Slide Show

September 30, 2013

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Last two weeks, Afif had a mild fever on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the babysitter texted, asking for permission to give him paracetamol for his fever. Panas sangat badan dia katanya. Being an overly attached mom, i went back at 3.30pm to get him. 

Memang panas badan dia and the weird thing is he got tiny dots around his mouth and chin. 

Malam tu nampak rashes around his right leg pulak. He also drooled uncontrolably. Basah baju dia penuh ngan air liur. We went to a clinic to get him checked but the doctor said the rashes are caused by baby's sensitive skin. 

The second day. Kene pakaikan bib sebab air liur meleleh.

The next day Afif dah tak demam. Tapi rashes makin banyak, dia asyik merengek and air liur meleleh leleh. Direct feed pon taknak. I brought him to Dr. Shanaliza, the nearest paedretician. She confirmed that Afif had Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Kat lelangit Afif banyak luka katanya. That explains his uncontrollable drooling.

Maka terpaksa lah aku EL smpai the next Tuesday sebabnya Afif kene dikuarantin di rumah. Paling sedih he did not want to eat nor drink. Breastfeeding pon susah nak latch. Nanges2 dia nak netek. Makan apatah lagi. Sebab tak tau dah nak lasi dia makan apa, kitorang kasi dia Calci Yum yogurt and also once, frozen yogurt. Sejuk n smooth, tu je dia bole makan.

Alhamdulillah by Monday tu ok dah dia. Dah boleh makan and rashes subside. But i'm still on leave as nobody look after him at home. He can't go to the babysitter yet as he's still under quarantine. i missed my scheduled annual assessment. Sigh. Demi anak. Harap cepat dapat reschedule.

Anyway, here are the symptoms Afif had, chronologically:

- First day: mild fever
- Second day: mild fever with rashes around mouth and neck. Started to drool a lot and refused to feed
- Third day: fever subsided. Rashes increased in amount but only 1-2 dots on hand and foot. Banyak kat mulut je.. Merengek-rengek. Drooling. Refused to feed.
- Forth & Fifth day: Rashes began to dry. Drooling and cranky. Refused to eat.
- Sixth day: Less drooling. Able to eat and drink easily but no appetite. 

Hand Foot and Mouth disease is contagious and spreads by droplets. Until now, i'm not sure how he got it as there's no other babies/kids at the babysitters ever had this disease. Maybe dapat masa kuar gi mall or mana-mana kot. Around that time ada sorang dua jugak anak kengkawan kene penyakit ni. Nasib baik aku kuarantin kan dia. Kalo tak kesian baby lain kat babysitter kene jugak.

If your child has this disease, there's not much you can do. Firstly get doctor's advice. The most important thing is to keep his/her temperature under control and make sure he's not dehydrated by trying to breastfeed and get him to drink as much as possible. Kene banyak bersabar je lah. Tunggu sampai penyakit tu hilang. 

i just hope he will not get this disease in the future. Kesian tengok dia meleleh air liur, sakit mulut and takleh makan and minom.


September 26, 2013

Kaitan Antara Ombilin Basin Fieldwork dan Rindu

Last week i went to Padang, Indonesia on a one week geological field trip. Finally, after 2 years of no fieldwork.

Moyang aku dlu berhijrah ke KL dari Bukit Tinggi, Padang. So seronok la dtg sini tengok tempat asal dan borak2 bahasa minang with people outside of my family. So far so good. The food is good, people are friendly..

Throughout the trip i have one major problem..

I MISSED AFIF DAMN MUCH! I miss him so much it hurts. I miss him to the point that after the first night, i feel like "screw the fieldwork. Im going home now!".

After three days i uploaded this onto my Instagram:

i'm not exaggerating on that.

Whenever i'm free, i forced hubby to video chat coz i need to see my baby!

i Whatsapped with Mr. Chenta all the time i was there. He said Afif looked lost and macam tercari-cari, especially at nights. Everytime baring atas katil kitorang he's like waiting for me and my boobs. Pastu nanges. First night je dia tido kat bilik. Lagi 4 malam tido kat bawah sebab kalo kat bilik dia automatically expect aku ada. Ada sekali ni kitorang video chat and he was so happy to see me. Tapi dia confuse. Pastu dia pandang laki aku (who was topless), and picit daddy's boobs! Haha. It was as if he was thinking "Mama is here but why no boobs??" It breaks my heart.

Sigh. Being a working mother is so tough. i almost regretted going on that trip. Almost. But i'm glad i went because i learnt a lot. 

The trip is organized by BHP. In general, the fieldwork is on Ombilin Basin. We looked at different kinds of depositional environment; from lacustrine to channels to carbonate setting. We visited Karbindo Coal Mine and got a chance to see up close high TOC coal and shale. Seeing all these is like being in the Petrel 3D models. Joe Lambaise, the trip leader did a great job getting us to link what we see in the outcrops with the machine-generated 3D models.

Geologists at work. 

Coals interbedded with sand at Karbindo coal mine. 

Karbindo Coal Mine.
i did not bring my camera so tak banyak gambar. Pakai iPhone buruk ni je.

Dah nama pon kat Padang kan maka tetiap hari makan nasi Padang.

Day 1. Ni je ler gamba nasi Padang aku. Pastu malas dah bergambar.

On the forth day i woke up with a tummy ache. Macam angin. Tu la sakan sangat makan Nasi Padang. Seharian aku kembong perot siap try nak muntah untuk kuarkan angin. Being under the hot sun kat tengah-tengah outcrop made it worse. That night, i was up vomitting until nothing left in my tummy and had diarrhea. i felt so miserable. Episod air mata bila aku video call ngan Mr. Chenta. i just wanted him there to take care of me. God i miss my husband. Esoknya tu mintak excuse tak ikot trip. i was in bed all day. Nasib baik the vomitting and diarrhea subsided. Petang tu baru la kuar beli sikit-sikit ole-ole. Tak sakan pon shopping sebab tak sihat.

Finally the day came for us to come home. On Tuesday we boarded the 1355 flight to KL. My sister in law picked me up at KLCC with Afif in tow. When he saw he was so excited! When i hold him, it was the best moment. Dia pegang and tenung muka aku lama. Pastu dia pegang tudung aku.. Tarik baju dan cari boobies. Bukan rindu mama rupanya. Rindu candu dia (-____-) i breastfed him and he instantly fell asleep. Wan said sejak aku takde, dia tido tak menentu sebab tak netek. Kesian anak mama.

Throughout the fieldwork, aku pam susu at least 3 kali sehari. Mula-mula production lebat. Tapi hari ketiga dah start kurang. Betul kata orang, mengepam dan ada anak yang physically direct feed memang lain. Kalo tak direct feed susah nak maintain production. Masa aku sakit tu, memang pam sekali je sehari. Itu pon sikit. It's amazing how your body knows that "Okay mama, ko pon asik muntah berak takde nutrient dalam badan. Maka, aku takkan produce banyak susu" Alhamdulillah okay la dapat maintain ada gak susu. i brought home around 85oz expressed breast milk. *pat on the back*

Expressed milk in Coleman coolbox.

Laki aku cakap dah, pasni no more overnight trips for me sampai la Afif bercerai susu. Nampaknye cancel la girlfriends trip aku next year. Haih. Demi anak.

Geologist slash mom.



September 9, 2013

What We Talk About In The Mother's Room

*post ini ada sedikit unsur 18 SX*

Lama tak berbelog. Rindu. But i've been busy these past weeks and will keep busy for another 2 weeks. Nanti cerita. 

Anyway, ni tengah kat office's Mother's Room. A tiny weeny room with a mini fridge that can accomodate maximum of 4 mothers to pump/express breast milk. Walopon kecik, alhamdulillah, ada jugak kemudahan. Paling best, boleh kenal other mothers.

Selalu kalo ada ibu lain yang mengepam, ade je nak diborakkan. Mainly pasal anak masing masing lah kan. 

But today we talked about family planning and sex. 

Ada yang pakai depo shot. Ada yang pakai kondom. So far kami semua takot dengan IUD. 

Mummy A stopped taking depo shot because a recent bone density test gave result that she has osteoporosis. Even her mom's bone condition is better than hers. Lesson learnt here: mothers, especially nursing mothers and those who opt for depo provera shot, please supplement yourself with calcium pill! We lost calcium during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Mari lah memperkayakan kalsium dalam badan. Siapa lg nak jaga kita kalau bukan kita sendiri.

And then we talked about how different sex is after having child/children. 

Mummy K wondered aloud "Is it because i still have not gotten my period (since giving birth) that i have no sexual desire? Kadang tu berlakon je depan suami. Padahal tak nak langsung!" 

Mummy R said "Ntah la.. But for me, i tak nak sebab penat. Siang keje, balik jaga anak.. Kalo tak penat, bernafsu je.." 

Mummy Y pulak cakap "Tu korang baru anak satu.. Cuba anak 2-3 and dah besar pandai bercakap pulak.. Takde masa pulak tu." 

"tu lah.. Dah la anak tido sekatil. Ada skali ni, i suruh husband i 'cepat lahh' sbb takot anak terjaga. Haha" said Mummy R.

"Sama lah. Siap boleh tepuk anak lagi tanak bg jaga haha.." replied Mummy K

Sigh. This is the reality of sex life after having a baby. Your horny, just-married, let's-experiment-everything, do-it-like-rabbits sexual desire seems so distant. I admit i'm one of the mommies mentioned above. Sex is beautiful, we just have to find the time and energy for it. Itu jugak adalah fitrah manusia kan? I have a few friends who admitted that they refuse it even when husband asks for it. While i dont agree with that (because you know how men are with sex) i understand why women dont want it. Penat. No desire. Hormonal. Etc. 

Mari lah sama sama we strive for a better sex life. For a better marriage. Find the energy. Minom kacip fatimah or whatever method that works. I am no expert but everyday we learn, right?

Lagipon, itu kan salah satu nikmat berkahwin? *wink*