Nursing Marathon

After talking with a friend about my shortage of milk supply and had to top up with formula, she said she also had the same problem, but she insisted not to top up with formula as it'll further diminishes the milk supply, and after a few days of nursing practically every hour, her supply was good for her baby. So I tried the same approach, had my bedside table with books and music, and nipple cream ready, I choose Lansinoh nipple cream as it's safe for baby and no need to remove before nursing. The last 2 days was fine, nursing every hour, sometimes baby sucked for 5 minutes and dose off, I reduce the bottle from every feed before to only 2 at night.

Some more tips from everyone that care & What to Expect the First Year, by the way, it's really a good book, clears up all my queries:

- Try to burb baby between breast, as sometimes they're not really full with air bubbles inside, and will need to nurse again very soon
- Feed according to your baby's need, instead of the clock or feeding schedule
- Eat healthy food (Eating for Two: Recipes for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women)& drink plenty of fluid
- Position baby well so he/she's not only sucking on the nipples which causes sore nipples
- For sore nipples, after each feed, squeeze a little breastmilk and pat around the nipple and apply nipple cream
- Sometimes crying doesn't mean a baby's hungry, maybe they just need a cuddle, try to calm her or put her back to sleep before offering a feed
- Wake baby to finish feeding, at least 15 minutes on one breast or until breast is soft.

There are more info on the la leche league website.

Got a new bottle of Bio-oil, glad to see my tummy is getting smaller, and hopefully the stretch mark will go soon.


Our little angel also got a blocked nose, my mum noticed it first and asked why she's breathing through her mouth. So we got a nasal aspirator for her.

I went out for a walk today and all those parents with toddlers caught my eyes, holding them and chasing around them when they pick up, throw & touch everything. I thought, being a new mum is a 24/7 hour job, and I admire mums that need to take care of more than 1 kid. To my mum, and all the mums, I salute you, you've all done a great job.

Welcome to Motherhood

Crying baby, sleepless nights, sore nipples, sore back, numb fingers all seems to be motherhood at the moment, my baby seems to demand feed more often now, nursing her seems to be never-ending. At the first week, I feel like I can handle it, as she'd slept for 5-6 hours after each feed and she only made 2 sounds, from watching the Dunstan Baby languages, it's either hungry or needs to change, and when she cries, the technique in The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer works! The white noise works like magic.

But this week, everything is different, she cries & cries, and I don't understand the language anymore, check her nappies, burp her..etc, nothing works! But she calms down almost every time I feed her, maybe that's why I'm always feeding and have sore nipples. And the white noise doesn't work anymore when she's still hungry after nursing her for an hour, and I need to go sterize the bottle to mix up some formula.

Some said that I don't need to feed her every time, sometimes maybe all she needs is a cuddle, someone to talk to her, play with her or just a random cry before sleep. I'll keep working hard to understand my baby more, although sometimes get frustrated especially when my body is so sore, so tired and cannot calm her down, at that time, I just put my baby down or hand it to someone else and have a break. There're of course good days too, like today, after feeding her, she's sleeping so peacefully now, which is a such a blessing to watch.

Getting back into shape

It's easier to update my blog while baby is sleeping, and baby monitor is the greatest invention ever, I can hear her & know her movement while in another room. The midwife said it'll take up to 3 months to get back into shape, and she recommended 2 exercises, the pelvic floor muscle (kegel exercise) and the abdominal exercise. There's a secret from Michelle Moss, the author of Pregnancy without pounds & Mommy without pounds to tummy exercise:

When it comes to flat abs, though, you really need to know the secret. For example, if you're thinking that you can just do situps every night - uh-uh!

The key to a flat tummy is training (and connecting to) your core. In fact, it's your deep abdominal muscle (transverse abdominus), and not your rectus abdominal (the 6 pack!), that will help you regain (or get) a flat stomach.
So forget the situps and rather start with this great exercise...

Heel Drag...
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Set your core by pulling your belly button in towards your spine (with a neutral spine, no pelvic tilt, and relaxed buttocks).
- Slowly slide one heel along the floor keeping your heel in contact with the floor at all times and then slowly return the leg back to starting position.
- Repeat 4 times each leg.

There's a video & audio program Fit Yummy Mummy , bascially a system on getting back a flat tummy, on nutrition and time management skills.

Still hunting for good breastfeeding bra, here's some tips.

My baby has arrived!

Finally we met our baby, it was such a delight. Almost 13 hours of contraction and 2 hours of labour, now that she's almost 1 week old, I seem to forget all those hard work and felt so blessed that she's here. I had an episomy as baby was not in the correct position (maybe I prefered to sleep on my right or other reasons) and had to use the vaccum. The head shape came out a bit funny but now it's getting better.

For the first week, it was hectic. Trying to heal from the wound and handle all these new things to me, luckily I had many help from the midwife & mostly my family. The hospital encourages breastfeeding, and for the first 5 days, I haven't got much, and the baby was sucking hard and I felt so painful. Cracked and sore nipples was a must.

I haven't got enough milk so have to top up with formula, my baby is drinking soy-based formula, but just found out an article from the Ministry of Health, maybe need to change to a cow's milk-based.

Some recommend me to feed baby with water if feeding on formula, but the midwife recommends not to, and also found an article: Drinking water may harm babies.

A friend's advise of using disposable nappies for the first month is really useful, as I'm so tired, really haven't got enough time to add extra stress of washing & drying to the schedule.

Week 39

Going to the midwife today, the beginning of the 39th week, it's pretty much just waiting now, and people from the antenatal group started to send baby arrival announcements, it's getting exciting to see all the cute babies coming. And friends also called to see if the baby is here yet. Everyone seems to be happy and very caring and friendly when they see your big tummy. I'm glad the baby can bring them joy.

Was reading some articles on child's mind development, and 2 names come up: Daniel J. Siegel & Rudolf Steiner, both do extensive research on infant's whole body (mind, body & spirit) development. I'm quite surprised to find out that at the early stage for infants (0-3 months or up to 1 year), relationship development is a lot more important than physical development. I've been thinking of what toys to buy to get my baby started to learn about the world, like the playgym, different colours/ textures, different kinds of music...etc. On Daniel Coleman's website, he mentions the importance of having a care-giver in a child care centre that have an emotional connection with our child, in order to have a healthy development.

Siegel's article mentioned that from birth, the infant is learning about their 'self', oh, gonna be late for my midwife appointment, will write more later....

Some good news: Dark Chocolate is good for the third trimester

Got this from babycenter:

Dark Chocolate could help ward off a serious complication known as preeclampsia, a condition that will affect our health and the baby, usually detected by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine, the following is a quote from the article.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is rich in a chemical called theobromine, which stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscle and dilates blood vessels, and has been used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries, Dr. Elizabeth W. Triche of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues write.

Only 2 more weeks to go, getting excited and nervous, glad that the pregnancy is finally over, but not sure what would happen during labour. The back pain, gronin pain, leg cramps and other pain that comes with it will finish soon! Also the extra time I guess, will be so busy with the baby, getting What to expect in the First year , they're selling cheaper than anywhere else, had a look at the book in the bookstore, it goes through everything month to month, I guess it'll be really helpful especially for me, with no experience with children nor baby, I don't even know what age go to kindergarten, that's how bad I am. :-)

baby story video, quite interesting to watch
http://tlc.discovery.com/beyond/index.html?playerId=203711705&categoryId=566566872&lineupId=151749457