Thursday, October 30, 2008

Am I consider fail in breastfeeding?

By introducing bottle to 11 days old baby???

Last night discovered the right nipple also bleeds... so no more nipple for baby Zheng to suckle. He was awake from 8.45pm till 12pm even we spoon-fed him 3 times with EBM. He still reluctant to sleep and was crying and screaming in search for his comforting source. Everyone was helping me to think of a way to calm him down but nothing works. Mummy was so guilty to agree give him the bottle but what to do in the followings days realizing the injury needs to take a few days to heal. Baby Zheng suckle another 2oz before he finally dozed off.

In fact, Jess came to see me yesterday all the way from Butterworth and taught me how to correct baby's lips when he latch on. Thank you so much Jess... and it really reduce the pain to very minimal or almost no pain at all once baby continue to suckle. That time, the right nipple was sore but no bleeding. Looks like the injury started since yesterday morning, the soreness was actually the RED signal.

Now mummy pray that baby Zheng won't reject mummy's breast after this and mummy is able to heal faster. Any tips to wean baby from bottle to breast?

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pain & Tears! ...and HELP!!!

Never expect breastfeeding can be so tiring and terrible... Mostly because baby Zheng has incorrect latch on since Day 1 till today. Mummy thought breastfeeding will be painful at first and it is normal. Things go wrong when mummy realized mummy has sore and cracked nipple on and off. Since yesterday, mummy got bleeding nipple on the left breast.

Mummy and the confinement lady gave baby Zheng EBM (expressed breat milk) by spoon or cup. Each time we hear him screaming and crying, it is so heartbroken. Baby Zheng refuse spoon/cup feeding and will "fight" with us throughout the feeding session. After we gave him 1-1.5oz of EBM he still won't settle down by continuing screaming and crying till the breast is offered. He loves to suckle into his dreamland. Though mummy knows his latch on is incorrect, each time mummy unlatched him, he's screaming like no tomorrow! Baby Zheng cries, mummy also cries to see this (of course including the pain too!) ...

It is almost 3/4 of the time per day mummy is sitting to breastfeed him. All the joint and lower body feels painful since mummy really lack of rest. Mummy is comfortable in using football position and cradle hold position while nursing. Mummy even developed fear in direct feed baby Zheng because he tends to bite mummy with his gum and once he got on to the breast, mummy must try so hard to unlatch him. There's no lactation nurse that mummy knows in Alor Setar but will try to seek help from the government clinic which we brought baby Zheng to check and monitor for his jaudice for the past 1 week. Really hope to see Adventist Hosp lactation nurse next Tuesday (4 Nov) when baby Zheng is going back for his checkup.

My mum commented that baby Zheng is a clever baby since he's so afraid of loosing the chance to suckle on the breast, he tends to bite on tightly whenever he has the chance (??!!). Also another comment is mummy's nipple is too short and flat and this make it even harder for the baby to suck on. Once there is milk drip out (the reason why mummy can't go braless, coz the milk will be dripping everywhere!), the aerola and nipple will be so slippery to suck. Is it true the size and shape of the nipple will cause baby's mouth suction differ?

Friday, October 24, 2008

Greeting from Baby Zheng!


DOB: 19 Oct 2008
Weight: 3.5kg
(big horr...? No wonder En En said mummy is Oogway -tortoise...)

Mummy and baby now back to Alor Setar for confinement. Having breastfeeding challenge everyday and mummy is happy coz got abundant of supply (engorgement) but sad as nipple cracked and sore for a few days already. Hoping baby Zheng is able to learn the correct latch on and good suction soon. Was having breastfeeding marathon during the first 3 days in hospital, mummy is almost a zombie.

Wish to thanks tips and advises especially from Jess, Alice, Chanel, Angie, Loh from MMPS and Sandra. Without encouragement from you all, this is really a tough journey!




Friday, October 17, 2008

False Alarm at 39 Weeks!

Thought the blood stain was the sign of labour but it stopped at mid-day. Nothing happen since then and mummy is still sitting at home feeding En En, bring her to bath... everything remain as usual. Basically, mummy already prepare to welcoming baby anytime as it's very heavy to walk around plus mummy developes painful thigh if sitting too long. Thus, resulting in walking difficulty. What a bad experience... Well, to be exact... mummy really wish baby to greet the world as soon as possible!

Had the chance to try again childhood food. In memory, only had this once during teenage years. Putu Mayong... not in love with it but it did bring back some childhood memory.



And latest craving - Char Siew Pau! That's how mummy's weight piled on so fast lately... last visit to gynea, mummy's weight already hit 83kg!!!






Never stop knitting as knitting helps to keep swollen fingers active! Daddy asked mummy to snap a picture of all the knitted items so far and here there are:-




A vest for baby No.2, a cable vest for En En, baby cardigan, baby hats and woolen babylegs! Never get boring knitting wool longies and wool soakers for use with cloth fitted nappies!


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Little boss on the "Phone"!

The last sentence En En said:" Mummy, chi4 (eat) banana!!! " *fainted*

En En is 29 months old!



Vital

Height: Unknown coz never measure but Ah Kong keeps on saying she grows taller each day...

Weight: 13.3kg, taken during a visit to paed last Monday.


Diet

- Trying out soft rice with soup as she hates porridge everyday.

- Breakfast will be mee suah and alternate with oatmeal every 2-3 days.

- Still refuse to chew on food during main meal but is able to take biscuit or Pringles very well.

- Fall in love with Fernleaf's yoghurt and she calls that as "Niu2 Niu" (cow). Not sure why too?

- Mummy tries to include everything that we adult eats into her diet in a smaller portion and got to make sure they are chopped very finely as she will only swallow whatever we put into her mouth!

- Milk: 6-7.5 oz 3-4 times per day.

- Drink diluted yoghurt drink almost everyday.


Vocab

Talk like an adult nowadays. Able to use I, you, him/her, we, myself, ... in her speech. A little radio at home.


Developement

Mummy hardly can recall by now as they are just too many.

1. Able to identify colours very well and able to tell whether it's red, green, blue, orange, purple, yellow, white and black.

2. Able to operate the DVD player with our supervision and will choose cartoon movie or shows she wants to watch from the CD holder.

3. Able to pull up and down her pants but most of the time she's just too lazy to do that on her own.

4. Potty training is almost successful as she is diaperless 95% in a day except at night. Yet, she only use one cloth diaper and able to tell us she wants to pee in the middle of the night. No diaper when outing.

5. She is a clean toddler as she won't tolerate to use a dirty public toilet outside and will wait till we find a more cleaner toilet for her.

What else? Mummy's brain is shutting down now... can't really think of anything. Perhaps next time must jot down with a pen first.


Wednesday, October 8, 2008

38 Weeks!

Yeah... still here... don't ask me when baby will be out. I guess he must be enjoying swiming inside and walloping whatever this "penguin mummy" is having. Can't believe mummy put on averagely 1kg PER WEEK!!!

Mummy's weight: 81kg (Oh my God!!!)
Baby's weight : Over 3kg as gynea can see baby's flabby thigh through scan in which she considered that as FAT!
Belly measurement: 46 inches (anyone bigger than mine? I mean except carrying twins)

Mummy is having quite a good appetite during this last month and tummy grows so big suddenly. Just hoping don't hit 85kg, which was the highest weight when preggie with En En. Gynea advised to watch the weight and control diet... same old advise. Feel heavier than ever and hardly can walk any longer or move around freely. Developed pelvic bone pain when switched from lying or sitting position to standing up. Guess will need to end up sleep in sitting position too.

En En glue to Ah Mah more now and only will look for mummy for bath. Still able to feed her and read her story books but no more jumping and running here and there. Mummy got some spare time to keep on knitting... yeah, seriously addicted to knitting now. Anyhow, knitting calm the mind and makes me feel good if having a bad day.

Tomorrow will be my birthday and daddy is hoping baby will share the same birthday with mummy. Can be so coincident??

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Goodbye Pacifier!

Yes... finally En En wean herself off pacifier before 2.5 years old!!! (It was almost 3 weeks without any paci now, hurray!) Mummy had been waiting for so long to get rid of the "chut-chut" from her.

So, what's the trick? En En loved to bite her pacifier and there was a moment that she got angry, bad mood and cried out loud, Ah Mah as usual pushed her pacifier in order to make her shut up. Dear mummies, how many of you think that this will work? Mummy never believe it from day 1 En En was introduced to pacifier by Ah Mah. But Ah Mah said pacifier is a gift to noisy babies...

Back to the story, En En was unhappy and geram. Therefore, she use all her strength to bite her pacifier. The new Avent pacifier just been given to her 2 days ago and got torn apart immediately. Mummy decided not to give her anymore (even still got 1 spare), Ah Mah also agreed since No.2 will be here soon, must save money for No.2. Just imagine we got to spend almost RM12-15 per month just for the pacifier and this had been went on since En En addicted to "chut-chut" for more than 2 years. (A pacifier that cost RM3-4 only will last for one week as En En liked to chew her pacifier eversince she has teeth!) *pengsan* Now you know why mummy so eagerly wanted En En to wean off from pacifier.

En En kept on request for her "chut-chut" and we gave her the torn one. She tried to put into her mouth and chewed then she didn't like the spoiled "chut-chut" irritated her mouth and spit out! We told her no more "chut-chut" for her as she's a big girl now. Ever since then she requested for pacifier, we showed her the spoiled one. She tried then spit out again. We repeated this for almost a week and slowly she stop requesting for pacifier.

We still keep the spoiled pacifier in case one day she still remember... hahaha! :D