Yummy!!!!

I promised an update on my dropping breastmilk supply? It's back to normal again! I can only guess that the two main contributing factors are: 1. I was not properly hydrated (losing most of my water to the fever and leaking nose) and 2. I took the medication which was suppose to dry up my mucous! (I guess it had a drying effect on my breast milk too).

I did not know when eating solids became a struggle... Maybe eating only cereal for 1 and a half months is making my little girl feel irritated! So today, I tried something different. I pureed some organic pumpkin last night and had them frozen into small ice cubes. Today she took her first ice cube size of pumpkin! I won't say that she loves it to bits but she did eat the amount which I warmed up for her. :) (I guess it beats eating rice cereal again!)

I mentioned in my earlier post that we went to Ikea to buy her high chair? Anyway here is a delayed post of photos we took of her while we were having our dinner. Her interest for adult food is apparent! She was practically grabbing at the plates of food when she could.

First it started off with staring at the plate of salmon...

Then it went on to the excited version of "Mama, I also want some of that salmon please!"

As her excited behavior became uncontrollable, i relented and let her touch the plates... My hubby's comment: Heng she likes the salmon and not the chicken wings!"

It's a SPLASHING good time!

Today is my little darling's third swimming lesson at Hwa Xia International... I have never blogged about her little swimming lessons because I am a lazy mother... I take a super long time to resize her photos. But since I found a short cut to resize them for webpages, I have been updating her activities more frequently! :)

We had a good time today and she had 20 minutes of splashing fun in the tub. My little girl decided to trash around in the water. This made the neighbouring 3 mth old's granny a little jealous (well, you can't expect the baby to be trashing around much during the first lesson). So instead of staring at her little grandchild, she came over to see if my little gal will splash some water at her as well...

Her are some pictures of her at Hwa Xia International (Habourfront):

And a consolidated video of her swimming lessons...

Should I *YEAH* or not???

Made a bee line for home immediately after work today! Me and hubby decided to bring our little girl to the PD after listening to her cough and sneeze so many times after the morning feed. The queue for the evening clinic is not as horrid as the Saturday clinic (but I almost wanted to strangle the cashier cos she made me wait for more than 40minutes!)... My little girl is now 6.05kg! (at 5 months 1 week and 5 days old) Okay it's not a major achievement but at least she gained the (as always miserable) 100grams despite her fever and flu... :P 

To make things even better, the PD gave us a good prognosis. My little girl is getting better, all she needs to do is to continue with the cough mixture and the nasal drops. :) 

Sad to say, I think the dragging of hours before pumping plus my high fever and super leaky nose episode did really take a toll on my breast milk supply (from the usual 240ml per 4hours, it's now only 200ml!). I cannot tell for sure if this is because I did not hydrate myself adequately. It's not the first time my supply dipped because I did not drink enough water...

That said, it's time to bottoms up on water! Will post again on whether drinking more water will have any positive effect on my supply. Then again, as long as the supply do not drop every other day, I will be happy for the little drop (it just makes stopping breastfeeding a little easier in future). 

It's all about milk... *again?*

My little girl is coming to six months! Some people have been asking me when I am going to stop pumping. Before I was pregnant, I actually thought of feeding her for more than a year if possible. But somehow, things do not always go the way you plan... Anyway, I intend to give her breastmilk as long as possible (as long as my work permits too).

Being tired have made me drag my first pump of the day... From the daily 6 to 6.30am, I pumped at close to 10am during the weekend that just passed. Close to 9 hours of not expressing milk! If this were to happen during my confinement, I can guess I would not have the kind of supply I have now and my milk factories would have felt like two heavy stones... :P

Anyhow, while discussing with a fellow mother about fattening up our daughters, she told me that her PD had actually asked her to seperate her milk and supplement each feed with extra hind milk. Well, supposedly every time we breast feed, the milk comes in 2 phases - the fore milk (thin thin one) and the hind milk (thick thick). Every pump's composition of the 2 types of milk will vary. According to my research (and my experience), the longer you take till your next feed/expression, the more foremilk there is... And that's where you'll notice that breastmilk expressed 6hrly will look more watery than breastmilk expressed 4hrly (4hrs since the last pump).

Okay, I digressed... I read up in various websites on the composition of the foremilk and hindmilk and I was shocked. This is because I had actually dumped the foremilk of a few of my pumps! Anyway according to the websites, the foremilk has actually the most nutrients and protein which is needed for the child's growth while the hindmilk has the most calorie (which makes the baby full). Some information I gathered also includes: drinking too much hindmilk will cause the baby to have poo-poo problems (this seems true because my girl actually could not poo after 2 days of drinking hindmilk only).

In my last post, I mentioned that my little girl was sick? I fell sick too (with high fever and flu) after she sneezed into my face... So the flu bug passed from my nephew to my girl then to me! *Argh!* Took some medication which were safe for breastfeeding but I realised that my breastmilk seem to be thinner than usual (even for the 4hrly pumps!). So today, my little girl survived on the frozen expressed breast milk... :P

Flu bug GO AWAY!!!

Sometimes I feel so helpless... I failed to keep the bug from my little girl. Now I can only watch helplessly as she struggles to fight the virus. 

She cried especially hard yesterday and after about 5 minutes worth of "wierd sounds" after every bout of loud crys, a blob of what seems like mucus came out from her mouth. I was relived that perhaps my girl was puking out the phelgm even without medication. 

After "forcing" the various medication (the PD did a blood test for her as she had mossy bites at her toes. After seeing what seem like a virus attack with bad fever, she decided that antibiotics was needed...)down her throat, she could finally laugh and flip. Before that, all she wanted to do was to lie on her back and try to drift back to sleep. This morning, her fever was 39degrees! I was so shocked and quickly gave her paracetemol and a quick wipe down with tipid water. 

Luckily, her fever subsided!

(I know I will get shot for this...) We went out in the evening to Tiong Bahru Plaza. I took the train with her in the pram... I had pre-dinner at MOS burger (one yummy fish burger with ice tea!). Hubby came at about 7 plus and we headed for Sub-way for sandwich. 

I bought Gripe water for my little girl. Wonder if the evening cries (from 9pm to 10pm at my mother in law's place) is due to wind in her stomach. She does not seem to have the same problem when she comes home on the weekends. 

Sidelining, I am a very happy mother today... My little girl was a darling. She actually lay on her tummy waiting for me to finish lunch! Something which I have always wished for. In short, she made my day today!

Something I learnt:

My PD told me based on the mosquito bites on my girl, it is quite possible that this will not be the last of it. She mentioned that a mosquito will only choose one person to bite/attack. Hence the mossy's preference is my daughter due to the phermones she emits. The only solution is to buy mosquito patch to keep them away. I sure hope it works...

Having Solids!!!

My little girl has started on solids since the first day she hit 4months. This is because the pedetrician told us to do so... Why? My little girl is under weight (only in the 3 percentile range). My intention was to let her take milk fully for six months as recommended by the health authorities... Oh well... 

Since her milk intake is "polite", the PD recommends the following: 

1) Starting solids with Nestle Cereal (She made us buy the green tin from her clinic)

The green tin is plain cereal, so instead of adding warm water (for the Nestle in blue tin), add warm breast milk. PD mentions that Nestle Rice Cereal is the best and won't have allergy! 

2) Start by giving one teaspoon a day before her milk. 

Initially this is what I did, however I realised that she did not finish her milk and since she is not six months yet, I decided to give her the solids after milk instead. So if she can finish both her milk and solids, the better it is for her growth (isn't it?). I give her the cereal 1hr after she finishes her milk. 

3) Increase by one teaspoon every 2 days. 

4) You can only replace the milk feed entirely after she is able to finish 1/2 rice bowl of cereal. 

5) Other than cereal, can start to introduce root vegetables (e.g. potato, carrots, pumpkin)

This is because roots are the safest first foods that you can intro to babies... Fruits like apple also can be introduced but they are sweet, so to avoid developing sweet tooth, this should also be excluded. I read that strong taste vegetables such as brocoli should also be introduced later. 

6) Fruits (incl. avocardo), meat and fish can wait till after 6mths. 

I asked about brown rice cereal and she told me to wait till after 6 months. Apparently brown rice cereal causes phelgm in babies... So my Healthy Times Organic Brown Rice cereal will have to wait. 

While she has not progressed to 1/2 bowl of cereal, she is taking about 7 teaspoon each day during her lunch feed. If we happen to be out during lunch, she will have her cereal during the dinner feed instead. While she is still trying to gain control of pushing the food inwards instead of out, she seems to like the cereal very very much. I hope to give her pumpkin puree sometime when she hits 5 and 1/2months. 

Here is a picture of her having her cereal for the first time when she was 4months. 

Yesterday evening, my hubby and I decided to go to Ikea to get another bath tub (to use at our place) and a high chair. Originally, we wanted to get the cheap plastic one but we kinda feel in love with this one instead... It's more comfortable than the plastic one and it folds away nicely in a corner. The only disavantage is that it is cloth (so it's not easy to clean if the food drips. But the cloth can be machine washed! The damage for this chair is $69. 

Okay, I admit I got a little trigger happy after putting her on the chair... Presenting my little darling in her new high chair! :)

First few minutes on the high chair...

Staring at her dangling feet!!!

Mama, no need to put me back to the centre of the chair... I like to take a peek from one side ok?

Hmm... What's on the TV now?

Happy Mama's day...

Today marks the first Mother's Day for me. My hubby had celebrated this little day for me on Saturday at Ichiban Boshi @ Centrepoint. The dinner was great as we enjoyed the Bento set. But my little girl did give us a "ball-of-a-time" by bawling her heart out when our food came. Perhaps it was her milk time and she was feeling angry that we were going to eat first without feeding her. The fact was we were already preparing her milk while waiting for our orders to come! Instead of enjoying the food, hubby and I were passing her over the table trying to calm her down. -__-"

Today was the first time I felt so relaxed while hanging out at Tiong Bahru Plaza. We had our lunch at Kopitiam. Before going off to get prescribed glasses, we made a pit-stop at Macdonalds. We thought that it was a good place to get some hot water and we could pig on chicken nuggets (Hey! We did not realise that there is actually a baby room on the 5th storey, opp Eu Yang Sang clinic and it provides boiling water!). During this pit stop, me the vain mother asked hubby to take some pictures of me and my girl (reason being: My girl is wearing the romper that says "If you think I am pretty, you should see my MOMMY). LOL.

After that, we rushed down for a little celebratory dinner (3 mothers in one dinner) with my parents and my in laws at the Soup Restaurant @ Changi Airport Terminal 2. Dinner fare was average but I did like the steam fish as it was super fresh! :) Again, my little girl decided to give me a memorable time by crying and squeezing her eyes sooooo tight until there was one tear drop on each of her eyes! I had no choice but to walk out of the restaurant (amidst the stares!) with her. She finally calmed down but still refused her milk.

As you can see from the picture, we were done with dinner and my girl has yet to drink her milk. In the end, my hubby had to walk and feed her at the same time. (Talk about coming up with different "patterns" to make her drink!) Hubby and I reached a consensus that she might be having itchy gums (because her drool level suddenly peaked - she could wet her whole bib under 5mins and she was chewing on anything she could lay her hands on to put into her mouth/so happen to be near her mouth).

I strongly recommend this teether as my girl simply adores it! (thanks to the 2 friends who gave us during her full month. Yes! I have 2!) The one my gal has is the "Floating friends teether".

TIP: (from the first years teether which my gal absolutely loves when it's cold!) A teething baby may be especially fussy during feeding time because when baby sucks, more blood rushes into the already swollen gum. wash your hands and try rubbing baby's gums with your finger before a feeding to temporarily numb the pain.

Are you sleeping???

Sleeping through has always been a concern among most parents. It was a concern for me as I had to return to work after my maternity leave and I did not want my girl to be waking up in the middle of the night. Upon a recommendation by my friend, I bought the book called "The New Contented Baby Book" by Gina Ford (she has a special link http://www.contentedbaby.com/ which you can check out).

In her book, she mentions about the importance of establishing a feed and sleep routine for the baby. In her routines, she also teaches you how to make transitions from month to month and how much sleep the baby actually needs at different stages. I did not follow her routines to the bone, but I took up the general concepts. While I do not know if it was my baby or the concepts I tried, she managed to sleep through 2 weeks after my confinement lady left. She was only one and a half month old.

The general concepts which I followed include:
1) Giving at least six full feeds a day
[My confinement lady fed on demand and she could be drinking every 2hrly. I changed my baby's drinking pattern by giving her more and she slowly stretched to drink every 3hrly. I also believe that by taking enough in the day, my ger is less likely to wake up for milk in the night. My colleague once told me that if I give my ger formula for the last feed, it will allow her to sleep longer. I do not know if it's really the case but it did not work for my ger. She still woke up at about 6 to 6.30am for her milk...]

2) Give night feeds only on demand

[My ger's last feed will usually be before 12 midnight (which is a NO-NO a/c to Gina Ford). I consider any milk feeds after 12 midnight, a night feed. So you may ask me "What do you mean by on demand?"]

For me, I learnt the meaning of on demand one night when I heard my ger went "Eh... Eh". I quickly woke up, ran to the kitchen to get her bottle of feed and warmed it up. Pulled her out from her bed, stuck the teat in her mouth. Of course, my ger did not put up a struggle. She quietly drank and only took one ounce! It occured to me that the sounds were made by her when she was stiring from her sleep... After this incident, I stopped listening for her "Eh... Ehs...", instead I waited for loud crys which were a confirmation from her that she wants milk. Luckily, I realised it early else I will be creating a "natural alarm clock" in her mind that she needs to be fed when she stirs...

3) Do not do more than necessary during the night feed

(You do not want to wake your little baby up and settling her after you have changed her! So there is no need to change your baby's nappies if it is not super wet or soiled. I invested in a better and more absorbent diaper so that I did not need to change her diaper in the middle of the night. Of course, you should change her diaper during the sixth feed!)

4) Allowing baby the ability to differentiate between night and day

(This is arguable. I did not exactly do anything special. Only after my confinement lady left, did I let my girl sleep in a dark room for her naps. Some people said that the sleep enviornment for day naps and night sleep should be different. But when I was home alone with baby, her sleep enviornment were as what Gina Ford recommends - in a dark quiet room. Sadly, she does not have this luxury at my MIL's place - the quiet part.)

5) Allowing baby to fall asleep on her own and to go back to sleep after stiring

(Perhaps, she had already gotten into the habit, she needed to be patted to sleep. This I "cured" after one month. Most of the time, I would be a "bad mummy", letting her struggle and cry a little so that she can get to sleep on her own. It is not recommended that the baby be allowed to "drink to sleep" when they wake up in the middle of the night unless they are hungry! When the baby stirs, try not to create a habit of patting her or putting her soother back.)

Milk... Milk... Milk...

Milk... Milk... Milk... For me, it's a special sound that my girl makes when she had her night feed when she was one month plus. I am glad that she had stopped night feeds since one and a half months, but the "milk... milk... milk..." plays so clearly in my mind and that's what keeps me going - pumping for the sake of feeding her.

It's been four months and I am still breast feeding via pumping... While some people struggle with their breast milk supply, I have been lucky enough to have sufficient and extra to store since my milk supply was established.

More and more, breastfeeding has become more comfortable for me. This includes the softening of the breast. Most of the days, the breast milk engorgement does not result in very hard and uncomfortable breast. Gone are also the days where pain will shoot through my breast every now and then.

I realised that my supply has stabilised in recent days and I am grateful that my employer is allowing me to pump during working hours. After I returned work at 2.5 months after my girl was born, my pumping schedule is as follows 6.30am, 12noon, 4pm, 8pm, 12 midnight. For the six hourly pump, my yeild will be about 300ml (10oz) while the four hourly pump yeild will be between 200ml (6oz plus) to about 240ml (8oz).

My girl drinks about 125 to 130ml every 3hrly at the moment. As long as I pump religiously, my girl will have enough milk and will not even touch the store of EBM I have. Recently, I wanted to let my ger drink the Similac FM but my hubby told me this in Chinese "You pump until so hard got so much to store already then you let her drink formula for what? Not like you got not enough milk for her!". Well to some extend it's true, mothers spend money buying formula and I spend money buying milk bags to store. :P To prevent wastage, I have given about 2 batches of milk to different mothers.

The mother who took my 2nd batch of milk was so kind to give me things in return... Now, I have another batch to give away... Actually I am glad that I can provide milk for my girl (except that she drinks too little according to my PD). As you can see, this is how my fridge looks like when it's too full... 

Here's a reminder to all mothers not to give up breastfeeding from the start! The first time my milk came in, there was only a miserable 20ml but I was so excited, I took a photo of it. So do not be dissapointed if the initial supply is less than 1 oz. You need time to build up the supply! :)