A Homemaker’s Diary

Jeng jeng jeng..I am almost there..about a week towards my merdeka day..not that I’ve been following strict berpantang regime for the past few days..heh! I’ve been walking up and down the stairs, did the laundry, went out to dry the clothes, and cooked simple meal for Hubby. But I am still berpantang makan since I’m scared that I will bentan again.

So, what will I do once the 44 days are over? First stop will be Secret Recipe since I have been yearning to eat cake..heh! After all that’s the nearest makan place to our house. But still no ice for me though. I plan to berpuasa ice for 100 days (macam impossible je?) Maybe I will drink cold drinks from the fridge but not one with ice cube in it..(takde harapan nak minum watermelon kat Secret Recipe..huhu!)

During the weekend maybe we will venture out a bit farther..steamboat at Johnny’s perhaps or to the Curve or Ikano. Not sure how the outing will be with the newborn since so far we haven’t been to anywhere except to SIL’s house and the clinic. I hope he will be OK with jalan-jalan or otherwise balik rumah meragam, naya la aku tak tido malam..huhu!

I think I’m beginning to get used to being a mom (less sleep, minimal own activity, time mostly revolves around nursing, diaper changing and layan sorang budak yang suka merengek tu..heh!) I know once he grows a bit, I will miss the time when he lies helpless in my arm, the smile of contentment after nursing, the cherub angelic face when he sleeps so peacefully. Maybe that’s why people keep on getting pregnant and giving birth to new babies..haha!

But then again, I can’t wait for him to grow up, to bring him to the zoo, swimming, playing in the playground, his first bicycle ride, a picnic at the beach..it makes sense now why people want kids. Oh, don’t ask me when I want my second baby..I still need time to catch up on my lost sleep..huhu!

I think most of the people I know gave birth to their children last year which means that the children were born during the year of Rat (born after 7 Feb 08). I found this description of the Rat child online. Despite the not-so-nice traits that the Rat child has, I kind of like the positive aspects of his/her personality.
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A child born in the year of the Rat will be sweet and loving. He may be shy, but inwardly he is fiercely competitive. Often, he resorts to crying to get more attention and usually clings to one or two people with whom he identifies. Although he has a charming disposition, he is possessive of parents and friends and jealous of attention given to others.

He will talk early. He likes to eat (mention of his favorite foods always makes him light up) and he takes an early interest in cooking and other household chores. Being affectionate and demonstrative, he will not like being left alone. He will enjoy group play, can concentrate on detailed work and make friends easily. You can depend on him to keep things tidy or at least know where they are.

The Rat child will start to show his calculating nature very early in life. He will insist that he get the bigger half of the apple, exactly the same number of cookies as his older brother (preferably more, but under no circumstances less). It will be hard to cheat him on anything. He learns fast and never misses a trick. He takes regular stock of his possessions–so don’t try to give away any of his old toys thinking he won’t miss it. Then again, if you consult him, be prepared for a struggle as the selfish little Rat won’t part with anything easily.

With younger children, the Rat child will tend to be motherly; at his worst, he will boss them around mercilessly. Given the proper encouragement, he will be ambitious in school. He will be most eager to participate in anything that stimulates his sharp mental powers.

The vivacious Rat will be an avid reader. He will learn the importance of the written word early and be able to express himself well. Many of the world’s greatest writers and historians were born in the year of the Rat.

It’s been a week into 2009, and here I am reminiscing what 2008 means to me. Well, I have been devoting days and nights for the past one month towards my new role of being a mother that I hardly remember what my life used to be like..huhu (sound pathetic, right!)

The year 2008 started with us deciding to try to get pregnant after almost 5 years of being married. I was like am I ready for it? will I be a good mom? will I miss my carefree life without kid in tow, the extra sleeping time, the leisure days..

But we thought just give it a try and God answered my prayers by giving me the best birthday present. (Actually on my birthday, I still didn’t know I was pregnant) The 2 lines on the pregnancy test kit made me realized that there was a whole lot more to think apart from myself and Hubby.

By May and June I had a terrible time with morning sickness. Hubby went to US for 3 weeks for his training. I was at home alone all that time (and both of us survived..heh). And by August I was all energetic again, doing the preparation for Niece’s wedding and bunga telur orders.

We decided to buy a house though we were not sure whether we could afford it financial wise (especially with a baby coming). And then it was Ramadhan and Hari Raya season. I conducted the craft classes every now and then, sometimes just to fill up the time, especially when Hubby has to work during weekend or on standby.

Then November came, marking our 5th anniversary. I was hoping that the baby will come out on the anniversary date itself although it was too early from his EDD.

He decided to surprise us on the eve of Aidil Adha..heh..(which was more than a week early from the EDD) diminishing my hope to eat SIL’s lontong, kari and rendang (nevertheless I still ate and causing him stomach pain the first night he came home) And by then, my life was changed completely. The long weekend and end of the year leaves that most people enjoy were spent with me in confinement (and I am still in confinement..huhu!) I told Hubby if we were like before, we will be sleeping till 2pm, wake up and go out, watch movie, window shopping, dine out and come home to watch DVD and sleep at 4-5am, and the cycle goes on.

Now with a son of our own, somehow I think that I have concluded 2008 with another meaningful mark. I am no longer the lady of leisure, doing and thinking as I please, I am now a mom, responsible for the well being of a helpless little creature that we decided to conceive and welcome into this ugly, selfish world.

I might not be the best and perfect mom in years to come, but I vow that I will strive to be a mom that my son will be proud of…and hopefully one that he will never be ashamed of. And that is my new year resolution, for 2009 and many, many years ahead.

I was feeling healthier for the past few days since it is almost a month now I’m in confinement. So I thought it was all OK for me to go down and cook, wash and do the usual not-heavy house chores. It was OK on Monday, I even cooked pindang ikan, fried some fish and stir fried vegetable for lunch and dinner.

On Tuesday, Hubby went to work after bathing our son and I continued sleeping for a while. Woke up around 2 and went down to cook lunch. Hubby has cooked rice before he left for work so I thought I would cook sup sayur and fry fish.

While cooking, I put the clothes in the washer machine. I cleared up the dishes in the sink while frying the fish. And after everything was settled, I had my lunch at around 4pm. Towards the end of eating my lunch, I felt dizzy and my head started to spin. I quickly finished my lunch and sat down on the sofa. Luckily the baby was sleeping peacefully in the playpen.

I decided to go and lie down on the bed upstairs. I almost fainted while climbing the stairs with baby in my arm. I took a quick cold shower, thinking I would feel better. But then since the dizziness didn’t subside, I decided to call Hubby and asked him to come home.

When Hubby came home, I asked him to fill up the Rubbermaid water bottle with hot water, hoping that a tuam on my tummy will help soothe the uneasy feeling. I knew it must be something that I ate causing the angin and bentan.

Hubby took the baby down so that I can rest. After I tuam the tummy, thigh, back and the waist area, I felt much better and fell asleep. Honestly this was not the first time I had these bentan episodes, but surely so far it was the worst. Now definitely I have to stick with the berpantang regime more diligently for another 2 weeks.

It seems that the colicky phase passed by more quickly than I expected. Thank God!

And I found new way to get more sleep (for me) at night. I let my son sleep on the bed beside me rather than let him sleep in his baby cot. Well, at least from around 2am till 9-10am. It makes the whole breastfeeding and soothing him back to sleep much easier. Then I move him back to his cot or Hubby take him down to sleep in the playpen.

But today he insisted to stay awake from 10am till 4pm, making the berurut and bertungku session quite a hassle. I have to put him beside me on the comforter while the kak bidan massaged me (have no choice since Hubby was busy cooking my lunch in the kitchen)

After that he continued sleeping, bathed him at 5:30pm, a quick feeding time right after I had my bath and bertangas and as of now at 9:30pm, he is still sleeping very peacefully. Not sure whether he will sleep throughout this night or will be awake (and keep me awake as well, huhu!)

At least I’m making a progress towards obtaining a more quality sleep despite being a new mom..heh!