11 Months

The little curly top turned 11 months old last Sunday. 11 months! In a month he'll be celebrating his first birthday. Gah, too fast, too fast! It literally feels like yesterday that I was stressing about giving birth, that I was stressing about breastfeeding and keeping up my milk supply.

We are still mixed feeding. My supply has really dwindled but he shows no signs of self-weaning. He prefers to direct latch at night. Sometimes he'd take a bottle at night but if he senses I'm nearby, he'd outright refuse the bottle and cry until I give him the boob. Hence, I'm still pumping at work despite the pitiful amount just to keep my supply.

I was away from for one night last November 9 because I had to attend the (free) MCLE in Tagaytay. Yaya Dub was MIA that time so my MIL took over. This crazy baby doesn't like both of his grandmas so they told me he cried his head off that night when he woke up at night and it was just him and his lola. Poor baby.

Another milestone, if I dare call it that, more like a nightmare, is that he fell from the bed the dawn of November 18. There were just two of us in the bed, I was still asleep and he was surrounded with pillows. I woke up to his loud cries and I scrambled off the bed to see him face-down on the floor. The blurry image, as I was not wearing my eyeglasses, will forever be seared into my memory. The pillow on the side where he fell was still on the bed so we believe he dove over it as he likes to wake up at ungodly hours and play. We brought him to the ER where we were told to observe for vomiting or losing of consciousness. Thankfully, he was okay so we were still able to go home for the rest of the APEC vacation. Ay, caramba.

Ack, he grows more and more magulo. He can stand up and hold on to his crib railings and he likes to shake the entire thing. I'm worried that one day he can tip it over because he's not even one year old yet and he can shake that thing. We need to get on to the childproofing of the entire house. 

On the solids front, this kid has gobbled everything so far. I'm still preparing his food via the food cube method but he's tried table food with no or little salt for a few times already. I've decided to wait until he turns 1 (which is just in a month anyway) until I totally give him table food. Besides, he only has two lower teeth so far so I doubt if he can chew meat already. I'm also thinking if we can ditch the expensive formula and give him fresh milk. I dunno.

So... that's it so far. I am such a bad mommy blogger. I hope I can set more time aside to blog to put all these memories and milestones on a tangible record.

Mommy Me-Time

I used to find it odd when mommies emphasize the need for "me-time." I mean, babies are the best and sweetest and the cutest and how hard can it be to take care of a teeny tiny creature?

And here I am, thinking that the lunch hour I spent paying bills, lining at the bank and eating lunch so quickly I burned my tongue already counts as "me-time."

There aren't enough hours in a day when you're a mommy. The baby has to be fed, bathed, changed, entertained, cuddled, put to sleep, talked to, read to and repeat all over again. There will always be bottles to be washed, food to be prepared, groceries to be bought (the bulk of which are baby stuff), clothes to be sorted, nails to be cut, butts to be wiped, ears to be cleaned. Just tonight I had to multi-task by cleaning his ears while nursing him in a side-lying position. Ow, my neck and back.

I really really really love you, baby. But I do miss my "me-time". I do miss having a hour-long massage without you crying in the middle and just when I'm about to doze off. I miss roaming the mall without being side-tracked by bibs and baby food containers. I miss buying dresses which are not nursing dresses. I miss sleeping instead of washing the pump.

Oh, I do miss sleeping the most.

I love you, baby. I'd rather have you and me than just me.

#AlDub

I don't know when did I start watching #Aldub or the KalyeSerye. Obviously, I don't watch it at lunch time because I'm in the office. Whenever I'm feeding baby at night, I'm on my phone, watching videos or trawling through social media. I think I searched it because I got curious about Yaya Dub's fainting during her wedding to Frankie. Anyhoo, I now watch the videos uploaded on Eat Bulaga's Facebook account every night.

I watch it mainly for Wally and Jose, I find them really really funny. I know most of what they're doing is improv. There have been times that I'm laughing, silently but with movement, while baby is directly latched to me so he'd stir a bit from his sleep. LOL.

There's just no denying its effect on people, what with landing on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's front page twice, two commercials, breaking Twitter records, and bloggers like Daphne and Chuvaness (clearly not their intended market) blogging about it.

I've been judged about watching it, mostly by the hubby. But I don't care. Funny is funny. And as a Mass Communication graduate, I'm curious about its effect on people, how it's changing television shows. I smell a thesis topic here. Fascinating and funny, I'll take it.

TeamManilaxEheads Watches Launch

Wow, a rare night-out on a weeknight (all of 2 hours harhar), hence, a blog post is warranted, heehee.

Last night, hubby and I went to the launch of Team Manila x Eraserheads' limited edition watches and shirts. The event was announced on Instagram. There are two watch designs - Alapaap and Moon Time - and there are only 300 of each design. One had to pre-order by commenting on Team Manila's Instagram post and had to go to the event to personally claim the watch.

Thank God I remembered to pre-order and to remind hubby. We managed to get 2 of each design. We're planning to use one set and set aside the other as a collectible.

After claiming our watches, we decided to have dinner at the event resto, Historia Boutique Bar and Restaurant. Suddenly, Buddy Zabala and Raymund Marasigan were there so we scrabbled to have the watches signed and take pictures. Thankfully I had a pen in my bag but a Sharpie would have been much much better. Too bad Marcus arrived later pa.

Solids Update

I'm having dizzy spells lately due to lack of sleep. One of our helpers left so we currently have one stay-in who takes care of baby and one who comes three times a week to do the laundry. Baby is also in the stage of nangingilala so he is choosy with who carries him. Case in point: we went to Pico one week-end and Dagupan just this week-end and who ended up carrying him 90% of the time? Mommy. Huhubelles.

Traffic has been insane also so I come home late. Then I still stay up to wash the pump and/or to prepare baby's food. Ha, I miss sleeping.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to update what he's eaten so far:

• squash
• potato
• avocado
• white camote
• yellow camote
• mango
• carrot
• squash with malunggay leaves
• melon
• green papaya (which he hated!)
• ripe papaya
• saba

As of today he's eaten:

• orange camote – not sure if this is the same as yellow camote. He likes camote, I think because it's sweet.
• ampalaya – steamed and mashed. I was waiting for his reaction after I fed him but he was like NR. I guess babies can't tell yet if something's bitter.
• upo
• sayote
• latundan banana
• rolled oats – just one time because he was still hungry after I fed him.
• apple
• white potato with broccoli

I should start doing combinations already. Table food maybe when he turns 10 months. Waaa, a whole new different ballgame.

Throwback Thursday: Reader's Digest and Hapi House Crackers

It feels like I haven't read a book for fun in ages. I forget why, but during the LRT ride this morning, I was suddenly reminded of Reader's Digest magazines. Daddy had a subscription for the longest time. Aside from the magazines, we would also order the books. Who else remembers their sweepstakes ekek where they enclose a key in the forms that you fill out as entries? :) 

I also remember eating Hapi House crackers while reading RD. My sister says  it's still available in the province. Did not find it in Savemore earlier eh hehe.

* Photos not mine, from Google search

Let's Be Pro-Moms, Yes?

While I am mixed-feeding my baby, I think I'm not precluded from sharing my thoughts on breastfeeding on the occasion of Breastfeeding Awareness Month.

As I've posted here quite a few times, my breastfeeding journey has not been easy. In hindsight, I attributed it to my being a first time mom, to not being prepared (because I did not attend any seminars nor read articles), for naively thinking that breastfeeding would be easy peasy, for not trying hard enough to exclusively breastfeed.

Then I read Patty Laurel's own difficulties with breastfeeding. She's also a first time mom. She also underwent surgery on her breast a month post-partum. She mentioned in Instagram that she had mastitis. So while she did not clearly spell it out in her blog, I think she also had a breast abscess, had incision and drainage surgery, and has decided to end breastfeeding.

Then I thought, here is this very lucky girl, with all the resources in the world (she even consulted a lactation nurse), with the most wonderful support group (her handsome hubby, family and fellow celebrity moms) and she still found breastfeeding difficult. Whereas I could not afford the best breast pump and had the worst support system in the world (one side was pushing me to go full time on formula while one side made me feel that if I didn't breastfeed, I'm the worst mother in the world).

Bottomline is, while breastfeeding is best and beautiful, it is not easy. And to quote Patty: "Instead of being PRO-this and ANTI-that, we should just be PRO-MOM, period." Mommy shaming is mommy shaming, no matter what side you are on.

Feeding Essentials

Baby will be 8 months this week and I am still preparing his food by using the freezer bag method. A couple of people have commented that I should give him fresh food, but I don't quite trust the yayas (they come and go) yet to prepare his food. I'm just thinking that it's better to give frozen food I prepared myself than instant food.

Anyhoo, here are my feeding essentials. At first, I bought ice cube trays with cover from Saizen because we store meat in our freezer. However, said trays are long and it takes a bit of work to get the frozen food cube from the tray. I searched the local shops online and offline for covered ice cube trays to no avail. I finally decided to order from Amazon the Nuby Garden Fresh Easy Pop Freezer Tray. Love it!

7 Months

Our cutie pie turned seven months yesterday. The months are flying by so fast now! Gah. I guess it's really true that it's the first three months which are the hardest, in fact, it's called the fourth trimester. Ours was especially hard because I had to look for and transfer to a new office after my first month.

P's milestones:

1. Eating solids. So far he's eaten squash, carrots, potato, camote, avocado and papaya. He eats everything we offer him so far. In fact, he opens his mouth as soon as he senses a spoon near his mouth. We went home last week-end and then we got flooded in, I wasn't able to prepare his food. He would stare at us whenever we ate, my poor munchkin hehe.
   
   
2. He refuses to drink water though. He'd bite on the nipple whenever we make him drink water.
   
   
3. Although he has no teeth yet, he has started chomping on mommy while nursing. I would tell him “NO” in a stern tone but he'd laugh at me.
   
   
4. He rolls on his tummy then on his back with ease. He can push up his upper body AND his butt but not at the same time. Mommy says he need to do this as a precursor to sitting up. Hence, the next number.
   
   
5. He can sit up in his tub while taking a bath by holding on to the sides. However, he cannot sit up by himself yet. Wah.
   
   

Time to Diet!

It was just recently that I was bragging here that I was almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight 11 weeks post-partum.

Not anymore.

I got fitted for our office uniforms around such time. This week, we started wearing them – and oof, muffin top galore! I can hardly zip up the pants huhu. I went to the clinic to check my weight and I'm a whopping 135 lbs., most of them in the tummy area.

The culprit:

Source

Breastfeeding has made me hungry like I've never been before and I took to snacking on these Max's chocolate rolls. Two pieces. Every work day. On top of my other snacks like crackers and nuts. I don't have any exercise apart from carrying the baby and commuting. I now eat three solid meals with rice and snacks in between. 

Argh, need to go on a diet!!!

Solids: Carrots and Potatoes

After squash, we've fed baby P carrots and he is currently eating potatoes. Pedia advised us to give the same food for three days to check for allergies. Baby LOOOVED the carrots for he would lunge at the spoon. With potatoes, not so much. I don't know if he was just distracted by the television or he really just did not like the taste.

Solids: Squash

After dilly-dallying for one week and one day after he turned six months, we finally started baby on solids this Tuesday, June 30. I've been OC about the whole thing - for weeks I've been thinking and researching about how to prepare and store his food. I have trust issues with the cleanliness of the yayas, well, with everyone really haha because I am so OC. So I wanted to prepare and store his food  myself. I also did not want to buy too much gear so after much thought, I bought a stainless steel steamer basket to steam his food, a Lock&Lock container for the cut up veggies or fruits and a baby food bowl with grinder and spoon. True to my OC-ness, I had another Lock&Lock container where I store said steamer basket and his baby bowl after use. (We love Lock&Lock, sponsor us! Hahaha!)

Monday night I started cutting up a squash into cubes and stored them in the Lock&Lock container. Pedia said to feed him three times a day the same food for three days to check if he has allergies. The squash went into the ref.

Tuesday morning I was up earlier than usual. I steamed three cubes of squash, mashed them in the bowl and squeezed fresh breastmilk on the mush. I then woke up the sleeping hubby for picture-taking haha.

At first, baby was like "Huh?" but then he gobbled every bite! I prepared too much so I did not let him finish everything.

Breastfeeding Update

Due to my breastfeeding problems, I once vowed that I will stop breastfeeding (to be technical about it, we are mixed feeding) (1) at the slightest hint of mastitis or (2) when baby turns six months.

Baby is now six months and one week and I still pump in the office and we direct latch at night and on week-ends. More than its health benefits, I am really after the convenience of breastfeeding - lift the shirt, pop the boob out and voila, any hunger or crying crisis is immediately averted. Sadly though, my supply hasn't increased, I can only pump around 5 oz. through three sessions in the office so that's just one bottle. But that's better than nothing, I believe. I've made peace with the whole washing the pump paraphernalia and lugging a cooler to work brouhaha - just another day in the life.

Baby has developed this sort of funny habit. Although my incision has healed, he refuses to nurse on my previously defective boob so I still breastfeed him on one side. Now when he's hungry, he turns to the side where my good boob is. When I'm already asleep and he wakes up hungry, he turns to me and frantically claws away at my shirt and boob. Even when my back is turned to him haha, so funny.

So I guess my new ultimatums are, I will breastfeed until (1) the slightest hint of mastitis or (2) I encounter a problem like baby biting me or (3) I run out of milk. :)

P.S. Since baby is now six months old, I should start with feeding him solids but I still haven't decided how to go about it. I don't want to start him with Cerelac and the like. Gosh, I'm so OC about these stuff, I even hate myself hehe.

Leaky Boob Update

After posting that my wound hasn't been healing (most viewed post recently, is it because of the word boob?), I looked down one day and saw the wound was drying and closing up. Maybe because I decided to ditch the Steri-Strip and gauze dressing and just use a disposable breast pad to catch the leak during let-down. With the gauze on, the wound remained wet. With the pad absorbing the milk, the wound has become dry and started to heal (why didn't I think of this sooner? More importantly, why didn't my surgeon???) I want to use the pump already but I'm restraining myself because the wound might re-open again. 

I can't believe I'm excited to breastfeed with my other boob. Despite the difficulties I've encountered, breastfeeding really is convenient - no bottles to wash and sterilize and I get to sleep at night while nursing in a side-lying position. Best of all, it's FREE! I still get plugged ducts (like last night, WTH), but there is nothing like seeing the bebe all drunky face on my milk.

For now, I hope I make it to six months. Two months to go!

Parenting In The Moment

When I was pregnant, I downloaded three pregnancy apps. I dutifully read the articles and the recommended links every night before going to sleep. After hesitating, I gave in to buying the "What To Expect While You're Expecting" book. I read, read, read. 

I figured I'd do the same when the baby came out. Fat chance of that. Sure, I transitioned to the My Baby app from the My Pregnancy app. But I don't religiously open it unlike with my pregnancy apps. It's not like I don't have the time, I go on all my social media apps while breastfeeding. 

Maybe because as new as I am to parenthood, I've pretty much concluded that you have to be in the moment. Reading all the articles can never prepare you for breastfeeding woes, a clingy baby, a constipated baby, hardheaded nannies and overbearing grandparents. This is a lot coming from Little Miss Proactive Me but I'm trying not to beat up myself trying to be the Perfect Mommy.

I guess this doodle from Doodle Diary of a New Mummy sums up my sentiment perfectly:

Really, who has time to read parenting books when you're busy parenting? :)

Baby Must-Haves

Currently stumped on something I'm working on but I need to get the writing wheels working so I decided to write about what I believe are baby must-haves.

Baby is turning 6 months this month. When I was pregnant, I got a Mom Card from SM's Baby Company and there was a list of things to buy for the baby. It was a long list and I was then wondering if I needed to buy everything but I did not. 

After almost six months of mommyhood, these are our baby must-haves apart from bottles and diapers:

(1) gauze diapers - I would pick up a pack whenever I shopped when I was pregnant. For wiping and putting on baby's back when he is sweating. We go through a lot these recent hot days because mommy and lola are praning about the sweat on baby's back haha.

(2) hooded blankets - Also hoarded these. There are two types, the "smooth" kind and the one with a towel texture on one side. Aside from using them as towels, we also use them as baby's "bedsheet" because he doesn't seem to like the crib comforter I bought. Besides, it's too hot so a thin blanket is enough.

(3) baby nail cutter - My mom gave us a small nail cutter for cutting baby's nails. It was small but it was meant for adults. I used them one time and I cut baby's skin. He and I cried, I think I cried even more. So I bought one made for babies and I haven't cut baby's skin again. Yey!

(4) bibs - We also go through these especially now that baby is drooling A LOT.

(5) a good thermometer - get the forehead or ear kind. A baby doesn't have patience for the armpit one.

(6) garterized mittens and booties for newborns - Emphasis on garterized. Old-school mittens and booties have ties and they are a pain to tie up and untie especially when you are sleep-deprived. I don't get it why the oldies prefer them to the garterized ones.

Now that he's gonna be eating soon (and eating well I hope), I'm sure there'll be another list of must-haves! :P

Saltwater Sandals

After lemming for a pair for years, I finally bought Saltwater Sandals! Partly why I haven't bought a pair is because it's not readily available in Manila. The very few sellers also run out of stock agad. So I exercised my click-click-click skills, bought a pair online and had them shipped via My-Shopping Box.

They do live up to the hype - so comfortable and no need to break in. Should've bought them sooner! :)

Fotogra Books

Our wedding photographers Mimi+Karl quoted Mike Yost: “The most photographed generation will have no pictures in 10 years.” So, they started printing small books of their children's photos. Since the quote resonated with many parents, people started inquiring if they offer such mini-books as a service, me included. Thus, Fotogra Books.

I have started having photos of baby P printed. I have bought a baby book/album. Putting the photos in the book is another story though.

Then I realized that I have boatloads of travel pictures hidden in hard drives. So one evening, I risked getting plugged ducts and stayed up to choose from our South Korea 2010 and Seoul 2011 photos.

 

Photo by Fotogra Books

Tada! Love how they turned out. The photos are printed on matte paper. The size is big enough that you can appreciate the details and small enough that they won't take up too much space. Now, all I have to do is find more time to sift through thousands of photos and set aside moolah for printing. Fotogra Books is offering a promo price of P450.00 for a 60-page book, regular price is P550.00. Go order na!

Duchess Kate

The whole world knows by now that Duchess Kate has given birth to a princess. While everyone is wondering about her name, I'm wondering how the Duchess managed to step out of the hospital 10 hours after giving birth IN HEELS!

I'm so yabang that I gave birth via NSD, we only stayed in the hospital overnight. And since I was hungry at the time we were discharged, I was planning to go down to the hospital cafeteria first before heading home. But the hospital had a SOP upon discharge – mommy and baby goes straight to the car in a wheel chair. It was only when I got down from the wheel chair that I discovered how difficult it was to walk! Ack.

When the Duchess gave birth to Prince George, she wore wedges. This time, she wore stilletos! How how how??? What sorcery is this? Hee hee.

Almost Rolling Over

Baby turned 4 months last April 22. Last night, I left him on the bed to get a lampin from the closet and when I got back, the lower half of his body is on a prone position. After a while, he cried because he could not lift his head and upper body and fully roll over. But I can tell he is getting there. I think he'll be rolling over in a few days na - I hope hubby and I will be there to see it!

Ack, gotta brace ourselves for a more mobile bebe!

Doodle Diary of a New Mom

I also stumbled upon this article featuring Doodle Diary of a New Mom while breastfeeding P. So funny and relatable. All checks on this doodle:

Source

And this is what really happens to me. I thought yung daddy ang relegated to the sofa or the floor? Hmph.

Source

This new mom just started doodling her adventures and milestones with her little one and shared with her friends. When her baby turned one, she realized she has accumulated a lot of drawings, and her friends prodded her to find a publisher, and voila, a book!

Shucks, mapapagkakakitaan pala itong mommyhood na ito nyehehe. I wonder what I can do beyond Instagramming P's cute face?

What's Up Moms

When we direct latch, baby takes a looong time to nurse, thus my phone has become my loyal companion. We feed in our bedroom because it's cooler but there's no television there, hence, phone. I digress: I haven't watched any of my fave shows since giving birth. Boo hoo.

I usually read blogs and check Instagram, FaceBook and Twitter. I hardly watch videos so I can't remember now how I discovered What's Up Moms. It's a YouTube channel of three moms uploading videos about well, being moms. The videos aren't the usual home videos, they have scripts and stuff and the camera work looks professional. Their parodies have gone viral.

I've watched and re-watched their videos while feeding. I kinda envy them because (a) they look insanely attractive (2) they're SAHMS AND (3) they're earning from their videos because they also do ads but given a What's Up Moms slant (so I guess they're really WAHMs?). They're also really funny.

I sometimes wonder if I can do what they're doing. It's very Team Kramer. What do you think, baby P? ;)

Breastfeeding with One Boob

Two months after my incision and drainage surgery, I am still breastfeeding with one boob. See, my incision was made right on the areola. It's not a big wound and it healed quickly but when I tried to pump so I won't get engorged, the wound expanded that it no longer looks like an incision.

We showed it to the surgeon who said that I had to stop breastfeeding. As this was not an option, we just packed the wound with gauze and I still pumped. 

As the wound was not getting smaller, and using the pump aggravated it, I resorted to hand expressing. One time though while expressing in the office, milk suddenly spurted out of the wound through the gauze dressing like a geyser. We sought another surgeon, this time, a breast surgeon. I thought she was going to say that the wound needs to be stitched up. But no, she said that might cause another infection.

Firsts

It's no secret that we've been trying to have a baby for years. When we finally confirmed that we've successfully conceived, I busted out the blessed hashtag. Thus, I was expecting rainbows and butterflies and confetti when I give birth.

But no. Even without consulting a doctor, I knew I suffered post-partum depression. I was tired, sleep-deprived and crying all the time. The day after I gave birth, I learned that my prospective employer after my leave decided not to honor our agreement so I was going to be jobless. The yaya left two weeks after. I wanted someone, anyone, to take care of me but everyone was unavailable. However, I was expected to take care of this little baby.

Do not be confused, I love my baby as soon as we met him. But as it is with PPD, or more probably the sleep deprivation, I had the craziest thoughts.

People told me it will get better, that it's all gonna be worth it.

So I kept waiting.

I got a job a month before my maternity leave expired. This made me more stressed but I think it also helped me a little that I was out of the house. As soon as I get home from work, I would take a shower, scarf down dinner and take care of the baby until the next morning. On weekends, I'm on full time mommy mode.

Yesterday, we finally witnessed the “it's-gonna-be-worth-it” part. While I was inside the grocery, baby was with hubby who was meeting a customer. Hubby said that after the transaction, P suddenly launched an all-out crying fit. He prepared a bottle but P was still crying. So I went out of the grocery before paying to see what was wrong. After feeding, I carried P in the burp position and we went back inside the grocery. While waiting in line hubby was telling me that while P was crying in his stroller, he was kicking so hard that he was sliding down the seat. Then suddenly, P GIGGLED. And then giggled again. I motioned hubby to take out his phone and we managed to record the third, albeit shorter, giggle.

I'm so happy we were there to witness that. I hope that even if I'm a working mommy, I will get to witness all his other firsts, all the other “it's gonna be worth it” moments.

11 Weeks Post-Partum Milestone

... is me fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans. Sure, they're semi-stretch but still, they're skinny jeans and I fit into them. Due to breastfeeding or stress? I vote for the latter, caused by plugged ducts, then mastitis, then job-hunting, then reporting back to work six weeks post-partum, then surgery. I think I would have fit into them even earlier, it's just that I only tried wearing a pair this morning.

So... yay?

Second Month Milestones

During P's 2-month check-up last February 28, the pedia asked if he was smiling... with meaning. I was like, "errr...?" P has been giving a few smiles but we could not tell if it was with meaning. Also, we weren't sure if he could already see.

Then this week-end, boom, he started smiling a lot, as in a lot. I thought it was due to gas, that smile-y thing that babies do while sleeping. But as I yakked and yakked, he would smile as if he found me funny. He has also started cooing and gurgling a lot. We have also concluded that he can see because he would cry if left alone in the bed but would cease if we went back.

I've also tried giving him tummy time for a minute but he does not like it. He has attempted to raise his head only once while on tummy time.

The lolas have been pestering me why he's not taking vitamins yet. I told the pedia and she said baby can get the vitamins from my breastmilk. When I mentioned the lolas, pedia said, "Ah alam ko na yan, gusto nang Tiki-Tiki." So now we're giving him 0.3ml of Tiki-Tiki. How 80s. :)

2 Months

Baby P is 2 months today. Can't believe it's been two months, it feels like ages ago that we rushed to the hospital. The past 2 months has been a real rollercoaster ride.

My folks came over for a wedding yesterday, so today we celebrated baby P's monthsary and our bunso's birthday. Hubby was away. At dawn, I saw my mommy sleeping beside me and baby. As soon as baby woke up, mommy was all over him. Daddy soon followed as well as my sister who stays in the province. It was nice seeing them fawning all over baby P.

And my, P is being responsive to all the doting. He is starting to stare and coo. He still likes to "tangad" though - crane his neck way way up high and "look up." In between all the fawning, mommy kept teaching me things to do with baby. Mommy can be makulit at times but she really knows a lot about babies. Sigh, I sometimes wish Pangasinan is just a hop and skip away.

We had a belated lunch at Pinac at UP Town Center. Food was okay and affordable. Afterwards, I had to go to Medical City SM Annex for my breast ultrasound. I got the result but the radiologist did not interpret it for me. Ugh. Check up again tomorrow.

Valentine's Day 2015

So how was your Valentine's Day?

Mine was spent in Medical City for surgery, specifically incision and drainage for my mastitis. Yes, my plugged ducts developed into full-blown mastitis. Sigh. I chose to be sedated so one minute I felt the doctors cleaning my left breast, the next minute I was in the Recovery area.

So I am on house arrest this week. Last Monday and yesterday, we went to the surgeon so he can clean the wound and change the dressing. He also taught hubby to do the cleaning and dressing which we did earlier. I am also pumping milk despite the wound because plugged ducts recur. Again, I never thought breastfeeding can hurt this much. 😞

P.S. For someone who was never hospitalized prior to giving birth, my trips to the hospital are rising ha. Sana tumigil na. 😞 gusto ko check-up check-up lang, please.

On Breastfeeding

Who here thinks that breastfeeding is supposed to be easy? *RAISES BOTH HANDS*

Yes, I thought breastfeeding was going to be easy breezy. How hard could it be to plug your wee babe to your boob?

How mightily mistaken was I. The first three weeks with baby P was okay. He'd wake up to feed every 2 to 3 hours. I slept when he slept. My complaint then was not getting enough sleep, among other household concerns. 

Suddenly, he was feeding every hour on the hour. He'd detach himself from my boob and be all asleep but when I'd  lay him down in the crib, he'd wail as if he was hungry and not feeding in the first place. So I'd feed him again. And again. For a few days, we'd be nursing for five hours straight.

They say you're supposed to nurse a baby equally from both breasts. For some reason, my left breast started hurting. It got engorged that it really really hurt when my baby nursed on it. I bore the pain for a week until I got a fever and chills. I was rushed to the ER where they diagnosed me with mastitis. I was given antibiotics for 2 weeks. Then, we started giving baby formula to add to my breast milk.

I also started expressing milk. I'd get 1-2 ounces from my good breast and a few drops from my left breast. So frustrating. The first few times I fed my baby formula because he was still hungry and I was already drained, I felt like a failure.

Two weeks passed and my left breast was still one hardened mess. We went to a pedia who's a lactation expert and she said I didn't have mastitis, only plugged ducts. I had to put warm compress, breastfeed, pump and take another week of antibiotics. She also prescribed lecithin to thin out my milk or something.

At the moment, I am on my second to the last day of antibiotics. My left boob is still all plugged up and I only get a few drops when I express from it. Thank God my right one is still okay. I lug around a small cooler and manual pump on the LRT to work so I could express twice in the office. Did I mention that I just moved to a new office so I am still adjusting?

Now my life can be summarized as: work, pump, breastfeed, wash and sterilize all pumping paraphernalia (manual and electric), breastfeed, try to sleep while baby is sleeping, and repeat.

Don't get me wrong, I want to give my child my breast milk. Heck, I'd even donate all my excess milk. But I never imagined it could physically hurt this much. Sigh. I hope my defective boob gets well soon. :(

38 Weeks and Baby Out!

Hello, hello!

I'm alive and I've given birth!

In my last entry, I wrote that the OB was psyching me that I might give birth in January. I had my next check-up on December 20. Per gestational age, I was 38weeks and 3days then. OB performed her first IE on me and remarked that my cervix was still high or something so I won't be giving birth anytime soon. Oh well.

EDIT:

I even had this post in my Drafts dated December 19:

Despite the declarations of my OB, I'm playing the waiting game. The past couple of days, I've been experiencing hardening of the tummy, some cramping and stabbing pain down there. As always, I talk to balong and tell him that should he decide to come out, sana early morning so it won't be traffic going to Medical City. Ha.

I want to give birth na. The hardening of the tummy makes me worry because I've read about painless contractions and all along, I've been thinking that pain is the one unmistakable sign of labor. But I haven't experienced any other signs, i.e., bloody show, water breaking, etc. So, waiting game.

Anyhoo. Hubby and I were to attend a birthday party that night, and instead of heading home, we decided to go to Trinoma. I remember walking around a lot and buying a gift at Toys R Us where there were lots of people. Then hubby and I had frozen yogurt at Red Mango before heading to the party.

We were early birds at the party. I ate spaghetti, rice with pakbet sabaw, a prawn, salmon, lechon, and buko salad for dessert. I think I also had cake. Gluttony, I tell you. We got home before midnight.