lunch date
the day started with the daddy (yes, the daddy) cooking lunch.
the bub being his greedy lil self, gobbled it up, of course.
oh, and we had someone for company during the porridgefest.
of course, as with most lunch dates, a bit of chit chat was involved…
deja vu
it’s been a while since we met up for our usual tête-à-tête, and sure enough, lots of stories about tit-a-tits, inverted and otherwise, were exchanged, lol! ;)
before:
after:
it’s so nice to see baby bumps forming on friends.
so here’s to more baby bumps all around!
the patriots
we spent two national days at the zoo in a row.
the national day before…
…..
five months preggers
and after!
…..
eight months un-preggers
Mammal, animal that raises its young on milk. Most mammals are covered with hair or fur, and most have specialized teeth that help them to cut or chew their food. Compared to other vertebrates (animals with backbones), mammals have highly developed nervous systems, and they show an intelligence and resourcefulness that few other animals can match. Mammals include some of the most familiar members of the animal kingdom, such as cats, dogs, elephants, and whales, and also human beings—a species that now dominates life on earth.
With the exception of three highly unusual mammals called monotremes, all mammals give birth to live young. Some young mammals are completely helpless when they are born, while others are relatively well developed. Despite these differences, all young mammals initially rely on their mothers for food, and stay with them until they are ready to fend for themselves. This close link between mother and offspring produces strong family ties, and allows young mammals to learn by copying their parents’ behavior.
- msn encarta
animals have it easy, don’t they? they have instincts to guide them in their ‘parenting duties’. whereas us, with our so-called higher intelligence… well, we basically smoke it along the way (and screw up a lot of times too, lol!).
playhouse daddy
daddies’ sole purpose in life – to rough-house with the kids. (that, and change their diapers, give mummies their money, etc.)
post-trauma
and this was around the time when the inevitable happened.
a rite of passage.
the Roll and Fall Off The Bed moment.
8, the magic month.
it happened on a normal morning, the Husband picked the little one up and plonked him on our bed while he got ready to go to work. i’d lifted my shirt on auto-mode for the little one to feed, as usual, and went right on sleeping.
a sickening THUD made my eyes fly wide open and my body snap upright, my hands searching for the little one who was supposed to be snuggled up next to me under my smelly morning armpit.
instead, a loud wail greeted me from beyond the other side of the bed and i screamed bloody murder at the realisation of what had happened. i can’t remember what went on in my head, it seems that his fall made MY mind blank out the details. but it was probably something like, “SHIT, my mum will KILL me for this”. lol!
but it REALLY was a heart-stopping moment, because you read about this so many times, you never think it’ll happen to you. and then, BAM! when you least expect it. your flesh becomes permanently stamped with a sizzling hot branding iron – “GUILTY OF NEGLECT”.
the funny thing was, the night before, i’d been cross with the Husband for his annoying habit of leaving his reading material lying on the floor next to the bed. i’d usually grumble and pick them up, only to find yet another book or magazine at the same spot the next day. but something in me decided not to pick up after him that night, for some strange reason. i’d thought, “heck it! let him pick it up, grrr~”. and the book of choice, a thick green book on how to become a millionaire, or something.
and who knew, that very morning, our little one would decide to roll off the bed and fall SPLAT on his face, right on that very book, like a target. it cushioned the fall somewhat, though it probably made his flat nose even, well, flatter!
they say a malaikat or angel hovers around little ones to protect them from harm. and thankfully, he didn’t fall on his back. i have this theory that babies are like cats, they fall on their feet (or, in the case of babies, on their fronts)… and they have nine lives? but that’s just my theory, mind you!
back to the tragic scene, the Husband and i rushed frantically to pick him up, and amidst the madness, i had the sense to lift up my shirt (yes, i AM a living, breathing, walking pacifier) and he immediately took comfort and stopped crying, sobbing occasionally, i think, more from the shock than the pain.
and within minutes, he was gurgling happily again, as if mocking us for the success of his ‘prank’.
%#$@
as expected, i DID get that scolding from my mum, but throughout the day, she gave me updates. no vomiting, no unusual behaviour, no fever.
and we tested him out ourselves later.
sitting upright and picking things up – check.
pulling self up to stand – check.
standing upright and balancing self – check.
laughing like a cheeky monkey – double check.
will we put him on the bed again? sure. but we’ll have to fortify it with towers of pillows and a firm grip on his leg at all times.
will he fall again? sure. just NOT OFF THE FREAKING BED!
will work for milk
mornings before the little one’s shipped off to mum’s, i’d pick him up from his cot, bleary-eyed and zombie-like (me and him), and he’d feed on one side while i pump on the other. a little practice in coordination and juggling, but proven to be doable. the boobs are fullest (and hardest!) in the morning after accumulating milk the whole night, so it’d be a waste (and uncomfortable later) if i don’t express in the morning. and that makes up one feed for the day, which i send off together with the little one.
pump session no. 2: lunch time. some food will be wolfed down first by this famished cow, then it’s down to business.
essential items:
1) pump and bottles / milk bags
my goal per session at this point would be between 260 – 280ml (one medium-sized avent bottle). pump session no. 3 happens before work ends (or when i reach home, depending), which makes up another 260 – 280 ml bottle. crazy? you can call it an obsession.
i used to store the EBM in milk bags, but after a while, i realise it’s more economical to just store them in bottles since they’ll be used up the next day. those i store in milk bags are for freezing. a little note on frozen vs chilled EBM: from discussions with other mums, i found that giving the baby fresh EBM chilled in the fridge is better than frozen EBM, since freezing it would remove some of the nutrients. so my frozen stash is more for back-up, and the more recent ones get used up first.
2) ice pack and cooler bag
as you can see, they’re ratty hand-me-downs from my SIL, just like my pumps. nothing fancy coz b/feeding is about being fuss-free and economical after all, no? (well, ok, cheapskate too, hee.) thankfully we have a fridge in the office, so i leave it there till the end of the day, which means the ratty cooler bag is just for the journey home. occasionally, if i have to be out on field work, i’d even lug a small ice-box i got for free, you know, the kind you carry to picnics, camping or fishing trips? very unglamourous. :D
3) liquid cleanser and lotsa tissue
hauling an entire steriliser to the office is out of the question, so washing and soaking the used pump with hot water is the next best thing for me. some people just leave the pump unwashed in the fridge and continue using it for the next session, which is convenient too.
4) plastic container
i got this tip from observing the other expressing mums in the nursing room. a tupperware or any container deep enough to soak the pump in and let dry for the next session. oh, and one more thing: ziplock bags! cheap and clean to keep your pump in. :)
i didn’t take any supplements though i did try the herb fenugreek for a while, but i stopped taking it because it didn’t seem to work on me PLUS it gave me the most unbearable body odour! phooey~ in any case, Green Life fenugreek comes in capsule form, is vegetarian and contains no gelatin, available at most pharmacies, even mustaffa.
and the most important bit about expressing: there’s this technique i learnt from a colleague which worked incredibly well for me and others.
(*caution: may cause “ewww!” reaction.)
while pumping on one side, what you do is you twiddle the nippie on the other breast with your thumb and finger to simulate the baby’s tongue, and you may just get a quicker let-down! when the flow pumped on one side has slowed down, you change sides and twiddle with the other nippie for another let-down. from my experimenting, i need about four let-downs per session, which i don’t even get when i’m feeding the baby, hehe. (again, call me crazy. or obsessed.)
they say you could try looking at your baby’s photo, or sniff on your baby’s clothes for let-downs, as the brain is tricked into thinking your baby is suckling.
well, if all else fails and you’re in desperate need of that let-down, there IS one more thing…
watch a porn video! (hey, it WORKS ok. i’m just not saying how i based this information on… LOL!)
WBW 2006
i asked a few people if advocating TBF (total breastfeeding) in this day and age is a lost cause.
one reply i got was, that it puts a lot of pressure on mums-to-be.
fair enough. i hope, in my personal quest to promote TBF, that i never offend or put to shame anyone who has gone the FM (formula milk) way. it IS, after all, a very personal choice, just like all other aspects of raising a child. there simply isn’t a right or wrong answer, is there?
but perhaps, if we’re all just that little bit more enlightened, and given that little bit more encouragement and support, and put in just that little bit more effort… maybe, just maybe, more mums will give it a go and not give up too soon, or too easily.
having only done this for eight months and being a newbie in this business of baby-rearing, i may not be the ‘expert’, or have the ‘credentials’, and i certainly will not know for sure how it’ll benefit my baby in the future when he’s all grown up. after all, who’s to say how healthy or how bright or how close to me he will be, just because of my TBF efforts now?
but some of you, like me, can’t help but have that gut feeling, that says, THIS is what’s best for our little ones. THIS is what our bodies are made for. THIS is Something Very Good. and THIS is a privilege that we’ll only get to do for a very short time in our entire life. (unless of course, you intend to pop out 10 children or more in your lifetime.)
and with that little bit of enlightenment, that little bit of encouragement and support, and that little bit of effort, we’ve proven to the naysayers that we CAN do this. maybe through sheer luck coz our babies are natural guzzlers, but if even the mother of the smallest of premies can do it (as well as the mother with the smallest of boobs!), why not everyone else?
and with that unbridled belief and massive conviction i have in every mum-to-be out there, i say, go on, i dare you to take up this challenge too. never be afraid to ask for help. never think it’s too hard. never think it’s not enough.
never think you CAN’T.
happy World Breastfeeding Week… and see you at the BreastFest on 13 Aug!
the aniq monologues
early one morning…
(*warning: scary sound effects ahead.)
i think he’s experimenting with his vocal chords, or he’s probably observed one too many noisy vehicles outdoors.
feel free to translate!
