Baby's Check Ups + Vaccinations Experience

Assalamualaikum and Hello!

One of the questions I received from my friends is regarding baby's check ups and vaccinations. Therefore I think this post and sharing session would be beneficial for new mommies. Same case like our pre-natal check ups, government and private hospitals/clinics have different procedures. I do not have experience on baby's check ups with government clinics so for this post, this is purely my experience with private clinic. To be specific with Klinik Pakar Wanita dan Kanak-kanak Desa Melawati (Dr. Hasmawati).

I gave birth at Gleneagles Hospital KL. After delivery, my baby was injected with BCG and Hepatitis B 1st dose vaccination. The moment I got back to my parents house, nurses from government clinic came to visit my baby and I. They came everyday for about 1 week. They checked on my blood pressure, felt my stomach to make sure my womb is getting smaller, asked few questions on bleeding etc. And for the baby, they checked on sign of jaundice, asked few questions on baby's poops etc. Alhamdulillah both my baby and I was fine ^_^

After 1 week, you should bring your baby for her/his 1st check up. You should choose a good pediatrician which you think you can trust and stick with this doctor to have a good record. Ask around. If you are breastfeeding, please please please choose a doctor who is pro breastfeeding!If not you will get comment such as "your baby is not gaining much weight, please supplement with formula milk" pfftttt!!!~~  I chose Dr. Hasmawati after my research on the internet and since this is close to my house. During the 1 week check up, your baby's weight, development of hips, size of head etc would be checked. There is no vaccine injection.

After 1 month, it is another routine check up. No vaccination but just to check on baby's weight and development.

When your baby is 2 months old, your baby is due for his/her 2nd dose of Hepatitis B vaccination and DTP + Hib + Polio 1st dose of vaccination.

At 3 months old, 2nd dose of DTP + Hib + Polio vaccination and if you are up for Rotavirus vaccination, 1st dose will be given during this check up. Rotavirus is not needle injection but orally given for your baby to swallow. Rotavirus is not compulsory if you go to government clinic. Based on my research, it is because it is bit expensive for government to subsidized the cost. But they really recommend if you can afford it outside. I think I paid RM120 or RM170 per dose. Sorry I can't remember the exact price.

At 4 months old, my baby took 2nd dose of Rotavirus. There is a choice to take 1st dose of Pneumococcus vaccination at this stage. If you take the 1st dose at 4 month old, your baby will need 4 doses of this vaccination. At 4, 6, 8 and 13 month old. If you choose to have the 1st dose at 6 month old, then it would only be 3 doses only. I choose to take later since 1 dose of this vaccination cost around RM220.

At 5 months old, 3rd dose of DTP + Hib + Polio and Hepatitis B vaccinations. I can't remember whether my baby took 3rd dose of Rotavirus or not. I do not have her medical report with me now. This depending on the brand. Rotavirus can be 2 doses or 3 doses. I think my baby took the 3rd dose during this check up.

At around 6 and 8 months old, my baby took the 1st and 2nd dose of Pneumococcus vaccination. Duration between doses are important for Pneumococcus. It can not exceed certain duration if not the vaccination may not work. My doctor would tell us when is the last date we can come.

Few days before my baby turn 12 months old, i went for a check up thinking to get MMR vaccination, but I was told it was not allowed since my baby has not turned exactly 12 months old. Therefore, since we were already there, doctor gave 3rd dose of Pneumococcus vaccination. Only 2 weeks after my baby turned 12 months old, we went for the MMR vaccination (I believe this is MMRV vaccination. I yet to confirm with my pediatric).

Now my baby is 15 months old. Her next check up is set at 18 months old for DTP + Hib + Polio booster. I can only share up until now since I am sharing based on my experience. Below is summary of compulsory + optional vaccinations as per Malaysia Pediatric Association website. Although they used the word compulsory, it is not actually. In the end it is parents decision. There are parents who thinks vaccines are not needed and since they are side effects to some. Please do read on AEFI. What you should be monitoring after each vaccines, what you should do if you notice any side effects etc. Please make your decision after reading these! For me, I vaccinated my baby and would do the same for my all my babies.

If you are Muslim and worry about the 'hukum' especially for Rotavirus, please refer to our country's fatwa page. In 2008, majlis fatwa came out with hukum for Rotavirus vaccination as 'haram' since it contained 'babi' or pig DNA. The 'hujah' mentioned if it is not 'darurat' the vaccine is not needed. There are no new fatwa by the majlis with the current situation of this virus. As for me, I did some research on few ustazs' pages and refer to other countries fatwa (one of them Sweden), and decided to still give the vaccination to my baby. I asked my pediatric who is also a Muslim and she explained to me how this virus is considered on the high percentage and can cause death and I also know few friends (who lived in my area) who their babies have been warded and on critical stages because of this virus. You may also refer to Dr. Zubaidi's page for the current statistics of how this virus affects Malaysia: http://drzubaidi.com/blog/keperluan-vaksin-rotavirus/ . I would say to give or not to give is individual's decision.

Birth	Hepatitis B and BCG
2 months	Hepatitis B and DTP+Hib+Polio
3 months	DTP+Hib+Polio and Rotavirus (oral)
4 months	Pneumococcus and Rotavirus (oral)
5 months	Hepatitis B and DTP+Hib+Polio (+/- Rotavirus - depending on brand)
6 months	Pneumococcus
8 months	Pneumococcus
12 months	MMR (mumps, measles, rubella)
13 months	Pneumococcus
15 months	Chickenpox
18 months	DTP+Hib+Polio booster
24 months	Hepatitis A
30 months	Hepatitis A

Primary school MMR and DT booster.

I hope this post can be a guide to new parents. Please do more research since this involve your child. This post is me sharing my personal experience and personal opinion. Do read more and make decision which you think is the best for your baby! Let's pray our children will grow healthy :)

That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa

My Confinement / Pantang Experience

Assalamualaikum and Hello!

I saw an article by PaMa on "Makanan untuk Rahim Sihat" then immediately reminded me of my confinement experience. I am currently pregnant with my second baby so I figure this is a good time to jot everything down as well for my reference when my baby pops out hehe :P

In terms of confinement food, I would say I had no problem with them since my mom a bit on the modern side so basically I was on healthy and balance diet :D Nasi putih, sup sawi, sup bayam, ikan tenggiri masak something like kuah laksam like that (my fav!!), once in a week I can have sup ayam or daging masak black pepper but not so much black pepper since I was breastfeeding my baby. So the point is, it was not all the way ikan bilis or ikan kering like some people practice. And....definitely lots and lotsssss of water!! Plain water and horlicks for me. Butttt the part I am not going to look forward to my next confinement is having to drink 3 things, 1 teguk of halia, 1 teguk of kunyit hidup and 1 teguk of manjakani! Luckily my mom tak sampai hati looking at my expression, she did not prepare it everyday. I think alternate days. Fuhh~

On the second week of my confinement, I started on my urut-urut. My urut lady was Kak Nurul from Puchong. I even booked her for my second :) Yeah that early because she's really in demand! She came at around 8am, prepare air mandi herba, and also my air herba for tangas and panaskn her batu tungku. 1st, tangas. Air herba panas put under a chair then you seat or if tak tahan panas you simply stand on the bekas air. You need to wear kain batik so the kain batik will keep the heat inside. I can't remember for how long but I think it was around 20minutes-40minutes? We need to have our breakfast 1st especially drink before doing this to make sure we won't get dehydrated because you will really sweat! After tangas, was urut and tungku. I like Kak Nurul because she is breastfeeding friendly. When my baby needed to nurse, she simply stopped and let me do my thing 1st. Oh and she knows how to urut to lancarkn susu badan. After urut, mandi herba. Mandi myself la with the air herba she prepared. Then after mandi, she will put my bengkung for me. My bengkung sangat panjang. My aunty jahit for me. Nasib baik Kak Nurul knows how to lilit the bengkung. Dah habis apa lagi bayar lah! RM100 per day. But now naik harga RM110 per day. She came for 7 days. Supposedly another 3 days at the end of my confinement but something came up so I did not get that 3 days treatment.

Ok what's next....hm the misery I went through during confinement. Demam, gigil2 rasa nak mati! Seriously I thought I was going to die! Orang tua kata bentan. On my 3rd week kot, I had mastitis actually. Breast bengkak or bengkak susu. My breast was so hard, red and itchy! I had fever and the fever keep coming back after 3 to 4 hours after taking panadol. Fever jenis shivering and cannot control. My husband or my mom had to bring my daughter to me to nurse. Lemah sangat to even duduk. Tulang pun rs sakit2. I went to my gynae Dr Suhaiza and she prescribed me with antibiotic to avoid pus. And I need to massage my breast and really clear the blocked ducts in my breast. It was painful. Rela beranak lagi dr lalu sakit ni lg sekali. But dugaan, I went through it at the end of my confinement and another 2 times during my breastfeeding journey. Seriously nk hapus dosa ni T_T Insyaallah for my next baby, I know what to do to avoid going through this nightmare again. *Pray*

Ok I think that's it kot on pantang. What elseeee hmmm..Whatever it is biasa la during confinement period mmg struggle especially for 1st time mom. Dgn breastfeeding nye, baby pun still trying to get used of this world, baby still xtau pagi or malam so malam ada yang tak dapat tidur, ada yg dugaan baby kena jaundice sampai masuk hospital balik (Alhamdulillah my daughter tak kena. Ada nampak sikit la dekat mata but then hilang) and not forgetting the pressure from other people. I know I know paling tak best "Baby nangis-nangis ni x cukup susu ni. Susu ko sikit". Heh kalao baby tak nangis, baby tu nak cakap "Ibu I need your huggggg!" ke?? Ok read my post on breastfeeding k. It's important to stay with someone that's on the same page with you during confinement. Macam my mom she breastfed all her children so I got a good support from her. Thank you Mama :') If you think your mom or the person who is going to take care of you not in the same page bawak dia pergi class. Breastfeeding class and antenatal class. Bgtau awal-awal what you want for your baby. Full breastfeed ke or no bottle ke or no pacifier ke or no buai ke..Apa-apa la because in the end you are the mother, you decide what you want for your baby.

So..how was your confinement?? :)

That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa

The Birth of My PRU / GE Baby

Assalamualaikum and Hello!

Lamanyaaaaaaaaaa tak update blog! Busy lahh. Busy apa? Busy beranak, pantang, jaga anak, kerja balik, berniaga balik, macam-macam! Hari tu ada kawan share kawan dia write on her giving birth experience. Macam best je nk tulis jugak! Nanti anak da besar sila baca and sila hargai mommy ni ye! hahaha

My due date is on 10th May 2013 and i booked labour room on 9th May 2013. Kiranya kalao tak rasa nak beranak by then nak induce jela on the 9th tu. I don't want to risk to go overdue. Takut baby besar and uri matang and baby can be unstable. Ramai jugak orang mulut masin keep on saying i will beranak on 5th May 2013 which is PRU13!And guess what....i did!

Pukul 8 pagi da siap-siap nak pergi mengundi. I was so excited since it was my first time. Mama terkejut and cakap semangatttttnyaaa awal lagi la. Aiseh so breakfast la dulu. Then mama with her super power instinct told papa "Pa, jomla g mengundi now. Lambat-lambat teberanak pulak Mira ni nanti". So we went around 9 am. Oh i was not with my husband because he went back to his kampung Ijok to cast his vote there. He went back a day before to do the flashmob thingy. Yes he is jenis that semangat. Biarla bini tengah sarat pon. Kempen tetap kempen. haha. *pasrah*

Mama, Papa and I arrived at S.M.K Taman Melawati which was our place to vote. Panjang gila barisan! My parents decided to bring me to vote since i can cut queue and they will come back later in the afternoon hoping the line will be shorter. I still remember meeting few friends who were lining up (I pn muka bangga la bole cut queue. haha). One of them is Hadi who asked me when am i due. I answered anytime soon! Never that i thought soon is really really soon!

So we went back home. Betul-betul sampai rumah i feel a bit wet down there. I thought normal la pregnant mmg wet-wet sikit down under. hehe. I told my mom. Yes i tell my mom everything! detail-detail apa pun semua nak bagitau. My mom terus bangun cakap "Pa, jomla kita pegi mengundi now! Amira ni nak beranak kot". I am telling you guys, moms have super instinct power!!! They went out. I went upstairs and guushhhhhh some unknown liquid (a lot!) keluar. First baby kan so blur gila. I was thinking OMG lemah gila bladder aku tak boleh tahan kencing da! Lari-lari masuk toilet tengok dekat jubin putih toilet aikk why my kencing putih??and why it won't stop!!??Called my mom and told her my kencing wouldn't stop. Haha noob kan??Heard my mom screaming at my dad "Pa, patah balik patah balik. Air ketuban Mira da pecah!" Then i was like oooo ni ke air ketuban. Awat x sakit? Orang cakap pecah air ketuban sakit and x banyak pun. Maka, dengan bertadahkan kain batik and segala towels, Mama, Papa and my lil' sis Nana brought me to the hospital. Hospital Gleneagles Ampang. Dalam kereta i called my husband, to rush to the hospital because my hospital bag was in his car!!Haiyo fail gila rasa time ni.

Sampai hospital around 11-12pm relax-relax masuk labour room, tuka baju, bukak tv, call Dr. Suhaiza my gynecologist, she said she can arrive earliest 8-9pm because she is in Johor casting her vote there. Apa-apa Dr. Jane will check. Checked baru 2 or 3cm opening. Contraction pun sikit-sikit je still patutla tak sakit. The nurse gave me ubat berak then relax, makan, jalan-jalan around the ward. Husband arrived 1 hour after i was warded. He has his own story. Dapat potong queue jugak. Told the officer bini nak beranak. hehe

At 4-5pm i started to fell tired. Tired and bored of waiting. My mom told me takut penat nanti by the time nak push dah tak semangat and no energy. We decided not to wait for my gynecologist and induce using drip. I think my opening was around 5cm at that time. Mula-mula still x sakit. Then after 7cm baru rasa sakit and baru la terdiam sikit. haha. At 8 something they started to pull my leg up and suruh push as instructed only. Jangan push sebarang. Bila the contraction comes baru boleh push. Nurse pandai rasa dekat perut. When she asked me to push then only i pushed. Bila tak contraction relax, nurse and my mom bole bantai borak-borak pasal election. Pergh orang tengah sakit dia borak and tengok keputusan dekat tv lagi. Then the on call gynecologist sampai and sambung push and borak jugak pasal election! haiyo! sedih mak! Pastu push sikit lagi baby pun keluar! Alhamdulillah tak ada complication apa-apa. Time tu rasa lega sangat macam baru lepas settle sembelit yang paling azab sekali. haha. Baby was born on 5/5/2013 at 9.13pm with birth weight of 2.97kg. Happiest moment of my life :)

Here she is right after lap-lap. Her name is Aysha Sofea Binti Aizuddin Alif. She is now almost 8 months old. No words can describe how my husband and I love her so much. She is growing up so fast! She just started to crawl and panjat-panjat. I hope by sharing my story readers can gain something such as kalao air banyak-banyak keluar tu maknanya air ketuban! haha. Well, that's it, the story of the birth of my PRU baby. Insyaallah i will share my pantang experience next. I think that is something you readers can benefit more. My pantang sangat banyak dugaan. I learnt a lot from it. Insyaallah ada rezeki anak next-next tau la apa nak buat. hehe. Till then, to mommies to be, semoga dipermudahkan!

That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa