Engorged on one side only

Yesterday I didn't manage to pump enough milk and today I'll be out the whole day. I panicked and I took 3 fenugreek pills and drank the milkmaid tea twice. Possibly because I wasn't quite well the night before and vomited twice... perhaps my body was just a little dehydrated and still recovering.

Then today...

(posted in a secret group that's for close mummy friends only)

And this morning suddenly one side got super engorged! Baby still wakes up several times to latch and I'll alternate sides (hopefully I remember the side correctly). However sometimes she latches longer while sometimes she latches for just a bit and then rolls away. Maybe she latched longer on the right and kept rolling away on the left. Or maybe I didn't remember the sides correctly in my sleep...

End mommy wars

It's really sad to see news on such tragedy - New mother falls to her death

The mother's mental health and overall well-being over breastfeeding please. Breastfeeding is very challenging to many, and it is okay to give baby formula milk if a mother can't give her baby enough breast milk. Don't be stressed over breastfeeding full time, especially in the beginning. I only established my milk supply after baby's full month... we supplemented with formula milk too. I feel that a good mother makes sure the baby's well fed and well taken care of. It doesn't matter if the baby's fed milk from mummy or some cows. I grew up on formula and I think my mum's the greatest mum ever. Not breastfeeding doesn't make anyone lesser of a good mother. Never stress anyone to give full breast milk... a new mum has a lot more to deal with than giving breast milk. It's too much to handle and too stressful for new mums. Post-natal depression is a real problem many new mums struggle with each day. Lend a listening ear and don't be a critic.

Saw this video being shared on Facebook and I feel it's very appropriate for all mommies. We may all grow up with different sets of values and different ideas of what the perfect mom should be like, but in the end we are all the same. We are mothers.

Watch this, and stop judging.

Click image for link to the webpage I got this YouTube clip from.

Quoting the webpage:

Wintsch's own research suggests mothers around the world feel burdened by unreasonable expectations. When she and her team interviewed 5,000 women in 17 countries, they were surprised at the emotion all of them had in common. It wasn't joy or love, though many reported feeling those. The universal experience was self-doubt.

Wintsch's theory is that the mommy wars won't end until mothers develop more confidence in their decision-making. 

"We're so mean to ourselves. We're so critical and question our every move," Wintsch says. "We are at war with ourselves, and we turn that war on other mothers."

All images are taken from the webpage that they are linked to.

DIY chai latte

My current fav combo - Earth Mama organic milkmaid tea and Lipton instant teh tarik.

I didn't fancy having the milkmaid tea on its own but this combo tastes like chai latte, and seems to be great for milk supply too. All my breastfeeding-mama-friends can try ^^v

I cooked lunch

I cooked lunch for my toddler girl and myself today.

Recently I've been having retail therapy sessions at Daiso. Soba noodles, dried wakame (in soup), instant soup mix and shredded seaweed were bought from Daiso. Even the serving plate and bowl were bought from Daiso. Plus the cute pink cutlery, also from Daiso. :P 

For my girl, I cooked vehicle-shaped pasta in tomato sauce with one whole fresh tomato, served in her Calibowl. She loves tomato. ^^

Milestone cards

My cousin gave me a box of the original Milestone Baby Cards when my first girl was a new born and we've been having fun taking photos of her and her milestones with the cards.

How I miss those days~ although she's even more fun now!

We've been keeping the used Milestone Baby Cards with her milestones dated on the cards. Initially we were thinking to reuse those cards for my second girl and perhaps put a sticky note over the date to write the new one.

The old cards that we've been using since 2012.

Now we don't have to reuse them anymore as she's having her own Milestone baby cards in miffy edition! :D Isn't that cute? Miffy's super cute!

The three sets of Milestone Baby Cards that we have at home.

Even my elder girl gets a set of The Original Toddler Cards. Remember my update on Tuesday, in which I post about these gifts from my cousin? My elder girl quickly grabbed the set of Toddler Cards when I told her it's for her. She's been eyeing the old set of Milestone Baby Cards on my bedside table but I didn't let her play as I had wanted to reuse them for her baby sister. She's delighted to get her hands on her own set of cards now!

She grabbed the box as I was snapping pics... shall review the Neckerchew another day!

Let's take a peek inside the box of The Original Toddler Cards!

Love the vibrant colours!

There's a poster with all the cards' illustrations on it, and to keep her occupied with the cards that she's so excited about, I let her have a game of matching the cards to the illustrations on the poster. She actually loves it and we play the matching game with her cards almost everyday now. ^^

Having fun finding the matching illustrations on the poster.

And my baby gets to have a little hands-on session with her set of miffy cards too!

Baby girl's very own Milestone baby cards, miffy edition!

Today she's 5 months old and we took a photo of her with the milestone card.

Took this on parents-in-law's bed~

Then I couldn't resist taking another photo before her bedtime. ^^

In our bed before her bedtime. She loves the Lamaze doll!

There are 3 sets of Milestone cards in miffy edition... these are not mine though. My friend won these cards from a contest on Milestone Cards Singapore Facebook page!

Milestone baby cards, mini cards and pregnancy cards. In miffy edition!

Find out if they're in stock at Sophie.sg!

After work

Home sweet home.

Breastfeeding related

I'm such a photo-fanatic, I take photos even when packing up my chilled milk in the nursing room, before going home from work.

Came across these 2 breastfeeding-related links, so just to share! :D

6 Ways to Increase and Maintain Your Milk Supply

11 Tips to Help You Lose Weight while Breastfeeding

Visiting my cousin

Today I left school immediately at 1pm, went home to store my milk and brought my girl out for lunch and then dropped by to visit cousin and his lovely wifey at their workplace. Tea break was donuts in a warehouse. Took a cab home with my girl in the Lennylamb and hope my girl's having a rainbow kinda sweet dream inside the Sunrise Rainbow.

Brought donuts for my cousin and went home with these~

Such lovely gifts for my girls! Thank you cousin~ ^^

Audience

Last night we were occupied.

Baby woke up and stared.

First time doing it with an audience.

Weekend lunches

I'm beginning to treat this like a foodie blog. *oops* I love to eat.

Saturday lunch with my elder girl at NEX MOF. Too much food for us!

Sunday lunch at my folks' place. Mummy's cooking is still the best!!

Always love a goood lunch. ^^

Happy tummy happy plate

I was never into junk food like this. I must be mad. I'm going to blame it on breastfeeding hunger pangs.

After eating a lot in school, I went out for a piping hot plate of vegetarian hokkien mee.

My springrolls and barley drink was served only after I've cleared out my plate of hokkien mee!

Post a picture of your empty plate using #happyplatesg on Instagram. For every 3 hashtags, Electrolux will donate a happy food bundle to help out 1,000 families via The Food Bank Singapore!

Milk supply 101

Being a 'veteran' breastfeeding mum (and it's only my second time now, probably my last... but breastfeeding is the kind of experience where one time is enough to turn you into a self-proclaimed guru XD), I never doubted my milk supply this time (I had lots of doubts the last time), although I usually only get 50ml to 120ml per side per pump... a great variation and very little compared to some of my friends who can get like, 200ml? Unlike them, I do not have a huge stash of frozen milk in a separate standalone freezer, but I pump just enough each day for my baby to drink on the next day.

A mummy-friend just shared this on Facebook and I find it quite an insightful read for nursing mothers: Low Milk Supply 101

Mine don't leak. My girl can latch the whole day, and I let her. I'm not worried, and thankfully I'm not wrong to skip worrying about my supply. Anyway, from the article: "You don’t need to wash and sterilize a pump every time you use it. Pop it in a plastic bag and put it back into the fridge between pumping sessions. 10 minutes is ample."

That's exactly what I do at work. =) I pump twice a day, 10 minutes each time, with my Medela Freestyle dual-pump. And I pop the whole box of pump parts into the fridge between the pumping sessions. Call me lazy, but I'll do whatever I can to save my time and my sanity, without sacrificing on my baby's health. It is legit okay to just leave them in the fridge. If your milk can stand in the fridge for a day and not turn bad, why not a pump stained with nothing more than your milk?

This was yesterday afternoon, pumping after work. My drink and my baby's drink.

And that's the box I use to carry my pump parts around and to keep them in the fridge.

Added later in the same day: Found this interesting comparison of human, cow and goat milk on the internet - Human Milk vs Animal Milk

Shopping at Daiso

I went to Daiso in the afternoon, without wanting to buy anything.

I left with ten items in a Daiso bag, and twenty bucks poorer.

Daiso has the super power in making us buy things we absolutely don't need!! Now, what do I do with that fortune cat?

And don't ask me when I'm making my next toast! I've absolutely no idea.

Sleepless in Sunday afternoon

The girls, tired but refusing to nap. In fact I nursed my baby girl to sleep and my big girl woke her up shortly after.

I was frustrated. And I had to bring my big girl out for a halloween party with her little girl pals. I'm happy to meet up with my dear mummy friends and their kiddos, but my girl was wailing away upon reaching the party venue, flaunting to all her powerful cranky cries from the lack of nap.

Why wouldn't you nap? Why? We put you in bed from 12pm to 2pm, then in stroller until the party at 4pm. Why? Why wouldn't you nap?? *sigh*

That aside, I'm glad my hubby stayed at home and took care of our baby girl while I was out with the cranky elder one. Despite her crankiness, we did have a good time together with my mummies-friends and her little friends. *thankful*

Babywearing

Are you into babywearing? My first baby carrier is an Ergo baby carrier with insert, a gift set from my cousins in a versatile shade of maroon colour. I used it, my hubby uses it and my mum-in-law uses it too. I got my second one recently from www.fluffmail.com.sg~ It's a super pretty Lennylamb which is so delightful to use and soft to touch. Now I use it exclusively so I don't have to readjust the straps every time before going out. Being a super paranoid mum, I just couldn't bring myself to use wraps and slings. I'll be worrying endlessly about the wrappings and knottings and if baby's suffocating inside. Somehow, I feel more secure and much safer using a soft structured carrier (SSC). I'm glad I can use a SSC confidently and babywearing has made life so much easier for me, especially when I'm out and about alone with the baby.

I joined the Facebook group "Babywearing Singapore" to learn more about babywearing, but I'm still paranoid about using wraps and slings. In the group, I saw some mummies asking about babywearing with the baby facing forward in a SSC and I started pondering about it myself.

Personally I haven't tried forward facing and being a super paranoid mum, I just couldn't bring myself to. Simply because I need to be able to see my child's face and expressions. I see others wearing baby front-facing and I wondered if I'd try, but I'd keep worrying if baby's unhappy or feeling discomfort from the full frontal exposure of stimulus. If she's not feeling good, I wouldn't be able to tell and keep her secure. I very much prefer for her to have the option to sit up and look around or hide her face against my chest whenever she's tired or overwhelmed. Haha, I'm seriously a super paranoid mummy !

Here's some interesting babywearing tips that I saw in the group, just to share~

http://sg.theasianparent.com/babywearing-singapore-how-to-tips

And here's me and my baby in our beautiful Lennylamb Luna - such a lovely rainbow carrier! ♥

Little project

Carrying four pegs around to peg nursing cover onto baby's bassinet when we don't want the lights and sights to overstimulate baby. Thought of this idea so the pegs can have more than a single use, and made this on Sunday while the girls were napping (in previous post).

Used scrap felt from my quiet book project (still in progress) to make this little project for my toddler to play colour matching and train motor skill while on the go. A little package that can be neatly tucked into my diaper bag ^^

Nap time

This is how we roll~

Roll over! Roll over!

And they all rolled over and mummy fell out. 😂

Breastfeeding and calories

Chanced upon something very interesting. Especially if you're breastfeeding, a maths geek, or calorie-sensitive.

http://www.phdinparenting.com/blog/2008/11/25/the-calories-and-breastfeeding-rollercoaster.html

After work

Overwhelmed with mixed feelings today so I went retail therapy at Daiso.

But the best time of the day is still the time spent with my girls.

Life changing

7 years ago, I made the life changing decision to quit my full-time job and join the teaching fraternity. NIE times were hectic but wonderful, while being on the job itself is challenging yet nothing less than splendid.

After spending a good 6 years in this school, today I received two letters that will change my life again.

(1) I'm promoted today.

(2) I'm posted to another school next year.

I'm leaving this school with mixed feelings. I had thought I'd stay here for many years. 10? Maybe 20?

This place is my comfort zone. I love my super nice and spacious staffroom cubicle, the comfy nursing room which I just wrote about here, the affordable yummy food that our canteen serves, and ultimately, my awesome peers at work. I can't bear to leave my cubicle, it's become my second home. I can't bear to leave the comfy nursing room, my favourite place in school. I can't bear to leave the canteen, the hot beehoon for breakfast and the 1-buck fresh fruit juices. I can't even bear to leave the school admin and the SOPs in place that I've grown to become very familiar with. Lastly, I can't bear to leave the people that I hang out with, whine with and laugh with, every working day. They are the ones that makes working here so much more bearable and makes this place my ultimate comfort zone. I love my close friends at work.

Now, I am leaving my comfort zone for more exposure and new opportunities. For better or for worse? That, I don't know yet. I'm scared, and I'm excited. And to be honest, my daughters are the reason I leave my comfort zone. This is a working mom's confession. It is the blinding love for my girls, the never-ending worries for their future, and the heavy responsibilities of being a mother, that made me make this very difficult decision. Otherwise I wouldn't leave the place I'm so comfy in right now. I wouldn't even think about it. 

As new chapters of my life unfolds - both at work and at home - with unknown challenges ahead and two lovely children to nurture, I sincerely wish that my life will only change for the better. And I'm looking forward to a better future with excitement and enthusiasm.

Goodness me, I'm already missing the cozy nursing room so much. I can't believe I only get to use it for slightly more than a couple of months. I must pump more each day at work, until the end of this year!!

Nursing room at work

I am very fortunate this time round that my work place now has a very nice nursing room which provides a very comfortable environment for me to express my milk for my baby.

Let's have a virtual tour of my new favourite place at work!

You won't believe it but the door's facing the carpark, it's right behind the canteen.

It's hot on the outside...

...but the inside is really well equipped.

There are 4 cubicles, all with armchair and rack on wheels.

And of course, fridge is a requirement, and lots of motivational messages!

In fact, a new big fridge was brought in for the nursing mamas!

This is the cubicle that I use exclusively now. In fact I'm the only nursing mom here now, I always leave my bag of nursing stuff on the armchair before heading up to the staffroom. The room is always locked.

There's a place to hang my clothes and I brought a hanger too. Sometimes I wear dresses and end up pumping in my shoes and underwear.

Great environment gives great yield I guess. (^__^)

One of the other cubicles.

Washing area right next to the door.

This was actually taken after my very first pump in this nursing room. I'm so thankful! I wished I get to pump in such conducive environment the last time, but I shouldn't ask for much... I should be glad no one ever told me to pump in the staff toilet.

Yes, very thankful indeed, for the wonderful nursing room at work. Now I can always keep calm and pump on!