(Pumped) Milk Strike!

Gah!

Maddy's been on a bottle milk strike for more than a week now!!! She's refusing to drink from the bottle while I'm at work during the day, but is perfectly fine latching on when I get home and several times (huhuhu) at night.

Based on other mommies' opinions and advice, it appears that Maddy has figured out we've been sneaking in a bit of formula to her bottle of BM, and now has "trust" issues. She's refusing the bottle altogether, whether it's mixed or not. Can a 1 year old even be THAT smart and discerning??? Pwede ba un?!

At least she's eating solids more or less well enough. I make sure she's well fed with solids and drinking enough water.

Pedia says that at this age, they need to drink only around 16oz or 2 glasses of milk a day (whether formula or breastmilk). I really really want Maddy to start drinking like a normal toddler, of around 2-3 bottles of milk during the day, and none at all during sleeptime. Mommy needs straight sleep.

MIL suggests I put powdered formula a bit on my boobs. Okay will try that.

The Miracle That is Oregano!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, Maddy woke up with a cough. It wasn't alarming at first. I thought it may be just a morning cough, but throughout the day, she would keep coughing intermittently.

By evening, she developed a low-grade fever, around 37.5 C.

Wednesday

By Wednesday, she had a runny nose already and we went to see the pedia.

There was no fluid in her lungs, so the pedia suspects it's just the common cold or some viral infection.

He prescribed Muconase nasal spray, to clear out the lining of her nose and thin out the mucus, 2x in each nostril, sprayed 4-5x a day. He also prescribed that she keep take Allerkids (cetirizine).

The two kids of a couple of mommy friends I have in Cebu just also had coughs and colds. Tin said that Lexie was on meds for 5-6 days without improvement. She finally got hold of oregano leaves, prepared them for Lexie, and saw significant improvements in Lexie's breathing, congestion and cough!

Being a believer in herbal medicines, I quickly found a way to buy 2 pots of oregano from a yoga teacher somewhere. I brought them home and set them by the balcony. The pots were Php100 each.

Thursday

There are 2 ways that oregano leaves can more or less be prepared. In both cases, the leaves have to be rinsed thoroughly, with water and vinegar first, then rinsed again for 2 more times in water.

(the leaves are covered with a light white fuzz, which you should remove as you rinse)

First, you only let around 5-7 leaves rest in hot drinking water or over cooked rice for 3-5 minutes, so that the leaves become softer. You then squeeze the leaves to get the oregano extract/juice. You can feed it to your baby by dropper or syringe (sans needle) 3x a day, which is what I did.

(oregano extract)

Second, you can also boil the leaves for 10-15min in 2-3 cups of water, allowing the oregano's juice to seep to the water. You can take 1/2 cup of the oregano water throughout the day.

(oregano water)

Wednesday her fever increased, and she was so restless in her sleep. She couldn't breathe properly and her head must hurt. I put on the Euky Bear vaporizer to help.

Thursday, when we gave the oregano, we saw some improvement and her fever went down. But her nose was still running.

Friday & Saturday

As we kept giving her oregano, her runny nose decreased, but her cough worsened. This could be expected though, as per pedia. Since I kept on spraying her nose as much as I can, the mucus thinned and kept dripping to her throat, causing it irritation. The coughing is an effect of the mucus being cleaned out.

But she had no more fever on both days. I kept on the Euky Bear still for the evening.

Sunday

By Sunday morning, *pwera usog*, she has no more runny nose, and a couple of rattling, looser coughs. Not like the hard hacking coughs she had yesterday and Friday!

I will keep at it with this oregano until she gets better. I don't think oregano works overnight, but seeing improvement in less than 5 days is certainly a relief for this worried momma.

Maddy's teething-related fever

Sometime 2 weeks ago, Maddy developed a fever which we suspected was related to her teething, specifically her incisors coming out. The gum area was sore and she kept wanting to bite or chew things, and she would grind her teeth sometimes.

Her fever reached 39.2 maybe at its highest. We only gave her tempra when her fever reaches 38.5 and above, as per pedia advice. We didn't administer any meds but just monitored her temperature. We didn't give her a shower like we always do in the mornings, but just sponge baths throughout the day. Sleep time was worse because her gums or teething would give her such a hard time and she kept moaning in her sleep.

I feel like breastfeeding helped her get well better, since sucking supposedly helps alleviate the teething pains. We also put KoolFever patches 2-3 times a day.

She was so kawawa when she had her fever. She refused to be put down, she wanted to be carried all the time, and she would only sleep if on top of someone (except for me, I think the breastfeeding helped her sleep more soundly and I can manage to put her on the bed).

Her fever disappeared in 3 days, but she developed roseola or some post-fever rash. We weren't sure if it was itchy, but just in case, pedia prescribed some cetirizine drops. The rash was also gone in 3 days.

As with all her sickness, I wished that her sickness would transfer to me instead. And as always, wish granted.

I developed a sore throat not long after, care of some post-nasal dripping. Fortunately *cross-fingers*, I haven't developed a cold. I attached it immediately with Manuka Honey, Echinacea, lots of Vit C, and hot water or salabat with lemon, cayenne pepper and honey. I also took Sinupret, to thin out the mucus.

Now, it's more of an irritating hacking cough interspersed throughout the day. Damn mucus along the throat lining, irritating the nerve endings. The Company Physician also prescribed Kamillosan spray for the throat to reduce inflammation, and some mucolytic tablets to be taken 2x a day, by dissolving the same in 1/4 cup water and drinking it. Let's hope this works.

(the dissolved mucolytic tablet makes it look like Sprite!)

Starting with walking

Around 8-9 months, Maddy's exhibited interest in walking. They say that you don't force the babies to walk, they have to want to do it themselves. So only during the times that Maddy herself seemed to want to stand up do we hold her up for a period of time.

Eventually, she got used to it and started "running" around assisted. We had to get her walking shoes, which are essentially just crib shoes. She prefers it to those chunky shoes, and it's better than socks.

But I think eventually we'll need to let her wear actual shoes, since the crib shoes have no traction on the floor and at the speed that she "runs", she keeps slipping!

We already have pink Stans for her, but we purposely got it 2-3 sizes bigger so she can wear them when she can actually already walk!

Co-sleeping with Maddy

Early on, I've already decided that I wanted to co-sleep with Maddy. Not necessarily right beside each other on the bed, but definitely in the same room, if only because I would be breastfeeding, so it's more convenient for the both of us. And no, I was not inclined to have the yaya sleep together with us in the room. It will kill the romance between hubby and I, diba?!

So we got/asked for a co-sleeper, and I got one from my baby shower. Sadly, it didn't get much use since Maddy preferred and slept longer and better when lying on top of me or beside me.

Even until now that she's 11 months old, she sleeps between hubby and me, but more of towards me. It's hard to sleep, given the little wiggle room I have, but I've managed so far and have gotten used to it already. Maybe around 7-8 months she's started sleeping longer, usually 3-4 hours. There were a couple of times she's slept for 5 hours straight.

I think the solution for her sleeping even longer would be if she slept a bit away from me. I gathered from some of the mommy FB groups that the babies can smell your milk especially when you're right next to each other, which triggers them to keep waking up and wanting to suck. Unfortunately, we can't fit a pack and play and crib beside the bed, and she can't fit her co-sleeper anymore. 

She's also started rolling around in her sleep!!! So we had to attach a safety bed rail at the foot of the bed.

Here's to hoping for longer sleeping time and less rolling around.

Maddy Sharapova

So we dressed up Maddy as a tennis player for Enzo's 1st Birthday, since his theme was Olympics!

I bought a ping pong racket, printed out a tennis racket image on sticker paper, wrapped neon sticker strips around the handle, and voila - Tennis Racket!

She also already had an RL tennis dress onesie care of MIL.

I got a sweatbands from the department store to complete the look.

"Maddy" Sharapova won best costume for girls!

Maddy finally enjoys swimming!

The first time we took Maddy swimming (Malapascua pa, no less!), she hated it! She was 5-6months old and found the water disorienting. But she cried slightly less in the ocean than in the pool.

Fast forward to 9 months old, we took her swimming again at Blue Waters Maribago Resort, and she loved it! Granted we didn't get to take a dip in the seawater (wasn't that clean), but she loved the pool! It also helped that the water was warm.

Since then, we've been taking her for a dip in the condo pool once in a while, even with her yaya bibit! But we make sure to take her between 4-5pm when the sun had sufficiently warmed the water already, and we only swim for less than 20min. Most times, we just bring down her Stokke bathtub so she can rinse and shower downstairs instead of having to bundle her up and shower her back home.

On that note, she seems to dislike showers and prefers sitting on her bathtub "swimming" around during bathtime. We go so far as to keep her in her bathtub in the morning for 15-20min after she's already bathed, because she just likes to sit there in the water and play with her squeaky water toys!

Coughs and Colds - Mommy and Maddy

Maddy

The little girl developed a cough, which eventually became or which was eventually followed by a cold. The poor thing had runny nose and phlegm at the back of her throat, which we think was irritating her to no end. She couldn't really sleep properly, because the cough would wake her up or she'd end up gagging and throwing up her milk because of the coughing! Her vomited milk would be mucusy and sticky.

At first, we tried to let it run its course, as the pedia said there was no liquid in the lungs, and mucus was clear, so it was probably some allergies.

I bought a Euky Bear vaporizer which came with a eucalytus inhalant liquid that I can pour into the water in the vaporizer. 

(here she is, I'm making her breath in the vapors)

I felt that it worked at least to loosen the phlegm or mucus. But not enough.

Eventually the pedia recommended we give Maddy mucolytic syrup to loosen up the phlegm. 1.5ml 3x a day. That and Muconase saline spray helped. But her nose kept running, and her throat was still sticky with the phlegm and she couldn't really spit it out or expel it.

Eventually, we had another check up. The pedia said that there's a bit of fluid in her lungs now. Probably what started as allergies gave way to an upper respiratory infection. It was nothing major, since the mucus was still clear. It was essentially the common cold, which we could choose to just let it run its course. However, since we're leaving out of town the week after, we decided to fast track the process by giving her antibiotics already. 

So the trio of meds given to Maddy, all for 10 days, were:

(a) Klaz (Clarithromycin)

- shaken because it's granules in suspension

- pink, strawberry flavored, but essentially yucky and had a bitter aftertaste

- administered by using a syringe without the needle, 3ml 2x a day

(b) Meptin syrup (Procaterol Hydrochloride)

- quite yummy actually, no strong taste, much like clear sugar syrup

- administered by dropper, 1.5ml 2x a day

(c) Montiget (Montelukast Sodium) 4mg

- sachet of white powder

- administered by mixing it over a spoonful of or with her food, not with liquid, 1x a day before bedtime (or her last meal of the day)

So far, the meds have been working and her coughs and cold have disappeared, save for a cough or two or a rattling phlegmy sound at the back of her throat once in a while. 

Mommy

Soon after Maddy started her cough and cold, I sent a message to the universe to pass on to me Maddy's sickness instead. WELL. Got passed on to me alright. But Maddy still had hers. Anyway, at least she's getting better.

I refused to take meds, since cold and decongestant meds like phenylephrine or phenylpropanolamine decreases milk supply. I was still breastfeeding so some meds were also off the table for me, because the harmful ingredients can make their way to Maddy through my milk.

I stuck to the vaporizer for a while. Drank a lot of hot water/lemon tea/ginger tea, took in Manuka Honey (pricey!), Echinacea and Vitamin C.

My nose remain clogged, I kept coughing, I sounded like a disease carrier around the office, I had to wear a mask at some point when we visited the pedia just so I don't infect the kids in the waiting area.

Eventually, I relented and started taking Himox antibiotics and alternated between Nasathera and Sinupret for the colds. I appear to have allergic rhinitis. Now, they've more or less eased up. I just still have mucus, but no runny nose anymore and no congestion. 

Let's hope I'm totally cured by day 7. It's already day 3 or 4 of taking the antibiotics so far.

MAHAL MAGKASAKIT. Let me just put it out there. 

Drink lots of water and Vitamin C people. And Echinacea to boost your immune system. Gah. 

Starting with Solids and Constipation

So when Maddy reached around 6 months, the pedia gave us the go signal to give her solids. We had no clue as to go about it. The pedia gave us a couple of boxes of Cerelac and just feed it to her accordingly, along with pureed fruits and veggies. When we asked how much and how often, the response was start with once a day, and feed so long as she'll accept the food, and stop feeding when she turns her head away or refuses to take another bite. Not. That. Helpful.

Anyway. We just had to wing it. We started feeding her once a day of Cerelac. The box said 5 tablespoons of the dry cereal, mixed with hot water. But good lord that was more for a big kid I think. Because she only ate about a teaspoon's worth of the mixed Cerelac. So eventually, we just dropped down to 1-2 tbsp of dry cereal mixed with water. 

Then we started giving her Earth's Best or Gerber (we preferred Earth's Best). We'd give her a serving or two in the afternoon/early evening, in addition to her Cerelac in the morning.

Now, we've been regular at feeding her thrice a day: Cerelac in the morning, some Earth's Best after lunch/mid afternoon, and another feeding in the evening. Sometimes we give her a refrigerated apple slice to munch on. It seems to satisfy her need for a different texture, and the coolness of the apple slice helps soothe her teething!

We had issues with her constipation for a long time. We'd have to administer suppositories just to get her to poop. The pedia suggested we give her Duphalac (some laxative syrup), which for the life of me didn't work! You know what eventually worked????!!! Pureed papaya!!!

I pureed some ripe papayas mixed with a bit of water, refrigerated bottles of it. Fed papaya to her one feeding every day. And sure enough, after the 3rd or 4th day of papaya feeding, she started pooping regularly again! 

I am now a believe of papaya power.

Eczekleen AD

Sometime last month, when Maddy turned 5 months or so, she got these red rashes on her chin and cheeks. I figured, it must be drool rash. But it wasn't going away no matter how much we vigilantly wiped her chin and cheeks of drool. I suspected some form of baby eczema, since Hanley has skin asthma, and she could have inherited it.

Eventually, the pedia recommended Eczekleen AD cream.

It wasn't available in the Rose Pharmacies here in Cebu, and a lot of the Mercury Drugstores had this out of stock. Finally found a tube - costs around Php900! A bit expensive but a little goes a long way.

It's actually locally manufactured by Eskeen Laboraties, Inc. Although their website eskeen.com.ph contains literally nothing except their logo, they do have a Facebook page which has substantially more content. --> https://www.facebook.com/Eskeen-Laboratories-Inc-104394126334861/

Eczekleen AD Advanced Barrier Replenishing Cream (don't mistake this for the Eczekleen AD moisturizer) is meant for atopic eczema, which according to Mayo Clinic occurs usually with children, but can flare up at any age. It's red and itchy skin condition, which can be worsened by sweat, fluids on skin (drool!) and wool or harsh chemicals or other irritants.

After just a few days of using the cream, there was noticeable difference in Maddy's skin already!!!

We used it twice a day - once after bath, and once before sleeping. After the eczema subsided, we used it only before sleeping. Now we're only using it every other day or so. The pedia said it should be okay to use daily since it has no steroids.

I am completely amazed with the effectivity of this product, especially considering it's locally made. Highly recommended for those whose babies are suffering from eczema!

The past 6 months

With the little girl almost 6 months old, my MIL reminded me to note down the important milestones, etc. somewhere.

Tantrums, Interaction

During my last post, she was just about to turn 4 months old. This was the time when she would always have these unexplainable tantrums! These subsided past 4 months though.

During her 5th month or so, she's become more interactive, laughed a lot, cooed and babbled more! And she has also started rolling from her back to her tummy. I thought she'd never be able to roll until past 6 months, because she was a heavy, "healthy" baby, but this little girl has some serious core strength.

Skin Asthma and Drool Rash?

Unfortunately, though her baby face acne subsided sometime 2nd-3rd month, some mild eczema has been acting up on her face. She has rough patches on her chin and cheek, probably exacerbated by her drool. We sort of suspect she's teething already, owing to the copious amount of drool she produces (and smears all other), plus the fact that she's started chewing or sucking on anything she could get hands on, or her mouth on. But she's not in any significant discomfort or pain, so I've held off applying any teething gel on her gums.

Since Hanley has skin asthma, I've posited that she probably inherited it too. We've been prescribed some ezcema cream on her skin, and cross fingers that it'll help! Pedia also prescribed a brand of hypoallergenic bath wash (though I was pretty sure the Mustela ones we use are okay. But oh well), and Cetaphil Restoraderm on her body after bath.

Iron Supplement

When Maddy hit 5 months, the pedia also prescribed Ferlin Drops, or iron supplement. However, this caused Maddy to become extremely constipated! It's not that she was in pain or was straining a lot, but her farts were aplenty and STINKY! Usually she would poop right when she wakes up, but ever since Ferlin Drops, she would wake up moaning and moving around in discomfort. After researching on my own, I found that purely breastfed babies do not need iron supplement. In fact, iron supplements counteract the absorption of the iron naturally found in breastmilk. So I asked the pedia if we could stop giving it to her, and he agreed. That was a week and a half ago. She didn't poop for 6 days, so we finally gave her a suppository. The insertion itself wasn't painful, but the poor girl's stomach probably started rumbling and acting up because of it just a few minutes later and she kept crying. But no more than 20 minutes after, she pooped out this huge pile of green-black poop, so that was a relief! We also give her half and half of prune juice and water (total of 20-40oz) to ease stool movement.

We're not back to regular poop programming yet (she used to be able to go every day, even at least twice a day). Now it's been a couple of days since her last poop, and already the pedia wants to start her on Cerelac.

I'm holding off on the Cerelac until her pooping patterns normalize.

Mommy's Sleep

Am I getting more sleep? Not really. Still waking up every 2-3 hours to feed, which means 3 to 4 times from the moment I tuck into bed until 7:30-8am. But my body kind of got used to it. So I'm a functioning adult regardless.

Things that make her laugh

This girl is a tough nut to crack. She has a resting bitch face and she is so hard to please. But we've managed to nail down some sure-fire laughing maneuvers.

- Lifting her up and down to step on things to the tune of Pink Panther
- Massaging her thighs
- Raspberries on her chin and neck, and armpits
- Playing dead/asleep then waking up to surprise her
- Dragging a lampin across her face

She knows. She knows when I'm in the shower. The moment the first soap suds form, or the shampoo foams, she starts crying. I could hear her wail from the sala or nursery. 

A week or so before she finally turned 3 months old, she's started drooling buckets. The floor is speckled with small puddles of drool. Then she has began eating or sucking her entire fist, followed by bouts of burrowing her head/face/chin into your shoulder. And the crying! My oh my. For 2 weeks, she would cry randomly in a day, in varying shades of whimpers to wails to full blown screaming. Sometimes it's because she's sleepy. Sometimes she's just disturbed. More than half the time though, there's just no cause or explanation.

According to the pedia, as she starts to see clearer and hear better, and as she starts to process her surroundings more, she can get overstimulated or overwhelmed. She's also at that age when she's more emotional that the littlest, most random things can trigger crying fits. 

But she's definitely seeing and hearing more. Pausing to look or listen intently. She's a very observant little lady.

So far, her tantrums have subsided. You could definitely see how her eyes light up at sounds and follow voices. She's so aware, it's amazing.

First Out of Town Post-Partum

I had two separate trips to Manila just last week and this week, respectively. I could have opted to stay overnight and at least see my family, wake up the next day for the planning seminar/forum at a normal hour. But I couldn't bear to leave Maddy for that long yet. That would require some transitioning.

So I chose to take an early morning flight at an ungodly hour of 5:30am for my first trip, and 4:50am on my second. My return tickets were for the 10pm flight, although on both occasions we luckily got into the earlier 8pm flight.

Waking up at 3am or so and preparing to leave your baby at that hour needed serious planning and operational management shizz. 

For one, I had to figure out how to feed her before leaving, at the same time pump, and then to make sure she doesn't sense me leaving or gone.

For the first trip, I thought, why not have the yaya wake up at 3:30am to take Maddy from me? I was up at 3am, managed to wash up, brush my teeth and change without waking either Hanley or Maddy. Yaya was ready to take Maddy from me at 3:30am. The plan was to let her sleep in the nursery, because hubby could not be trusted to not roll over Maddy or even wake up when she cries. I managed to feed her, change her diaper and have her fall asleep right before I left... only to be told that she woke up a few minutes later and crying. Which was different, because she usually sleeps throughout the night til around 7:30-8am the next day. She definitely sniffed that mommy was not around. Hubby had to be woken up to help calm Maddy down. They fed her a bottle and rocked her to sleep in our bedroom, which is her familiar sleeping environment, and then moved her to the nursery when she was sound asleep. 

For my second trip to Manila, I fully briefed hubby on what to do and took him through all of the steps. Maddy was not going to be moved to the nursery. She'll stay asleep in her usual spot between hubby and I (more like hubby, a body pillow and I). I fed Maddy and changed her diaper before I left. I manually pumped in the room, watching over her, in the dark. I woke hubby up when it was time to go, so he could move to my spot in the bed and serve as the warm body beside Maddy. 

Hubby was mommy for the day. I left a bottle of my freshly pumped milk with him, which he fed to Maddy when she was stirring up to feed. He changed her diaper, talked to her, tried to rock her back to sleep, all sans yaya! And in the evening, he took over from the yaya come bedtime and managed to feed her and put her to sleep by the time I got home. Hurray!

As for me, I was pumping wherever I could - from the airport, to the car service, to the conference room, the hotel function room, back at the airport, and on the plane. Kahit saan nalang. 

(manual pumping at an empty row on the plane, with my light gray Seve's Mom nursing scarf)

(milk bags of milk collected from the entire day. I cannot imagine how many I'd then have to bring back home if it was an overnight trip O_o)

When I was at MCIAA, a lady sat down next to me and was clearly wondering what in the world was I doing under my nursing scarf. I was about to apologize and ask if it was okay that I was pumping, when she said, "Are you pumping? That's amazing! Good for you!" Believe it or not, I was so relieved and touched I started tearing up. Kakahiya!

(NAIA 2's nursing/breastfeeding room. Could be better. But at least it's there. Hard to complain when the alternative is the open public area by the boarding gate.)

I had to hand over my cooler's ice panels to the banquet waiters so they could put it in the pantry freezer. This is to ensure my milk will remain cold after I leave the conference room/hotel, throughout the flight and until I get back home. This meant I needed to still find a way to cool my milk during the forum. And......this is where coffee mugs filled to the brim with ice come into the picture. Every couple of hours or so I requested a refill of ice to keep my milk inside the cooler cool. Since I was 2 hours early at the hotel, given my ridiculous dawn flight, I managed to find a seat/table right next to a socket. WIN! So I was pumping every 2 hours during the forum. Other than my officemates/tablemates, if anyone else noticed - who cares anymore. As long as I could keep my baby fed, all propriety (maybe not all, just a significant portion thereof) is thrown out of the window.

(I swear the waiters probably thought I was going to steal the mugs. Hashtag para-paraan lang.

#kunggustomaramingparaankungayawmaramingdahilan)

(with my cooler's ice panels' powers waning towards the end of the day, I had to request for ice on the plane to put inside a ziplock and put on top of my milk to keep them cool until I get home)

Maddy turned 3 months last Sunday. Which means it's been 3 months of exclusive breastfeeding. GAWD. 

(Happy 3 Months kiddo!)

It's exhausting. It's logistically challenging. It demands preparation and developing a certain type of skill set, which enables you to pump, answer the phone, type emails and legal memos with one hand, and have conversations with your clients and manage to maintain eye contact notwithstanding that one hand is under your scarf holding your pump against your breast and there is that distinct whirring sound of your breast pump motor at the background. 

If you can pretend you don't hear it, maybe the person in front of you won't. 

Asa pa noh? Deadma nalang.

Chinese New Year 2016

I wonder how I'll fare in this year of the Monkey, Hanley and I being born in the year of the Tiger. Monkey and Tiger are chong or incompatible signs in the Chinese Zodiac.

I've only been frequenting the Taoist Temple right beside my office - Sian Tian Temple - since I don't know where else to go. 

But for Chinese New Year, I asked Hanley's friend whose dad frequents a particular Buddhist temple. Fo Guang Shan Chu Un Temple or "Chu Un" Temple (慈恩寺) in short, is just near the new Robinsons Galleria Cebu. Usually, we go at the auspicious time of anytime between 4-6am. But since Hanley needs his sleep and our schedule depends on what time Maddy gets up, we ended up going there at 10am. At this point, there was an ongoing New Year's prayer session happening and we couldn't really go near the main altar. We just lighted incense and offered them at the side altars.

Maddy looked so cute in her qipao all the way from Hong Kong as a gift from my cousin Eng-Eng who is also expecting! :D I'm sure she's reading this post too. Thank you!

(looks like a Chinese sausage baby)

Hefty Baby!

Yesterday was Maddy's second pedia visit. She was weighed, and the scale showed her at 6.2 kilos. Around 2 kilos heavier than when she was last there. 13 pounds!

When we checked with the doctor, he confirmed that she weighed as much as a 6-month old. Babies usually double their weight sometime 5-6 months, and she already doubled hers now at 2 months and 1 week!

(sleepy baby after mass, with her second cousin Hailey)

(2-month old going on 6-months - GAH!)

The doctor however said not to worry. We don't think about obesity or putting the baby on a diet until she is at least 2 years old. For now, the growth is normal, and is in fact encouraged, because it means that she is developing well and fast. It also means that she will reach her developmental milestones earlier - like she has a very strong neck and can more or less hold her head upright now!

Last night, we also gave her a bottle of my milk before sleeping, because I just pumped out that time and I didn't expect that she'd want to feed. I don't know if it was the bottle or maybe she's just starting to retain more milk in general, or maybe she was tired from her vaccination, but SHE SLEPT FOR 5 HOURS from 11pm to 4am! That means I GOT 5 HOURS OF SLEEP TOO! 

(my 2-month old wearing 6-month old pajamas)

(sometimes she sleeps beside me on her side, instead of on my chest)

And I haven't had more than 3 hours of sleep since I gave birth, mind you. Whoop!

Don't know if there will be a repeat tonight or the following nights. But at least I know that she can almost sleep through the night. Happy and sad at the same time. Happy because that means I get more sleep, although my body kind of got used to waking up every couple of hours anyway. Sad because ungodly-hour-nursing is our thing and our bonding :(

Back to Work

During the first few weeks post-partum, I wanted to so much to go back to work. I was bored. Maddy was sleeping basically 24/7. I was just stuck at home. My family was in Manila. 

Then after my post-partum blues ended, I became so enamored with Maddy that I contemplated not going back to work. I downright dreaded not seeing Maddy the whole day. When I go out on errands, I only disappear for 3-4 hours at a time, and rush back home.

Last Friday was my first day back at the office (lucky that my maternity leave ended on a Thursday so I wouldn't have to suffer a whole week back at work missing Maddy so much). 

Going back to work isn't as simple as leaving the house at 8am (the good thing with Cebu City is that my office is just around a 15-minute drive from the house) and coming back home at 5:30pm.

We've decided to leave Maddy with my in-laws when I'm at work, since their house is closer to the office than ours. I can rush over or they can rush over if there's an emergency.

This means that Maddy leaves the house with us and gets dropped off at the in-laws'. And this involves a huge production/logistical nightmare. We have to transfer the milk from the storage cups to milk bottles. I make sure to pack around 6 3-oz milk for them to cover her needs for the day. We pack those bottles in a cooler. Then there's the diaper bag. There's also the stroller so she can go around the house without needing to be carried. There's also my work bag and huge pump bag,with my own cooler for bringing milk home. There's also another bag for the bottle warmer.

Simple? Still no.

I wake up at 6:30am to pump fresh milk for them to bring along the ride going to the in-laws, which doesn't need to be heated, in case she gets hungry before reaching her destination. I take a quick shower after pumping, so I can make sure to feed her before leaving the house. I've stopped eating breakfast at home. I've packed up my oatmeal and milo in tupperwares and stocked them at my office cubicle. I go to the office around 15min earlier than punch in time just so I can eat breakfast there :(

Pumping in the office isn't so hard, but I've yet to get a real schedule down. Right now it feels more like I go to the office just to pump milk instead of working. Since my boobs are so used to being milked every hour or so, when I was just at home with Maddy, they hurt every hour or so in the office. This means I have to pump every 1-1.5 hours. Which again is such a big production. Over my head goes the nursing cover or shawl. Take out the pump parts and motor from the bag. Plug it in. Answer work call. Screw in the milk storage container. Maneuver your boob out of your blouse without flashing passers-by from your cubicle. Pump. Type in work laptop and get some work in. Try to get the pump+container out from the blouse without spilling milk (never successful. I have milk on my hands, my blouse, my pants. I smell like milk the whole day). Screw on lid of container. Answer work call again. Keep pump parts and milk in cooler. Repeat in an hour. GAWD.

Then lunchtime I go over to the in laws to see Maddy and to nurse her so she doesn't have to go through a bottle.

For the past 3 days I've started working, I've basically nursed at around 7:30am before leaving the house, pumped at 9:30am, 11:30am, nursed at 12/noon, pumped at 1:30pm, 3:30pm and then 5pm before leaving the office.

Exhausting.

Will keep you all posted.

Emotional benefits of breastfeeding

I don't really want to go on and on about the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding (plus, it's free - for the kuripot in me). 

My parents regularly ask me why I keep on breastfeeding, why I don't just feed her formula because it's convenient and so that my boobs don't sag (yes, the last one came from my mom; very concerned about my boobs), how long was I going to keep this up.

Well. My mom only breastfed me for around 2 weeks or less. So..I've been breastfeeding for 2 months. Achieve na achieve nako. Of course I've thought about formula feeding! It'll mean no more being sought out at random times and in random public places to nurse. It also means no more loose or button-down blouses, and I can actually wear something nice without having to worry about how in the world will I find access to my boobs for feeding or pumping. No more scouring for feeding or pumping areas everytime we go somewhere new. I wouldn't have to be constricted to a certain radius from the nearest lactation or nursing room. I wouldn't have to carry around a huge pumping bag filled with pumping paraphernalia, looking incredibly unfashionable.

In fact, if I don't want to give up giving her breastmilk, why don't I just opt to pump exclusively and feed her from the bottle everytime?

But the moment Maddy latches on during direct feed, all the abovementioned fade into unmentionables. No nipple confusion for this little lady - she clearly prefers mommy's breast over a bottle anytime. The feeling of closeness, our bonding time at the breast, is really precious.

There are a few articles I've read online that really resonate with me, and I'd like to quote them as follows:

--> New Mamas Get Nothing Done (and Other Untruths)

"But here’s where it gets interesting: As much as you need and want a break now (and you should take one, more on that later), no mother has ever looked back on this time and thought, “I wish I had held my baby less.” You will not remember the dishes that didn’t get done, the vacuuming that you just couldn’t make happen, or the dirty clothes you wore more often than you’d like to admit. You will remember the first smile, the first belly laugh, the first words, the first steps. You will remember the way you looked at your baby, and the way your baby looked at you.

So the next time you find yourself wondering how another day is gone and nothing is done, stop. Hold your baby—feel the way that tiny body strains to contain this giant soul—complete, and full of potential all at the same time. Take a deep, slow breath. Close your eyes and measure your day not as tasks, but as feelings, as sounds, as colors. Exhaustion is part of it. And it’s true, you will get “nothing” done. But the hard parts will fade. The intense, burning love is what remains, and it is yours to keep forever.

--> Mommy, Somebody Needs You

"Mommy means I just put the baby back down after her 4 a.m. feeding when a 3-year-old has a nightmare. Mommy means I am surviving on coffee and toddler leftovers. Mommy means my husband and I haven't had a real conversation in weeks. Mommy means I put their needs before my own, without a thought. Mommy means that my body is full of aches and my heart is full of love.

I am sure there will come a day when no one needs me. My babies will all be long gone and consumed with their own lives. I may sit alone in some assisted living facility watching my body fade away. No one will need me then. I may even be a burden. Sure, they will come visit, but my arms will no longer be their home. My kisses no longer their cure. There will be no more tiny boots to wipe the slush from or seat belts to be buckled. I will have read my last bedtime story, seven times in a row. I will no longer enforce time-outs. There will be no more bags to pack and unpack or snack cups to fill. I am sure my heart will yearn to hear those tiny voices calling out to me, "Mommy, somebody needs you!"

 It's 4am and I am exhausted and frustrated, but it's OK, she needs me. Just me. And maybe, I need her too. Because she makes me Mommy. Someday she will sleep through the night. Someday I will sit in my wheelchair, my arms empty, dreaming of those quiet nights in the nursery. When she needed me and we were the only two people in the world."

So every time someone tells me to stop holding her so often or I shouldn't let her fall asleep on my chest, in case she gets used to it, I always think about how I'll only have a few months left to enjoy these. Before she gets too heavy to be held. Before she gets too big to fall asleep on my chest. Before she starts sleeping through the night without requiring frequent nursing. Before she gets too old to breastfeed. Before I opt to wean her from my milk and cease pumping altogether. 

Breastfeeding is Mommy and Maddy time, that no one else can duplicate. Not even the yaya who is tasked with feeding her the bottle. So what if "masanay sya sa karga"? I'll worry about that when we get there. Right now, I've more important things to worry about. Like will my baby still recognize me after a full day of being at work. Will my baby still want to feed at mommy's breast or she might enjoy the bottle more. Will my baby miss me or she probably won't even notice I'm gone for the day. 

Maddy Turns 2 Months!

Maddy's aka Chu Bun [choo-boon] [秋闵 - her Hokkien name] is 2 months old today!

According to Internet sources:

1. "Your baby will now be sleeping for longer periods of time, around 2-3 hours."

Ehm. I'm lucky if she gets to sleep for more than 1 hour already. Extremely lucky if she hits 2 hours of sleep. Sometimes she'll sleep for 3 hours, but that's always at night, and just once.

2. "If being bottle fed (breastmilk), your 2-month old will take in around 24-30oz a day, or 2-3oz per bottle."

Maddy is a big eater, like me, apparently. She takes in 3oz per bottle. Though sometimes, she'll stop at around 1oz or 1.5oz, and just finish the rest an hour later.

3. "2-3oz is good for 2-3 hours of sleep."

Nope. Sometimes she asks for another bottle (of 3oz!) just an hour after her last bottle.

But, fortunately, I've been able to keep up so far with her demands. Meaning, my boobs are able to produce milk to replace the same volume that she just consumed. In short, di pako kinukulang.

It really is true. Your body will be able to supply what's demanded. "Trust in your milk supply", is what other mommies would tell me when I worry about whether or not I'll be able to keep up with my voracious eater.

4. "Your baby will be smiling more."

True! Kind of. She smiles at random though, not on cue.

5. "Your baby will start sleeping longer throughout the night."

Well. Define longer. During her first month, while other first-monthers were sleeping 2-3 hours already, Maddy was still waking up hourly. Now on her second month, she's started sleeping 2-3 hours, though other 2-monthers are sleeping 4-5 hours. 

So. She is sleeping longer...than last month.

6. "Sometime during the 4th week or so, your baby will get baby acne."

Yep!!! She had pimples on her cheeks, some on her chin! We were so worried if it was the detergent, our kisses, my hair, etc. Eventually, as what other parents assured me, the acne did go away. Something to do with hormones. Hers - not mine.

7. "Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger and she will be able to start holding up her head for short periods of time while on tummy time."

Maddy's neck has been stronger since the first month. Such a malikot baby. She's able to hold her head longer already. 

In fact, she moves a whole lot, kicking her legs and thrashing with her arms. A runner and swimmer, just like her mommy!

I didn't join the IPI Sinulog Float this year, since I think Maddy's too young to be left alone with the yaya the entire day. But I still ordered a shirt, and Maddy and I dropped off her daddy at the IPI compound, where a coaster will take them to the float.

(she's such a hefty 2-month old)

Can't believe I go back to work tomorrow! I've been going over the logistics and other details involving my schedule and Maddy's milk with the yaya to make sure we don't miss out on anything.

First, in the morning before we leave the house, we transfer the milk from 5 storage cups to 5 milk bottles already. We fill up our Rubbermaid cooler with the 5 milk bottles, and 1 extra storage cup of milk. Yaya brings an empty/extra milk bottle. So far she's been consuming 2-3 bottles of milk when I leave her at the in-laws for the afternoon. So here's to hoping she'll only need to drink 4-5 in a day.

Second, I pack my Fridge-to-Go with my pump parts, 3 Medela storage containers, which can hold 5oz each (because they don't leak, unlike the Avent storage cups, so I don't want any mishaps on the way home, and because I don't want to bring the Maymom converter+Avent adaptor just to be able to pump directly into the cup), an extra Avent storage cup (when the Medela containers fill up) and a milk bottle (so I can pump directly into the bottle during my last session, which she can drink when we get home and I can exercise).

Third, sterilization will have to be done twice a day, once in the morning (to sterilize the container cups where we transferred the milk from and my pump parts from the night before) and once we get home (to sterilize all the milk bottles and the Medela storage containers used).

Fourth, I usually wake up and bring Maddy out to her yaya by 6:30am, so she can be taken down for her morning sun and I can pump out whichever's the engorged breast. I usually eat my oatmeal breakfast simultaneously but it looks like I'll have to eat breakfast in the office instead to save time. I'm aiming to be out of the house by 8am, which means Maddy has to be bathed, changed and fed before then. I'll need to shower right after pumping, because we can never tell if Maddy will be ready for her bath after her morning sun or she'll sleep in a bit, so I don't know what time she'll want to be fed (she's hungry when she wakes up but I nurse her after her bath instead). 

Cross fingers everything will go smoothly for tomorrow and for the workweeks to come. Also send positive vibes that I can easily pump out the same volume as what she's consuming/will consume for the day.