How we build our life (Part 3: 1st pregnancy)

Pengalaman carrying Zawir Zakwan. Anak pertama la katakan, of course la excited tahap gaban tapi tak tunjuk sebab nak maintain perasaan takut over excited tup-tup nanti kecewa. Yelah 9 bulan kot..lama tuh nak bawak kehulu kehilir macam-macam boleh jadi kan. Yang mencabarnya bapaknya balik hujung minggu je.. so tengah-tengah minggu tu apa-apa hal pandai-pandai la nak hidup.
After checking the UPT, my heart is jumping-jumping.. waa seronok la sangat. Pepagi buta dah call husbter kat nun jauh di perantauan. Bangun tidur pun belom lagi. Tapi with people around still maintain like nothing is happened until he came back and we both went to see the doctor for confirmation.
1st thing yang aku ingat my husband check all the gynea list from the hospital in our area. The criteria are:
1) Wearing hijab 2) Of course women  3) At least she will recite bismillah when delivering the baby
So gynea lelaki not listed la. Disebabkan dapat ditanggung oleh insurans, so we choose private hospital. Kalau tak aku pakat cari midwife macam orang dolu-dolu.
So we choose Dr. Siti Esah from KPJ Selangor. Sebab-sebab pilih KPJ Selangor adalah kerana dekat dengan tempat kerja aku masa tu so that in case, aku nak terberanak awal ke senang orang nak hantar. Maklumla..laki jauh.
Bermula la episod monthly check up, monthly queuing, monthly urine test and one time glucose drink yang sangat ohsem ittew. The best part was, pi check up sama-sama, so it must be on Saturday la kan. 
When entering 2nd trimester I got mild bleeding, masa tu kat office pi toilet tengok-tengok ada skit blood. 
Sempat lagi fikir, aku period ke padahal dah dekat 4 bulan tak period. Confuse sekejap. So dapatla bed rest for 1 week. Alhamdulillah everything went well until the final trimester. 
Masa pregnant I still drive sendiri, sometime beli groceries sendiri, sidai baju sendiri (oh mase tuh dok apartment jadi sidai baju kena panjat kerusi untuk dapat max lighting), takde manja-manja la. Still masak sampai nak beranak.. hahaha my husband never spoil me with the housework...
Until the day nak deliver, I still drive to the office, one moment I felt like perut keras semacam je. So I called my husband and he asked me to go to the doctor. So aku pun minta permission boss nak keluar ke hospital jap, kang aku beranak kat office nyusahkan orang plak. 
So sampai hospital, already 2cm jadi doctor suruh balik dulu datang bile rasa nak terberanak hahaha.. nope just because this is my 1st child so she expecting lambat lagi nak buka banyak. Husband pun balik la minta cuti kononnye nak temankan wife bersalin anak pertama. So malam tu kat rumah takde sakit macam nak beranak pun tapi perut mengeras macam biasa la. Doctor bagi tempoh 2 hari untuk jumpa dia semula.
Actually husband cuti sehari je, so after 2 days yang doctor bagi tu I went to the hospital alone.. well I am a survivor. Then doctor check the door already 3cm opened, So I'm warded.. actually direct sent to the labour room because doctor decided nak pecahkan ketuban. 
Bila dah pecah, doctor asked me "where is your husband?" I said he is working..haha nasib la hari tu kerjanya dekat je area Seremban...so sempatla sampai hospital agak awal. Tapi that was hari Jumaat so he went out for Jumaat prayer, I said it's ok, nurse said maybe I will deliver at noon..around 5 to 6pm. Sangat confident.
The peak time is coming..hahah jam baru pukul 2pm. Husband masih di masjid and I dah rasa sakit semacam nak berak. Nurse plak cakap don't push not the time yet. I called my husband and nasib dia jawab, I said please come back hurry I dah sakit. 
So bila I keep on telling the nurse that it was hurt, then when the nurse checked the servical door (btul ke tidak istilah ni) it's already 10cm!! hahah rasakan confident sangat cakap lambat lagi.. terkocoh-kocoh la mereka-mereka memanggil doctor and letak segala lapik and suruh aku amik gas semua. 
Selamat je my husband sampai, doctor pun masuk.. die duduk je and I tried to be very good untuk dengar arahan push tu...dan the baby is out!! Semua orang panik because it was like a split second je. Alhamdulillah lahirlah Zawir Zakwan bin Mohd, Shamil. Pukul berapa aku beranak aku tak ingat tapi around 2.40 to 2.50pm kot.
So sangat bahaya like the doctor said I can just pop out in the car! 
The experience is precious. Masa tu la rasa tak nak beranak dah..tup-tup tiap-tiap tahun beranak...hahaha 

Satu amanah perlu digalas, bukan senang nak mencoraknya menjadi kanvas yang cantik. Bukan sahaja cantik dimata si pencorak tetapi juga cantik dimata orang yang melihatnya. 
Zawir Zakwan = Ketua yang bijaksana

Raspberry leaf for pregnant women

Sharing is caring info! Couple of weeks before I noticed one of the preggy mom posting about Raspberry leaf in preparatiuon for her 3rd trimester. Since I never know about the benefits of Raspberry leaf for pregnant mom, so I started google-ing and found some good info from www.babycenter.co.uk. 

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Can raspberry leaf tea help to ease labour?

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Expert Answer

Denise Tiran

Midwife, lecturer and complementary therapist.

We can't be certain about the benefits of raspberry leaf tea, as there has been so little research into it. Raspberry leaf tea is a herbal remedy, not to be confused with raspberry fruit tea. 

Raspberry leaf tea is thought to tone the muscles of your uterus (womb), to help it to work better during labour. The idea is not so much to speed up your labour, but to help it to progress at a nice, steady pace. 

Because raspberry leaf tea takes several weeks to build up in your body, you shouldn't drink a lot of it in one go to bring on labour if you are overdue. This may cause contractions that are so intense that it causes distress to your baby. 

The evidence for the effects on labour for raspberry leaf tea is mixed:

• One small study found that women who drank the tea regularly towards the end of pregnancy had a shorter second, pushing stage of labour. They were also less likely to have a birth assisted with forceps.
• A herbal remedies review found no evidence that taking raspberry leaf tea shortened labour.
• A small study found a link between raspberry leaf tea and caesarean sections.

Like other herbal teas, raspberry leaf should be drunk in moderation. The chemicals in the tea work their way through your body in the same way as a drug. This may affect how some of your bodily processes work. 

Some doctors and midwives advise against taking anything that may interfere with labour. That's especially the case if there is a lack of evidence that it works. Our bodies are designed to give birth without help. Trying to change the course of this natural process could be seen as just another way to induce or speed up your labour. 

If you have already had a baby, and your labour went smoothly first time around, there is no need for you to drink raspberry leaf tea for this baby. 

Raspberry leaf tea is not right for everyone. Don't take it if:

• A previous labour lasted only three hours or less, from start to finish.
• You're scheduled to have a planned caesarean for a medical reason.
• You've had a caesarean before.
• You've had a premature labour before.
• You've had vaginal bleeding in the second half of pregnancy.

It would also be wise not to drink raspberry leaf if you:

• Have a family or personal history of breast or ovarian cancer, endometriosis or fibroids.
• Are expecting a baby who is breech.
• Have any complications or health problems in your pregnancy, including high blood pressure.
• Are expecting twins.

Tell your doctor or midwife that you're thinking of trying raspberry leaf. If you do decide to take it, it's recommended that you start when you're about 32 weeks pregnant, though not before. This will give enough time for it to build up in your body. Begin with one cup a day, gradually increasing to three cups. If you don't like the taste of the tea, you can buy raspberry leaf capsules in health food stores. 

If you have strong Braxton Hicks contractions after drinking the tea, cut down on the amount you drink, or stop taking it. 

During early labour, while you are at home, you can either sip hot tea, or suck ice cubes made from the tea. You could also take a flask of the tea with you into hospital or birth centre. However, don't take the tea if your labour is being induced, or if you are having treatment with a hormone drip to speed up labour.

So for me,better not to try it.. hihi I am kind of takut-takut mummy and will never try something  that I am not sure the result will turn. But it is not a problem if you are  confident during the labour. 
Based on the previous experiences I don't think this is suitable for me. Hopefully Allah will ease this 4th labour also..Ameen.