Le Familia, Motherhood, Nadya Raessa

five

Dyan

My little human is 5 months now. Oh so much joy in this 5 months period.

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Nadya is so so playful now. It’s almost entertaining. She doesn’t sleep much nowadays, the time has come! While she’s still sleeping through the night, her naps are undeniably shorter now and she’s a light sleeper in the day! But a heavy sleeper at night. Heran aku. Naps are usually about an hour if i’m lucky and 15mins if ada abang motor bodoh kat bawah blok aku decide to perah motor dia yang tak seberapa tu. I tell you, you get very very cranky when u have a baby trying to take her nap, only to be woken up by really stupid noises. Especially when you’re making an effort to tiptoe around the  house making minimal noise.

Flipping from her back to her tummy is really easy for her. But she has not started to flip from tummy to her back yet. I don’t know when they are supposed to start doing that, but i honestly don’t care lah. Dia dapat flip one way dah kira bagus. She’s also lifting up her butt now but i think her upper body muscles are not strong yet to lift her body off the ground yet. So i’ll let her be..

Sitting assisted is fine for her for now. I think we still have a long way to go before she start sitting up unassisted.

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She’s quite good at entertaining herself these days. Playing with her pacifier, sampai terhantuk kat kepala and all. And she love playing with her dangling toys. Tak sia2 aku beli benda2 tu. Lol. And they all have their own name. I think i’ve mentioned this before. We’ve given them English names at first. Pas tu mak dia sedar diri dia melayu, takkan anak dia nya kawan2 semua nama mat salleh kan. So we have malay names for her toy as well. Her favourite is Khadijah & Mariam. Nama english dorang Katie & Mary. HAHAHAHAHA.

So far, Nadya reaaaaaaalllly like people. She’ll smile when they smile at them and while it’s cute, this paranoid mummy takut nanti dia dah besar, dia ikut orang yang dia tak kenal so maybe i should teach her to be more jual mahal sikit. Don’t follow strangers, baby!

I’ve kind of started giving her food to taste and today, we’ll be starting her on solid. We’ll start with Potato Puree 1st. I figure since she’ll be turning 6mths really soon and she’s a  full term baby at 40 weeks, no harm in giving her now. Cos she has been really curious when she see watch us eating, it’s adorable seeing her stare at us while we eat.

2015-06-23 21.31.37We also celebrated Father’s Day for Rusly last 2 weeks. We kept it small and simple. I made reservation for dinner at 1Market on the day itself. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah, for allowing Rusly to be a dad. He has been good at it.
Sometimes i wish he makes an effort to do more. Then i see postings of other mummies in some parent groups in FB, complaining about their husband, i really bersyukur that Rusly help out as much as he can. I think it’s not fair for me to expect too much also. So far, he’s comfortable with bathing her, changing diapers, making her sleep at night and all. But he’ll say no to changing poop-filled diapers. LOL

Motherhood

De Quervain

Dyan

Have not mentioned this elsewhere before this except on my Facebook where i asked if anybody had the same thing i felt and it turned out to be pretty common! So i’m not being too lembik afterall!

I had this really bad pain on my left wrist each time i turn it to a certain angle. I initially thought it was some minor cramps but it was persistent and then it had me thinking if i’d accidentally sprained it without realising it. so i did some reading up and kinda figured out that it could be De Quervain Tenosyvitis.

It mainly affects the base of my thumb to my wrist. So painful that even turning a tap is painful. In fact anything that involves carrying, turning and pinching.

So i arranged to see a specialist at NUH to get them to confirm and treat it asap cos it was affecting the way i do things. I fear the day i’ll accidentally drop Nadya when it strikes me.

I managed to score an appointment last Friday and after doing the Finkelstein’s Test, it was indeed De Quervain Tenosyvitis or in layman’s term, Mummy’s Wrist. It mostly affects new mummies with babies between 3-5mths old cos that’s when they’ll start wriggling and all. It’s also because of how we hold the bottle or that habit of carrying baby by their armpits.

It’ll usually affect the left wrist if you’re a right hander cos the left wrist is not used to doing so much work and suddenly they have to do so many things at one go and the tendons are angry! Actually that was how my specialist explained it to me. LOL

According to my doctor two of the tendons share one tunnel and then now one of them is overworked and inflammed and they keep rubbing against each other in the tunnel hence the pain i feel when my wrist is in a certain position. This is not to be confused with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which usually happens to pregnant women but usually goes off after birth.

So i asked for the fastest treatment and he recommended me a steroid jab. We’ll see if it works. If it does not, we’ll do a second jab and if it does not work as well, surgery would be the next option.

The steroid jab was quite painful to be honest. I saw him drawing out a lot of fluids from the bottle and the jab seems to go on forever. But after 5 seconds or so, u’re kinda numb already. The pain from the steroid jab came back about 2 hours later. But i just sedapkan hati and say that it’s the steroid doing it’s job. Of course pain lah.

I thought a steroid jab and that’s it. We can partehhhhhhh.

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Sekali i had to get a custom splint done so i don’t overwork my thumb and wrist again. It was the rigid splint and damn ugly.

IMG_0773Three weeks to wear this. If the pain persists, they’ll do the 2nd jab on me.
Hopefully not ah. Cos malas nak pakai ni splint lagik.

Uncategorized

four

Dyan

Nadya is 4 months old now and oh my what a difference these 2 weeks has been!
How and why do babies grow super fast.

So many things happened but i gotta chop chop and pen this down before i forget everything! I’m actually glad i did a monthly update for my pregnancy cos i love reading back and go “oh yeaaahhh.. i totally forgot about this!”

So i’m making sure i do a monthly update for nadya because honest to God, i cannot catch up sometimes!

Nadya can now sit up assisted. We let her sit in her Bumbo seat and i know that Bumbo seat is damn controversial. Some people said it’s good some people no good for development. Anyway, i’ve read about it’s pros and cons and i’m still using it. If you have issues with it, then don’t use it for your baby.

So yes, back to the Bumbo seat, she can sit up quite well when she’s in it but obviously she can’t sit up by herself lah kan. Or if we prop her up with pillows or place her at the corner of the sofa, she could actually sit up without toppling over.

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She love to raise her legs up high in the air now and then if nobody’s looking, she’ll put them feet in her mouth. Really cheeky. And no, please don’t tell me nadya nak ada adik baru. LOL

and she’s in the hospital baby cot cos we visited one of my girlfriend’s new baby! So adorable and kecik and squishy. Macam nak magic-kan Nadya to turn her back jadi gitu. or maybe not.

Not sure if i’ve mentioned this before but i know i’ve mentioned this to close friends many times. Both Nadya & Rusly had a hard time adjusting to each other initially. Rusly was ready for Fatherhood but he was overwhelmed by everything and got scared of Nadya. He won’t admit it but i can see fear in his eyes when he carries Nadya. HAHAHAHAHA.

Babies, i believe can sense that fear i guess? Whenever Rusly picks her up, she’ll bawl macam her favourite pet is dead gitu. and when she cries bloody murder, Rusly kancheong and pass her back to me and i’ll get annoyed because i’ll think Rusly is not trying. Now go back full circle again until one day, somehow these worked out their personal issues together, and now they’re best-friends-forever.

Nadya adoreeeeees her father. Somehow she’ll nap before her Papa is home and then automatically wake up just before he comes home and because i usually don’t allow Rusly to pick her up immediately until he has washed up and all, you could see Nadya searching for her Papa with her big round eyes. Kepala sampai senget2 ikutkan mana Papa dia pergi. So so cute!

I’m guessing she’ll prefer Rusly to me very very soon because Rusly always do stupids things with her. So yes, soon i’ll be left out. Dahlah muka photocopy. I just cannot get over how similar they both look! Especially when they sleep. HAHAHAHA.

We had an impromptu date out on a sunday cos the parents came over and kidnapped Nadya away and we kinda allowed them to! Macam “amik lah amik lah budak ni.” #parentingfail.

So once Nadya was out, i told Rusly “eh i siap2 eh? kita keluar.”
tak kasi chance orang tu reply pun. We initially wanted to catch a movie tapi Avengers dah nak abis so the timing pun a bit merepek so kita lupakan saja and probably wait for it to appear on Starhub VOD or kalau aku rajin, nanti download beli.

We also managed to squeeze in a short KL trip with my family to get some wedding stuff for my sisters. We didn’t get to eat stuff that i realllly wanna eat and trust me it’s a long list so Rusly promised me another trip in October for my birthday weekend!

Just before we left KL, guess what i discovered?

IMG_1030My baby girl sprouted 2 bottom teeth! No wonder she’s extra drooly these days. Like really drooly i cannot take it seh. 

Didn’t notice it at 1st and then she was crying while we’re having breakfast at Pelita and i saw white stuff in her mouth! I literally yanked her mouth open and felt rough edges at the bottom.

She has no fever yet but has been extra cranky and whiny. She’s making that whiny sound that’s so monotonous, bunyi macam engine speedboat. Lol.

Our Little Family, The Travel Tales

Penang, 2015

Dyan

Oh finally had time to draft this out before i forget everything and it’s gonna be a long post cos it’ll be the only Penang post cos i don’t want to subject you to many many Penang Day 1, Day 2, day 3 & Day 4 posts. And because i got no time. Lol. May 1, 2015 Reached Penang International Airport at 6.50pm. We’ve made prior arrangements with the driver to pick us from the airport to the 1st hotel we’ll staying at Georgetown. Would totally recommend our driver, Morgan if you’re looking for a tour guide / pickup service in Penang. He’s friendly and chatty but not overly chatty bordering annoying, you know what i mean. He also have a vast knowledge on Penang history and was able to answer most of our questions so our car ride was really interesting with all the itsy bitsy informations that he was able to provide. You can reach him via Whatsapp at +60174031294. Since we only need a place to stay overnight at Georgetown, we chose a 3-start Royale Bintang Hotel to sleep and also cos we wanna roam around Georgetown the next day. The hotel is not bad actually! Check-in was brisk and the room is comfortable and clean! DSC00072 Continue reading “Penang, 2015” →

Uncategorized

Counting blessings

Dyan

For 2 years, it was hard & painful to go on Facebook and see all those Mother’s Day cards and presents. Will i ever get to celebrate Mother’s Day? I often ask myself. 

You have no idea the no of period tracking app, ovulation kits & pregnancy kits i’ve bought. The amount of time i’ve spent online to read up on pregnancy symptoms and think that “maybe this month is my lucky month! But another stupid pregnancy test with “NOT PREGNANT” shows up immediately. #%@&$!
And then our struggle to conceive ended on 9 May 2014. The very same day, a year ago. I took 6 pregnancy tests just to be sure. That was one of the happiest time of my life. It was few days shy from Mother’s Day. The perfect gift for both my mom and my late MIL.
I’m now a mother. Each day, i count my blessings. Grateful that Allah gave me the chance to be one. To nurture one of his umat. Thankful i was given this amanah. But i’ll never forget that dark place i’ve been in.
As u celebrate Mother’s Day, take the time to also remember your friends / family who’s trying hard to conceive. It is a painful journey and i hope one day, you get to feel that joy i felt when i saw the positive test kits. It can happen if you put your mind to it. Most importantly, with His will. InshaAllah.
Nadya Raessa, Our Little Family, The Travel Tales

Baby Packing List

Dyan

What to bring for a holiday with a baby? I’ve googled for a sample packing list but some were too extensive (foldable bath tub and all! Lol) so i downsized the list and bring what’s necessary for baby.

Clothes & Accessories

  • Onesies
  • Long Pants (for night outings)
  • Sleepwear
  • Socks
  • Hats / Beanies
  • Bibs
  • Swimwear
  • Swim Diapers
  • Bath Towel
  • Face Towels

Basic Necessities

  • Formula Milk (if you’re not breastfeeding)
  • Milk Canister
  • Thermos Flask
  • Diapers (Nadya use up to 6 pcs a day. Multiply that by the number of days you’ll be away.)
  • Milk Bottles (i brought 3 with me)
  • Bottle Detergent (Put it in Travel sized bottles)
  • Baby Wipes (Normal size)
  • Baby Wipes (Travel Pack)
  • Sleeping Mat
  • Changing Pad
  • Pacifier
  • Pacifier Wipes
  • Toys
  • Head Pillow
  • Bolster / Beansprout Pillow
  • Koolfever

Toiletries 

  • Shower Gel / Shampoo
  • Minyak Telon
  • Facial Cream
  • Diaper Rash Cream
  • Hair Cream
  • Sunscreen safe for babies (for beach destinations)

Travel System 

  • Pram
  • Baby Carrier
  • Car Seat (if you’re doing a road trip)

Things to take note of: 

  1. Always bring your own baby towels. Refrain from using hotel towels. Cos they don’t really wash it properly.
  2. Bring sleeping mat / swaddle for baby to sleep on. For the 1st night, Nadya slept with us on the bed. Then for the remaining nights, we requested for a baby cot. However, because Nadya flip on her tummy all the time and then she’ll start licking the surface, i don’t feel comfortable allowing her to lick the bedsheets cos i know some hotels don’t change it very often.
  3. When heating up water using the Thermos Flask from the hotel, always do a thorough wash 1st, then heat up some water for the 1st round, throw it away and then boil another set of fresh water for your baby’s consumption. Check the bottom of the flask. I’ve come across hotel flasks which are rusty! If it is, get housekeeping to change it for you.

All these might sound petty and honestly, if it’s just me & rusly, we really don’t bother but having a baby with you means you gotta be extra careful. Especially cos Nadya is still young and her immune system is still not as strong yet. The last thing you want is a sick baby on a trip.

Nadya Raessa, Our Little Family, The Travel Tales

Travelling with a baby.

Dyan

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We are back from Penang!
Nadya survived her plane ride. Yes i must mention that because that was my biggest fear. That she’ll end up with airplane ears. To be honest, i hate flying cos i get airplane ears all the time, and that is why i’m not a stewardess (apart from being too short & fat, of course. HAHAHAHA) 

So yes i know how painful airplanes ears are and was pretty scared if Nadya kena also. It’ll be so kesian cos the other infants in our flight were crying bloody murder.. But i read up and found tips on how to get baby to survive airplane rides and i’m gonna share how i did it.

  1. For the flight out to Penang, we took an evening flight. Mainly cos we didn’t want to rush to the airport and all. It was afterall our first flight with a baby. Our flight was at 5.30pm. Nadya usually takes her nap by then.
  2. I gave her milk at 2.00pm and cross fingers she would want to drink again by the time we takeoff. She did and she was drinking milk during the plane takeoff. I also made sure we change her diapers before we enter the boarding area.
  3. Once she’s done drinking, i pop the pacifier in her mouth so she’ll continue that sucking reflex.
  4. I babywear her when the plane was cruising and continued doing so till the plane touched down.

Voila! She didn’t cry at all. So i’m guessing those tips worked. I also think that the plane engine noise was kinda comforting to her cos it’s white noise. She slept thru’ it. Amazing.

Now, packing for a baby was another story. I knew it would be tricky. I didn’t wanna overpack but i also didn’t wanna miss out anything and then get flustered over it. So i do up a travel packing list (which i’ll share later!), print it and tick it off one by one, making sure i did not leave anything out.

Previously, me & Rusly only need to bring a cabin luggage to fit both our clothes for a 4D3N trip. Now, we had to use the largest sized one and because we are now packing for three and she have her toiletries and all, i got myself a luggage organizer from Qoo10 and it was helpful! It helped us to sort out our stuff and we didn’t have to rummage thru’ the entire luggage for our stuff.

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So neat & tidy and we were able to separate her toiletries and ours etc and only took out whatever’s necessary.

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What we brought for our trip. I babywear most of the time when we are on the streets and then when we sit down & eat, i put her in the stroller.
Luckily she loves being worn AND lying down in her stroller.
(Cos after what i’ve spent on that stroller, kalau dia tak nak duduk, memang aku deduct dari duit sekolah dia nanti! LOL) 

Apart from those two things, it was pretty easy bringing an infant on a plane. I feel if you know their routine well and what you can do to appease them when they’re cranky, you’ll survive!

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For this trip, we brought her favourite rattle, Katie.
Yes, i named all her toys like a freak mom would do. I’ll introduce all her friends toys to you guys in another post. #crazymomalert

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We really enjoyed the trip and our Penang Trip will be in another post ok!

Motherhood, Nadya Raessa

Just keep swimming!

Dyan

Two weeks ago, Nadya had her first swimming experience!
Rusly had to go Desaru for a company trip and it was a bit leceh if i wanna tag along and all and i think Desaru is boring so i didn’t bother. Lol

So i took the opportunity to sleep over at my parent’s place! It’s been so long since i’ve slept over and also cos my nieces & nephew is sleeping over as well, so we had a cousin sleepover for Nadya. Not that dia paham apa2 pon. She was just happy with all the attention they gave her. Suka lah dia banyak orang layankan dia.

We also took that opportunity to bring all the kids for swimming! Including Nadya! Actually mak dia tau yang sibuk nak swimming. But really i just want Nadya to get used to the pool cos she’ll be starting her swimming classes next week! It’ll officially commence this Saturday but we’ll be in Penang so we had to skip a class. Kesian anak aku, kecik2 mak dia dah ajar skip class semua. tsk.

We bought her swimsuit from the Baby Fair. Got it at $55.00 instead of $70.90 here. Initially wanted her to wear those really cute and skimpy swimwear tapi macam kesian pulak. Dah lah siang2 kena belajar swimming, celup dalam air semua. So i figured just invest in a good one for her swimming classes since she’s gonna spend 30mins per class!

And i didn’t regret one bit of buying her that swimming suit. Even though material dia step macam nak gi diving. Cos after all those swimming, and i went to the shower room to rinse her, i noticed that her body wasn’t wet from all that swimming! So technically she was really ‘protected’ from the cold water. Well, except for her legs ah. No wonder she didn’t cry that much when i submerged her body in the water. Lol

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Sunday swimming! #NadyaRaessa #12weeks

A post shared by Dyan Razali (@deardyan) on

a short insta-video cos the other videos i took were so noisy! Blame it on my nieces! Macam mak-neneks!

Nadya swimming classes will be conducted by Smile Swimmers. Got a positive feedback from one of my friend who sent her baby for the classes so now i’m excited to get Nadya started. I’m no tiger mummy, in case you think i’m so kiasu to be sending Nadya for classes when she’s not even a year old! I just think that swimming is a life skill that we would benefit from and it helps with baby’s motor skills and water confidence. Doesn’t help that both mummy & daddy are fond of swimming and will carik chance to swim anytime. So yes, our child need to know how to swim. Apart from that, i also want Nadya to be exposed to people at a young age, preferably people her own age and not some cheekopek lah kan. I just think that social skills starts from young. At least that’s what my parents said lah.

Cos my mom said they brought me out jalan2 ALL the time even before her pantang ended. So i grew up being quite receptive of people and i hope Nadya will turn out to be the same. InshaAllah.

IVF Journey

The IVF Timeline

Dyan

For those interested to know how long the IVF process went on for me, here’s the timeline for your reference. I’ve received a couple of emails on this, mainly from our Muslim sisters cos they don’t want their IVF process to clash with the start of Ramadhan. This should only be an estimate ok. If you’re required to take more drugs, then do expect the process to be slightly longer than this. Also, the type of drugs used also differs. If you’re doing it at NUH then most probably you’ll get the same drugs as i do.

Continue reading “The IVF Timeline” →