Seven Months

Today is the 28th of October, 2015, and this means my little munchkin is already 7 months old! :) Hurray! Happy seven, my baby!

At 7 months, we’ve noticed that your legs look longer and stronger! Perhaps you didn’t get those gams from me after all, but from your dad. Mine are short and chubby; his are long like yours, but without the layers of baby fat. Hehe.

Speaking of strong legs, you can now push yourself up using both legs and arms, parang ocho-ocho! :) The first time you did this was last Wednesday, October 21. You’ve been crawling like a worm even before your 6th month, but now you can already lift yourself, your tummy not touching the bed. You still need more practice though before we can say that your crawling is already legit. =P I bet you’ll be a master crawler in a week or so. That means your dad and I still have time to baby-proof the house before you go on exploring every corner.

At 7 months, I guess I could say that you have a strong inclination towards performing arts. You’re only a baby but you are already a certified drama queen! Hehe. When you want to be carried, you’ll pretend to be sad or cry and shriek until we pick you up. We can tell you’re faking though, you always are. :) You also like dancing very much, baby. When you look bored, your dad and I only need to sing Nae Nae (Watch Me by Silento) and do big dance moves with you to make you smile huge. 

Hmm, what else? Oh, you have a cute hobby: scratching. :) You scratch your head, your dad’s arms, the bed, the pillow. You do so especially when you feel sleepy or when you’re bored. For instance, when we’re in the car and you’re sleeping at the backseat with your yaya, we know you’ve already awaken when we hear scratching sounds on the car door. Hehe. Kyoot kyoot.

That't it for now, darling! More milestones to come! :)

Diaper shot at 7. :)

Cake, marshmallows, hotdogs, and isaw! Hehe. :)

Cheers,

My Breast-and-Bottle Feeding Journey

I have always been an advocate of breastfeeding. Even before getting pregnant, I knew I wanted to nourish my future child with mother’s milk alone, nothing else. When I found out that Lia was already in my tummy, I started prepping myself by reading up and attending seminars on breastfeeding. I also bought a nursing pillow and a very comfy couch for the baby room where I foresaw myself spending long hours cuddling my hungry baby girl.

I gave birth on the evening of March 28, and as was Asian Hospital’s SOP, my puffy patootie was immediately made to latch to my breast. She did not feed straightaway. Like me, I think she was too tired and dazed with the whole birthing thing that she’d rather rest than eat. She eventually got hungry and cried and latched. Whether or not she got milk from me that very first time, I had no idea. I never saw milk coming out, nor did the lactation consultant at the hospital. Whenever Lia would cry, I would just offer her my breast and she’d latch, then after an hour or so, she would fall asleep. Because that’s how it was for the rest of our 3-day hospital stay, I assumed she was getting something. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stopped crying when she’s hungry.

Right after I gave birth. Please forgive the double chin. =D

It was a different story after we got home. I would breastfeed her when she’s hungry, but the crying didn’t stop. At home, there was no lactation consultant or nurse whom I could trust to help me check if she’s properly latched on or if she’s getting milk. Aside from my husband, it was only my mom who’s there and she always seemed doubtful that baby was getting anything. :( After a while, I did what I didn’t imagine I would do. I gave in to my mom’s prodding. I asked Rolly to buy formula.

It was heartbreaking watching my baby gulp down the milk from the bottle. The way she did so made me realize that she really wasn’t getting enough from me and that she was extremely hungry. She fell asleep after finishing the milk and was quiet for more than a couple of hours (which, in newborn speak, is long). I cried a river that night. I felt extremely inadequate. Everything I imagined about nursing my child went down the drain. I felt sorry that I couldn’t give the very nourishment she needed.

After a day or two, I unboxed the breast pump which I only planned to use when it’s time to go back to work. I didn’t want to give up on breastfeeding that soon, and I knew I had to help myself. Imagine my joy when I saw milk trickling down! I was over the moon! It turned out my milk supply was just a few days late, and I could breastfeed my Lia after all. I was so happy to be able to offer my breast to baby again!

My liquid gold. :)

I thought it wasn’t too late, I thought it was just easy to go back to the way we started. Just me and her. No formula. No bottle. Well, I was wrong. By the time my milk supply was already steady and strong, my baby already got so used to bottle-feeding that she didn’t want to feed directly from me anymore. They say it’s called nipple confusion. According to Baby Center, “a baby is said to have nipple confusion when he finds it difficult to latch on and breastfeed because he’s previously had a dummy or a bottle teat to suck on… sucking on a dummy or a teat will feel quite different from ksucking at your breast.”

To make the long story short, I ended up exclusively pumping. I’d pump for about 6-8 times a day, every 2 to 3 hours round the clock. It was definitely exhausting but it was worth it. I felt happy knowing that my body was able to nourish my baby, it actually made her cute and plump. Hehe. I exclusively pumped until her appetite grew bigger and my supply wasn’t enough anymore. We resumed giving her formula, Nan HW1 in particular.

My breastmilk in a bottle. Lia was still so small here!

When she turned 6 months, my milk supply had already significantly waned. Maybe because my pumping sked was not as consistent anymore.  Though I could pump at work (my office and bosses are very mommy-friendly), there are usually several meetings in a day and I obviously can't bring my machine and cover in the meeting rooms! :) My husband and I agreed that I could already stop pumping milk, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I continued for three weeks more. Yesterday, 6 days before Lia’s 7th month, my output was almost zero. I used to get at least 5 ounces per pumping session, but yesterday I got only 1 ounce for the entire day already. I guess it’s the beginning of the end.

A bittersweet goodbye? It is. It feels sad and liberating at the same time. Now I can look forward to full nights of straight sleep, without having to wake up to the sound of my alarm clock telling me to get up and pump. However, I will also miss my midnight sessions when it’s just me wide awake, staring at my baby peacefully sleeping while the machine and I work together to provide her my liquid gold. Haaaay. No goodbyes are ever easy. 

Tonight, after we put Lia to bed, perhaps I will pump one last time. Last na talaga. I am sure I won’t get anything anymore, but I need to do this one last go. I know it will be a little sad, a little glad, but I will be at peace knowing that it is indeed the end.

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Update on 02 November 2015.

Within the first week after my last pump, I could feel lumps in my breast which could be plugged ducts. I've read that some mommies pump or breastfeed one more time to "deflate" these, but I didn't. There was no pain anyway. I just massaged them with hot compress, the lumps went away after a while. Now they're completely gone. :)

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What Is The Meaning Of Life?

I found this very interesting read on www.storypick,com about the real meaning of life. The article is by Parag Salvi and it says...

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By the time you reach adulthood, this world will leave no stone unturned to make you realize that you are not special. You have struggled into existence, and are now slipping silently out of it.

This is the story people will often tell you:

The end?

What’s the meaning of life, you may ask if every single one of us has to follow this pattern of slipping into oblivion?

This is the story no one’s going to tell you, but you will experience for sure:

And only little things matter because one day you’ll look back and realize that those were the big things.    

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Cheers,

Diaper Price Tags

Diapers - whether cloth or disposable - are certainly something a baby can't live without.  If you have a newborn, you can look forward to two or three years' worth of diaper changes, and that means up to about 10,000 diapers! If you have the patience to do more laundry and pay for higher water and electricity bills, then perhaps you don't mind going the cloth diaper route.  For the rest however, myself included, disposable is the way to go.  And since we're talking about thousands and thousands of nappies here, I'm certain parents would agree that the price tag is a huge consideration in choosing which brand to get.  

Well, I went to the supermarket yesterday and was in the mood to do a price survey.  Thought of sharing them here for the reference of other mommies as well. :)  Because Lia uses medium-sized nappies these days, I took note of the costs of medium diapers only.  In no particular order:

Disclaimer: Photos from Google Images.

Some photos do not match the actual SKU I surveyed. Hehe.

EQ Medium 32s - PhP 209.75
This means it's PhP 6.55 per diaper. 

Huggies Dry Medium 34s - PhP 322.75
PhP 9.49 per diaper

Pampers Comfort Medium 42s - PhP 332.75
PhP 7.92 per diaper

Drypers Drypantz Medium 24s - PhP 287.75
PhP 11.99 per diaper

Huggies Ultra Medium 40s - PhP 474.75
PhP 11.87 per diaper

Super Twins Medium 32s - PhP 214.75
PhP 6.71 per diaper.

Mamypoko Dry Medium 26s - PhP 359.75
Php 13.84 per diaper.

EQ Dry Medium 18s - PhP 142.75
PhP 7.93 per diaper.

Arranged from least to most expensive:

• EQ Regular: PhP 6.55
• Super Twins: PhP 6.71
• Pampers Comfort: PhP 7.92
• EQ Dry: PhP 7.93
• Huggies Dry: PhP 9.49
• Huggies Ultra: PhP 11.87
• Drypers Drypants: PhP 11.99
• Mamypoko Dry: PhP 13.84

Lia is blessed not to have sensitive skin. She has tried most of the brands above, and not one of them has given her rashes. I'm a lucky mommy because we have the luxury not to be choosy! :) I usually pick up whichever has a promotional bundle at the grocery!  Hehe. At daytime when she's just at home, she usually wears the regular EQ. But whenever we go out and at night, she puts on either EQ Dry or Huggies. She has tried the most expensive brand, Mamypoko, but nope, I did not buy it.  It was just given as a freebie. Yes, I am kuripot like that! Hahaha. :))

If I were to give just one guideline in choosing nappies that serves me well, it's this: Pick the least expensive brand that performs for you and the baby. One that doesn't leak nor give him/her nasty diaper rash. At the end of the day, whichever has the best fit and gives our munchkin the most comfort without breaking the bank big time is the best choice. ;)

*Update: For a more recent diaper price survey, click here.

Cheers,

Snowhite Lia

It was another first for my baby! My boss' darling daughter, Anika, celebrated her 7th birthday last September 20, and it was Lia's first time to attend one. It was fun fun fun! :)

It was a Frozen-themed party :)

Lookie! My baby came as Snowhite! Hehe. :)

Lia with me (I dressed up in blue and yellow, too! :), her tita Cristalle, Ninong Erwin, and Tita Kyra with baby Alex.
Notice Lia's taray face on the bottom right photo. She didn't like that there was another Showhite baby! Hahaha. =D

The birthday girl as Queen Elsa. :)

Candle blowing time! :) Happy birthday Anika! :)

Our little family definitely had a blast, especially the little girl. Too bad she couldn't eat lechon and cupcakes yet. :)) Thank you for inviting us to your fabulous Frozen party, Anika dearie! :)


Cheers,