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I believe many people questioned silently on why we chose Nadia as the name for our beloved daughter. For those of you who are into sports or general knowledge should know that Nadia Comaneci is the first ever female gymnast which scored perfect 10 in 1976 Summer Olympics and won 3 gold medals in that event.

For myself, I had a very deep impression of this character since primary school. I still remember in my Chinese text book there was an article about Nadia Comaneci who was the world’s greatest gymnast. Many years we never brought up this name until when I was into my pregnancy, my hubby and I were cracking our heads to think of a nice name for our baby girl. Out of a sudden, my hubby bursted out “How about we name her Nadia?” My dad and I were like “Wow! That’s a beautiful name”. I asked my hubby how could he have thought of this special name? He told me he saw a billboard with Nardia Laboratory advertisement so he thought Nadia was a nice name. We love the name so much and I told my hubby that my family and I were also deeply inspired by Nadia Comaneci and this beautiful name would surely be the best for our daughter.

Locals in Malaysia also love to use this name especially among the Malays. It is so popularly-used until people started to think that Nadia is a Malay name and a Malay. In fact, it is NOT a Malay name but originated from Russia. Please remember, Nadia is a Russian name and we have no regrets for naming it for our daughter. Only those who are not aware of Nadia Comaneci will think that it is a local Malay name. Sorry if I offended anyone.

written by appletan

There are many ways to store your precious liquid. For most working mothers who are unable to breastfeed directly due to hectic working schedule, storing up our precious milk for later use has become an essential task to ensure our babies still get our milk even though we’re not by their side.

It all depends on your individual needs. If you are storing up for a day or two and your baby gets to drink on the same day, or the latest next day, a good option is to store it in storage bottles. Nowadays, there are so many storage bottles for you to choose from. From the highly expensive Avent VIA cups to more affordable range like Anakku, Pureen, BumbleBee or even Autumnz. All provide the same usage – to pump directly into it, store and feed it to your little one. There is no need to transfer milk to another feeding bottle, unless you personally prefer your little one to drink from a proper feeding bottle (say for example, glass bottle).

1. BumbleBee Storage Bottles (PP bottles, BPA Free, 5 oz)

Pros:-
 - Affordable (a box of 8 bottles cost less than RM30)
- Easy to use, can easily fit into most breast pumps which let you pump directly into it and store/feed
- Easy to read, clear wording on the quantity
Cons:-
- The paint on the wording can come out after several use
- Narrow neck, hence difficult to wash as compared to wide-neck bottles

2. Philips Avent VIA Cups (PP bottles, BPA Free, pre-sterilised, comes in either 6 oz or 9 oz packs)

Pros:-
- Reliable perhaps due to the brand?
- Space-saving design as the bottles could be stacked up all together
- Compatible with Avent breast pumps which let you to pump and store/feed directly (with a connector)
- Wide-necked, hence it’s easier to be cleaned

Cons:-
- The storage cups are soft and can easily be pressed, not sure why it’s not as solid as other cups
- The wording on the quantity can hardly be read especially when you have stored your milk in it. The wording comes in semi-transparent colour and it’s very difficult to read from the outside, especially when the milk is also white in colour
- Read from forums that it can only be used not more than 4 times, after which it should be discarded (pending verification from Philips Avent as the above claim seems to be outdated, currently I do not get this info from the leaflet)
- Soft material than other cheaper brands
- Expensive as it is sold for RM69 for a pack of 10 (with cups and lids)

3. Autumnz Double Ziplock Storage Bags (BPA Free, Pre-sterilised, 7 oz)

Pros:-
- Easy to use, and it’s pre-sterilized and BPA Free with double zip lock to properly seal it up
- Space saving, and can store up to 7 oz per bag
- Thick and not easily broken
- Ideal to be used in the freezer
- Affordable, only cost about RM12 for 25 bags in a box

Cons:-
- One time use only, after which it should be discarded
- No other cons I could think of

I’ve tried all the methods above. I’ve been using Bumblebee bottles as I was given as a free gift when I bought my pump. I have about 24 bottles of it. I used for 6 months before I decided to switch to wide-necked type which is Avent VIA cups. The reason I want to change is because I was being “conned” by the brand, of course. After bought it only realized the material is soft and easily pressed. Not sure if it’s as durable as others? It’s expensive but the material is soft. I am still waiting from Avent’s feedback on this.

As for the Autumnz Ziplock bags, they are SUPERB and I have no complaints about it. I used them to freeze my addtional breast milk. Highly recommended as it’s affordable and safe to be used.

written by appletan

I’m sure some of you might be interested to know how other mothers progress in their breastfeeding journey. At least, I’m the one who has been searching around the Net looking for real-life experience on breastfeeding.

Mine considered to be moderate. I had terrible engorgement 4 days after I delivered. I could hardly get out from bed and had to let my mom to pull me up. When I had engorgement, I used hot water bottles and hot towels to soothe it and slowly my milk flowed out. From there my milk has started to flow smoothly, but not quickly though.

1st month – 0.5 oz to 1.5 oz (per session)
2nd month – 1.5 oz to 3 oz (per session)
3rd month – 3 oz – 4 oz (per session)
4th month – 4oz – 5 oz (per session) — and this has become steady until now.

In summary, each day I could only get between 24-26oz in total. I know some high producing mothers can produce up to 60 oz per day. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Still, I can manage to have a moderate freezer stash which can supply my daughter for up to 10 days, that is about 250 oz of breast milk in the freezer. I can’t imagine those who have a freezer stash that can last for a month. I believe they must be having a very large freezer just to keep the breast milk.

written by appletan

This month marked my 7th month into breastfeeding. I’m so glad that I’ve made it thus far. I’m sure breastfeeding mums know that it’s not an easy path and there are many challenges and roadblocks throughout the journey. Nevertheless, to those who managed to breastfeed for even 1 day or few months, you have done a good job for yourself and to your little one. So you should give yourself a pat on your back.

To be exact, I don’t actually quite fit into “Breastfeeding” category. I’m more to a full-time EP mom (expressing milk mum). The reason I was being led to this path is my little one could not latch on properly. She was more on a fussy side and would prefer to have faster milk flow, which unfortunately my breasts are not blessed with fast milk flow. Moreover my milk only came 4 days after I delivered. On my first month, I could only produce 0.5~1 oz each session. My little one had been drinking 3 oz at that time! Therefore I had to give her formula everytime she cried for milk. I only managed to give her 1-2 teaspoon of freshly expressed breast milk on every feeding time.

As I went into my 2nd month, my milk has increased and has become more established. I could produced 2.5-3oz of milk using my Ameda double-electric breast pump. My breast pump has been my good companion for the first few months. It helped me to produce 3-4 oz of milk by the end of 3rd month. I had been very comfortable with it until the beginning of 4th month when it broke down suddenly. Luckily, it was still under warranty and it had been replaced with a new timing belt which was broken.

While my breast pump was being sent for repair, I used my new Avent manual pump as a backup. I bought this pump online for a very good deal. It only cost me RM177 (plus delivery) for the whole set. The pump comes with a 4 oz BPA-FREE PES bottle (honey tinted) which is of good quality plastic.

At first, I was not very used to it and I couldn’t pump out any milk. Eventually when I get to know how to handle it, I could easily express 4-5 oz of milk per every 4-hourly!

Of course, the manual pump needs alot of hand work and your hands will get tired easily. But, the design of it makes the pumping session a comfortable one. It has a specially designed cushion which lies on its horn and it helps to stimulate milk flow and initiate “let-down”. When you are used to it, your hands will not feel tired anymore. I used up to a month to get use to this manual way of expressing milk.

Ever since I used my Avent manual pump, my Ameda has been placed aside for quite some time…in fact I haven’t used it until now (now in my 7th month already). The Avent manual pump is so convenient and you can carry anywhere you like without looking for a power socket. I’ve even brought it along to my Australia trip and has not been an issue so far. I simply love it so much!

Now I’m hoping that I can make it to 1 year. I have 5 more months to go. Wish me all the best. To all new mothers and mother-to-be, all the best to your breastfeeding journey, and don’t give up! It takes alot of effort and patience to be successful. Think of the benefits that you’re giving to yourself and your little one – best food to boost your baby’s health and immune system for the 1st year. As for the mother, it helps to prevent all kinds of sickness, particularly breast cancer.

written by appletan

My little girl is now 7 months old. Wow, how time flies! So many things have changed after the arrival of my baby. Some changed for the good but there are some which have changed for the worse.

As every new parent knows, looking after a newborn can be very exhausting. It occupied so much of your time and you hardly could find time for yourself, and of course for your partner as well. This is what is happening to me.

My hubby has been complaining that I hardly got time for him now since our baby girl was born. We could no longer travel as we like or eat at hawker stalls. Everything we do, the baby will have to come first. It’s sad to find that my hubby could not adapt to this new lifestyle. Perhaps we didn’t get to enjoy married life long enough before getting pregnant. He is too used to being just the 2 of us.  I have mixed feeling for this as I do not know if I should feel happy or sad. I could be happy as my hubby still cares alot for me and yearns for just the 2 of us. Sad as he is not like other dads who are happy and excited after the arrival of their newborn.

I am not sure if this could be the cause of it. It all started ever since I decided to stay back at my mom’s house after my confinement. The reason I made this decision is I do not have to travel back and forth when I go/leave for work. I can let my baby sleeps until I go to work and my mom takes over. Another reason is I find it hard to cope while at my in-law’s house as I do not have time to do my stuff and preparing for work next day. Hence, me and my hubby live separately. He will come over every night to visit us at my mom’s house, and will spend the night with us on certain nights. I thought this is more than sufficient than I could have asked for. However, it didn’t turn out to be desirable. It seems that we tend to communicate less unlike last time when we were staying together. We do not know each other’s activity during the day, and could only catch up at night. But when he comes over, it’s either the baby needs attention, or we could not find a personal space to communicate. As months go by, this has affected our relationship. I hope we could patch things up as time passes when baby grows older.

I’m hoping that someone could give me some advice on how to be a good mom, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and office lady at the same time!

written by appletan

I’m finally back on track after “missing” for more than 2 months! I am blessed with a beautiful baby girl named Nadia and she’s currently 11 weeks old, measuring at 61cm and weighs around 6.1kg. I am back to work as well and have been pumping twice at work diligently. I’ve also met with many mothers in my company’s Mother’s room where we shared everything about our babies. It’s fortunate that we have this facility for breastfeeding moms which enable working moms to continue breastfeeding whilst at work.

written by appletan

For the past few weeks, I’ve been searching high and low for the best breast pump that suits my needs. That is – affordable, has a double-pump, is an electric pump and is lightweight.

Unfortunately, popular brands like Philips Avent and Medela cost a bomb to me. The former costs RM2.2k for a double electronic breast pump while the latter costs nearly RM1.8k. I also gathered some feedback that Avent is bulky and heavy weight, but Medela Pump In Style Advanced is just too costly for me. When I decided to settle on Medela Double Electric Mini Pump, someone approached me that the pump can be very noisy like a lawn mower. I also tried to search on blogs about it and found out that it’s true. I do not want a lawn mower which will wake up my hubby and baby while expressing.

Luckily, my cousin told me about Ameda which I’ve never heard of the brand before. It’s not selling at any baby stores that I know or even shopping centres. But it’s a Swiss-made breast pump that is available for purchase online. Ameda does not have a vast range of breast pumps for you to choose from. It’s either you get a manual pump, hospital-grade pump or a double electric pump. Easy and simple, isn’t it?

So the series that I purchased at an online store is Ameda Lactaline Breast Pump (a.k.a Purely Yours in the US).

It’s a double electric breast pump which is portable, affordable and quiet. It only costs me RM799 for the complete set, and it comes with a range of free gifts to select from. I chose 3 boxes of Bumblebee milk storage bottles as my free gift. Each box contains 8 bottles, which means I get 24 bottles in total! This is super value for money and I hope the breast pump is good and durable.

written by appletan

It’s been quite a while since I updated my post. I have been as busy as a bee working on shift and also be on call during the weekdays and weekends although I should be resting my butt off in my 3rd trimester.

Nevertheless, whenever I think of the tiny little one inside my womb I feel that everything is worthwhile. Every now and then, I have the special feeling that what a miracle it is to have a tiny life inside my womb. From the beginning when the sperm successfully meets the ovary and to the fertilization stage, until the organism grows from embryo then to foetus, and to the stage where you start to feel the baby kicks…everything seems to be so wonderful and sweet. Just a combination of 2 cells will form a complex organism which is able to kick, move, breathe and most importantly pump blood with a strong heartbeat. When it comes to the final trimester, I can’t help but keep thinking that the entire lifecycle is such a miracle and how grateful I am to have experienced it.

Now at my 34th week, my legs are starting to get swollen and I keep putting on weight although I tried to have a healthy diet. My tummy has grown so much until everyone who sees me exclaim what a big tummy I am having now. Thanks to my baby who weighed 1.9kg during my last antenatal visit.  By now it should have weighed 2.2-2.5kg? I’m also having difficulty to stand up immediately after meal as I feel my tummy is soooo heavy. My baby would stretch and move until I find it difficult to sit properly in the cinema or while having meals. Thank goodness I still can sleep very well at night but my hubby has been having a difficult time  to sleep due to my loud snores recently, lol.

Despite this and that, I’m very happy with my pregnancy and am looking forward to see my baby in approximately 1 month’s time!

written by appletan

Two weeks ago, I was invited to attend CSL’s exclusive launch of their latest product – Spice Mi700 DroidPad at Gurney Plaza, Penang. Thanks to Penang.CC for organizing this event for 20 registered bloggers.

The event was held at the ground level of Gurney Plaza’s new wing (in front of Manhattan Market Fish). It was crowded with shoppers on that Saturday afternoon. Hence, there were many onlookers besides the 20 registered bloggers. Coincidently, there was another event held by Maxis for its iPhone 4 packages on the centre court in the old wing.

The first batch of 10 bloggers who got a hands-on preview on the products, Mi300 phone and Spice Mi700 DroidPad while listening to the products’ unique features demonstrated by CSL staff.

The star of the event – CSL’s Spice Mi700 DroidPad.

We were greeted by Android’s mascot in the midst of the event.

Here comes the important agenda of the event, the lucky draw. Since there were 20 of us, each of us stood a chance to take home the Spice Mi700 DroidPad. Only 1 unit would be given out. First, we were asked to answer a few general questions about the product and company and the first who answered would choose a goodie bag containing a card reader, pen, brochures and lanyard.

The remaining bloggers who did not manage to grab the chance to answer would also be given the goodie bag. So what made us so special since everyone was holding the same goodie bag?

Since everyone’s goodie bag was the same, we were asked to compare the CSL DroidPad brochure which had the Android mascot in it. The winner was the one who had 2 extra black dots on the Android mascot’s eyes! And I was the one who held it!!!

I couldn’t believe I could be so lucky to have won the DroidPad. I was pronounced the lucky winner!

Group photo with the CSL staff and 20 bloggers.

Celebrated my lucky day after the event. I was still very surprised as I had never been so lucky in winning prizes.

Now comes to the review of the product. The Spice Mi700 DroidPad is a convenient to use tablet which runs on Android 2.2 Froyo, the latest mobile open platform developed by Google. It has a 7-inch capacitive touch screen which makes browsing easy compared to standard smart phones. It could be run on 3G network or WiFi depending on your needs. The DroidPad serves like a phone as well, so when you need to talk on the DroidPad you have to be on loudspeaker or a better option is via bluetooth handsfree. You can browse the web, make video-conferencing with its 3.2-inch dual camera, read e-books via its i-Book application and more distinctively, it can serve as a GPS with its MapKing navigator. The DroidPad also comes with full version of Documents To Go which makes reading and editing on word, powerpoint, excel and pdf files easy. The Gmail Push Mail function will also notify user of incoming mails by displaying a pop up notification.

On the down side, the DroidPad comes with some preloaded applications which couldn’t be uninstalled. Some applications are not necessary to everyone and it should be allowed to be uninstalled easily. Otherwise, it will take up some of the unnecessary space eventually. The DroidPad’s default browser is not Flash-supported, therefore certain websites which require flash are not accessible. It should have a better browser which is able to support basic plug-ins.

Despite that, it is still a very good gadget for me to take around and show off to my friends. It provides convenience to me to read my emails, surfing the net and utilize its multimedia functions at anytime, anywhere.

written by appletan

It has been always a woman’s dream to be pampered not only by her man but also by someone who can make her look pretty and “polished” everyday. Who does not want to have her hair nicely permed, nails perfectly manicured and pedicured, face glowing like just walking out from the make-up studio everyday? Even if you do not have the time and money to do so, I believe it would be reasonable to treat yourself a wonderful spa once in a while, just like at Danai Spa Tanjung Bunga Park Penang. 

There are many Danai Spa retreat centres in Penang alone. But none can be compared to this one at Tanjung Bunga Park as it is located at a landed property in a secluded area in Tanjung Bunga. When we say “landed property”, there is no doubt that there will be plenty of landed space compared to other centres which are only limited to the hotel’s compound.

As you can see, this is the entrance to Danai Spa at Tanjung Bunga Park. If you drive from town area via Jalan Tanjung Bungah, you will see Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel is on your right and you will arrive to a traffic light junction. Take the left turn to Tanjung Bungah Park (which is the road name). After that make a right turn and keep driving for another 30 meters. You will see Danai Spa is on your right.

The small pathway that leads to the reception gives visitors a relaxing feeling as it is surrounded by plenty of plants and a Koi pond.

A Buddha’s head sculpture is placed at the reception which gives visitors the feeling of “Zen” style.

We were introduced to the different massage and spa rooms available at the centre. First is the Balinese style room which is suitable for 2 pax (or couple).

The decoration really gives visitors the feeling of visitng a spa/massage centre in Bali.

The Balinese shower room and bath which has natural lighting from the outside.

If you would like to try some different theme, you may opt for Moroccan style room which is also for 2 pax (or couple).

The interior is unique although I am not too sure how should a Moroccan style look like. But this gives me the feeling of a Greek design instead. This is our pick for our spa retreat.

The bathroom also comes with a bathtub and is also built in such a way to obtain the maximum natural lighting from the outside.

If neither the above is your cup of tea, then you can stick to traditional Oriental room which is for single pax only.

Choose this if you wish to have more privacy throughout your spa session.

If there is Oriental, there is always Eastern (English).

The English room is perfect for 2 pax (or couple). So we can see that there are a total of 3 rooms for couples or those who come in pairs to choose from. By the way, are elaborately-decorated chandeliers always associated with English-themed places?

The English room also comes with an en-suite bathroom.

An English-inspired basin.

Here comes the Puteri changing room before you begin your spa session.

Guests are required to change to robes before the start of the spa session. For ladies the robe would look something like a sarong wrap. It is up to your own creativity on how do you want to wrap yourself with the sarong.

As for gentlemen, the robe would look like a Japanese style robe. It is very straightforward to wrap up in the robe.

Take note that you will need to take off all your clothing before wrapping up yourself in the robes. This applies to ladies as well.

Our first spa session was a relaxing foot wash by the massage ladies. I was having some ‘tickling’ moments when the lady was washing my legs as the touch was gentle and ticklish. My legs are sensitive to human touch.
 

Next, we were required to walk through the Rainfall Pool before we headed to our Jacuzzi session. The gentle streaming of cooling water imitates the idea of pouring rain which will give you a delightful and fun experience. However, it was raining while we were there, therefore the cooling experience had turned out to be a chilling experience. Nevertheless, the concept is mainly built to cool down one’s body temperature and I believe it would be perfect for hot season like Malaysia.

If you still couldn’t have enough of bathing experience, you may get extra showering done at the little showering area just before the jacuzzi. I believe this is to ensure the guests to have their body properly cleaned before enjoying the jacuzzi session.

Here comes the warm and relaxing jacuzzi pool. We were treated to 2 glasses of refreshing hydrating drinks while having the jacuzzi session. It was a nice experience as after the cooling experience at the Rainfall Pool, we could enjoy some warm water massaging over our bodies. This is believed to help with our blood circulation. Due to I was 6 months pregnant, I was not allowed to enter into the pool due to the water pressure. Therefore I only had my legs soaked instead.

Back into the centre, there is a section for guests to do manicure and leg massage. The centre also provides make-up service for any occasion.
 

Ater the jacuzzi session, we were brought to our chosen “Moroccan room to begin our spa session. As due to privacy, we were not convenient to bring in our cameras. I will then briefly explain how the session goes about.

First, we were required to change into disposable panties for hygiene reasons. The massage lady would then begin the 90-minute Danai Signature Massage by appling Vitality Massage Oil by Pevonia. The oil has a soothing and calming fragrance and you can easily doze off throughout the session. If you feel the massage technique is too strong, you may request for a lighter massage and vice versa.

Again, due to my unique case, I was required to lay sideways in order to have the massage done. Otherwise, you can lay face down to have your back fully massaged. It was very considerate of them to have this special “Mums-to-be”" treatment.

When the massage session was done, we were treated with a 30 minutes Pure Rose Body Glow. They applied the body glow (scrub) and massaged all over your  body. For normal scenario, you could enjoy the Pure Rose Body Glow. However, it might not be ideal for pregnant women. Therefore it was substituted with Honey & Milk Scrub instead. The scent was excellent enough to be eaten”". It had a soothing-rich buttery fragrance just like when you’re baking cookies!

Next, we were required to take a shower to rinse off the body scrub. Then we proceeded to the 15 minutes Pure Rose Bath Soak, which is for non-pregnant customers. The bathtub was filled with fresh rose petals and some essential rose oil for you to dip in. This might not be suitable for me, therefore I was treated with a 15-minute face and neck massage.

This ended our entire spa session. A summary of the package is as below:

Christmas Romance package
90 minutes Danai Signature Massage (with Vitality Massage Oil by Pevonia)
30 minutes Pure Rose Body Glow
15 minutes Pure Rose Bath Soak
1X 30mL Pure Rose Body Scrub

***For 1 couple only RM468 (Christmas promotion)
       Usual Price RM670

I was deeply satisfied with the service provided by Danai Spa. The massage ladies were skillful, friendly and met custsomer’s requirements on the massage technique accordingly. Another advantage is they have a special package for Mums-to-be, so expectant mums could also enjoy a wonderful spa session at Danai Spa. Special thanks to Penang.CC for organising this wonderful spa retreat!

Operation hours: 10:00am – 10:00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-228 6218
Address:103, Tanjung Bungah Park, 11200 Penang.
GPS: 5° 46′ 32.84″ N, 100° 30′ 09.53″ E

written by appletan