New gadgets for BFMoms

I felt like having another baby to breastfeed!!!

And i should blame this to the moms and baby expo that is going on at Mid Valley Mall now...

I was at the Philips Avents booth last Friday... And OMG !!!!

Latest designs of bottles steamers. Latest  breastfeeding pumps. Latest designs and shapes of  bottles and teats...

Any mommies will go gaga and crazy  when seeing all those latest breastfeeding gadgets ....

The thoughts of getting a new bottle steamer is dancing in my head..And so is the cool  breast pump and the new teats and bottles too...all avents!!!

But sanity came knocking quickly too to my head.. Alya is going to be 2 years old in October. And it wouldnt be a good idea to buy latest design of that bottles and teats that look almost identical like a mother's breast when breastfeeding.

I want easier transition from bottles to cup for Alya for her milk drinking. Which is why new bottles n teats will just delay this process or even make it harder for Alya to switch to cup ...OMG !!!

Wished that I could stay longer but only managed to be there for less than 30 minutes..

Arissa didnt like it being in that crowded place..We arrived almost noon. Cant blame her also..

Pity her..Quickly did my exit from that place once I got new teats for Alya's avents classic bottles, bibs for Alya again as no spare one left in our malaysian house , and a bottle holder for our one and only stroller. Hope dearest hubby will like it as i he has been asking for it....

In Five Weeks Time

I have only 5 weeks to go before this little bun in my tummy popped out!!!

And yet I have not got all stuff ready for the big event ! Yikes!

So far I have managed to bring back from my parents' house to KL are new born baby clothes, muslin wrap and barut for baby.. Some of the cothes belong to my sister and some belongs to me.. Had it all washed already...

Not forgotten I managed to buy the baby's laundry detergent too..

As for myself, today I printed out the hospital bag check list..Come to think of it, I always do this for each of my pregnancy as I have forgottened on what is essential & a must to be pack inside the labour/hospital bag... Printed out 3 types of list from the internet!!!! hahahhah

And during lunch time, drove to mothercare in KLCC to buy the cheapest nursing breastpad in town... It's RM0.39 cents for one piece of  nursing pad! And the quality is as good as Bebe, Avents, etc

More stuff that I need to buy for myself & for this baby too actually.. All needs to be bought ASAP  ..I am giving myself up to  24th of Sept to get all stuff ready..

Baby names? We still have not started on it  either!!!! I am due for my check up this Saturday... If the baby is still being shy about his/her gender, guess me & hubby will just have to prepare two names for our baby.. For our 3rd child, I prefer to have  a name that is short & easy to pronounce.. Of course it needs to have good meaning too as each time we said the name, it is equivelent to a prayer .. Which is why we are discourage to shorten our children beautiful name from Khadijah to Katy or from Mohammad to Mad!!!

Baby's gender

I know that almost everyone that I known had wish & shared the same view on our 3rd baby's gender.. They are all hoping it will be a baby boy as my eldest & 2nd child are both girls.

But to me and my hubby, boy or girl is not an issue for us.. The most important thing is that our baby is healthy and free from any physical & mental deformities..

Actually why we care less on our 3rd baby gender is because of the fact that there are so many married couples out there who yearn to hold and hug their own baby but still could not..

There are so many people around our life , be it among my hubby's surrounding and mine too, that are still childless. They are childless not by an option. Some of them have been married for  more than 5 years and still trying to conceive...

With that reason, me & hubby are just thankful to Allah for his precious gifts to us... To tell you the truth, I too was afraid that I would not conceived our 2nd baby as the gap was 4 years from my 1st pregnancy. And even for my 3rd pregnancy, I still had the same fear of not being able to conceive .... Alhamdulillah we are lucky.

No words can describe the feeling a parent can feel when holding & hugging  a child of our own flesh & blood. And no words can describe the longing look of those childless couples wishing to be in our shoes..

With that, any parents should be gratefull and honored to have a child or children of their own..

The Three Ladies in My Live

Who welcomes you back home after a long day at work everyday?

In my case it definitely will be my MIL, my 5 year old girl( come August 15th , 2011 she will be 6 years old ) and my  18 months old baby girl. And no matter how tired I am  feeling or  how I'm in no mood to chit chat long, I just know that I have to layan them.  By this I'm not implying negative meanings for I know talking to them is something I have to do each time  i come back from work.

Why? Because if I were in their shoes, I too would be like them. Imagine being at home for the whole day eventhough my MIL do sometimes go out with her ever loyal kaki-jalan cum cousin and that my eldest daughter goes to school in the morning. But  who will they get to talk about things that happened to them during the day when  me & hubby are out working ?None right.

Which is why i said earlier that i owe it to them to be that listening partner. And one thing that I notice is that how happy they are  whenever i show interest in them..Actually most of the time, i don't need to be the 1st person to initiate it.

So I will be hearing shouts of my names from my two lovely girls the minute I stand in front of our house gate waiting for them to open it for me. Or I hear it the when they see me walking towards them who will be standing in front of the gate while their granny is busy tending to her cactus.

And yes Aisyah can say mama! and with other words too!

Can't Get Enough of You Babe!

Aisyah's solid food

Yeah.Today is Aisyah's 2nd day on solid food. And I got a call from my MIL that the 2nd day went well. Alhamdulillah.How much she ate is not a thing i'm so concerned and worried at the moment. When one have done his/her reading on solid food, one won't be so surprised with whatever possible outcome she will get .

Wished I can write more but need to finished work 1st as my dateline is today.

By the way, who would like to have a home cooked carrot puree tomorrow?

Annabel Karmel

I finally got to buy my annabel karmel's book last Monday. Purchased it at Kinokuniya in KLCC. And that is after going it first at MPH with a mission to buy. I went to MPH 1st thinking that I can purchase the book by using my vouchers. But since it can't be found there, I went again to Kinokuniya . Again? Well, that is the 1st place that I went since it's near my office.

Anyhow, I have yet to get down and read it . I only managed to flip a few pages here and there. But I need to start reading it soon as as possible as I don't have much time left before Feb 7th arrive. Why Feb 7th? Because that is the day that Aisyah will turned 6 months old. It's an important date as she will start on her solid food.

And just like with my first born, I intend to do the same thing for my 2nd born which is to prepare home cooked solid food. Took out all the necessary tools for it form the store. Checked all the feeding spoons and bowls and cups and ice cube tray. And judging from the condition of the said items, I need to make new purchases for it. There're scratch marks here and there on the spoons & bowl.

Back to solid food, it reminded me of my last visit to my girls' pediatrician last month. We were the 2nd patient to see the doctor. We noticed that the 1st patient were inside the doctor's room long . Found out from the doctor that he had given them a lengthy lecture on the importance of feeding good food to children. My pediatrician was an ex-lecturer at one of our local university and he was my BIL's & SIL's lecturer. Easy to say that most of us who goes to DSH will know who this pediatrician is .

I can understand my pediatrician frustration with the mindset and attitude of today's parents. I couldn't agree with him more as I see it happening in front of me and among my family members. These day, parents in general use the easiest way to feed their children. By that, I’m referring to too much of processed food, packed and GMO food. Gone are the days where parents really stressed on serving and feeding their children only home cooked food.

And when these children are served with too much of these food, then it’s common for our children to get sick so easily & late in recuperating. When all these happen, the last people that I pity the most are the sick children themselves. And to make the story sad, there are parents’ out there who simply send their sick children to any medical practitioners. I can understand that one’s money is the limit. But what is the point of sending your sick children to the same doctor when your child’s health is not improving?

So yeah, my doctor blame the parents for what we are doing to our children when it comes to food. I guess he knows he can’t do much apart from giving sound advice to those parents as bringing up your children is one’s ultimate decision. At the end of the day, don’t point fingers to other people or blame some things when our children get sick as easily as it should be.

Demand driven. Not product driven

That phrases caught my eyes a few minutes ago as I was browing through online baby shop.

It's about products that can help to increase and boost breastmilk production for breastfeeding mothers. We all know how stressful it can be when it comes to depleting breastmilk stocks. So many stories too we often heard about breastfeeding mommies trying so many ways to increase their milk production in hope increasing the EBM stocks too.

Those sentences are just so true. And every breastfeeding mommies should have known it by heart.

Breastfeeding production is all about stimulation . Lack of stimulation in the form of baby's sucking will slow down breastmilk production.And everyone thought that expressing the breastmilk is good enough to maintain one's breastmilk supplies. How so wrong they are..

What is needed to increase breastmilk production is frequent breastfeeding.And by this i mean breastfeeding your baby as often as u can and on demand too.. And don't forget the 2 hours gap between feedings. Frequent breastfeeding will means more stimulation that is needed for breastmilk productions. Sorry to say that this form of stimulation can only be rightly achieved when your baby sucks your nipple during breastfeeding.

So less breastfeeding session will only means less stimulation.Less stimulations will bring down breastmilk production. And in the end, depleting EBM stocks.. And when this happen, chaos la..

Which is why I don't see and think myself as one lucky breastfeeding mother. Almost every single woman whom i told that my baby girl only wake up a after 6 am for her feeding will say that I'm so lucky. So lucky for that my sleep at night is not interrupted by night feeding.

The thing is about my baby girl is that she normally stock up ie will want to be breastfeed as often as she likes too prior to her bedtime. Thus, she will only go to sleep if her tummy is fulled with milk. Mind u ladies, I don't offer her comfort feeding.

Once she is asleep, she won't be waking up till after 6 am. And even if she wakes up after 6 am , she is contented to suck her little fingers thesedays. Alhamdulillah, I will somehow be awake ( no matter what time it is during the night) a few seconds before she wants to be feed.

So what with the fuss? The big fuss & worries is, I need my feeding. I need that frequent breastfeeding with my baby girl. I need that stimulation. Without that stimulation , how am i to maintain my breastmilk production.I'm a working mother . And I only get to breastfeed her at whatever time i can reach home safely and earliest.

I haven't resorted to taking any PIL ASI or those food that can help increase milk production. Somehow, my production have been just enough for Lil B consumptions. But I am so relieve and thankful that i started early on EBM stocking.This is one thing that i was slow during my eldest daughter breastfeeding time. I guess that has help a lot in maintaining adequate EBM supplies for my 2nd girl.

Stress? A bit.But i try not to be so stress on this EBM stock things. Most of the time, i only pray that it is enough for my baby girl.

Mei tai hunting

how am i not to drool over this mei tai..check out at http://snuggbaby.com/

the fabrics are just soooooooo cool & eye-catching.. Now i'm just waiting for jumosac's SSC which also look like mei tai..

I have to admit that my hands are just itchy to get these lovely things. And oh yeah, i've bought my very 1st baby pouch from fabulousmom..They were having a shop clearance sales last week. If it's not for the email that I received on Wednesday last week, i wouldn't have gone there and bought one.. Mine was a simple plane color. Bought it as it was on sales.

And how is the pouch? handy . Still trying to familiar myself with it..

At one point of my life, I am....

I should be sleeping right now. Sleeping as sleeping when your soon-to-be 2 months old baby is sleeping.. and so is the rest of the people in my house.

But i'm itching to right something tonight.( But it will be a short one.)Reasons are my status as a person in this world has changed eversince that August 7th, 2009.

At this point of my life, I am a mother to a 2 beautiful girls. I am still my hubby's wife. And I still drive that 10 years old car..We will touch on that topic on one fine day ok..

At this point of my life too, I am currently a temporary SAHM . Simple reason that my maid of 3 years didn't want to renew her working permit which expired on end Sept 09. And for that reason too, I took 1 month of unpaid leave ( on top of the 60 days of maternitty leave ) to take care of my 2nd baby. Not that I don't want to depend on my MIL to take care of my newborn baby. But this is a choice that I am able to make ( thanks 2 my understanding CEO) . So I shall be back working early next month .

At this point of my life, I'm still a pro-breastfeeding mother.Thus, it's a 24 hours and 7 days a week's roles for me as my baby girl's sole food source. But I have yet to start stocking my EBM for her ..Shall do that starting this week.

At this point of my life, as I'm going through my new roles as SAHM, my BIL's eldest son is going through a new chapter of his life. Which reminds me of how much i have always wanted to further my studies overseas ( not that i didn't get the opportunity). Thanks goodness, there is FB to keep us ( me of sharing it with dearest hubby of his nephew's life story) connected.. Which is why i have to admit that it was a waste of him not to move his heavy bum to make that short walk to see that football/soccer games that we all have to watch from tv here ..

mmmmmm... shall stop now as i need my beauty sleep. More off to recharge my energy level for tomorrow ..

The Chosen Bottles

We used Avent bottles during Arissa's time.

At that time, I never heard of BPA-free feeding bottles. But now, it's an in-thing to use BPA-free bottles. More for health reason actually why parents are switching to BPA-free bottles. Nevertheless, you will still see so many non BPA-free or the normal bottles in the market.
And I must say that not all parents outthere in general are aware about the downside of using BPA bottles.

I remember this pregnant lady that I talked to while queuing up to pay . With her was the normal Avent bottles. She was surprised when I told her that she may want to reconsider buying that Avent bottles as it is not BPA-free. I did explain to her briefly on the bad side of normal bottles. But she told me she would stick to her decision of buying that Avent bottles as she hate to line up again to pay..

Back to my original motive of this entry, I finally bought my BPA-free bottles. This is after doing some research on the design and cleaning methods of each bottle brands that I like.

Nuby SoftFlex Natural Nurser/Silicone Nurser. MAM bottles. Philips Avent bottles. All BPA-free bottles. And all are wide neck bottles. And all have similar-to-mother's-nipple and anti-colic.

Reading and looking at each pictures of the bottles in the internet is totally not the same as holding it in your hands. Thus, I used my long Friday lunch today to do some real life research on the listed brands. I just had to hold them in my hands & see it with my own two eyes to make the final verdict. On which is suitable and easier to use. More to maid-friendly-bottles!

Ye la... It will be the maid who will be using the bottles when I'm away working. Thus, I need a hassle free bottles to be used by my maid. One that is easy to assemble ie. just insert the teat into the nipple ring and screw it all to the bottle. Plus having too many parts of the bottle for washing will be troublesome and can also lead to poor cleaning. It's important to minimize all these unwanted issues as I don't want my baby to be sick because of the dirty bottles.

With MAM bottles, there are just to many things to be assembled. From the silicone valve at the bottom ring , to the bottle body and lastly to insert the teat into the bottle ring.

Same goes to Nuby SoftFlex too. One needs to properly insert the teat into the bottle ring. This is illustrated in the leaflet. Failing to do these will result in leaking. And u won't get that anti-colic function in place. The same things goes with MAM bottles too.

Furthermore, when u have so many parts to assemble, then contamination of virus/bacteria can happen also. Why? Too many parts to be touched by hands.

If it is me who will be feeding our baby, then i can confirm on the hygenic bottle handling and washing procedures. But since it will be my maid, thus, I need to eliminate or reduce this forseen issues.

So I chosed Avent BPA-free bottle. Actually I have fallen for Nuby Soft Flex. But for the above reasons, I'm choosing Avent. But Avent BPA-free bottles has an issue with leaking. These has been experieced by most Avent BPA-free bottle users out there.

But after reading so many reviews, some have been able to identify the cause of it and how to deal with it. Again, poor bottle assemble is the root of leaking. Anyhow, Avent bottle is still the easiest bottle to assemble with less parts to deal with.

My only worry now, is, will my baby love Avent bottles?

We shall see that when October comes.

My Itchy Hands

With some of the Cloth diaper's online shop having promotions , I'm just itching to buy those beautiful and colorful , and girlish CDs...

So what's stopping me from buying it? Well, for one reason, my 2nd lil' munchkin is not out yet from my tummy. InsyaAllah, she will make her debut before 20th August 2009.

2nd reason, it's not a practical idea to use CDs on newborn baby as you don't get to use it longer and frequently . Newborn baby will grow up fast into baby. Thus, it's a waste of money. It's better to use lampin/prefold and dispos ..Gosh! I'm slowly using these CDs terms..heheheh
No wonder i'm itching to buy CDs!

Apart from CDs, I think I slowly converting myself into this think-green mommy or save-our-planet mommy.. You'll see me surfing for cloth menstrual pads or mama pads and nursing cloth pads..

Of course the initial cost of buying these CDs, mama pads & nursing cloth pads is high but low or zero cost in the long term.

Enough about those things. I'm 34 weeks preggy now. And I'm glad with the good progress me & hubby have done with our 2nd baby preparation.

We had sent back most of the items that I will need for my confinement in my parents' house. And 90% of the baby's clothing, mittens , booties,lampins, my NR confinement products, dispos , my daily clothings are all in my S'ban room.

As for the hospital bag, i have put all items in one place .Just waiting to be transfered into the undecided-which-bag to use as hospital bag. But I still wanna get 2 or 3 newborn clothings. For our 2nd Munchkin, I did buy new clothings for her. At least she gets to wear her own clothing on her 1st day. Alhamdulillah, most of her big sista's clothings are all in good conditions. That's the benefits of buying only good quality clothings . Mind u , these are not branded items. Most were bought from Jusco.

And last nite, we have agreed on the book cabinets which to be placed at the family hall upstairs. So we will be heading to IKEa after my check-up this Saturday..

And 2nd munchkin's name? I've a few on the list. Only waiting for my dearest hubby's list..

Road to Cloth Diapers

Anyone who wanted to find out more on cloth diapers, free to swing by at the following blog...I know it's not easy to find a good review on cloth diapers when there are so many brands outhere in the market... Even I am , and still are ( a bit) confused on the best & suitable CDs for my 2nd child.



Nevertheless, I'm glad that I found diaperasia/forum to clear my curiousity and doubts on CDs.. In fact , these CDs addicted mommies were all so helpful to share what they know about CDs based on their experiences..



One piece of advice that I remember most about choosing the CDs is that to all CDs are good in its own function. But ones will only find the right CDs depending on their own children as each child is different from another child. No doubts I will have to buy a few brand 1st and see if it suits my baby.But I will try to minimize the wrong-brand/types-purchased by reading as much information I can .. Me no shopaholic CDs..



1. Jess's blog

2.Indi & Maya's mommy's shop

3. Farra's shop

4. Soho Mama

Cloth diaper: which one?

I'm soooo pening!!!! Confused with cloth diapers @ CD...

Ok. So I'm currently doing my research on cloth diapers..Read on the types of cloth diapers available here ie. sold online .. I even read the diaperasia.com forum to understand it more..

But I'm getting so pening and confused and arg!!!!!!

Confused that there are so many brands outthere and design too.. Pocket diapers, Fitted diapers,All-in-Ones (AIOs) ...

I hate the idea of buy-first-try-later concept.. From the forum, most of the CD addicts bought so many types of CD.. This meaning investing in hundreds of ringgit 1st until we find the right and comfortable and convenient CD which is just suitable for our baby...

And I'm not that kind of buyer. No matter how cute the CD designs on my baby's bottom, I'm not going to buy every CD there is on the market..

I just want to buy the right one.... Argh!!! I'm in the middle of closing the April's account...And I'm 25th weeks pregnant... And there are so many other things that I need to sort it out and get and buy before my 2nd baby pops out early August!!!!

Let there be light at the end of my CD tunnel!!! Amin...

ante-natal class

So should both couple ie. husband & wife attend the ante-natal together or only the expectant mother to attend?

For me , both should attend the class actually as it takes two to tango . And babies are actually a miraculous creation of two human beings. Thus it makes strong & reasonable sense that both expectant mother& father to attend ante-natal class..

So there I was reading from the malaysianbride forum on the excitedness these expectant mommies feel of attending ante-natal classses..Some expressed the sadness of having to go alone as their spouses got a valid reasons not to atttend..

But I can not help not to feel from the words in the forums the sadness and jealousy some of these women feels.. The women whose husbands are't attending the classes for some unknown reasons that I can only assumes lazy to go..

So i'm sorry if what I said is so wrong.But then again, I feel pity for these women who will be alone at the classes..

Imagine the pain and the stories of other's labour that these women will be hearing at these classes.. Not all of us can take the pain..I know this for sure coz I just read one email from this lady who got scared listening to all the story in the labor room. Of course the teacher won't be telling it in a scary way.

But not all of us women can stand or picture the pain of getting 10cm dillated ...

Thus, having a moral supoort in the presence of a husband at the ante-natal class will be such a relief actually. Coz, these women will know that they are not alone during that life-threatening moments.. Don't forget that there are mommies who sacrificed their lives to their babies.

Plus, how on earth to make sense on the breathing techniques.. And not forgetting the massaging lesson the husbands can learn and offer to their heavily & aching wives!

With that, for me, both husband and wife team should go....

labor day wifi free

Spending my labour day hols in my parents' free wifi house .. :)

Ayah installed it as it will be easier for his cucu( aged 10 years old mind you ) to surf the net..More of playing on line games from the sesame website..

Thus, for us adults, it's a bonus as we get to surf the net using our own notebook.. Yippee..

And since I don't have internet access at office( hard to get illegal access ) , here I am catching up with what I can with facebook & blogs and internet research...

So many stuffs to search with regards to my pregnancy state and stuffs for nursing and breastfeeding.. Mind you , it's not easy to get variety of nursing bra and BPA free products here in Malaysia..

Thank goodness to wonders of www , I managed to buy some breastpump spareparts together with other mommies.. Who would have thought that www.malaysiabride.com 's forum is more than a wedding info stops but also a good place for new mommies and soon-to-be mommies to share informations on any thing..

Sometimes, we alone can't find the right info on the certain things. And how time consuming it is to search one stuffs that other mothers are also into it.. Thus, I'm glad that I got to share the shipping cost for buying one stuff that other mommies want too. Best I got to know which online shop offering FOC international shipping.. Thus, I hope to receive my parcel soon..

On baby's stuffs, I have yet to start on it.. I know the clock is ticking..Thus, I'm planning to do some spring cleaning on Arissa's baby clothing this month.. I've got the ameda breast pump purchased online. Currently waiting for the purchased valve and custom flange to arrived.

And how most of the prices of bottles & teats cleaser & baby detergent have gone up since the last 2 years.. I stopped buying these products 2 years back after weaning off Arissa from my breastmilk .

As for normal diapers or cloth diapers, I'm still undecided on it.No doubt I have done my research on it. And had read some blogs on it too.. But I guess I need to check it out 1st with one person who said that she had used it before. Plus, I need to be sure that my maid can handle this cloth diapers.. This is due to my maid capabilities . Only we the majikan knows our maids capabilities and thinking level...Hai yah!

Ok...Gootta go for lunch now..Off to movie date with dearest hubby after lunch...

Happy weekends everyone..

BPA-free

All things about BPA products is very alarming. I guess that I wasn't that worried nor much affected by it, not since yesterday.

Of course it's easy to be ignorance about it as it's a choice for us to make. But somehow yesterday, I just had to do some research on it to satisfy my curiousity on what BPA is all about.

I did read from wikipedia . But I failed to understand it from that. The explanation on BPA was too high level for me..I need something written in a laymen terms.

Found it here from momslittleones's reading corner . There are two reading materials that focus on BPA which I found easy to understand. After done reading it, I just can't help not to feel so worried and trouble too by this BPA side effects especially for our unborn baby and baby too..

Hard for us to deny that BPA has been around us for 5o years. It is widely use in a making all consumer products ranging from children's toys, resusable drink container , all PVC made products, and very worrisome to parents is plastic baby bottles. Yikes!

And the negative side effects can be from breast cancer, impaired learning and memory, prostate disease & cancer, miscarriage, sperm defects, obesity , diabetics etc...

But among us, who is most at RISK? Our growing children. With that, I'm so busy planning on what to buy and get for my 2nd unborn baby. From the breastpumps, to the bottles, teats and storage milk bags, all will have to be BPA free. Of course these BPA-free products is expensive than the normal one , but we can always minimize the cost by making a good buying plans.

So currently there are so many things going inside my mind. Thank goodness that there are many BPA-free baby products outthere. But the bottom lines will be my baby's products preference. We all know that babies are not alike. What suits ones baby may not suits another baby. And I hate to be making fruitless and wasteless decisions once I make the purchases.. See how mind boggling this things is for expecting mommy like me!

Back to the research findings from the reading corner, they clearly stated brands that is BPA leaching in baby's bottles. Most of these wellknown brands has come up with it's own line of BPA-free baby products in the market thesedays.

But to see those wellknown brands definitely give a strong impact on the mindset of mothers outthere. This will effect the purchasing power that mothers have when buying baby products. Even I was affected by it!

Prior to reading those articles, I thought I could still use all the normal bottles , teats and milk bags. Why? Because the BPA leaching is due to simulated use—dishwashing,brushing, and boiling. And I thought I could simply follow the basic rules of changing bottles and teats ever 3 months. But then, the total cost of using these normal products is actually the same as buying the BPA-free products. And for the sake of our children future, I dare not to take risk.

One thing about being a parent is that we try so hard to give only the best for our children. No doubt that some of us are not financially strong . But that do not deter us from trying to give the best that we can do for our children. I've seen some parents who are just low paid workers. But their actions in being not stingy on food for the children is something that I salute them.. We all know that fish & seafood are expensives. But we can always get it cheap from the wet market expecially if u buy at the early wee hours in the morning.

Thus, BPA free or not, the choice is ours parents!

Oh yeah, do check it out ( the reading materials from momslittleones ) as they got tips on how to avoid this BPA things!

Spectra vs Ameda BP

Reason of today's entry was due to my visit to momslittleones shop at Sri Kembangan a few weeks ago.

It's is also because I know how dilemma and confusing it is to choose breast pump(BP) ..

Prior to my visit to momslittleones shop, I have chosen 2 BP that I favour most ie Spectra 3 and Ameda Lactaline. On the 1st ranking was Spectra 3 followed by Ameda . But before I can make the final purchase, I need something concrete or strong validation to back up my decision.

In fact, I hate feeling inferior when hubby asked me why I made that purchase.. My dearest husband doesn't like impulse purchases or semi-impulse purchase or whatever purchases that is done without fullest logical thinking. Simple to say, do enough Qs & As before making that final decision.. But then again, I am not a shopaholic too..

Back to my visit , I have to say that I gained alot of useful infos on both BP. And looking at the BP online is definetely not the same as looking at it in reality. When I say in reality, I mean by touching it , feeling it with your barehands and even testing it on my body.

I have to stressed these finer points that touching the BP with my own hands helped me alot in understanding the BPs. There at the shop, the BPs are display outside the box/packaging. Normally we will only see the BPs being displayed in the box. Thus, we only get to view it and read whatever is written on the box/packaging.

But at the shop, they let you touch and try the BPs. And the best part of it, not only that I learn how to assemble & disassemble all the BP parts, I found out which one is easier to use. Working mothers who have to express at office have less time to spare for expressing session.

So on Spectra I found out that it's open system pump is one bad point that I dont like.. An open systems pump means that there is no barrier in between the tubes and milk collection . So there is a chance that milk will leak into the pump tubing. With that, this means inconvenience and a hassle to working mothers as we have to then wash, sterilize and air dry the tubes before pumping again. And the tubes are not that big. In office, the most that we will pump is for 3 sessions. And how on earth are we going to airdry it in such a short time?

And I found out from the sales person there who was really helpful and knowledgable about BPs, these incidents is a common thing. Another common thing to happen is that milk/water gets into the motorpump via the tubes. And when this happen, you need to send your motor for a service. Each service cost about RM50-RM100 . Once u send your motor pump for service, the level of noice motor will be a bit louder than before.. But it is still quiter than Medela which most users said sounded like mesin potong rumput!!!!! Imagine the noise of the motor pump of a grasscutter.

And with milk leaking inside the tubes, then mold can be found too.. Mold is not good as this will infected your precious expressed milk.

Howeve, the manufaturer have recently come up with a special item that function as a barrier to prevent leaking milk. How effective this small part is unknown yet as momlittleone have only have it in their shop recently ( less than a month ) . Thus, need to wait for review from the users.

As for Ameda, it is a closed system pump that have a diaphragm which acts as a barrier to prevent milk from leaking into tubes. Thus, the expressed milk is never exposed to the tubes or the motor pump. The best part is that less parts to wash and sterilize! Yippe! And no mold too..


On a personal notes, I did have a good look at the Spectra & Ameda BP. I found out that the milk-leak-into-tubes can happen easily due to the design of the Spectra. So that is one key point that worries me.. You may think how on earth will the milk leak into the tubes and into the motor pump. Well, it can happen when we accidently dropped the bottles on the floor or have it tilted during expressing sessions.

Another bad points on Spectra is that u can't use batteries supply when there is no electricity. But with Ameda yes.

However, both have it's good points too. Both can be used with Avent wide neck bottles and Aventvia cups. Just use the Spectra Wide neck converter. This u can only find from fabulousmom online shop( for malaysia).

Both are good trusted BP brand that is recommend by certified lactations. The level of noise is way much better than Medela BPs. And it's not that heavy & bulky too..

On single pump and double pump, I only have to say this. If u are a working mother like me who wants more expressed milk in a short time ( less than 20 minutes from assembling the BP to washing it ) , then double pumps is the best choice. On brands, Medela or Spectra of Ameda are ok.. So long as it is approved and recommended by certified lactations.

Oh yeah, somehow Avent is not so on the prefered list at that shop...

I'm can't wait to receive my Ameda this week...

It’s sure different the 2nd time around

Yeah, I’ve been told that it would be different when you are pregnant again. And how each pregnancy would be different from one another and for different woman too.

So here I am, 10 weeks into my pregnancy . And boy! Things are absolutely different from my 1st pregnancy… Who would have thought I would be having a restless sleep during week 4. Yeah, I was finding it hard to have a good nite sleep. Suddenly sleeping in one position wasn’t that comfortable at all.. I was tossing from right n then to the left side then back on lying flat on the bed.. And somehow standing for a good 10 minutes or 2 minutes of squatting down had me feeling tired so much.. This was week 4 & 5 .. Reason why I squat is because I have to wait for my daughter doing her pee pee & poo poo in the toilet ;) It’s dangerous to leave her unattended in the toilet as she might slip and fall on the floor. Alhamdulillah , now all is ok in this department..

I’m experiencing the same symptom with my taste bud.. Again , the sambal dish and oily food and berempah food doesn’t taste nice nor looks appealing to me.. I’m in the stage of not having a craving for food. Not one particular food. All food ! I’m used to be craving for ice blended, or Mac D’s burgers & sundae or ice creams. But those are not within me at the moment.
Thus, do I eat? Of course la..I have to eat for the lil fella who is growing inside. These days I eat for the sake of the baby. Not for the pleasure of eating!

Alhamdulillah, I gained back some muscle and lost weight after hitting back the gym since last year. I’m still going and planning to go for my aerobics classes. Will only stop when my tummy is too big.. I need to keep myself in good shape and have enough stamina for labor. I’ve seen the benefits of exercise during my 1st pregnancy. Thus, I just hope I’ll able to do it again this time around.

There are so many things to prepare with our baby’s birth. But I’m still not doing a single thing. I haven’t even look at all Arissa’s old baby clothing. Part of me still thinks that August is still far away. And that I can always do it when I’m in my 6 month pregnancy. HAHAHAH..

However, I have started doing some research on electric breast pump. Prefer double pumps as two pumps can save more time. Plus I will be able to express more milk too. So many things to buy in these department too.. Will need to look out for special sales or discount on these from various web sites & shops too.. I do realize that electric pump will cost more than a manual one. But since I’m 100% pro-breast milk, money is not an issue. As long as I can get a better bargain for it, that would be fine for me..Dah la 2009 is recession year!

I have to say that my mood and feelings are not like what I had gone through when carrying Arissa. Maybe because of the tiredness that I feel now and then.. Feeling tired can easily spoil my mood. I get irritated easier. Sometimes I lose my patience with Arissa..Which I shouldn’t be too as sometimes she is just being a kid.. All these give valid reason for me to keep on exercising!

Baby name? That will have to wait…

Baby's IQ : can be boost before conception.

I know all the special & unique abilities that we have is given by Allah. But at the same time, I always wonder whether we parents, women especially , can contribute more to boost our children's IQ right before they are born . Meaning is it possible that we boost our children's IQ before conception?

Answer to that question , Yes! And there are more things we women can do actually for the benefit of our children. Infact we should be doing it before we get ourselves pregnant. No wonder the doctors advise us to get our body in better shape for pregnancy 3 months before conception of the feotus. It's all about the food that we eat, the lifestyle we have to change ( both us & our partner too ) , our surrounding/environment , everything!

I was shocked to read that smokes could reduce fertility of baby boys! Yikes! Imagine they blaming us mothers on this thing later in life!Also when mothers smoke during one pregnancy and not the other, the baby exposed to maternal smoking has a lower IQ than the one not exposed. Smoking not only lowers the IQ but mothers who smoke during pregnancy have a 50% greater chance of having a child with mental retardation. OMG! Scary isn't it?

Second-hand smoker? I dont think we want a lower birth weight for our unborn children, do we?Low birth weight and being small for gestational age are two leading risk factors for cerebral palsy which means a collection of movement disorders. ;(

And we have to be stress free! Doesn't matter if we are working women or not. The main point is that no stress for pregnant women. A bit of stress is no good for our baby's IQ. And when our baby's IQ is lower, so is our children's language development. Even moving to a new house is not a good idea at all for pregnant women. We may say that we have engaged the housemovers to do all the necessary packing & transfering our stuffs. But we still be thinking this & that of the whole process of moving into a new house. There will always be reasons to worry about ...

What about caffeinated drinks? Like what this website said :

When you're pregnant or trying for a baby, experts recommend that you cut down on the amount of caffeine you consume. This is because studies have shown that having more than 300mg per day appears to be linked to an increased risk of having a miscarriage, a low birthweight baby or an infant with birth defects.

I know it's hard to be caffeine-free as its in our tea, coffee, chocolate, cola, energy drinks and even cold remedies and painkillers. But it wont be that hard to avoid when we put our children future language development close to our hearts. It's better to act now then feeling regret later .

Fish and seafood? Eat oily fish like salmon, sardines, trout and mackerel, ideally at least 2-3 times a week during pregnancy. Avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish and Spanish mackerel and you’ll be fine. And try to limit our seafood intake during pregnancy so as to avoid trace contaminants of toxins like mercury. Research did show that the risk is negligible, but avoiding seafood risks your child having a lower IQ and problems with social development.

I guess the key here is moderation .We either stay away from these food or lower the intake..