2013 : A new beginning?

If you ask me, most probably my answer will be no. Well, in my case at least. How do I see the new beginning of the year 2013? I see it as a continuation of improvement. I see it as a time to not start as "a new me" but rather a time to reflect on who was I in the year 2012, and what can I change & improve from there. It's not being ' a new me' but rather ' a better me'.

A lot had happen to me in 2012, the last 6 months have been very trying but have been the sweetest as well. What had happen had change me, made me discover my weaknesses & fortunately found my source of strength as well.

I learn a lot of things in 2012. I discover a lot of things about me as well.

Hmm...Will babble more when I have the time. In which I dunno when. In da next 2 years maybe?


 

3 days 2 night at KMC

Some may have oredi noe dat my dear doter Eryna was warded at KMC during last CNY holidays. It was due to fever & jaundice. Juz so dat I wont forget any event of it, chronology as below (alamak, macam tulis email la plak ada 'as below' neh):

Wednesday (Feb2) - Went back to Jitra, hubby's hometown. Eryna started to eat fava beans (kacang sepat/kacang parang/ kacang itik (bak kata nuli)).

Thursday (Feb3) - Eryna continue to eat da fava beans. Around evening, I've noticed a pale yellow colour at her white eyes. Try not to be da annoying-paranoid-mother dat I am, I told dear hubby bout it but still try to 'take it easy'.."InAllah xde pape la tu kot"...

Friday (Feb4) - During Eryna's morning bath, her night pampers were with dark urine colour which is almost reddish. My first thought was "OMG, kencing berdarah ka?".. Immediately told hubby bout it & insisted to go to clinic for further check-up since her white eyes looks even more yellow to me. But since dat day we have dis kenduri arwah, my hubby told me to monitor for a few hours first. Though with uneasy feeling, I said OK. But approaching evening, Eryna started to have fever. OK, now clinic-is-a-must-go! But dat time hubby was about to go for Friday prayer. Wait again for him to come back from Friday prayer, then went back to in-laws house to take a bath & zohor prayer & off we went to KMC. Reach there around 4pm which is so full of people! We juz managed to see da doctor at around 530pm. By da time we reach there, luckily there is a 'pre-checkup' with da nurses, her fever already hit 38.8C, da nurses immediately gave her da bottom med. Right after da doctor saw Eryna's pale yellowish eyes, he immediately registered us to be warded for further investigation on why da jaundice happen. Blood test, urine test & even stool test. Do u noe how small kid's vein is?? Eryna's vein is so small dat da nurse are having difficulty to take her blood. She was crying but yet so brave..No struggling, no shrieking, juz keep still until da nurse finish taking her blood sample. Then she keep saying "ayah, ayah'..which means "darah, darah"..

Saturday (Feb5) - All those test results came back. Long story cut short, doc suspected her with G6PD deficiency dat caused a breakdown of red blood cells (RBC) from eating da fava beans. (Ok, do googled G6PD deficiency, all those mothers & fathers out there.). How is dat possible when all babies are screen with this G6PD test right after birth? Even her G6PD test dat day came out normal. But da doc highly suspect dat dear Eryna is having an intermediate G6PD deficiency & dats why she reacts so negatively with fava beans. Fava beans is a taboo-no-no-cannot-dont-ever-give-ur-kids-food for anyone with G6PD deficiency. G6PD is not a disease or whatever. It's an enzyme in surrounding our RBC. And any lack/deficient of this makes us or more correctly makes our RBC vulnerable towards certain drugs/food/things. There is a quite a long list of it, let's not spell it out here. But again, fava beans is a definite NO NO. Since her Hb & RBC count is quite low, doc suggested & we agreed to proceed for blood transfusion (masuk darah ye, bukan tukar darah). I did take some pixies with my crappy hp camera, (dun get me wrong, I luurrve my current hp, but I have to admit dat da camera is a bittt..ermm how shud I say? A bit crappy) will ty to share it later.

Sunday (Feb6) - After yesterday's blood transfusion, did a blood test again. Alhamdulillah, Hb went back to normal, no fever, no rashes but yes a diarrhoea, which is quite normal as what have been told by da paed. Discharge from the full-of-medicine-smell (of course it's full with medicine smell, its a hospital! Wut do u expect? Freshly baked buns & cup cakes?) KMC at 6.00pm.

OK, dats about it. Almost da whole nutshell of da full story.

11 weeks

Alhamdulillah, juz open my 2nd red book yesterday. Both me & hubby went to da klinik kesihatan a bit late at around 3.30pm. the nurses were oredi rushing to go back home..*sigh*..
At 11 weeks:

• Shortness of breath & sometimes a sudden anxiety feeling - I've been told dat it's normal during late pregnancy. But to experience it during 1st trimester? I read somewhere dat it's because of progesterone hormone dat limits da movement of lung dat causing dis? Haihh...juz hope dat it's nothing serious..
• Stomach nausea & gassy - I've been having dis for almost 2weeks now..which also include giddiness, dizziness, headache which is not really a headache.
• Unusual fatigue - I can juz lay my head on a pillow & I'll easily fall asleep juz within a minute! Again, juz hope dat it's not a symptom of anything serious.

I have a mixed emotions about dis pregnancy. I'm crazy happy, excited & thrilled but at da same time I'm also scared to death for I dunno what reason. *sigh*

Neways, I'm trying to make a weekly "update" but I dont think dat I can really do it, me being such a lazy-bone..Another *sigh*

I'm feeling a bit demotivated today..Not because of dis pregnancy of course..Work related I guess...Haihh..I juz wish dat I can go home early (on time) today... :(

What happen at 5am?

I'm blogging at 5AM from workplace. From the first word until da last word sound weird & crazy rite?
First, "I'm blogging" which is quite weird since I juz updated a few days ago? Being a lazy-me, to update again less than 1 week? YES it's weird.
Second, "5AM" , who in dis world is soo crazy to update a blog at 5AM instead of doing solat tahajud? Crazy.
Thirdly, "workplace". Being a normal shift employee, what in da hell am I doing at workplace at 5AM in da morning?!? Even crazier!

*Sigh* It's because I'm an employee dat I need to be here as early as 2AM!! I've been walking non-stop since 2AM - 4.30 AM... :( Feels like wanna pengsan!!
Hopefully everything went well & I can go back early.. And hopefully nothing happen to my....

Weeee late entry!

Last 5days was dear hubby's birthday. Being a lousy (or busy?) wife dat I am, I can only blog-wish him today. I did wish him on dat day though, ok? Before u throw any stale-eggs on my face. OK, let me juz wish my dearest hubby a very happy belated birthday! What gift did I get him u ask? Errr...let me also recap what did I get him for da past 3years...2008 - nothing, 2009 - nothing, 2010 - NOTHING!
OK now u can throw those eggs!!

My lame excuses?
2008 - Juz gave birth to dear Eryna 2days before (accepted la rite?)
2009 - Err...I forgot why I didnt get him any gifts....grrrr....
2010 - He wanted Samsung Wave!!!!! Where do I get da money?!!?? So then I juz said, "I give u my undying love enough la ok"... *wink*

Anyway, I wish my hubby lifetime of happiness. May Allah bless you with joy that u have bring to my life, may Allah fulfill all ur dreams, may Allah accept our du'as, may Allah guide u to da path He wishes u to travel upon & may He bless u with a long, happy & healthy life.

Let me juz take dis opportunity to thank Allah for bringing you into my life. I noe I must have done something right in my life to deserve u. U never give me a moment of sadness in my life.
Thanks for being a great father.
Thanks for being so wise.
Thanks for letting me sleep early & wake-up late (I noe, I'm such a terrible wife).
Thanks for all the help.
Thanks for all the compliments.
Thanks for da occasional kisses on my forehead when u think I'm sleeping.
Thanks for being everything dat u are.

I love you forever & after. I hope dat Allah may bless our family & we will be together in the after-life.
Neways, juz wanna share our first photo together.
Both of us look soooo.....young? cute? innocent? lame? And what's with dat smile?? Weeee....

p/s - Some of you might vomit after dis post over my oh-so-romantic-undying-love wishes to my dear hubby...haha...juz hope dat it's not dear hubby who vomitted.. *wink*

Birthday wishes to my lil girl

My baby turns 2 yrs old today! Amazing how fast time flies.

We had an early 'celebration" with just families & close friends last Sunday. Nothing grand though..Juz a simple get-together with some pulut kuning (thanks to my grandmother), gulai ayam to complement da pulut kuning, choc fudge cake from Secret Recipe (my favourite) and some modernized tepung bungkus, a failure-product of my puding koktel berkuah & some snacks for desert.

Some pixies on dat day:

To my dear Eryna:

I pray dat Allah will grant wisdom to ur mind, compassion in ur heart, act of kindness in ur actions & faith in ur soul.

I pray dat Allah gives you good health & I pray dat Allah will bless you with all happiness in da world.

You are such a joy & blessing to me and I thank Allah with all my heart & soul that I'm blessed with you in my life. I pray dat Allah will guide me & give me da strength & wisdom to raise you to be a good muslimah. Amin ya rabbal alamin.

Shhh..dont tell anyone..

OMG!..one of my colleague found out about dis blog of mine..

I can no longer complaint about work place (which is what I'm planning to do a bit later today) in here, or else it'll goes to my boss...aarrghh..

En. Adhar, I noe u are reading dis..anyone else found out, I NOE IT'S YOU! :p

Yes, my mommy think I'm SUPER CUTE. ;)

Vacancy anyone?

I hate dis job. I hate my boss. Well,not personally, but wholly hate her. I hate da food here. It's unhealthy, distasteful & expensive. I hate my cubicle. No privacy ler. I hate my colleague for dragging me to Old Town every damn week! Da so called Nasi Lemak Special can't even compare with a plain rice with sambal belachan & fried anchovies. Not even a lil bit. Give me da latter any time of da day, man. I hate my stakeholder. Dey are arrogant, selfish & dey think dey are da only busy ppl here. U r not da freaking Prime Minister ok! Even da Prime Minister can rest when ha had da chicken pox. Go n get urself infected so dat u can chill out. Da company wont go bankrupt if u attend da meeting for 5mins. Da company wont shut down if u dont send da report immediately , u noe?! Wut's da difference in sending it at 10PM vs. 8am da next day? Da recipient will only read it in da next morning ok? Dey wont stay in front of da computer throughout da night waiting for your oh-so-valuable-NOT! report. Dey have a family & dey have a life. Unlike u, I guess. I hate da policy here. To change a cabinet lock in da office oso need a barricade procedure? U have got to be kidding me! Dey are not doing equipment PM la kawan.. Dis poor uncle juz want to change da broken key lock cabinet oni..In da office summore,not inside da manufacturing floor....U force him to wear glove? What for, u crazy idiot? Do u think ppl here cant see him doing work near da cabinet dat ppl will knock him? We are not blind ok? And if we are indeed blind, putting da barricade wont help anything! He spent there less than 5mins, do u noe? We spent even longer time in front of da cabinet. Do all of us need to put barricade if we need to take any document from there? ha??

I regret da day dat I apply for dis job. I regret da day dat I went for da interview. I regret da day dat I went for da 2nd interview. I regret da day dat I say "ya, betul" when my grandma asked me "betul ker nk tukar tempat kerja ni?". I regret da day dat I'm blinded by da money & say yes to dis job.

Working here is really not healthy, it gives me hypertension & I'm really going crazy by da minute. There will be a day dat I will go completely mental & take da damn barricade & hit somebody with it! Every cloud have a silver lining, u say? Doubtful, I say. Very doubtful.

p/s- M.E, stop complaining & be grateful dat u even have a job! <--- Dis is what I said to myself after da last fullstop. So dun worry, I'm not crazy yet. I think? *wink*

A note to mommyeryna

A NOTE TO M.E FROM M.E

M.E, stop being suzh a lazybones & start updating something here before this blog cease to exist!

U have change ur job, went back to ur hometown, blessed with a new lil' brother & niece, went thru 6-weeks without ur hubby around, celebrated a happy raya, surviving each day dealing with work-stress, bought some nice shoes, gain a lil' weight, tanned a lil' bit & a lot other zillion things happened since ur last update!

Stop pretending to be so bizzy dizzy dat u cant even spent 10mins time uploading dear almost-2yrs old-Eryna's pixies before dear hubby re-format da PC again & deleted all those files!

As I was scrolling down this page, I noticed dat u've promised to post some of ur brother's wedding pixies here?! Are u kidding me? Hello, dey are no longer newlyweds, OK? Dey are now a proud abah & mana to dear Sofea. Remind me to never take ur word again.

So start narrating all those memories be it good or bad, before u forgot all about in in da years to come!

Finally, some update!

Eryna : Dis lil angel is now 1yr 2mths old oredi. How time flies! No birthday bash or anything, poor Eryna. Will make it up to her somehow.

Vocabulary & cognitive development

· “nak asyi” – when hungry or anything related to food. Any food is ‘nasi’ to dear Eryna.

· “nak ket” or “nak gi” – when she wants more

· “bo” – ball

· “bey-bi” – to any babies or baby’s pix

· “nak-nak” – ‘tak nak’ in addition to shaking her head.

· Responds to simple questions or command like; “tolong amik bola tu utk mama” , “nak nasik lagi tk?”, “mana kaki?mana hidung?”

· When she wants her nen-nen or her beauty sleep, will call me up ‘mamma’ & point to our bedroom.

· Wink when she’s being playful. Wink as in blink a few times or close both of her eyes for more than 3secs.

Physical & motor development

· Got her ‘walking license’ for almost 2mths now. (I didn’t even blog about her first step & now she can almost run!) But still falls down now & then especially when she gets really excited & forgets dat she can’t walk fairly well yet, but tried to sprint instead.

· Dance to music even when it’s just a commercial on tv.

· Self-feeding. Prefers cup than her straw-bottle. Though more often that not, edge of the cup will miss her mouth & found her chin instead.

· Already masters da pincer grasp. Can pick-up small objects with thumb & forefinger. Currently like to respond with finger playing on “labah labah hitam” song aka itsy bitsy spider.

· Started potty training. Not diapers-free yet. But will point to her stomach when she’s done poo-poo.

· Still breastfeeding. Alhamdulillah. Another 10 months to go! Though I always tell myself dat I’ll keep on bf her as long as she still wants to.

· More hair to my relief. But still no sign of teeth. People keep telling me dat it’s a good thing. But dat didn’t keep me from worrying though.

New house

Alhamdulillah, officially moved in on 2^nd January 2010. Marked somewhere in my calendar as the day we’ve been officially chased out by our landlord. We were busy packing & unpacking, night & day from November till December. (One of our excuses for not organizing a birthday party for dear Eryna. Had a small celebration on our own though. With a small cake & a lifetime prayer for Eryna’s happiness)

A single-storey semi-detached kinda house. A modest & practical investment for our first home. Practical as in Eryna always go frenzy wild at the sight of stairs or escalator. Save both me & hubby the horror & trouble to ‘escort’ her up & down the stairs. Yes, been there, done dat! Crazy painful on my back. Hopefully a never to repeat experience.

No renovation been done yet. Still calculating on the pros & cons. Kitchen cabinet, done. A simple ‘U’ style, brown-black colour. Once considered red & white combination, but decided we’re more like old-fashioned kinda people & the colour’s too modern for us.. *wink*..Grill, done. Curtain, done. Furniture, almost done. Auto-gate, done. Electrical items, almost done. Cash out was really outrageous! Even those small2 things cost a lot! Currently laying low on any expenditure for our home. Will resume back on any pending items, but not anytime soon though.

Family addition

· My older brother’s married to the ever beautiful Farah Nadiah. Adi, Farah, sorry took me a really long time to announce this. Lotsa things with u noe whatever s**t stuffs. Will post more pixies, dun worry (though I dunno when..but I will, promise).

· Aunty’s pregnant. Yeay! Due somewhere in May. 2times scan shows I’m gonna have a new brother soon. Yippee!

· Got a new niece (Eryna’s second cousin). Nur Aleesya Nabila. Hope I got the name & spelling right. Congrates to both K.Julia & A.Nadzrul. Heard dat she’s a spitting image of Wawa. InsyaAllah we’ll be down there soon. Tungguu..

· Cousin, Nizam’s engaged. To be married on June. Another trip to Kelantan, yeay! Hopefully dis time we manage to do some shopping there.

There’s a lot more things to update. Will find a time to tell it all before I forgot all about it. Till then..

Young & Dangerous

Dis cheeky little girl is getting naughtier by da day. Pix was taken somewhere around last week when I fetch her up from nursery (usually her abah will pick her but dear hubby got company dinner on dat day).

Half way back home; seriously I dunno how she can squirmed her way & escaped from her carseat’s seat belt & tried to scoot over to my side while I was driving. I had to pull over in fear she would fall over from her car seat.

I tried to belt her again but she struggled to escapes herself. Surprisingly she is VERY STRONG (or maybe I’m afraid dat if I forced too hard I’m gonna hurt her. *wink*). And she got a very loud voice too. Whenever i tried to lie her down, she screamed at da top of her lung as if I was canning her! In da end I just had to let her sit.

Look how happy she is dat she can sit & watch me drive. I know its dangerous but what choice do I have? It’s either hold her & drive or let her sit. I did belt her leg though. Luckily she’s OK with dat.

I was driving at grandma’s speed limit & not once over 40km/hr. All drivers behind me overtake & gave me ‘da look’ as if saying “Ur car got fuel or not?? Drive sooo slow!!”. Yeah, like I care. Stare all u want. ;)

Mind you dis is not da first time & I really doubt its gonna be da last. Eryna has a very flexible body. She can definitely work her way out no matter how tight we belt her. I think da only solution is to either buy a new/better car seat (dunno whether dis can help or not) or master da art of driving with one hand. Yes, I'm thankful for auto-transmission car. ;)

Eryna & PakSu's Story

This is Eryna's PakSu. :)

Eryna's quite attach to her PakSu which is not surprising since my lil brother has been living with us for da last 6-7 months? Until he got a job offer with Taiko & now currently residing at Rangkasbitung, Indonesia.

A few days after Paksu's departure, Eryna keep going into PakSu's room mumbling "babak, babak". We assumed dat it means PakSu. When she saw dat da room's empty she would turn to us with a confuse face asking, "babak?"..

PakSu, do know dat you are dearly miss. :) Come back soon ya!

Me & Eryna

There are a few similarity between me & Eryna. Dunno whether dis is a good news or a bad news. ;)

1. I noticed dat; Eryna who used to be a tummy sleeper, lately has changed her sleeping style to match mine. We started to sleep side ways & along da way ended lying on our back with 1 hand above our head.

2. We also have da same sleeping habit. Eryna finds it soothing playing with people's lips before going to sleep. Testified also by adik2 at her nursery. Dat was me years back. Well, even now, when I'm having a troubled night, I would also do da same (poor dear hubby. :))

3. We have da same way of smiling? I didn't realize dis at first until a few friends told me so. How can dat be? Browsing thru old photos, I have to admit dat we do. When we smile, our eyes would close a little with mouth wide open dat we are almost grinning! Quoting from my friend; "Eryna ni senyum mcm iklan colgate, sama la mcm maknye..".

Well, what do u think? Can you spot da difference??

Mothers, take good care of urself.

Health is really really crucial to everybody. Much more so to a mother. Much much much more so to a BF mother. Learned it da hard way, I did. *sigh*. I was infected with a really bad fever + flu + cough for da past week. My whole body aches with a really painful back. Even my sore throat; I can barely drink any water.

Since my pregnancy term (or even before dat) & since Eryna’s around we did really cut-off any night activities. No more night movies, less outside dinner, etc, etc. Dat is probably why with 11-straight-hrs of night traveling, improper meal (Eid is really an excuse for people not to cook lunch or dinner), cold weather, nursing Eryna, less fluid intake, my body cant take its toll.

After 4yrs of panadol-free, on da 5^th day of Eid I had to broke it. My head really aches; it feels like there’s a ticking bomb inside ready to expode. In da last 5days, I was prescribed with 2 different antibiotics (da first one gave me an allergy), 5 types of flu med, 2 types of cough med, a jab to reduce my allergy & running nose & an-antibiotic-like-med for my sore throat. Got 2days MC since da latest antibiotic is a bit on da higher dose, da doctor advised me to get a full rest. As I’m typing this, my fever finally cool down but unfortunately my flu & cough still continues.

People been advising me to take extra supplement & ironically I do have all those vitamins in-house. Juz dat it’s there for decoration only. “Makan bile ingat je”. But now I finally realize dat I need all those vitamins to boost up my immune system, to maintain a good stamina & to have enough nutrition for both me & Eryna. Not to mention a balance diet & healthy life-style which is equally important as well. I don’t take veggies & barely follow the food pyramid , rarely take any intake of fruits & rarely exercised which leads me to opt for supplements & da need to change my life-style.

Da past week had been hard for me, Eryna & dear hubby. I was trying to avoid Eryna in fear she would also get infected. Except; of course; during nursing time or sleep time. Thanks to dear hubby for taking care of both me & Eryna. He even cooked dinner to ensure dat I get a proper meal. It reminds me dat I’ve once overheard my mom’s dua for her healthiness, her childrens’s healthiness, her husband & her families, in dat exact order. And I thought to my self; “Eh mak tk dahulukan anak2 pun?”..(Maafkan Elia mak kerana berburuk sangka.).. How true it is,I realize now. We as mother need to take care of our health first so dat we can take care of others.

Neways, it’s time to discipline myself & take control of my health. No more skip meals/supplement, fruits is a must-have at home, drink plenty of fluids, it’s high-time to include veggies to my daily-meal & will try to exercise as frequent as conveniently possible.

Eryna's Eid Pixies

Yay it's been almost 3weeks++ since I've last visited my nearly abandoned blog. Neways, still havent got any time to narrate any raya's stories (which is quite a lot; with my bro's engagement, our BBQ treat, travelling here n there, etc, etc). Will try to pinch a time to tell it all. *wink*.

My lame excuses to as why dis blog has been decorated with spider webs lately:

Before eid : Busy preparing for a long hari raya leave (10 hari tau!! syioookkk!!). What with audit coming + all pending works (dis is why we should never ever ever delay our work!).

Eid : 10 days without internet connection.

After eid : audit + awaiting 10-days-worth-of-work.

Neway, my fames been pestering me for Eryna's pix with baju kurung... So, here it is.

With abah dearie :)

With mama (matching outfit huh? )

With Wan (FIL)

I'm-really-not-comfortable-in-dis-outfit-so-u-better-stay-away-from-me expression from Eryna

Will update more stories & more pics...weee....gotta go..I'm late!

Eryna's Update

My dear Eryna is now 8months,11days. Listing juz a few, here's some updates.

Do(s) -

1. Stand-up & 'meniti' (with support-sofa, table, chair- whatever within her reach)
2. Crawling
3. Response to 'bye-bye' (hold-up her hand but doesnt acually wave)
4. Sit (with support- should i be worried dat she cant sit without support yet? Neway, juz let her grow in her own pace rite?)
5. Pass objects from hand to hand
6. Wrestle with abah & mama to get what she wants
7. Word formation (babah - to abah; mamma - to mama; dada;tata;)
8. Mouthing objects (everything is food to dear Eryna)
9. Less midnight nursing now (feel kinda sad,miss those midnights cuddles. meaning improved sleep for both me & Eryna)

Dont(s) -

1. Pincer grasp (still holds objects with her whole palm)
2. Stand alone (always with support)
3. Sit unsupported (trying not to worry)
4. No visible sign of teeth yet (Eryna's been drooling with saliva for almost a month now. Izit a hint for teething?)
5. Still less hair (takes after me, I guess)

Eryna at 5-6 months - Learning to crawl.

Eryna at 7months - Learning to stand

Part I

Part II

p/s - wanted to upload more videos but demn it takes almost half an hour to upload even 1 !

BF & Ramadhan

Last Ramadhan, I was 6-7 months pregnant & Alhamdullilah, I managed to fast all through Ramadhan. I lost a bit of weight, in which da nurse had threatened to admit me to da hospital if my weight continued to drop but rest assure, it jumped right up when Hari Raya came along.

Dis year, instead of being pregnant InsyaAllah I will still be able to fast all thru Ramadhan since it’s been almost 17months (inclusive 9months of pregnancy) since I’ve had my period. I think it’s because I’m still BF dearie Eryna which cause a twisted jumble to my biological clock. (I’ve been told dats its normal though). Anyways, with BF & Ramadhan, 2 issues come to my mind when I think of dis. Will it affect da quality of my BM? Will it affect da supply of my BM?

Tackling these issues, I found 2 very different arguments. Some studies showed dat there are no significant differences in da major nutrients of BM during & after Ramadhan, whilst other studies showed dat some of da micronutrients can decrease significantly. Well, I am GUESSING it shouldn’t be a problem because da food dat we usually eat during Iftar and Sahur should make up for it. I’ve always remind myself dat Allah itu Maha Adil. Fasting is one of da pillar of Islam & Islam is a religion dat encompasses all aspects of life and secures guidance & light for all mankind.

And also I found a statement from Dr. Muhammad M. Abu Laylah, professor of Islamic studies and head of da English Department, faculty of languages and translation at Al-Azhar University, states: “If there is any harm to your baby if you stop breast-feeding him during the daytime or during the fasting hours, then you are allowed to break your fast and make up for what you miss of fast days whenever your circumstances allow.”

But Alhamdulillah, for da past 10days, I do think dat I’m still fit to continue fasting.

Da other issue is da supply of BM. Most of da articles I’ve read commented dat with da less intake of fluid, it will definitely affect BM supply. I’m still pumping at work but I’m banking on pumping only once or twice only since I’m fiercely dehydrated by da end of da day. But luckily I think I still have enough EBM stock to cover for whatever loss I might face during dis ramadhan.

Eryna is currently taking about 4-5 bottles of 3oz on top of her 2 meals a day. And I’m able to pump around 10-12oz per day at work, so roughly I will be stealing 3-5oz of my frozen EBM stock daily. (Vowing to replace back all da frozen EBM. Fighting! :) )

Anyhow, here’s a few tips & gladly share on how to survive BF during ramadhan:

1. Ample amount of fluids (4 - 6 litres of water, milk, fresh fruit juices)
2. A good amount of complex carbohydrates (bread, rice and macaroni)
3. Three meals Iftar, Sahur and a snack in between
4. Dates during Sahur & Iftar
5. Horlick-Dates Shakes (Super delicious!)

6. Vitamins

7. Do not overstress yourself
8. Keep a positive mind

But, do bear in mind dat BF mothers may be exempt from fasting if they feel dat their health or da baby's health would be negatively affected by da fasting. Do have da intention to fast & prove your intention by having a good & balance Sahur & observe your health during fasting. If you feel weak & you can observe dat your baby is greatly disturbed, then I might suggest for you to break fast. It really depends upon a lot of factors, how hot da weather is, how long da fasting is, how much effort you are expending everyday and these all add together in da decision whether or not to fast.

Praying for Allah’s grace for me & Eryna to survive dis Ramadhan. Ameen.

Eryna the Thinker

NO, I'm not sleeping. I'm thinking. :)

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan

Ramadhan is fast approaching and I take dis opportunity to wish all Muslim da best in Ramadhan and as it is a month of ibadah & forgiving, I wish to extend my sincere apologies to anybody directly or indirectly dat may have been hurt by my words and/or any of da postings. May Allah showers all of us with His blessing.

Wishing dat the Almighty grants us da chance and strength to sail smoothly throughout dis much awaited month.

I pray dat Allah will accepts our fasting, prayers and qyiam. May we be among those who are saved on da day of judgement. May da prophet (pbuh) be proud of having us part of his ummah. I pray dat we are among those who preach and follow.

May we have a wonderful Ramadhan, and are able to make the most of it. Ameen.