The Other Sibling

When I was pregnant with Daniel, Alyssa started showing a whole new behaviour trait - posessiveness. She was fiercely posessive over me and would cling on to me like nobody's business. Even her Papa was not spared from this realm. All hells would break loose if Papa so much as laid a finger on me. Papa thought her antics were cute, and would bug her by engaging her in a tug-of-war over me. You can imagine how she reacted to THAT. Needless to say, she did not find it as amusing.

DON'T mess with ME!!

Secretly, I was worried how she would cope once the new baby arrives. Would she be able to 'share' Mama with Little Brother? Or would she see him as a threat?

So how did we prepare our little girl for the big day? Going cold turkey was out of the question.  I realize that inevitably my whole focus of attention would shift once this little baby arrives. So we started dropping little hints. We brought her along with us to every antenatal visits, where our friendly obstetrician was kind enough to show her what her 'adik' looks like in mummy's tummy. We repeatedly told her that she has to be a 'good kakak' to her 'adik'. We invited her to pat and kiss the baby. Meanwhile, I took it easy on other chores so that I could spend extra time with Alyssa. Time stood still as we played together, read story books, sing& dance to her favourite tunes, watched her favourite Barney show over&over, and strolled in the park together. Every moment spent together was priceless, and it made us bond closer than ever before.

Now that Little Brother is here, Alyssa seem to accept the fact that she has to share Mama with her 'adik'. Though it may not all the time be rosy. Sometimes she would break into a tantrum especially when she is lacking attention, but nevertheless, I am proud with the way she is coping. And I always count my blessings that I am surrounded by family and in-laws who never fails to shower her with all the love that she needs.

Oh well, better enjoy this moment before Alyssa and Daniel teams up to create double joepardy in the house!

Welcoming Baby Daniel

Our first child Alyssa was born via Emergency C-section. For our second child,
we decided to have a go at VBAC. Despite having seen & conducted many deliveries during medical student/housemenship years, this time I was feeling VERY nervous since it would be MY turn to be the helpless patient (Gulp!).

I started having 'show' at 7am on 19th Sept (day before delivery). Then the mild contractions came, becoming stronger and more frequent as the hours go by. The pain was still bearable though, I managed to do the laundry, tidy up the house, even took Alyssa to the nearby shop to buy stationeries. By 1am that night, the contractions were strong enough to wake me up from sleep (and prevent me from going back to sleep!). Hubby did VE, but it was barely 2cm. So I laboured the whole night at home, resorting to changing positions, taking warm shower, walking like a 'lipas kudung', and back massage by hubby to help ease the pain.
Early next morning we headed to the hospital. By then I was totally exhausted from staying up all night (nope, didnt manage to get a wink of sleep during the contractions!), and the contractions were more intense (to be exact, once every 3minutes, with each one lasting about 40seconds). Since I was only 3cm dilated, we requested for an epidural to catch up on rest and hopefully, save some energy for the pushing stage. And boy, how we slept!
XOXO.

...Smiling in between contractions :)

At 1pm, we were awakened by the nurse for the next review. We waited anxiously while she did another round of VE. Suddenly she smiled (i remember at that time I literally forgot to breathe - too suspense!). She announced "Dah fully! U can start pushing now". Haha...

After almost 1hour of pushing, out popped our baby boy weighing a whooping 3.4kg. The first time I held him in my arms, I almost cried. He was the most beautiful thing I have seen on the face of this earth. Subhanallah, nothing in my wildest dream could compare to this overwhelming feeling of love that I felt for this newborn. Holding his fragile body next to mine, all I wanted to do was protect him from the cruel harsh world that he has just entered. Within the first hour, baby had his first colostrum feed. Allah is great. Every birth experience is different, and each new life is a blessing and miracle from Allah. 

 ....and now we're a family of four!

Welcome to our family, Baby Ahmad Daniel. Semoga menjadi anak yang soleh & permata hati Mama&Papa di dunia dan akhirat. We love U so much.