does impose some la.. but most I can get away with :p) Yes, I still can't wash my hair until Day 12 and I can bath everyday with herbal and ginger water.
   
   
5. FULLY SUPPORTS BREASTFEEDING! In fact, she was the one who encouraged me when I thought I didn't have enough supply. She discouraged me to buy a tin of formula milk for standby, she cooked yummy milk boosters soup for me, she reminds me to pump regularly, she brings the baby to me for feeding etc.To the extent that friends who gave birth around the same time asked me for help for milk boosters recipe from my CL. She also prepared extra ingredients when she left so I can prepare my own milk boosters. Couldn't thank her enough for that.
   
   
6. An amazing cook! Her dishes are all very yummy. And I can put in my request for her if I gian wanna eat something. I was very well-fed in that 28 days of confinement. It has been awhile since I've last had home-cooked food. :(
   
   
7. Good companion. While I had my post-partum blues, she was the one who sat and chit-chatted with me. She kept me occupied the entire time. I shared my concerns and in exchanged she gave me tips on how to take care of a baby, on breastfeeding, and we shared stories of her funny confinement stories with weird clients. There was this time when I was being harassed asked to drink this awful herbal thingy by my family which in my opinion (and my CL agreed) was not necessary, we pakat and hid the bottle. heheheeh ~
   
   
8.  My only complain is this : While she is excellent in taking care of babies, she can be a bit crude in the sense that she is stern with the baby (in terms of words). Initially, I didn't like it but when I told her, she kinda mellowed down. I like the fact that she allows you to room in with your baby in the final week of confinement to get adjusted to the baby's routine. Of course, she'll be there on standby if ever you require her assistance.
   
   
9. Still keep in contact with my CL and she calls me from time to time to check on my and my baby to make sure that everything is ok. She's like a friend now. :)

So all in, I am extremely pleased with my CL and would definitely hire her again for my #2 in the future. 

Love;

Mummy Geri

I choose to NOT vaccinate my child

Source: The Star

I have made the informed decision with the consensus of my husband to delay Isaac's vaccination until he's at least 2 years old. Then we'll decide from there whether if we want to proceed with it or not. He has taken all of his compulsory shots up until 4 months old.

Initially when I was pregnant, I was one of those judgmental person who thinks that mothers who choose not to vaccinate their children are crazy, ridiculous, selfish, and is putting their babies at risk for infectious disease.

And then, I was opened up the what vaccines contained and what are the adverse side effects that could potentially harm my child. I am grateful to one of my friend who introduced me into a group so that I can read up more on it and to consult them on my worries/concerns before making an informed decision. Noticed I keep using the word informed. I do not recommend people to just follow blindly on whether if they choose to vaccinate. The decision is yours. Do your own research.

Below are the reasons as to why I would want to delay Issac's vaccination :

(1) Do you know exactly what is being injected into your baby? I strongly suggest for you to read up on this article. It clearly states the breakdown and the effects of each of the vaccines on your child. You'll be surprised that most of the items listed down are toxic to your child's body. Look at some of the real cases on the adverse effects of a vaccine injury on a child - on a worse case, it could lead to death. Would you want to expose your child to it? Think about it.

Here are some links on cases where babies succumb to their vaccine injuries. I shall not post the pictures here but you may view them in the links below. It is very heart-wrenching.

Baby Dies After 9 Vaccines in One Day  

Ian's Voice (I cried reading baby Ian's story.. so much of suffering)

And one more case.. closer to home : 16-year old Malaysian boy paralyze after receiving his tetanus jab

(2) Vaccination does not equal to immunization. That explains the booster shots. Further, in my opinion it is better to allow your child to fight off the disease himself to strengthen his immune system naturally. It is all about good hygiene and proper sanitation. 

(3) MMR vaccine causes autism. Read up here. 

After reading all of the above, it is a risk that I'm not willing to take. To knowingly allow toxin being injected into my baby. 

I am the mother. And as a mother, my role is to protect my child at all cost.

Love;

Mummy Geri

Breast Feeding (Part 2) - Review : Medela Swing

When I was pregnant, I was undecided between Avent or Medela. After a quick survey and asking my mummy friends, I've decided to purchase Medela Swing, a single electric pump. Was tempted to get Freestyle which is an electric double pump but it was so darn expensive at around RM2,000! 

Thank God I made the right decision. I love my Medela Swing to bits and pieces. The pump has been following me everywhere - to work, to the shopping malls, to other people's house. Yes, I've been pumping very diligently for my little milk guzzler at home. 

What I love about Medela Swing.

- The 2-phase expression is absolutely wonderful! It mimics the sucking of a baby to stimulate more milk production.

- It is quiet so the whole world won't know that I'm pumping.

- It's portable and can I can opt to use batteries or electric. Perfect for full-time working mums like me who is always on the go.

- Simple to use, wash, and assemble.

- You have an option to convert it into a double-pump. DIY yourself and refer to the Youtube video. It's very simple :)

What I don't like about Medela Swing - I occasionally have the problem of backflow of milk into the tube back into the motor! Grrr ~ So inconvenient to wash. There's this one time it was so bad my tubing had mold! Yuck

Alternatively, drop by to Enjoy Breastfeeding where you are allowed to try the pumps before deciding on which on which suits you best.

Love;
Mummy Geri

Breastfeeding (Part 1) - The Journey So Far

Today I want to talk about my breastfeeding journey so far. I'm not gonna lie.. it's not easy. People has the misinterpretation that breastfeeding is the most natural and easy thing to do. It's not. You need sheer determination and perseverance to not give up and give in to that tin of formula milk. 

You have to constantly battle with supply issue - not everyone is blessed with abundance of supply. Some mummies even have too much of supply they suffered from mastitis. Sometimes I get blocked ducts and lumps too - it's annoyingly painful and you would have to massage it to unblock the duct.

Thank God I have good support from my parents, friends, and my confinement lady - else it would be an uphill battle. Of course, joining sites like The Breastfeeding Advocates Network (TBAN for short) on FB really helps a lot - where all mummies come together and connect to share a common goal i.e. breastfeeding. 

Being an exclusively breastfeeding mum who is also working full time, you have to be extra hardworking to pump out your milk to ensure that the baby has enough supply at the daycare. Thankfully I have an understanding boss who is ok with me taking time off to pump in the office.

Truthfully I did occasionally think about quitting but when I look at my boy thriving on the breastmilk and growing up strong and healthy, I know what I'm doing is the correct thing. And then I will persevere one month at a time.

I guess at the end of the day it is mostly your mental and how determined or stubborn you are that makes breastfeeding a success.

My personal target is to fully breastfeed Isaac until 6 months old. Thereafter, I will set another milestone. :)

.. 2 more months to go ...

p/s: My only qualms is that I wished I could have direct latch him more. Now I've became an exclusively pumping mum. I miss having to direct latch him. Maybe for #2, I will try harder at latching. :) 

Love;
Mummy Geri

Review : Battle of the Storage Bottles (Bumble Bee vs Autumnz)

The reason why I had two different brands was because Autumnz storage bottles comes together with my Medela Swing, whereas Bumble Bee was bought. Honestly, I prefer Bumble Bee storage bottles over Autumnz and here's the reason why : 

(1) Compatible with my Medela Swing. I can straight away pump into the Bumble Bee bottle without having the hassle of changing and pouring. Minimize the risk of spilling my precious breast milk.

(2) I find Bumble Bee's storage bottles more 'solid' in the sense that it doesn't look too worn out after numerous washing and sterilising.

(3) The middle cap doesn't fall off easily as compared to Autumnz (which is darn irritating).

Love;

Mummy Geri

Review : Autumnz Steam Steriliser and Bottle Warmer

The initial reason why I chose Autumnz brand is because they comes in a set and is relatively cheap. Also, the steriliser was recommended by a good friend. After using them for a couple of months, here are my reviews.

(1) Autumnz Steam Steriliser. 

- Straight to the point and very user friendly.

- Sterilises your items in 8 minutes.

- Light indicator and there is a beep sound once it's done (plus point!).

- Able to fit all my Avent bottles and Medela Swing pump. 

- Good buy. 

Good buy :)

Can fit in a lot of items

(2) Autumnz Bottle Warmer.

- Takes very long to warm up (major thumbs down!)

- Good to keep the milk warm at a constant level i.e. 40c.

- Light indicator - orange means warming up, green means keep warm.

- Can do without it, would rather do the traditional way of using boil water.

Bleh~

Traditional way is still the best and fastest!

Love;

Mummy Geri

Review : Giving Birth in SDMC

I had stated previously on why did i choose SDMC to give birth. And how I have been through it, I am glad that I've chosen this hospital. 

The only downside is that this hospital is amongst one of the more expensive private hospital to give birth in. My total bill (inclusive of the baby) came up to approximately RM9k! Bear in mind that this is an induced natural birth with epidural and not even a c-sect. Can't imagine what's the cost of a c-sect. When we looked through the itemized bill, the hospital in itself charges the most (surprisingly not the professional fees of the gynea or the anesthesiologist or the nursery and pediatrics).

Oh and also there is no additional sleeping chair for your spouse. You may rent a lazy chair but it is very uncomfortable. In the labour ward, there is no sofa chair as well. Room is rather small as well.

What I love about SDMC:

1. Dr Delilah, my awesomest gynecology in the whole wide world
- calm, cool, and collective. In my 25 hours of labor she kept coming in the check on me - even in the wee hours of the morning.
  
2. Midwives
- all very professional and patient.

3. Dr Ngui, the anesthesiologist who did my epidural
- fantastic, didn't feel a thing.

4. Labour Ward
- very warm and comfortable (not scary like those you see in movies)

5. Nursing Care
- Thumbs up!

6. Nursery
- Very pro-breastfeeding. After the baby is taken to the nursery to be heated up for 2 hours, the baby will be taken to you for breastfeeding. Everytime the baby is hungry, the nurses will bring the baby to you for feeding. The nurses will teach you how to latch correctly and is on-call 24 hours should you encounter any problems. Rooming in with the baby is encouraged. No formula milk is given unless consent is given by the mother.

7. Dr Sanjay, the peadiatricion
- Extremely gentle with babies. Love that he encourages breastfeeding as well.

So there you go.. given a choice (and the budget), I would definitely choose SDMC again to give birth.

Love,
Mummy Geri