“it’s not easy!”
That’s what they told me every time.
An avid believer in the benefits of breastfeeding, I was determined to take up the challenge.How hard can it get, I thought.
When put in play, I found out that as a first timer, it’s really not easy.
There are so many variations to what can go wrong during breastfeeding. My problem was that the baby didn’t know how to latch which caused a lot of anxiety on my end. I kept thinking, if the baby isn’t latching, he’s gotta be starving!
I must thank the nurses at Pantai Hospital’s maternity ward for being so patient and helpful with me. I buzzed many times to get them to help my infant latch-on. They were encouraging and persistent with both baby and I. I stayed on in the hospital for five days as I wanted to master as much as I could before I went home.
Despite books and literature, I wish I knew this before I started:
1. Most moms suffer from cracked nipples. It gets better in time.
2. Invest in a good breastfeeding pillow. My husband bought me My Brest Friend (hehe…funny name but it really becomes a mother’s best friend!) I wish we got it earlier as it would have saved us pain and agony! The pillow positions the baby for a good latch.
3. Have a tube of pure lanolin on standby.
4. It is okay to get some rest at the start by skipping one or two feeds and supplementing to avoid a worsening situation (and pain). in fact, you need proper rest at the early stages. Lack of sleep makes you weepy.
5. Get a good lactation consultant. Pantai Hospitals’s in-house lactation consultants who visit you at the ward were rough and lacked bedside manner. They made me depressed and angry during my stay there. In the end, I opted to only see Sister Elizabeth.
6. Have a good husband. If he doesn’t encourage and understand you, you will feel like giving up! Mine constantly supported me, which brought us all to where we are today!
At 3 weeks old, my son and I have graduated! He prefers to latch-on rather than drink out of a bottle. Our initial concerns on nipple confusion are out the window as we watch our son’s preference towards direct nursing.
I know! I can’t believe it myself 🙂
When my OBGYN told us ‘your baby is now full term’, I wanted to cry. I look over at my husband and he’s smiling from cheek to cheek! We will meet him soon.
We currently go for a checkup on a weekly basis. The baby has been developing fine so far but at our doctor’s visit yesterday, he has decided to move and is no longer effaced like the week before. I’m a little upset but I tell myself that maybe it’s safer to keep him in there just for a little while longer.
Like clockwork since the 4th month, I wake up at 5 something to use to loo. I can hear the morning prayers from the nearby mosque just before I settle to sleep again. However, for the past few days, I wake up, pee, and don’t go back to sleep till 7 or 8 a.m. I really dread this. One morning, I was so awake, I got up to cook!
For some funny reason, I’m in love with the smell of popcorn. And this week, all I want to do is eat fried chicken! What an unhealthy craving!
We have bought almost everything for the baby and made several decisions on what we would like to do or how we would parent our child. Right now, Praveen and I are just enjoying the quiet moments we have together, smiling with anticipation that our lives are about to change.
After months and months of research, I am so glad I found this postnatal care set from Tanamera. It’s a care set that incorporates some Chinese, Indian and Malay confinement practices, and since I’m doing my own confinement, this is going to be extremely necessary. It even comes with the abdominal binder!
Ally’s wedding, April 16th
It’s kinda late, but we would like to announce that we are pregnant! Prav gives me a glare everytime I say ‘we’ because it’s me who’s carrying the baby.
We’re in our fifth month, 20 weeks and 3 days today. The baby is 367 grammes and is developing according to schedule.
When we found out:
We found out we (yes, darling, you’re in on this too!) were pregnant during our second trip to Bangkok at the start of this year.
Morning sickness and things that annoyed me:
I experienced nausea, vomiting, fatigue and heartburn x 1000! The most annoying bit was the heartburn as that was extremely uncomfortable.
We were observing a pantang to not make an announcement before the first trimester (and frankly, it was none of their business) but there were many speculations as to whether I was pregnant as I stopped drinking. To my disgust, these people weren’t even my girlfriends! It took me a long while to ignore them, I was really hurt, and stressed, and annoyed.
But once I stepped into the second trimester, I put all their nosy comments aside and personally told the people who mattered to me, most over a cup of tea or lunch. I smile each time I think about their expressions – the genuine expression of shock and happiness of my cousins and best friends. Those moments were priceless.
Baby bump and maternity clothes:
I managed to get through my sister’s wedding (stepping into my 3rd month) without showing. I attended my best friend’s wedding dinner last weekend. I’m already showing but I wonder why some people still walked up to me and asked why I wasn’t drinking…err…isn’t it obvious? My friends were equally puzzled.
Anyway, I refuse to buy maternity clothes because they aren’t flattering. Instead, I make do with lots of flowy dresses and loose clothing. I don’t know how much longer I can do this 😛
At our previous scan:
At the 20 week anomaly scan, the baby decided to not co-operate- closed legs when we wanted to confirm the gender, covered face with tiny fists when we wanted to get a 3D image. A cheeky baby indeed.
