:: my experiences with the twin ::

an immediate response to a request by my old buddy - shay.

ada orang teringin sangat nak anak kembar, so he asked me to blog on my experiences in handling the twin aka my boys ~ afiq hazman and adib hazim.

both me and OH selalu dapat this question from people:-

MACAMANA YEK JAGA ANAK KEMBAR?

and we always answer it this way:-

TAK TAU LA NAK KATA, SEBAB TAK PERNAH ADA EXPERIENCE JAGA ANAK SEORANG

reality is, dikurniakan anak kembar sangat² mengubah our life yang boleh dianggap 'free and easy life'. mana taknya, 4 tahun 'honeymoon'. :D but apa pun, we're very grateful and more than happy when they walk in to our life. they make our life more meaningful and HAPPENING. :D

let me start my story telling from the beginning - the day i was suspected carrying twin.

:: the beginning ::
for those who have been following my blog closely, would know that my boys are special boys. conceived thru IVF-ICSI procedure due to my severe endometriosis problem (stage 4), that has caused me to be wheeled in and out OT room for about 1.5 years before the 2 lines appeared.

so on the day the nurse drew my blood and tested my BHcG level, the reading was pretty high. (and i have started feeling nausea from as early as week 4 of pregnancy). the dr told me that the high reading would probably mean that i'm carrying not one, but twin. we were so happy and overjoyed, but pretty anxious too. i can't took my anxiety off as months before i experienced miscarriage after the IVF procedure.

:: the 32 weeks journey ::
so that was when the journey began. :D

suddenly, at week 10 or so, i experienced light bleeding, and yes it alarmed me and OH. we immediately went for A&C and we were informed that i'm experiencing threaten miscarriage symptom. twin 1 (which was afiq) was lying pretty low. i was then given the anti-miscarriage treatment, and follow the dr's instruction to bedrest for my 1st trimester. (read : on medical leave, bed rest, for 3 months, till my first trimester is over). it was pretty challenging for an active person like me to lay still in bed/sofa for the first three months. i was not allowed to do any housework or take the stairs. bayangkan, sepanjang bedrest period tuh, i only naik turun tangga bila i need to go to the clinic? (tho ada jugak la sekali dua terbabas turun. ;P) and yes, at that time, aku dah naik hafal all the tv program. (masa tuh fames cerita bawang putih bawang merah. layankan jek)

makan pun teramat jaga. anything with vinegar - mak tak kasi makan. jangan disebut 'benda-benda tajam' like nanas etc. memang tak masuk perut langsung those kind of food. dr pun ada bagi a note on what i can eat and what i can't. tak minum nescafe (huhu. agak perit untuk seorang coffeeholic like me).

the morning sickness or shall i say 24-7 sickness sangat teruk. tetiba hidung jadi super sensitif boleh bau apa neighbour masak. (apa kes tetiba bley detect orang masak ikan masin every weekend?) siap kena tutup tingkap segala, sebab mak buyung masa tuh memang serius tak tahan.

nasib baik bau OH sendiri tak allergic. :D

hitting 4th month of pregnancy ~ backache yang melampau. memang masa tuh rasa, macam aiyo, lambat lagi ke nak sampai bulan ke 9? call la BFFs tanya, so one of my bestie ~ nadiah recommended me to change shoes, etc. yes, blooming mom memang kena pakai kasut specifically designed for them. thanx to modernmom. :D

kalau orang lain, start pakai baju pregnant lambat. aku pakai pretty early. rasanya nak masuk 4months tuh dah pakai, and dr cakap aku macam dah 6 bulan. mmg besar. siap some of the maternity punya baju tuh tak muat. kalau lalu in between partition office, and if i'm standing on my sides (read : menghadap partition) memang la takde orang boleh lalu. and yes, saiz yang besar itu jugak la yang dikenang² oleh opismate²ku. :D masa tuh peha seniri pun tak nampak. haha. nak nampak hujung jari kaki pun susah. :D

since preggy anak kembar, dr dah bagitau dr awal, i'm facing the risk of pre-term delivery. so at week 24, dr dah inject ubat nak kasik babies' lung to mature, so that they won't develop breathing difficulty kalau bersalin awal.

and yes, at week 32, turning 33, they decided they have had enough to be in mommy's tummy. my water broke the night OH came back from outstation in johor, a day before OH went back to tganu for his bro's solemnization. it happened at the dining table, just after dinner, at around 10pm. in fact i don't even know that i broke my water,

siap terpikir, "kenapa plak aku bley terkenc*** atas kerusi nih? takkan tak bley tahan"

lepas tuh baru macam, "alamak"

mak pandang i dengan muka curious.

i pun tak ingat apa i jawab. but then terus rang my gynae and he instructed me to rush to the nearest hospital and said that i'm going to deliver soon.

sampai kat labour room, memang serious aku rilek gila. sebab tak sakit langsung. nurse siap tanya, "tak sakit ke?"

i replied, "tak rasa apa pun."

"u punya contraction dah 100% dah nih."

lepas check segala, the team decided that i'll go for c-sect to deliver my twin. i was given medicine to surpress my contraction, and was c-sect 2 days later.

and yes, my twin arrived on a very special day. it was on friday, aug 17th. 12.04 noon, afiq came out followed by adib 4 mins later. the boys arrived on my mom's 53rd birthday, and on the day my bro in law nikah di terengganu. :D


fresh from the oven.

i gained 20kgs by the way.. (shay now u can imagine how big i was)


blooming mom at 6 months pregnancy (roughly around 24 weeks)

:: the confinement period ::
being preemies (prematured babies), my boys are underweighed. afiq was 1.7kg (42 cm) and adib was 1.99kg (46cm). pretty 'long' for preemies. both were under incubators, but alhamdulillah only for a short period. they don't get to drink from mommy immediately, sbb takut overworked their lungs. being fed thru tubes for the first 2 weeks. stayed in the nursery for 3 weeks until they reach 2 kgs before being discharged. so mommy dia, during confinement period dok ulang alik hospital everyday hantar susu (dapat pun sikit jek, sebab tak banyak stimulation daripada babies). nasib baik tak bentan.


syukur sangat, kejap jek diorang duduk dalam incubator. kalau tak silap afiq 3 hari, adib 5 hari.


afiq


adib

being preemies, they don't cry to show their emotion. one thing to be noted by parents of preemies. they don't cry if they want to be fed. so, we have to time ourselves to ensure that they don't starve. we have to feed the babies every three hours, and that includes at nights too. so everyday for the first 2 months, both me and OH will have to feed both of them 3 hourly, to ensure good weight gain and grow well. alhamdulillah, we survived the period. it's pretty challenging, tapi alhamdulillah, syukur dikurniakan OH yang faham my needs.

:: first outing ::
first outing dengan the boys memang sangat 'mengujakan'. it took place on the day i dah habis pantang, after jumpa the paed. we went to klcc.

what shock do we get?

THE STARES


first outing : KLCC

siap my OH tamau tolak stroller and asked me to do so. yeah. tu la penangan anak kembar. and we still get it until now. and we're now getting used to it.

:: growing up : full of fun ::
membesarkan anak kembar memanglah satu pengalaman yang cukup unik dan istimewa. aku bersyukur kepada Allah diberi pengalaman ini.

though they grew up in the same womb, personality diorang sangat lain. development pun tak sama. ada time afiq will be ahead of adib, vice versa.

for example, all through out the major milestone, normally afiq yang akan dapat dulu. dari mengiring ke meniarap ke merangkak. semua afiq dapat dulu. tapi bab jalan, adib dulu dapat. pelik kan? bu one thing interesting to observe, diorang nih macam challenge each other. kalau yang satu nih dah dapat buat, the other will try, hence helped their brain development better.

nowadays, dah pandai bergaduh. sampai bergegget² hokays. memang sah² la kena choobit kan? (to me, sayang anak kena berpada, kalau dia salah, we have to educate them. kena marah kalau perlu) kalau time baik, boleh gelak² duorang.

:: isu beli baju dan toys dan seangkatan dengannya ::
berlaku adil dan saksama kepada anak kembar juga is something to ponder. i at my best will try to give equally to both of them. in any aspects. and tell u, this is hard. susah bukan sebab aku ada favouritism, but TIME. dalam satu² masa, both demand to be with mommy. both nak duduk atas pangku mommy. both nak mommy bacakan buku. both nak tido ngan mommy. (tu yang jadi adib tido on my shoulder while afiq tido celah kangkang kaki mommy)

apa lagi cerita. ha, korang perasan tak kalau u all pegi memana, selalu nampak kembar pakai baju sama. korang ingat mak pak diorang sengaja buat cam tuh ke atau ada sebab lain?

aku la, adala baca satu article nih. article tuh kata kita kena treat each anak twin tuh individually so that they'll develop their own personality. memula tuh cam nak ikut la nasihat tuh, tapi bila pegi beli baju and dah nawaitu nak beli lain², didapati value tak sama (read harga tak sama), rasa tak fair plak. last² beli jek sama. skang nih lagi la beli barang yang sama, sebab they applied the house's law of physic - they'll fight over the same particular toy walaupun belambak toy lain dalam umah. see? to avoid headaches, beli jek yang sama sorang satu. tak de gaduh².

:: travelling ::
bab packing barang outing satu hal lagi. everything kali jek dua dengan apa yang single baby selalu bawak. botol susu, kalau anak sorang bawak 2 botol, i bawak 4. macam tuh la lebih kurang. so bley bayang la how big is the nappy bag kan. sah² mak dia tak pegang. :P

and being the sons of travel freaks, sah² la budak kenit 2 orang nih dah banyak berjalan. first travel - balik terengganu (my OH tuh half tganu, as my FIL origin dari sana, tapi MIL dari penang, now both resides in KL). i remember bringing them naik flight. :D hohoho. each one of us pegang satu baby. takde bawak anyone else as backup. maknanya, dr segi luggage etc, seniri handle while coping with the boys. on the way pegi, afiq nangis gegila. kena pulak dia dok ngan OH. our seats separated. masa tuh, nasib baik la ada akak yang baik hati tolong pegang afiq and pujuk. so dia pegang afiq sampai la kitorang touched down kat tganu. masa tuh, baby carrier feels so convenient. :D it's a worthwhile investment!

other experiences yang aku tak leh lupa bila bawak budak 2 org ni berjalan nih, was their first trip to australia. we went to gold coast a week before their 1st birthday. masa tuh belum boleh jalan lagik. still merangkak. ada one time tuh, diorang dah bosan teramat², dukung tak nak, duduk dalam stroller tanak, duduk dalam trolley tak nak.. we then gave up and selamba jek biar diorang merangkak dalam woolworth (ala² carrefour). tak penah seumo idup aku, aku nampak babies merangkak kat groceries store. first time nampak - ANAK SENIRI BUAT!

amek ko! merangkak dalam supermarket. mommy ngan daddy tak larat dah!

:: time ::
masa² the boys were still tiny (read : below 6 months), memang la jarang my OH and i dapat breakfast pepagi during the weekend. i takde maid at that time, so on weekend semua benda kena buat seniri. dari mandikan anak ke masak etc. their routine at that time, pagi² mandi dulu, lepas tuh baru minum susu. my boys punya rutin mandi includes - bath, baby massage, tuam perut, ikat barut then baru pakai baju. so one baby will normally take me 0.5hr. kali 2 dah 1 hr. lepas tuh feeding time. lepas dah feed, they doze off baru la mommy dia dapat masuk dapur prepare untuk makan. by the time siap - walla dah kul 11. tuh pasal la masa afiq n adib dulu, i turun berat cepat. because they keep me fit and on feet. :D




budak kecik 2 orang ini sangat suka mandi!

and bila 2 budak kenit nih lelap jek, mommy ngan daddy dia macam lipas kudung. settlekan cecepat kerja² rumah yang patut dibuat. (tuh masa belum ada helper la, bila dah ada helper ok la sket) at least tak yah nak pk baju yang menimbun ngan dishes yang tak berbasuh. but there're few things yang masih jadi aku punya territory - cooking. bab masak, aku handle.

tu la serba sket cerita my boys. alhamdulillah, with their presence, our life has become more meaningful.

despite penat, and stress sometime (tipu la weh kalau tak stress!) their little kisses and hugs la yang buat penat tuh semua melayang² hilang (cliche but true).

so shay, enjoy the stories!