Mothering Corner

I found this link about Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Screening (MSAFP) from Allisia’s blog. I heard of that but I never pay attention to it since I’m not in the high risk group of mothers yet. But it’s better be informed than never heard of it!

MSAFP is a screening test that is performed between the 14th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy by taking the blood test as well as considering the factors as age and ethnicity to rule out if the baby is affected by Trisomy 21( Down syndrome), Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome) or another type of chromosome abnormality. It’s part of the triple screen test that accesses whether an invasive procedure like amniocentesis is needed.

I read about it when I was pregnant, but I didn’t know anyone who has perform the screening test. I would appreciate it if I can get some input about this test.

One of the most tiring moments of motherhood is the first few weeks after your newborn is delivered. I didn’t sleep much as I was breastfeeding on demand and without a pacifier, I felt like my babies were hanging onto my breasts days and nights. Sometimes, I felt asleep breastfeeding lying now and I didn’t notice it. It was that tiring…

But if you are uncomfortable with the idea of co-sleeping with your baby, you still just place your newborn in a cot. But it’s quite troublesome getting up to carry the baby who might be nursing a few times at night. Some babies are angels who sleep through the night but not mine. LOL! My kids only sleep through after one and a half year, and I wonder how I made it through?

Anyway, if you have help from hubby or maid, don’t feel shy to ask. It’s best to rest as much as you can during confinement. I didn’t have a lot of rest and it’s very taxing. Just ask for help, you deserve it.

I know a mother of five who had graduated from her doctorate a year ago. I admired her determination in pursuing her dream while doing well in her mothering role. It’s not easy to juggle a family and a doctorate degree at the same time, but she inspired a lot of women that dreams do come true.

If you have plans of pursuing in higher education, you can think about getting your master degree by studying online. There are various online courses available from Capella University, and if you are interested in masters in counseling, you can take a look at the course details and facilities provided.

I would give this a pass. Having a master degree is not part of my dream anymore.

 This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

Most new mothers are keen to know more about breastfeeding, and even if breastfeeding is a natural part of motherhood, it may not come easy. If you are interested to know more about breastfeeding, please take a look at “How To Breastfeeding Video” which is located at my sidebar. It will be there for a while as a reference.

But please take note that there are some part which woman’s breast will be exposed, but it’s just part of breastfeeding, ok?

My boy is going to be 3 years old but hubby and I will be away on that day. So, we celebrated his birthday earlier for him. I know that it’s best to be with him on that day, but the trip can only be fixed on that day due to the room reservation and our tight schedule. As long as we have the sincerity and heart to celebrate his birthday, the date is not so significant.

It’s going to be our honeymoon, even if it’s only a short one. After that we will have family vacation together, and my kids will be spending quality time with us again. It’s not a long holiday, but maybe next time we will go for caribbean cruises and spend some long stay oversea when the kids are older.

Anyway, I just want to wish my boy an early birthday, and mommy loves you.

I don’t like my boy to watch cartoon with his cousins. It’s getting very hard to control him now because he wants to play with them at night, and if they are watching TV, he wants to sit with them as well. But some of the cartoons or TV programs that they watch is quite violent to my liking.

I just don’t like to see those kids playing with guns or tying people up with fiber cable even if they are villains. I know that some day my boy will also be exposed to these programs, but I was hoping to delay it. Unless I drag him upstairs at 8pm instead of 9pm, if not he will still stick to the cousins. Let’s see if we are really moving away, in that case, I have a better solution.

I’m driving the truck and most of the time, my kids are being driven in this car since both of their car seats are being installed in it. That’s why I asked hubby to considered installed another bull bar at the back of the car to make sure that the truck is better protected.

There are a lot of cases when a lady’s car is being hit by those robbers and it’s not really safe on the road. If the car is well protected, even if it’s being hit, I will just move on without stopping! I won’t be bothered to check on the dent or damage if there is a bull bar.

So, I hope that hubby will think about this.

I haven’t bought anything for my boy who’s going to kindergarten next year. I know what type of school bag he wants, but I haven’t started shopping for school reopen. Most of the parents I talked to have done their shopping, and at the same time, they are glad that the textbooks are free for all.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, who announced this yesterday, added that the dates of the exams would be announced by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate later.

“I’ve also gotten the agreement of the Schools Division for the final exams in schools to be postponed.”

He also announced that about 80% of textbooks had been delivered to schools around the country.

“I received a report from the Textbook Division that the supply of textbooks is going out according to schedule. We have backup supplies if there are not enough books,” he told reporters after chairing the 2008 New School Term Committee meeting yesterday.

Under the 2008 Budget, all students will get free textbooks under the Textbook Loan Scheme from next year.

He said the ministry had set up a hotline for queries on textbooks. The number is 03-8884 4290.

Some of the children have taken their text books but some are partial given. I remembered those years when I borrowed the textbooks from the school but not all are new. It’s great that the students are getting new textbooks because it’s a big turn off if you get books as old as the “kiem chai” (salted vegetables).

I seldom watch TV but I’m trying to make up some time for DVD and TV shows after my kids have fallen asleep. I don’t stay with my blogs that much now, and it’s something good to me. I want to spend some time with hubby too since we hardly have time for each other after we have kids. Watching movies together at home may sound boring, but we can’t just go out like couples anymore!

As long as both of us are ok about this, I think it’s quite romantic. LOL!

I bought investment plans for both of my kids which are added into their insurance premium. I would like them to have some fund for tertiary education, and even if they want to study abroad, they won’t have to worry much about the money later. But I think we will get other investment plans such as investing in gold when our financial condition has got better. If the money invested has potential to grow, I don’t mind putting it into investment rather than spending it off on shopping.

But I will have to see what does hubby think about this. He needs lots of money for his business plans, so I will let him decide on when is the right time to invest more. Anyway, there is no hurry as we already have plans for the kids.