A happy report

Dear Amir & Sarah,

Alhamdulillah, things are settling down now and I'm happy to say that we are all adjusting well to this new environment too. As i'm writing this, Sarah is sleeping and Abang & Tok Ma went out shopping with her 'girly group'.

Both of you can co-exist harmoniously now and we're not as anxious about having abang too near to Sarah anymore. Amir, you spend a lot of time with Mama and Sarah now as opposed to being clingy to Tok Ma during the first few days. You are also getting more manja with me without disturbing my time with Yaya. In fact both of you sleep with us now instead of taking turn sleeping with Tok Ma. Sarah doesnt seem bothered when you wake up and make a fuss at nite and similarly you didnt budge when Sarah cry too. Every morning when you wake up, you'll ask me for Yaya.. and will instantly smile when you spot Sarah nestling next to me. You has grown attached to Sarah so much so that you'll check on her every hour and giveher a kiss from time to time. You are also very protective of your little sister, Amir. You dont like strangers holding your baby sister and would cry when someone tease you and say that they'll take Yaya away.

Sarah, similarly you have also settle down nicely to the new environment. I'm more confident to say that you ARE an easy baby just as Abang was. You mostly sleep through the day, waking up only for feeds and a change. At nite, you'll wake up during Maghrib time and cluster feed and poo that is taking in bottles after bottles or boobs after boobs then poo several times in between the feeds untill it's around 11pm when you settle nicely to sleep. You normally wake up again around 3am for comfort feeding ie clinging to me half asleep and half sucking for an hour or so then sleep again till Subuh. And the cycle goes on.

My curlywurly girl

As for me, i can finally breastfeed! Though i'm not breasfeeding exclusively, i'm very happy that at least i get to experience breasfeeding itself and provide some antibodi-packed food. Unlike Abang, Sarah is more willing to latch again and again which is really the key to this progress. She wont take my boobs when i try to feed while lying down though.. so it is still pain-in-the-neck, back-breaking experience albeit a worthwhile one. My 'equipment' is still quite dissapointing too, very little output and 'shy nips' that needs some working to pop out. By the time it pops out Sarah is already unconsolably wailing. I try to feed Sarah as frequent as I can but if i cant (she refuse/too sleepy/i'm too panicky/no let down) i'll pop her the bottle and proceed to pump. Currently trying to pump at least once every 4 hours, according to Sarah's feeding pattern but I normally yield a measly 1oz per pumping session (one session last up to 1 hour) and she takes about 2.5oz per feed. Sad i tell you, but i'm ok with it cos this has surpassed my expectation anyway.

Confinement wise, i'm enjoying the whole thingla, except for my occasional craving madness for a glass of iced coke.. sigh.. Am determine to lose the weight, way more than wat i gained during the pregnancy. So semangat, thanks to 'The Biggest Loser' that i religiously watch towards end of the pregnancy then. So far i've lost 8kg out of 10kg gained. Unlike the first time, I dont have that much time in hand during this confinement period since I still do some officework occasionally and I got to consciously ensure that Abang get some tlc too.

So Amir & Sarah, thank you for cooperating throughout this adjustment period. Hopefully all of us will be fine enough to move back home as soon as possible since I know Papa miss being in his own pad. On that note, thank you dear for everything, especially being patient with my whining and crying during my downtime last week. I wouldnt have come out of it unscathed if it wasnt for you.