Travelling breastfeeding mom

I am a travelling Mom. I am a breastfeeding Mom.  When you put both together, it can be a difficult situation.


I travel for work. A lot.  And when I do travel, it is with the whole family.  But, when I need to travel for an overnight trip only, I do not bring the kids along anymore.  On such a trip, the most important accessory I need to bring is my breast pump.


When baby J was almost 2 years old, I had to go on an overnight trip.  I forgot to bring my breast pump, so initially I thought I could last overnight without it, given that my milk supply was significantly less than when she was a newborn.  But I was wrong.  My breasts became so engorged I had to go to the nearest shopping center to get one before I screamed in pain!  I learned from that trip. After that incident, my breast pump is the first thing I pack.


In my earlier days as a breastfeeding, travelling Mom, I would just bring along my manual breast pump to express milk and throw it away.  I did this because most hotel rooms do not have a freezer compartment in their small refrigerators.  I was not comfortable travelling for hours on end with unfrozen breast milk hence the decision to just throw it away instead of risking giving spoiled milk to my baby.  But, eventually, I decided to prepare for it.


So, what do I do when I need to travel?


1. Bring all my ice packs.
2. Bring enough breastfeeding bags.
3. Bring an insulated bag.


When I get to the check-in counter at the airport, I check with the crew whether I can bring the ice pack on my carry-on luggage or not.  I do not want to risk my ice pack being confiscated.


Once I get to the hotel, I leave my ice packs in their freezer straight away to give it as much time to freeze for my trip back home.  Every time I express milk, I make sure I keep it in an insulated bag with label before I give it to the staff for freezing.  I also always remind them that it is breast milk to ensure that they take very good care of it.


Once in awhile, I get lucky and I get to stay in a hotel with a freezer in the room (such as today). This is automatic plus points for me!

Even if the freezer is small, I am happy that I get to keep the milk in my own ref and not in a public refrigerator where I do not even have direct access.


When I am travelling, I make sure that every milk bag contains only 100ml or less.  Even if generally, airport staff are more accommodating with breast milk, I do not want to risk it being confiscated. 


Lastly, I always get the milk from the freezer only when I am about to leave.  I then make sure that I surround all the milk bags with ice pack.  The ultimate goal is to arrive home with milk that is still frozen.


It may seem like a great inconvenience when travelling.  But, seeing the number of expressed milk bags you bring home is totally worth it!

How to raise a non-picky eater

The thing that surprises anyone who has met baby J, is the fact that her appetite is a bottomless pit.  The next thing that surprises people, is the fact that she eats anything we adults eat. When a friend saw how baby J ate, she asked me how we did it?  So, how did we manage to raise a toddler who loves green, leafy vegetables, fruits, milk, and meat?


When I look back to the time that we introduced food to her, the hubby and I decided not to give her the commercially available infant food preparations since these would have more sugar or salt to make the food appetizing for the baby.  I would like to give credit to my husband for blending all of baby J's food.  We started feeding baby J by introducing blended squash to her since we felt this has more taste and texture to make her first food experience a positive one.  We then proceeded to introduce other fruits and vegetables, all prepared with no sugar added and with very minimal salt, if at all. After awhile, we started mixing different food and gave her combination meals.  All of this was mixed with breast milk.


Other things we did that possibly contributed to her gusto for food:
1. Juice was not introduced until she was two years old.
2. No candies and chocolate.  We only eased up on this when she was a little over two.  Even then, she would only be allowed a limited amount.
3. No chips.  Even until now that she is three and a half years old, we do not allow her to eat chips.  The only chips she is allowed to eat are the fruit chips that do not have added sugar.
4.  Control the sugar intake.  Since baby J started drinking cow's milk, we only gave her the unflavored full cream milk.  I only allowed her to try the flavored milk when she turned two and half.
5.  We involve her in the food preparation.  She joins us when we buy food from the wet market, to the time of preparation and cooking the food.
6.  We encourage her appreciation for food.  Whenever she makes any food request, we try to accommodate it whenever possible.  Since she mostly asks for fruits and vegetables, then we happily give in to her requests.  She loves broccoli and watermelon, among other things.
7. No carbonated drinks allowed. Until now, baby J has never been allowed to drink carbonated drinks.
8. Ice cream is a treat, on special occasions.  When she does eat ice cream, she would normally eat yoghurt ice cream.  She does eat the "normal" ice cream too, but not too often.


Now, we are repeating what we did to baby A. So far, she is happy with her fruit and vegetable meals.  Again, all food are prepared at home, with no sugar and salt added.  We are hoping that we will be raising another child who appreciates food.

More on cloth diapering

I wrote an article on cloth diapering in January 2014. Check out the link to the original article here:

http://pedramusings.blogspot.sg/2014/01/cloth-diapering-anyone.html

Aside from the care of your cloth diaper, there will come a time when you will have to "strip" the cloth diapers.  How will you know when it's time to strip your cloth diapers already? 

1. After six months of continued use.
2. When the smell does not go away even if you wash and re-wash it.
3. When the absorbency of the cloth diaper is affected already (e.g. when "leaks" start occurring, often!).

When any of these are present in your cloth diaper, then it is time to strip the cloth diaper.  I was advised by a friend to use RLR laundry treatment (pic 1).  It was very hard to purchase this laundry treatment though, as I had to source it from the U.S.  But it was quite effective.

Pic 1. RLR Laundry Treatment

 Three years and two kids later, the cloth diapers are still doing its job very well!

Having kids later in life

In today's society, many women do not marry until they are well into their 30s and 40s. Oftentimes, they also start having kids around this age.  True, that there are so many disadvantages we can think of , marrying and having kids at this age, but for the women who choose to do this, there are also advantages.

I am one of these women.  When I was younger, I would always think about waiting at least a year after marriage before I wanted to have kids.  I wanted to spend time with my husband first, just the two of us before the chaos and joy of having kids.  But, because I married late in life, I did not have the luxury of waiting anymore.

When I got married, I was lucky to have gotten pregnant just one month after the wedding. Despite the fact that men and women are less fertile as they age, I was lucky to have been blessed with a baby pretty fast. However, as much as I was ecstatic to be having a baby, I was also constantly afraid that my baby might not be as healthy, given that I am not as young as other moms-to-be.  I could not relax until I got the result of my nuchal rigidity scan to say that my baby was okay. I was also very conscious of what I ate throughout the pregnancy, because i wanted to make my baby as healthy as possible despite my age.

Sometimes, when I think about how old the hubby and I will be when our eldest goes to college, I would tease him that we would look like grandparents attending our daughter's graduation, instead of being the parents.  We are not very old, mind you.  But, when I look at my high school classmates who had kids earlier, it sometimes makes me think also, if it was the right decision to start a family late.

But, as I look back at myself and my family, I do not regret my decision.  True, there will always be disadvantages, but I will choose to look at the advantages instead. 

1. You are more financially stable.

The husband and I decided to invest in real estate while we were just preparing for our marriage.  So, every month, most of our money would go to the installment of the property we acquired.  We still had the luxury of paying for it because our eldest had not started school yet.  Expenses for our daughter was not so high yet because she was breastfed, she used cloth diapers, and I was home schooling her.

Now that she has started school, the property we purchased has already been turned over to us, and we are about to rent it out to help supplement our daughter's expenses.

2. You have a more stable career.  

Having married late, I have already finished my residency training as well as sub-specialty training in anesthesiology before I started my family. So,  I had the luxury of being able to spend more time with my children. For people in the corporate world, they may have the option of having a more flexible work schedule because they have been with the company for some time and may even be holding a top management position already.

3. You are more mature.

Being a parent takes a lot of responsibility and maturity.  You need to deal with the children as well as your spouse.  If you are not mature enough to handle either of the two, then your relationship may crumble.

4. You are raising intelligent kids.
Various studies have shown that when you have kids later in life, chances are the kids tend to be smarter.  They attribute this to higher educational attainment of the parents, more stable career, and higher maturity level.

Please click on the link below to read more about it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2147848/Children-mothers-40-healthier-intelligent.html

The husband and I have a very chaotic work schedule.  But, because of our mutual commitment to be hands-on parents to our kids, we sacrifice a lot of things to make it work, without fighting over the little things.  We sacrifice sleep to bring our daughter to gymnastics on Saturday mornings, even if the urge to sleep in is so great.  We sacrifice sleep even if we are post-call to be there to attend to our children's needs.  Because we are mature enough for all these, believe me, we have made it work for the last five years; two kids later in the most expensive city in the world.  And we are still smiling.

Don't fret about the disadvantages of having kids later in life.  There will always be advantages and disadvantages whether you have kids early or later in life.  Choose the positive.  Stand by your decision and be happy.  

5 Most Memorable Breastfeeding Moments

Breastfeeding is a fun yet challenging journey, one that you will miss once the journey comes to an end.  I am sure, everyone who has breastfed/ is breastfeeding their child will have many stories to tell.  Here are some of mine: 

1. After giving birth to my eldest, I did not use a nursing cover for fear that baby J might get smothered by the cover.  So every time she would latch on, my mom had to hold my shawl around us to give us privacy. It was tiring having to hold the cover for 15-20 minutes.  We continued doing it until I found a nursing cover that I felt was safe for my baby, a nursing cover that would allow me to keep a close watch on her while she fed.

2. Because most malls did not have a dedicated breastfeeding room, my only option if I wanted privacy, was to run to the nearest toilet. I would normally close the toilet seat and sit there while my baby latches on.  However, there were some toilets without a seat cover! So, in those moments, I had to let my baby feed while I was standing.  It was very tiring, but mothers will do anything for their children.

3.  During our trip to the Vatican Museum, because the tour took most of the afternoon, our baby naturally became hungry.  By the time we were in the bottleneck leading up to the Sistine Chapel, she was already inconsolable. I had no choice but to let her nurse while stuck amidst all the displayed tapestry around us, inside the infant carrier, while continuing to walk. That was the first time I did that!

4. Due to the terrible Manila traffic, I always brought a manual breast pump with me so I can express milk before I start driving home, so when baby A becomes hungry on the road home, she can be fed from the bottle while I continue the drive home. One day, while expressing milk before the drive home, I was so surprised that I could only produce 1 oz of milk despite all my efforts.  I thought something was happening that's why I suddenly could not produce milk.  But lo and behold, as I was washing the breast pump, I noticed that the valve was torn.  No wonder I could not seem to produce more than 1oz of milk.

5. At baby A's baptism, I wore a dress for the ceremony and reception, thinking I would just express milk and let the baby drink from the bottle.  But, our baby decided that she did not want to drink milk from the bottle that day!  I tried to nurse her in the toilet, but because it was occupied, and she was crying non-stop, the waiters of the restaurant decided to use a table cloth to prepare a makeshift breastfeeding room for me. As for me, I had to remove my dress while feeding baby A, in my makeshift room.  

Pretty fun breastfeeding moments, don't you think so?  Please share with us your memorable experiences as well!

8 Things nobody tells you about Breastfeding

I am an advocate of breastfeeding, having breastfed my eldest for almost 28 months and now, breastfeeding my second. 

Breastfeeding is not all a bed of roses. We always read about the benefits of breastfeeding, but nobody tells us what it truly entails.  So, let me share with you my experiences on breastfeeding.

1. Breastfeeding is painful.  At least during the first month and in the first few minutes of each feeding.  When I gave birth to my eldest, I, of course, wanted to breastfeed her because of all the benefits it can offer.  However, nobody told me that I would be in excruciating pain when she latched on.  So, for every feeding, I had to squeeze the hubby's hands tight just to get through the first few minutes of latching.  I was sure it was not a poor latch on my baby's part since she was always satisfied after, and she had very good weight gain.  But, things got better after the first month.  There was no more pain.

2. Breastfeeding can be messy.  Once your milk production is up, your production will be more than what your baby requires, especially in the first few months.  Always make sure you have breast pads.  If you don't, all your clothes and underwear will be soaked with milk and turn hard and yellowish.

3. Breast milk is a magnet for ants.  Make sure you clean every drop, whether you are nursing, expressing milk, or just preparing to feed through the bottle.

4. Breastfeeding can cause milk blister.  If you do not express milk frequently, you are at risk for developing milk blisters.  So, how do you know if you have it?  You may notice a white "blob" under the skin of the nipple which then causes clogging of the ducts under this, leading to hardening of the breast.  I had this with my eldest.  But to prevent it from getting worse, I had to poke the milk blister with a sterile needle to release it and prevent any further clogging.  This did relieve me of the pain of unexpressed milk.

5. Breastfeeding may cause sore nipples.  My babies think of me as their personal "pacifier". Naturally, they latch on for prolonged periods, which eventually leads to sore nipples. So,how do I alleviate sore nipples?  Try expressing a few drops of milk and applying it to the affected nipple.  You can also apply lanolin to the affected nipple.

6. Wear a nursing bra.  Nursing bras are there for a reason.  It makes nursing infinitely easier.

7. Buy a nursing cover.  Babies will nurse anytime, anywhere. It is best to bring along a nursing cover to maintain your modesty so babies can feed uninterrupted.  Make sure to choose a nursing cover that will not suffocate your baby though.

8. Nursing blouse/dress does help a lot in helping to protect your modesty. They are a bit pricey though.

But, despite all these minor inconveniences and discomfort, I still chose to breastfeed my baby because the benefits it offers far outweigh the inconvenience .  And once you get used to it, you will miss having your baby latch on when they finally stop breastfeeding.

Please check my other blog post on the benefits of breastfeeding below:
http://pedramusings.blogspot.sg/2014/02/breastfeeding-benefits-my-personal.html

Starting school and growing up

Baby J will be starting school tomorrow.  The first time she will be away from us for one whole day.  As I am preparing her things for school, I can't help but feel sad that my daughter is growing up so fast.  I know I need to let her go at some point, but I cannot help but worry too for her.  

I know I may be underestimating my daughter's ability to care for herself.  But I now understand what other mothers are going through when they need to send their kids to school for the first time.  You worry that they will not eat on their own, that they will lose weight because of this.  You worry that there may be mosquitoes in school.  You worry that they will be lonely on their first day.  You worry that they may not make friends easily.  You worry that they will not listen to their teacher.  All these anxious thoughts are going through your mind, while for your little one, tomorow is just another normal day.

As I type this, I have both kids beside me, baby A on my lap, and baby J beside me coloring her numbers book.  I am worried of sending them out into the world, but at the same time, I want to prepare them for the world, make sure they will be fine on their own when they grow up.

Such is the dilemma of every parent, I'm sure.  When do we hold on and when do we let them go?  I may sound so dramatic, since my little girl is only going to pre-school.  But now, I understand the emotions of all moms who had to go through this stage.  I salute each and every one of you for finding the strength to share them with the world!

Caring for two

The last few months have been a whirlwind for the family, as we welcomed baby A into the family.  We are now a family of four, travelling with a baby and a toddler in tow.

I would be lying if I told you the last 5 months have been easy for me.  It was not.  During the first two months after I delivered, I seriously thought I might be having post-partum blues.  Even the husband became worried, with him working overseas most of the time, and me, left to care for both kids.  The stress of having to care for a tiny newborn, coupled with the jealousy of a toddler, the pain of a C-section, and the beginning of my Masters studies has really put me in a huge rollercoaster ride.

But I still count myself lucky because I have parents who are helping me care for the kids. Were it not for them, I don't think I can care for 2 kids on my own, especially during the first two months when baby J's jealousy was at its peak, and where baby A was at her most vulnerable.  My husband is also very hands-on, making it easier for me as well.  Even without a nanny to help us, we were still able to go about our daily chores, bring baby J for her gymnastics class, go shopping, and even go overseas! 

There are however, infinitely more challenges when you are caring for 2 kids because both need attention, but they have varying levels of need.  My toddler has been practicing her stair-climbing and jumping ability, so every chance she gets, she tries to go up and down the stairs (without adult supervision), which scares the entire household!  At the same time she's doing this, the littlest one is crying for her milk, vomiting when she has too much to drink. 

With the hubby around, normally, we each care for one child, with myself normally looking after baby J since she asks for me more, while the hubby cares for baby A.  But when baby A is hungry, we then switch kids because baby A needs to latch on to me.  It is not so bad also when it is just me and the two kids because generally, baby J understands what I tell her already while baby A on the other hand, now has better neck control as well, so we go out with baby J holding my hand and baby A on a baby carrier.

At night, once the kids are in bed, I then start catching up on my studies and work.  The husband and I are naturally very tired, but it is still a joy caring for the little ones, and we wouldn't swap the experience for the world!