IGer

I had my Instagram account zillionth months ago..but never had it open to public. When I first discovered it, Instagram was not as big a hit as what it is now...back then, photography was never my forte..not even now.

Until one day when I just had the time to explore the rave behind this app, I instantly fell in love with it!..I enjoy doing photo editing..with abundance of apps on iPhone that you can download, one does not have to be a good photographer, but just have to play with the photo editor to get a nice photo. Made all the better, I got an iPhone 5 as a birthday gift from my crazy doctor-friends (hehe) whom was so dear to me, my best friends since medical school..Sera and Azrai, the future Obstetrician, Sheeda; the future Ophthalmologist, Fiza; the future Haematologist, and Zul, the future Plastic Surgeon (yesss...I know who to look for when I started to have wrinkles...haha).

While I was away in this blog-sphere, I was busy with my Instagram account..hehe. Snap a photo, edit sikit2, and post it..blog kan kena tulis2, you know me and my writer's block..lol. Oh ya...did I tell you that I make lots of new friends too...*love* :)

The new rave now is KEEK, see wether I will get myself hooked onto it or not!..haha. Btw, you can find me @Tahirah83 on Instagram..

So I'll leave you with some of the photos that I captured and edit on my Instagram gallery..

till then,

XOXO

Water Babies: Swimming Lessons for Babies

" Teach your children swimming, archery, and horse-riding" - Prophet Muhammad saw.

Do you know that studies has shown..

1) Babies who have been swimming during the first few years of their lives develop a greater             sense of their surroundings, and thus are already learning to be more creative and observant.

2) Experiences in water allow little ones to better develop their psychomotor skills, because there they can move more freely and begin to understand concepts of distance and movements.

3) The cardio-respiratory system is also strengthened as the baby exercises his or her heart and lungs.

4) Swimming lessons help babies become more confident and provide them with a sense of relaxation.

5) The experience also contributes to their socialization as they pass time in an environment filled with people.

6) Their bond with parents grow stronger as together they share new and rewarding experiences.

7) As infants learn to move through the water on their own, they develop an abundance of independence and self-esteem, and this further stimulates their interest in learning and experiencing new and more difficult tasks.

8) The smooth and fluid exercise in the water results in healthier naps following class. Parents have noted improved sleeping patterns throughout thr night.

(Credit from Water Babies brochure)


It has been almost a month since I enrolled my boy, Abdul Kareem Qays, to a swimming class. I found out about it when I was itching to follow my husband for his Aikido training at Sri Damansara Club. I didn't see any of the swimming instructors teaching babies/infants, but I was just trying my luck. Then one of the instructor directed me to the person in charged. I really wanted to send him for an activity, and at this early age,  swimming would be a great choice. To send to Gymboree would be a wee bit early, ye ke? he can't walk or talk...nor he can play with his peers, what he can do best now is exploring anything that come on his sight by gobbling it in his mouth...Hehe..

In my opinion, it's better to start them young, because babies are born with a reflex called bradycardic response. It allows them to hold their breath and open their eyes when being submerged. Unfortunately, the reflex will slowly be gone as they age. Plus, I heard that swimming lessons for older children are more expensive, so yeah...why not SAVE!..haha

Ok, back to the swimming class. The program was under Advanced Aquatics, lead by Ms Erika. It is held once in a week, and I chose the Sunday morning class. Parents must jump into the pool to accompany their babies...I like this kind of thing. It means it's an activity for me too. Instead we observe them having fun, I prefer TO HAVE fun WITH my boy. Baru lah namanya spending quality time together.

The first time my boy attended the class, he didn't cry at all. Luckily we exposed him to a swimming pool way earlier. So he got used to it, although occasionally he will shiver, but it won't last for long. Some of the babies in the class cried (for the first few classes), and won't let go of their parents. Maybe they felt cold ke, or they felt scared of the new environement. So the purpose of the first class was to make them feel comfortable in the water. But never to force them to stay in the water.

The next following classes, they taught us how to submerge. My son cried at first, he felt uncomfortable terminum air pool tu, eventually, with practices, Alhamdullilah, dia ok. Parents were taught to sing or make a count of 1-2-3 with the same intonation, so it is conditioned in their mind that it is time to submerge.

Next is to teach them how to float, paddle, how to jump into the water, how to hold to the side of the pool and many more. I think it may take weeks to months for my boy to actually being able to do all this. But there's nothing to worry about, after all, it is a gradual progress. I don't expect my boy to swim, I'll faint if he can do so, he is just 8 months young!..hehe.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the class. It is something that I look forward to come the weekend. The family time...the bonding time.  Oh..minus the tanning part!..

The cost?..It is not expensive like I've imagined it before. I would say it's affordable.

I'm looking for any other activities to do with my boy(s). If you have anything in mind, do share with me :)

Wordless Wednesday: Busy wife

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Turning 30

I've been having this urge to update my blog since forever but I just don't know where to start..writer's block they call it.. cemented reinforced with concrete and surrounded with barb wires...:)

It's been hundreds of days since my last entry. Frankly, I miss my blog so much. There are reasons for my silence..but it should not be put here in this entry. Sometime it has crossed my mind to just delete it, but I so sayang..of all the things that I've shared in this blog, it is like my diary..an open diary :) Talking about this blog, the title doesn't serve its purpose anymore, doesn't it? I don't talk wedding anymore, but the existence of this blog is because of my wedding ... I should re-name my blog, what do you think? perhaps giving it a new look as well?..opinions please...

So I turned 30 yesterday. Alhamdulillah, Allah is so great, giving me a good life, and allowing me to breathe the air. I'm 30 years young now. It's so scary to see the number, but to be honest, I don't feel like one..hehe. I don't feel I'm mature enough to be a 30s..lol. So I guess it's true, age is just a number...and you know what they say...30 is the new 20 or is it 40 is the new 20 ???...heheheh

No fancy celebration or what not.. Just a day off with my family during the day (to choose my gift..hehe), and a dinner date with husband (only).

He chose Subak, cos it came out as a top 5 list on Google while he was searching for 'best romantic restaurant in KL'..lol. It was a nice place with great ambience. Food was delish. If you're looking for a good food, with a tropical backdrop and serene sound of flowing water, you should give Subak a try.

To wrap up the night, husband surprised me with a (cheese) cake that he baked himself (so much of leaving the house early for futsal, rupa-rupanya lari balik rumah mama to make the cake).. haha. I may not have a signature birthday cake, with a fancy fondant, but to have this cake , I feel my birthday is complete. It is soooo yummy I can finish the whole lot myself, and I'm not exaggerating here!..hehe...

Here is another warm up from me...I hope I will mingle around here more often in this blog-sphere.

Till then. xoxo.

Breastfeeding journey: the sad story

What I'm about tell you all today was the most sad day of my life..

It was on a fine Sunday morning (last week). I was postcall. The long Saturday at work I had the day prior, made me couldn't wait to go back to my family as soon as I finished my shift. Who likes working on a weekend right?..and to come home to my little one, is a thing to look forward to daily.

Reached home, had breakfast..rest for awhile. Then I unpacked my cooler bag to keep my EBM that I managed to pump during the busy oncall.

Went to my deep freezer and found that the door was not properly closed!!..I HAD THE SHOCK OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!...

All cair ;(

All my EBM..the hardwork throughout the past 3 months gone down the drain when all my EBM got thawed!!!!...

I wasn't aware that I couldn't refreeze thawed milk even though it is still cold. I sought advices from people in FB, and most of them said even a partially thawed milk cannot be refreezed..but some said the one that has crystal ice, can.

Can you feel what I felt mommies??...I was just so speechless..my jaw dropped..and minutes after I found myself doing Adele: i'm rolling in the deeeeeeeeeeep...CRYING!!!!...

About 40 plastic bags and bottles full with EBM got wasted. I asked my husband to throw it cause it was just killing me :(.

Worried of couldn't continue supplying EBM for my baby, I felt like closing one eye and refreeze the ones that were partially thawed. Until my husband said that he wouldn't risk our son just because I wanted to exclusively breastfed him, I realised that I had acted foolishly.. Am I out of my mind???..felt so stupid!

Ready to be thrown

Since I started working, my milk production has gone down.. Normally I was able to express almost 12oz in 15 minutes..now I only managed to get only half of it....in my current state, I couldn't cope with 'pump harini, for supply hari esok' cos I wouldn't be able to do so..my son dah start minum banyak..and there are times he can finish 7oz in one go.. :(

After checking all the EBM, I only managed to save around 15 packets/bottles.. for that I felt grateful, but couldn't help myself from getting stressed up knowing that I had to double my effort from now onwards..

After the incidence, I was in a very stress mode for the next 2-3 days.. Husband kept reminding me that it was not worth it and it would only jeopardise my milk production further.

Husband bought a latch to make sure it won't happen again... I recommend for those who are planning to buy a deep-freeze, beli the ones yang bukaan pintu di bahagian atas..bukan tepi..

 I've started taking Maxolon ever since. Malas nak makan-makan supplement that claimed to boost up milk production. I never like supplements, I'm just plain lazy. So Maxolon would be a better choice, telan for 2 weeks je. Alhamdulillah after 2 days of Maxolon, I can see the difference, and Alhamdulillah, I can feel that it's getting back to normal.

ALLAH maha berkuasa. Dia boleh tarik rezeki kita bila-bila masa yang di-kehendakiNya. Kalau bukan dari segi harta, atau nyawa, EBM pon boleh. I should be more grateful now...insaf...insaf...

I'm sure all mommies out there understand how I feel, and..yes..breastfeeding is such a big deal for me..

And for you sayang, mommy will try hard to give you the best... I love you