Hi, my name is Aisyah Rozi. This is my personal blog where I share my life experience, thoughts, ideas and occasionally, my projects. Recently, however, I share a lot about being a young mother. I'm also a YouTuber, so do checkout my channel! <3

Introduction to Gentle Birthing

Time has been so hectic, a lot of things has happened and I am just lousy at fitting a time to blog.

Being a working mom, the disadvantage is definitely time. You only have a few hours after work to get your cooking, cleaning and laundry done. On top of that your child needs your attention and Sara being very active, is not the kind of kid that goes to bed easily. So, despite all the bedtime routine, she still needs some work to get her to bed soundly.

Now, I am 29 weeks pregnant (Alhamdulillah). Yep, entering my third trimester now of my second pregnancy. See, how time flies?

I have quite a different pregnancy for this one than my first, Alhamdulillah. If you are wondering, it is another girl. But this this pregnancy is so much easier and smoother. I didn’t have much morning sickness. And emotional wise, quite stable -until entering this 3rd trimester, I have been feeling a little more emotional. Lets save that topic for later shall we?

I have been ignoring the fact that I am pregnant and put off planning the birth a lot later. Then I realized, as I am choosing the hospital that this time around I want to opt for no epidural.

I thought my first labour was wonderful. (my labour entry) I had epidural, I didn’t endure the true pain of childbirth, my daughter came out safely without vacuum or forceps. The nurses were nothing but amazing. However, now looking back, there are a lot of things I would like to improve. Such as, not taking almost an hour to push. I would say the culprit was epidural as I didn’t feel any pain or urge to push, I was pretty much pushing blindly.

Next, perineal tear was horrible. Until now I shudder at thinking about the tear. I ended up with quite significant  tearing since I kept pushing the baby out wrongly.

Now that I have decided to not taking any epidural, I am getting worried about the labour pain. In fact, the fear was giving me nightmares or keeping me awake at night. Yes, it is to be expected. But I am not about to sit around and go through it like going to a marathon without training. I want to be prepared.

Alhamdulillah, out of the blue, I saw a poster on Gentle Birthing seminar on facebook. That’s when I started to read a little on gentle birthing. I am very happy to read wonderful labour stories that are drug-free yet remained smooth. Actually, I think it might be an answer to my prayer.

Having a supportive husband made me feel even luckier. When I asked him to attend the seminar, he immediately suggested to find the gentle birthing classes instead so that we can really learn. That’s when I found out that there are a few gentle birthing method such as Hypnobirth and Amani Birth. I chose Amani as I feel it resonates more to me.

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This is the Amani module sent by my chosen educator to me. Originally the class consists of 10 sessions, but I opted for personal coaching and asked for an intensive, compressed sessions into 5 since I’m already in third trimester. I hope I can really benefit from this class  and have the birthing experience I want. It is crucial as it will also affect the postpartum recovery period.

What is Gentle Birthing?

Obviously I am not the best person to explain, but in a nutshell, this is the concept:

Reading the positive birthing experience has inspired me and make me feel more positive towards labour, and now I can’t wait to attend the class! InshaAllah. :mrgreen:

Keeping the toddler in a carseat

In Malaysia, carseats for children is not a requirement by law. However, Malaysians need to realize that accidents happen. Sure, you’ll never think that you’ll ever get into accidents, we all think that way.

And I bet, those people who did get into a car accidents didn’t think they would, too.

There are many cases in Malaysia where kids and babies are involved in car accidents flew out of the window due to not being buckled into car seats.

Among the excuses are, my child hates it.

Well, so does mine. And we still put her in carseat, despite the screamings.

For small babies, it may be easier. Well, what about toddlers? After many months of struggle, I’ve finally found my answer. So, this is how we figured her out.

1. Consistency is key

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The rule is simple. Car = car seat. Every time. No matter how short the trip is.

I admit. We are not perfect parents. Sometimes we slack off and abandon the car seat. At that time, it may seem easier that way, but guess what? Every time we do that, we found it harder to put her in her car seat in the next trip.

Now we know that every time we get in the car, this little one goes into her car seat.

On weekdays, I transfer her car seat into my mum’s car (as she’s taking care of her) so that my mum could take her out safely. You know how our older generations don’t even use car seats right? So make it easy for them.

2. Ignore her fight and buckle up
My daughter would fight hard every time I put her in the car seat. She straightens her body and scream which makes buckling up difficult. I have to work my way through it even if it takes more than a min just to buckle her up.

Then, she will cry and scream as if she’s being abused for a good 2mins.

We just let her cry and I will explain her why she has to be in her car seat. Every time.

However, I’ve noticed the post-buckle crying time gets much less. And less. It eventually became seconds.

Now, She still fight during buckling up but I guess she’s just trying her luck in case I would let her out of the car seat. Then she fusses a lil’ and move on.  Sometimes she still makes fuss mid-trip but that’s where distraction comes in.

The reason behind this is, toddlers are curious little beings. They will always experiment and explore, and that includes parents’ limits. If you keep giving in to their cries, they will know how to make you meet their demands.  Yes, their brains may be little but they are SMART. So, what you can do is show them what’s right and reward their good behaviour.

3. Distraction strategy

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Toddlers have short attention span. So, to really get them distracted is to simply figure out what they enjoy.

In my daughter’s case, she loves reading (flipping) books. So we’ll always keep one in the car and make up stories. She enjoys them.

I also give her some random things to play with such as empty plastic bottle, or cups. Sometimes when I ran out of props, I have to play peekaboo with her and it keeps her entertained.

Snacking food is a must. I will give her something to nibble on to buy more time before she’s distracted again. Or to buy more time before I could nurse her.

So there you go. Some tips for those who are struggling.

The funny thing is, sometimes my daughter will still try to trick me into taking her out. She would tell me that she had pooped when there’s no poop (lol). Or she will ask to nurse. I know she’s just tricking me cause when I actually offer her, she would jump and start exploring the car. So of course I’ll have to put her back into her car seat and resume driving.

Well, best of luck! As parents, we all want the best for pur kids right?

How having a kid will put you into perspective

I’ve read a lot of articles saying that having kids will put life into perspective. But I haven’t read on HOW can a kid do that to you.

Well, here is how my daughter, Sara, put my life on perspective.

1. She gives my life a new meaning
I now almost cannot imagine what life was before I had her. Sure, I remember my husband and I went out on dates and all but compared to now, our dates must have been so bland.

When I thought of my life as a single, I felt like back then, my life was meaningless. It was all about studying, having fun and enjoying ‘life’.
.

What “life”? Lol

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2. I now truly know what love means
Yes, I love my husband but I thought that was just it. My family, my husband and my close friends are the people I will only able to love.

Once I had Sara, now I REALLY know what love is. How big my heart actually is.

3. Busy busy busy
Once I have a child, I now absolutely know the what busy actually means. And I would cringe when singles complain “I have no time.”

Well, be a mom and you will know what “no time” is! At the very least, after a very very long and busy day, they can still take a long shower and a cup of tea before bed. Perhaps some house chores to attend.

Yet, a mom who had an equally tiring and busy day, will still have house chores to do, ON TOP OF taking care of her child. Feed them, change them, put them to bed, wake up in the middle of the night and still have to wake up early in the morning the next day. Earlier, let me clarify, to prepare her kids before going to work.

Am I doomed? No. The key is organization and focus. Sure, I might not get everything done in a day, but one thing is better than nothing. There are supermoms out there who are raising 5-8kids (or more), and I have highest respect for them. How people able to deal with more than one kid is a mystery to me.

4. Sense of responsibility.
Of course, that seems very obvious. Babies are born absolutely helpless and the fate of a baby is completely at the mercy of his caretaker.

But what I mean is, it makes me more responsible in all aspects. I feel like I want to do good in my career, or if I were to further study, I want to work really hard at it. You know, just an overall sense of responsibility.

Why? Because everyday is a reality. Reality. Reality. Reality. There’s no lazy-series-marathon-in-bed-all-day. Ever. You have a kid to take care of and you have to get your ass off your bed, take a shower and make a breakfast.

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5. Everyday is a gift.
This is probably one of the biggest change of perspective. Ever since she was born, I felt like every waking day is a gift and a blessing.

Just looking at her gives me a sense of gratitude to god. Alhamdulillah. She makes me appreciate life. How everyday matters. How lucky I am to have her. I know that she is not mine forever, and Allah is only lending her to me. She will only be a child for this short while and I want to treasure every moment with her.

World Organic Makeup Review: My Newfound Love

I’ve always been a fan of natural and organic things. I’ve tried many, many commercial skin care growing up, but I found that the synthetic (and sometimes harsh, no matter how mild the formula is) tends to irritate or cause side effects when used after a certain period.

So I turned to natural skin care. I learned about the effects of the synthetic chemicals present in modern skin care and cosmetics. It is alarming to find how much chemicals that are being absorbed through our skin on daily basis, and some are even carcinogenic. It is no wonder how cancer statistics has increased over the years.  I’m not going to go into the details, but if you are interested, you can watch this video and be enlightened.

Okay moving on… Review time!

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World Organic Introduction
I was introduced by The Hehs Lady, aka A’ishah Kamaludin.  I fell in love when I learned that they have 100% natural and certified organic makeup!

I’ve only known about natural skincare before, but makeup?? Wow. I’m amazed and so glad that I can use safe cosmetics.

Foundation

So I first ordered a foundation. Love it! It feels so light on my skin and it leaves my skin feeling moisturized.

It is, however light to moderate coverage so it doesn’t really cover much. For someone who doesn’t wear makeup so much but would like a little bit of coverage or something, this is perfect. If I want more coverage, I just use my Bare Minerals concealer.

Since I love the foundation so much, I bought an eyeliner, lipstick and blusher, just so I will have my basic makeup set. Plus my old makeup.. Need to be replaced.

Eyeliner

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This is my must-have item. It is always with me wherever I go. And I always have a good eyeliner.

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It comes in a tube and brush. It’s been such a long time since I used this kind of eyeliner. I usually use the liquid pen type. The brush is easy to work with and precise. So I got used to it pretty quickly. As with all liquid eyeliner, it takes some practice if you’re a liquid eyeliner virgin.

It is very pigmented, which is a surprise since it’s all natural. Yeah I’m sceptical like that. Lol. And it lasts just as long as a good long-lasting eyeliner! Which is a good thing.  I suspect it would last even longer when paired with my Urban Decay eye primer or perhaps just powder. It doesn’t smudge if at normal circumstances. This evening I was so sweaty in a train delay, and it held up well. Note that I wasn’t using any powder. Since i was so sweaty it did smudge when I purposely rubbed my eyes.

Blusher

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The main reason why I *need* this brand. I have sensitive skin so usually blusher will cause tiny bumps to appear on my face. So i only use blusher for special occasions. My skin reacts very well to natural products so I guess I’m safe. So, yeay to daily blusher!

Again, it is very pigmented and I only need to apply a tiny bit. It has a lovely shimmer to it but its very subtle when applied.  The only downside is it only lasts for 12months once opened. So I have to use it everyday to finish the tub. Lol.

Lipstick

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I bought the Sahara colour and it’s love! It looks so natural. It is also buildable for more intense colour or you can just dab for subtle effect.

A colleague of mine tried it on and it also looks lovely on her.

What I love about this lipstick is that it feels so light. It doesn’t feel heavy like usual lipsticks do, which is why I hardly use lipstick. This lipstick feels more like a lip balm.

In terms of wearing, I guess it wears well. I still have some on my lips after a couple of hot drinks and dinner. It’s much better than my NYX. Plus, now I’m not worried if I’m eating my lipstick because the ingredients are safe. So yes, it’s a win!

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My look today. Huhuhu malunyaaa mak selfie. :p  please excuse my skin imperfections, its that time of the month and I was under stress. :p

You can get your World Organic products at their http://worldorganic.com.my or consult one of their ambassador, The Hehs Lady. She’s lovely. 😍

Disclaimer: I bought all these products using my own money and I receive no gifts or payments for this review. It is my opinion.

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