Pregnancy and Birthing Tips

Based on my personal experience and studies ...

1. Pregnancy Supplement

i. Acid Folic for first trimester

ii. Ganilia

It was my first time trying this brand. Apparently UKMSC has started prescribing their patients to take this supplement from 2nd trimester onwards. My previous pregnancies, Prof prescribed Obimin plus. This supplement contains minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acid (DHA). Since it also contains calcium, I never had experienced leg cramps / simpul biawak. Itu adalah heaven. Ha ha sangat torturing bila syok tido tiba-tiba kaki kena kejutan elektrik dan perlu kejut husband 10 kali sebelum dia tersedar dan beri bantuan kecemasan.

Selain itu, biasanya akan mengalami gusi berdarah especially masa berus gigi. Masa pregnant Umar it was even worse, pada waktu normal pun gusi tiba-tiba berdarah. Tak pasal-pasal jadi Raja Bersiong. So, saya bagi 5 bintang kpd supplement ni.

iii. Virgin Coconut Oil

 You may want to check out the benefits of taking this oil. A long list. But what attract me the most is to avoid episiotomy and jaundice hihihi These two are scary heuheuheu

I took 3 bottles starting from month 6. 1-2 tablespoon daily.

iv. Fresh goat milk

Luckily office mate's father-in-law is one of the suppliers. So I took 2-3 times a week throughout pregnancy.

2. Easy delivery and avoiding episiotomy 

I emphasize a lot on avoiding episiotomy Ngeeee.. Pengalaman berpantang sendiri dan ada stiches masa Amir dulu, it took a month to heal. And really painful. Nak pee pee and poo poo pun can be a nightmare. Heh!

So dari masa mengandungkan Umar, study kalau ada apa-apa yang boleh membantu untuk avoid cut masa delivery. Salah satu cara, virgin coconut oil tadi. And ada beberapa methods lain jugak.

i. Kegel exercise to strengthen the muscle, easy to push.

ii. Perineum massage may increase the area's ability to stretch, leading to less need for an episiotomy and fewer natural tears. But I have time limitation to massage ;p so I cuma sapu gel from mothercare ni to that area.

Katanya start pakai 4-6 weeks leading to labor. Kebiasaannya at 36w. I normally start early knowing the possibility deliver early.

iii. Squats 

Katanya kena buat 300 kali for easy delivery, pengsan! Biasanya during shower time (the best time to do it!) I performed this exercise. Kalau buat depan budak-budak ni habis kena gelak.

Buat squat masa perut besar, badan gedempol adalah tidak sexy hihi

Jangan lupa eh buat 300 kali! He he

And, bila dah dekat labor say 36w. Boleh buat deep squats. Oh I love this! Tak perlu berpenat lelah turun naik, and this is very relaxing. 

Masa Amir: Air ketuban pecah tapi takde contraction and jalan buka cuma 2cm until the next day. Doctor got to help me to widen the opening to allow labor. Ot was almost 24h after the waterbag has broken.

Masa Amir memang takde buat exercise sebab sedikit skeptic yeke membantu I thought it was all natural process. Tapi bila dah experience jalan tak bukak2 selepas air ketuban pecah and induce, kena cut n jahit lagi, baru ada kesedaran unt berbuat sesuatu ;p

Jadi masa pregnant Umar, start buat squats and apply perineal gel.

Masa Umar: Start dengan contraction, it was mild when the cervix opening was 3-4cm. 2 hours after that i gave birth to Umar. And no cut or natural tear.

Masa Iman: Air ketuban pecah without contraction at 4.15am. Mild contraction started 45 minutes later. Intense contraction started around 7-ish, I was 5-6cm dilated. Reached labor room at 8am, 7cm dilated. Gave birth to Iman at 8.38am without cut or nature tear. Thanks Allah.

3. Avoiding stretch marks 

Okay this is not cool. Most of us hate it.

Masa Amir: I use Palmer's cocoa butter then BioOil. Cocoa butter was fine tapi I didn't like BioOil at all. Too oily, tapi perut still gatal and I didn't see it reducing the stretch marks. 

Masa Umar: I stick to Cocoa Butter. No stretch marks until 35-36w. Maybe memang bila perut meregang habis rupanya ada stretch marks kat lower abdomen. Tapi perut masih gatal2 not too bad macam masa Amir.

Masa Iman (recent pregnancy): I started applying aloe vera gel since before I was pregnant. It helps to reduce previous stretch marks and terus pakai masa pregnant to my surprise kalini no new stretch marks! Love it! It's cheaper than other lotion/oil to reduce strech marks.

I tried many brands - Nature Republic, Always21 and the most recent I bought from watson - work the same to me.

And of top of everything is doa :)

My Baby Iman at 10 days..