Sunday, March 25, 2007

HELP!!! I'm losing it!!!

I was warned both by the books and by my mother that there will be major hair falling post partum but I paid no heed to it. I mistakenly thought since my hair keeps falling anyway prior to pregnancy it won't make much of a diff. Besides, during pregnancy my hair was almost shampoo commercial quality and when I combed my hair not a single one ends up on the floor or the comb. I guess I was lulled into believing that the situation will remain permanent especially when even 2 months after delivery my hair was still in prime condition.


But now, 3 and a half month after baby it has started happening. Its horrendous!!! When I comb my hair, it falls out in clumps, when I wake up in the morning, my whole pillow is full of hair!!! And the floor.... I have to sweep twice a day just so that I can remain sane and not get on my hands and knees to pick up every hair I see. And lets not even mention the shower drain. That's a major chore to clear every single time I take a bath.

Despite all the books I have read that discusses this phenomenon and all the old wives tale I hear from all the makciks, the first day it happened to me, I had visions of myself balding and in need of chemotheraphy (Ok I know its the chemo that causes hair fall but I can't help but associate hair falling with chemo and cancer) Nauzubillah min zalik.

Apparently its called postpartum telogen effluvium and it happens to most women about 3 months after delivery. It seems that its normal to shed about 100 hair a day and during pregnancy since you don't shed much hair due to hormones, at some point those hair will have to be shed anyway to make room for new hair. But must it all fall at the same time??? Uurrgghh !!!

It totally doesn't help either that my boy is at a stage where he is super curious and super active and every so often I find him holding fistfuls of my hair and I frantically try to clear it before he plunges his fingers into his mouth.

I have been told that the situation should clear up within 3 to six months. It is almost guaranteed that by the time my lil' hero is a year I will stop shedding hair like a shaggy dog but that's way to long to suffer, if you ask me. Till then, if I greet you at the door with a shower cap please don't be alarmed. You have been warned!

Monday, February 26, 2007

The Post-Baby World


It's been a loong while huh? Lotsa things happened and so many pics were taken but I guess I lost the urge to blog. I'd rather watch the steady rhythm of my son's breathing while he is sleeping than to blog about what has transpired in my life. But today with The Don away on reservist and MM sleeping the day away I guess I'll drop a line or two.

Oh yeah his reservist sucks!!! 2 days in camp n 2 days off for two weeks is quite hard for someone like me who has spend very few nights away from him. Especially since MM's arrival. When he's home I'm like Helen Mirren (The Queen, for those of you who don't watch the Oscars) He bathes MM in the mornings and evenings, change all his pampers, puts him to sleep and even does his fair share of the housework. All I do is provide the milk supply when it is needed and cook, of course. He even wakes up in the middle of the night to burp his son when I'm done feeding him. So you bet I miss him like crazy when he's on reservist! he he

The Don is as considerate as husbands could ever be. He knows that being at home, all I do all day is entertain that lil' munchkin so when he's home he takes over and lets me take a break and do my thing. He even insisted I go out with my gal frens and have some "single time" while he takes care of MM.

Its amazing how having the little one totally changes our perspective. The Don and I used to hit the movies whenever a good movie hits our shores and we're never home on weekends and public holidays, always with a plan up our sleeves, usually involving a road trip. But recently, we're more than contented staying home, playing with our son and watching DVD marathons. At most, we'd hit the parks in the late afternoons to let MM get some sun and make a pitstop at the malls to get some baby supplies. And if I never gave a glance at supermarket adverts in the papers then, now I go through them diligently looking for any promotion for MM's pampers. (We recently bought about 3 mths supply of Pampers since they were going for 2 packs @$35 instead of $24 each)

We do try to make sure we have our couple time. It certainly helps that my mom is staying with us (and thank God for the invention of breast pumps) because almost nightly, The Don and I will sneak out for some late night shopping or supper. But almost always, we both want to rush home although neither of us will ever admit it. The power this tiny chap has on us is unbelievable!!!

But I'm thankful that MM is fuss free (so far n Insya'allah will always be) He started sleeping through the night even before he was 1 mth old and when I started introducing the bottle when he turned 2 mths, he took to it like fish to water. (Mcm da biasa plak die minum botol) He hardly cries and I can leave him to play on his own while I cook / eat / whatever. Even when he was down with flu last month, he wasn't cranky and was his usual chirpy self. And when we went back to Pahang last month (7 hrs car ride to and another 7hrs car ride back) he slept the whole way!!!! Alhamdulillah.
MM will turn 3 mths tomorrow but you'd never guess his real age if u were to meet him. He acknowledges people he recognizes around him by smiling at them, has loud and noisy "conversations" with whoever willing to engage him and absolutely refuses to lie down or be carried horizontally if he were not nursing, prefering to sit up straight instead. I could leave him on his own for hours with his mobile as he just loves those dangling noisy toys. ok ok I could go on forever.......
Its just amazing how the world has seemed to change for The Don and me with the arrival of our munchkin. Suddenly nothing matters more than this gem we have been awarded with.
BTW have you heard the age-old question of Who would you save first in a ship wreckage - your spouse or your child? Suddenly the question seems so stupid. I'd save my son in a heartbeat and I certainly don't expect anything less from The Don.


Friday, January 05, 2007

Grab, Snatch & RUN!!!!!!

Today I felt a feeling I have never felt before. I have always read the description of feeling "your stomach turn inside out" but since I can't imagine what that felt like, I dismiss it as an author's fanciful way with words. Today I knew exactly what it felt like to have my stomach turn inside out.

Today I watch my precious boy being given his 1st month vaccination the hepaptitis 2nd jab at Baby Bear clinic. I was chatting animatedly with the doctor about Double M's input and output levels and was feeling just fine but as soon as the doc retrieved his syringe and placed it on his table in front of me, I swear my stomach and intestines did a backflip. He asked me to hold Double M on my lap while he administered the jab on his thigh. Somewhere inside my heart and head, I seriously considered getting up and leaving the clinic. I felt I was surrendering my child to be slaughtered (mentang mentang musim Aidiladha) For the record, Double M let out a loud squeal as the doc inserted the needle in his thigh but as soon as I carried him, he promptly fell asleep as if nothing happened.

I know it sounds silly (as I know my single friends will be rolling their eyes and sighing in disbelief that this friend of theirs have lost her mind and is a bucketful of emotions now) and even I didn't know I will feel this way. I am usually a hardy person and is not easily intimidated by any bloody show. (and to think there was hardly any blood just now. What if there were?) Perhaps it's a mother's protective instincts or am I just being a paranoid mom? I wonder how I'll make it through seeing my son being circumsized next month. Let's just hope I don't grab, snatch and run.