Weight gain

Yesterday, we brought hArith and athirAh for their special immunization, Palivizumab. They need this immunization because they are at high risk of Respiratory Syntical Virus (RSV), thus this immunization is a form of prevention, insya-Allah.

Anyway, before their immunization were given, nurse took their weight. They are showing good weight gain. hArith is now 5.02kg and athirAh is 3.74kg. For babies like them (premature) their weight gain should be between 15 - 30 gram a day. That's about 450gram - 900gram a month. Last 4 weeks, hArith was 4.16kg and athirAh was 2.98kg. Which means they increased 860grm and 760grm respectively.

Talking about good weight gain, mOmmy on the other hand is showing poor weight gain. Gosh, i'm loosing more weight. I now weigh less than 40kg. And this poor weight gain made me loose my ring! (NO, not my wedding ring) The other day I did notice that my ring is loose, so instead of wearing it at my fourth finger, i ended wearing it at my third finger. I thought that would be safe enough. I only realised that my ring is no longer at my finger when i had my body massage yesterday. Goshh....this is sooooo not good.

Life after 8

My life (and pApa's) after 8pm is just like other married couples without child / children. And why is that so? Cause the babies are nicely tuck to bed. It has been a month or so that my babies been sticking to their bedtime. It took me about 2 weeks to train them.

Wondering what's their bedtime routine like? Basically, their bedtime starts at about 6:15pm, well sometimes 6:30pm. They will have their nice warm bath. After their bath, it will be their feeding time. They will have their milk in a night setting bedroom. I'll turn off the lights and only turn on the night dim light and also the aircond. So they will have their milk in the dark room. During feeding, I'll say good nite to them and for the first few minutes of feeding i'll keep on telling them that it is already dark (night), it's time to go to sleep. Once their milk finish, i'll burp them and even if they are not yet asleep i'll place them in their cot and pat their back to sleep. Even if they were to cry as loud as a plane takes off, i will never pick them up to carry them. I'll just continue to pat their back.

During those training week, i even had to pat hArith for an hour long. He cried (loudly!) non-stop. There are times, it was soooo loud that I almost lost my patience and wanted to carry him. But I choose not to, and be very firm. Cause I felt that, if I were to carry him, next time he would do the same, cry his lung out in order for me to carry him. So what I did was to make dua' to Allah "Ya Allah ya tuhanku, permudahkanlah utk anak2ku tidur, dan sekiranya nangis ini adalah untuk kebaikannya, maka berikanlah kesabaran kpd diriku.Ameen"

Now al-hamdulillah, bedtime is sooo much easier. After feeding, I only need to pat their back the most for 10 minutes. And in case you are wondering what time will they wake up? Well, it really depends how tired they are. If they had a long tiring day, they will sleep longer up till 2 or 3am. On usual days they will wake up at about midnite. Just before I go to bed. And their next feeding time will be subuh. So now I have 2 subuh alarm clocks (which I definately can't press the snooze button).

This bedtime routine is sooo great, coz after 8pm...i'm free to go out. I'll just leave the baby monitor on for either my maid or my mom to listen. (in case they wakes up...which hardly happens). So I can still say YES to One Utama and Uptown, and be back before midnite for their feeding time.

NOW

A BIG THANKS

to all the doctors and nurses for their efforts

to save and nurse my babies to health,

and also for their support and friendship.

Miracle bAbies

From a mere 760gm and 600gm babies

they are now 4.2kg and 3.2kg

Al-Hamdulillah

Quality Time: Father & Son

Whenever pApa is not away for work, he will make a point (or rather mOmmy will make sure..hehehe) that he mandikn the two babies. hArith seems to love his bathing session wiz pApa. Maybe that's because pApa's hands are more like cushion for him to rest his head, whereas mOmmy's hands mcm tulang. If mOmmy mandikn, the first 5 minutes, he'll be quiet and then he'll start making unhappy noises. But whenever pApa takes his bath, even if it was 10 minutes under the tap, he'll remain quiet.

*soon hArith will be too big to have his bathing time in the sink, no more "waterfall" for him

Even feeding time, hArith demands pApa to feed him. The other day, pApa was having his breakfast so mOmmy decided to feed hArith first and pApa would continue later. hArith refused to open his mouth, but when pApa took over..wow his mouth was wide open. Hmm...

*yummy bAnanas

One hAppy fAmilY

*try looking closer...hArith's sticking his tongue out to pApa

Their first solid food

hArith and athirAh had their first solid food...AVOCADO. mOmmy chosed avocado because of its high nutrient content. hArith had no problem eating. But athirAh, had difficulty to swallow the food, so doctor suggested to give some time before we try feeding athirAh again. Harith enjoys eating, he definately has pApa's appetite..hihi

Well, I find preparing fruits puree very convenient. I smash the avocado and keep it frozen, so I need not smash every morning. Here's how I did it....

.

Each cube is approximately 1+ ounces, allowing you to have an idea of the amount of food your baby is consuming.

the cubes to be kept in the freezer, so mOmmy can use the ice tray to smash other food =)

take one cube and few drops of milk, and heat it up using the bottle warmer

Tadaaaa.....It's ready

As suggested by the website I read, we need to try each new food for 4 days, so we could detect any allergies reaction. Both has no problem with Avocado, now they are having bananas. Yum Yum....

Fragile

I often hear moms saying that their newborns are fragile. But for me, I considered their babies very healthy AND big....cause my definition of fragile would be this...

my 600grm baby girl

*kecik je kn

AND NOW
my small tiny gal has grown ,
she's now approximately 2.5kg

Al-hamdulillah

although mOmmy feels that athirAh has grown big

but

friends and relatives still thinks she's small,

maybe that's because they didn't see her newborn size

and afterall for a 5 month old baby,
she is indeed small,

i can even carry her with one hand

taddaaa.....

*unfortunately i don't have hArith's (760grm) newborn photo

Yummy-licious

Now that my angels are 5 months and 1 week, it means they will have another 3 weeks before they can start on solid food. Of coz, every mom wants the best for their babies. I'm planning to give them homemade food (hope, i dont sound too ambitious.). So anyone who knows any reliable website for babies food, do inform me ya. So far, I have found one very helpful site .

hArith and athirAh, u soon gonna have some yummy-licious food. No longer just milk 24/7.

Definately NOT easy

mOmmy been trying to take a nice shot of both of you. But each time one of you is in a good mood for photo shots, the other would be asleep. Susahhnyeeee.... despite lots of shots taken, mOmmy still not satisfied wiz the photos...luckily we have digital cameras nowadays..hihi

Car Seat

We all know about the increase road accidents (touch wood) nowadays, thus making parents listing down "car seat" in their essential list of things to buy. I've been hearing mothers having problem to get their babies to sit in their own car seat. Well, I recently bought my darling babies their car seat and the salesgirl shared with us some tips. Of coz, I also fear if my babies cry through out the whole trip, and imagine the noise if both started crying, doing the choir, and i ended up getting them off the car seat coz can't stand the loud choir. Which then doesnt serve the purpose me spending money on those car seats. Two car seats certainly not cheap.

Anyway, the salesgirl told us that we should get the babies used to the car seat, dont straight away buckle them up in the car. Get them used to it. So we ended up putting the car seat in the house, and placing both of them in it from time to time. It started off with a few minutes session on it, then gradually increase the time period. First try, both of them cried, so we put them on it without buckle up the belts. Then later when they look more comfortable we tried on the belt. Wow, good progress...hehehe. hArith is certainly doing fine, but athirAh being too small, she basically sank in the chair. So we just have to wait she put on few more kilos (she's now 2.3kg) before we start again her seating session. hArith started off with few minutes session and end up having no problem watching tv while seating in his car seat. Falling asleep and waking up in it.

So his first trip in the car seat was to my brothers house cause the pest control wants to pray chemical all over the house. Me bawak them lari to my bro's place. hArith had no problem at all, even when we reached my bro's place we let him remain in the car seat. Brought him in, and put him on the sofa. Suddenly we realise he was already asleep...comfortably. athirAh managed to sit in her car seat, but once arrived, she demanded to be out of it. Well, fine with me.

Because hArith seems so comfortable seating on it,in fact enjoying it, we decided to bring him along to fetch my sister at the airport. Again...no problem at all.

So mothers out there, if you are having problem getting getting your babies to sit in ther car seat, start it off with few minutes session and gradually increase the time frame.

g00d luck!





during those training-to-sit-in-his-car-seat

...and mOre photOs...

hOme together

hArith: "luv u sis, n i miss you...dont get yourself readmitted again kay. i want u home!"

mOre of mAndi tiMe

athirAh zAhraa

ahmAd hArith

I lOve mandi time!

but not too sure are the babies enjoying it as much as I do...hehe

however, athirAh enjoys it more than hArith

1) mOmmy's bathing session with athirAh

athirAh so small,we can have her mandi mandi in the sink

she's now approximately 2.2kg

2) pApa's bathing session with hArith

mOmmy feels that this mandi time is a time for bonding bonding, that's why i try my very best to mandi both of you by myself or by pApa. the only time grandma mandikn was when I had to room in with athirAh in the hospital. I'm lovin' it =)

I'm a mOther of twO

*excuse the senget headscarf, my dad wore it for me for this photograph purposes

athirAh has recovered from her hernia operation

and

now back home to be with the rest of the family

She's progressing well

Yabedabeduuu, athirAh is out of Paediatric Intensic Care Unit (ICU), so now I have to room in with her in the general wad. Do pray that we only need to spend a nite in the hospital and I'll be able to bring her back by tomorrow...


Can't wait to have my complete family all under one roof =)

I said it too s0on...

Just when I thought my daily trips to the hospital are over,yet another new chapter of hospital begins. And just when I thought I now have my complete family members at home, one had to be readmitted to the hospital...


Yes, the long hiatus is not because I'm busy handling two babies at home but because I still have to squeeze time in between to go see my darling athirAh at the hospital. On the 2nd day of rAya, while changing athirAh's diaper I noticed her groin part was a bit harden and as if there was a lump. mOmmy pointed it out to pAh and she agreed. On top of that athirAh didn't pass motion for 2 days so I thought of bringing her to the hospital for the nurse to insert enema to help with her constipation. And since I'm already there, having the doctors around, I used the opportunity to get one of the doctor to see the harden part around her groin.....and there goes the word I don't want to hear....she need to be readmitted because the lump that I enquire about was actually hernia. She needed urgent surgery.

Being premature, we need to deal with after surgery consequences. And most importantly...her breathing. Being born premature at only 26 weeks (as opposed to the usual 40 weeks) she has chronic lung. Thus the main concern was once intubated for the surgery would she be able to breath by herself after the surgery without any help from ventilator machine and/or extra oxygen. Becauce once she's on the machine it will take a long time to wean off the machine (which explain her 123 days in the hospital).

Now, 9 days has passed since her surgery. The surgery went well and she's showing better progress. Initially she needed to be on ventilator then move on to nasal catheter where they make holes at the tube and place it near her nose, so she'll get extra supply of oxygen. Hoping that she'll join us at home very soon.

Oh, did i mention before that whenever athirAh is not well, hArith will feel the discomfort too? We discovered this when athirAh did her eye laser. Again, this time around when athirAh had to undergo the surgery, hArith became very grumpy. Everything seems to be wrong. Even after being fed and diaper changed, he still looks unsettle. So pApa said, if hArith looks uneasy next time, first thing we should do is to check on athirAh.

p/s: i'm searching for a nice car seat 4 lil' darlings, tp xnk lar yg baru pakai few months tp dh out grow. any suggestion?

pApa's twO ladieS

Wishing friends & family a happy and joyous EID MUBARAK

luv,

ahmAd syauQi

munirAh hAnim

ahmAd hArith

athirAh zAhraa

We are now at hOme!!!

ahmAd hArith & athirAh zAhraa

4 Months & 5 dAys Old

hArith spend 99 days in the hospital whereas athirAh spend 123 days there. hArith is now approximately 2.5kg and athirAh is 1.8kg

athirAh zAhraa

hana Posted 06/10/2007 00:14

Athirah my dearest,

how you doing? Heard your brother hates taking his bath as much as I do :) oh well, there are some things in life you just have to tolerate. anyways, did u hear i'll be home for raye? so... on raye morning, we have to go smayang raye, harith has to be fed and changed and stuff, and we have to visit you at the hospital since u can't celebrate ur first raye on your own, and of course we gotta go say hye to alesya. so here's the deal.... how bout, u get better over the next 6 days, then we can have u at home and we have 1 less place to go! after all, there's only 24 hours in a day....

muchlove,
ur aunty

Here's a note from your aunty hAna which she post it in mOmmy's friendster. Oh by the way, ur aunty hAna still undecided what she wants to be called. Initially it was supposed to be Wan De, but somehow Pah came out with a new idea. She wants all nieces and nephews to call your aunty and uncle by the same name what their own children call them. Which means all my nieces and nephews will also call me mOmmy. So Pah suggested hAna to be mAma hAna, but she finds it "yuckss"...so she prefered to be called mOther. So mother she is...

The greatest phone call...
On the 11th October suddenly I received a call from the Special Care Nursery (SCN)...of coz I became panic, coz usually when things go wrong, the nurse/doctor will contact parents. But this time it turn out to be a phone call wiz the best news ever!!! Nurse told me the shocking news, she first mentioned about athirAh's weight which was at that time 1795grm, and she said Prof is doing an ultra sound scan on athirAh, and once all that done and if everything goes well...shE's rEadY to gO hOme! mOmmy couldn't believe what I just heard. We quickly fix athirAh's cot =). Then there was another phone call, to confirmed can athirAh come home...and YES the nurse said, athirAh is ready to go home tomorrow! (12th October)

After the phone call, I remembered about mOther's note. Wow, athirAh respond to it! cOol! But besides that, the Prof was being understanding, coz usually a baby is allowed to be discharged when reached the weight of 1.9kg. but I guess, he knows all parents want their children to be home for festive season. and since I already had almost a month training on handling a baby, he reckon I can handle another one too.

WelcOme hOme athirAh!!!

Reality Hits Me...
Naturally, surely all parents will be excited to have their babies home. First thing I did when athirAh arrived home, I place her on the bed and put hArith by her side. I was telling both of them to take care of each other. All this while Pah always feels that hArith is small (well of cause he is) but after having athirAh home, we really think that hArith has grown up. We can really see an obvious difference in size between the two of them.

After placing both of them together, it became clearer to my head "Wow I'm a mother of two!" and I was like...gosh what should I do when both cry at the same time? who do I attend to first? how do I feed both at the same time? what if pApa is away at work? how do mOmmy handle all by myself? and how will my nites be from now on?

mOmmy always fear of snatch thieves each time mOmmy walks along this alley...

I smelled jeolousy....

On the 5th, we went for hArith's follow-up appointment. Everything went well while we were waiting for our turn....but onlyl later when hArith decided to poo-poo while doctor was examine him....hahAha

my boY has increased his weight from 760grm (on day of birth) to 1.87kg (on day if discharge) to 2.44kg on the follow-up day. HooRaYyyY!

And...here's a story of hArith the DraMa KinG!.....


mOmmy put hArith to sleep, and decided to sew the extra length of athirAh's dress. Despite the deep sleep.....i smelled JelouSy.....yup, hArith started crying when mOmmy began sewing athirAh's dress. mOmmy ignored coz I know, u already been fed and diapers changed. The cry became louder and louder till Pah mentioned to him "u too have your baju raya right?" so mOmmy took out ur baju raya and turn it out to be a bolster for you. I was like "see...u too have ur baju raya"....and wOw...hArith stop crying and felt asleep.

hArith the draMa kIng...

*burp*

Ever since hArith returned home mOmmy tried giving breastfeeding to hArith but the session failed each time. Being used to bottle feeding in the hospital, hArith finds it more work needed to be done for breastfeeding. So why should he do the extra work of suckling? so mOmmy need to express breastmilk and fill it up in his bottle. However, mOmmy's factory production of milk is decreasing, thus we opt for a mix of breastmilk and formula : S-26

pApa's burping session with hArith ended up being a sleeping session. I wonder who actually felt asleep first?

Yup, still holding hArith properly...

OppsSss, pApa now hands off. mOmmy have to come to the rescue and place hArith in his crib before hArith looses his grip...