The mother side of me
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I became a mother way back in 1999. I was a student then. Yeah... I was doing my postgraduate studies and motherhood was quite challenging for me considering the circumstances.

Being a student, I did not have the luxury of the 2-month maternity leave. So I had to go back and continue my research work quite early. I sent my daughter to a nursery at the Pediatric Ward of HKL. It was a walking distance from my office.

The nursery is named Creche and employed breast feeding policy. So all babies must be exclusively fed breast milk, no formula milk is allowed. I used to take some time off from my research work during mid morning, about 10 or 10.30 am and went to the nursery to breastfeed my baby. I went there during lunch hour too. I also provide expressed breast milk so that the babysitter can feed my baby when I was not able to go and breastfeed.

It was tiring, I admit whew!. And the fact that it was my first experience as a mother and my first attempt at breastfeeding a baby made it even more challenging and exhausting. Having a meal while breastfeeding was a common scenario. Eating with my right hand while the left hand hold the baby's head. At times, I couldn't even have a peaceful time in the toilet.

During the working days, sometimes I had to wait for hubby who had to work late so I would pick up my baby from the nursery and we stayed back in the postgrad students' room. Other times, I would be able to use the car and we commuted to the nursery. My daughter was used to the early morning traveling and she was quite comfortable in her baby car seat. But sometimes she did her screaming act crying that I had to stop the car and put her on my lap and continue the journey.

Well, with these challenges and difficulties, one can simply say, Ok, that's it!! No more pregnancy. But hey, I had 3 more after that. Each one with its own hardships. Having four kids is quite a handful for some but that is not even half of what my mother had to face. 9 kids, beb!!  But besides all the hardships and exhaustion, there's joy, pride and happiness. The feelings that I won't trade, not even for a million ringgit.

This morning, I received a self-made card from one of my daughters with this written inside:

Terima kasih emak tolong masak macam-macam. Terima kasih emak tolong menjaga kami. Terima kasih emak tolong membeli hadiah. I love emak. Saya meminta maaf kerana saya nakal. Saya tak akan buat lagi. Terima kasih emak selalu bawa angah jalan-jalan. Terima kasih emak tolong menjaga kami sewaktu kecil hingga besar. Terima kasih emak tolong membeli baju.

Kesian (errk?? Kesian?? confused I know she meant sekian...) terima kasih.

Reading it made me glow inside. My heart almost burst with the love for my kids love struck. I'm truly blessed.


Happy mother's day to all mothers.
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2 Responses
  1. Unknown Says:
    May 22, 2010 at 10:25 AM

    Pengorbanan seorang ibu itu tidak ternilai harganya.

    hope u had a great mother's day with your lovely girls!


  2. Leena Says:
    May 22, 2010 at 2:16 PM

    Thanks Hasnah. I sure did. :)


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