Breastfeeding and post-natal massage

This is a long overdue post (as is Part 2 of Heidi's birth story - coming soon!) but finally I have the time to gather my thoughts together to pen type this down. This is also quite a long post, so bear with me.

My breastfeeding experience the first time was quite a failure - I wouldn't say that it was because the baby was uncooperative, but I think it mainly boiled down to my inexperience and lack of knowledge. Indeed it was not successful the first time around; Hannah would scream and scream when she was put near the breast, so after some time I just gave up and pumped out the milk for her to drink from the bottle. She also drank more formula than breastmilk. It did not help that I have somewhat flat and inverted nipples which is probably why she could not latch on properly and refused to suck. Obviously with no stimulation from the baby's sucking, I did not manage to pump for long and after about 2 and a half months, when I returned to work, I stopped pumping completely. We always joke that since Hannah was born in the year of the ox, she is a cow so she likes to drink cow's milk.

This time around, I was more prepared and determined that I would breastfeed. Heidi did not have much problem latching on from Day One and she could really suck very hard! We call her our little survivor, seeing how she survived in the womb since pregnancy, what with the threatened miscarriage, risk of Down's syndrome, third trimester bleeding etc. Unfortunately with her intense sucking, very soon my nipples were sore and bleeding and hurt terribly. However, I was determined not to give up, although that first week was very stressful indeed, especially as Heidi had to be admitted to hospital for high jaundice.

Speaking of jaundice, Heidi had jaundice until she was about one month old, which is beyond that of normal babies. At about two weeks, her paed asked me to stop breastfeeding completely and feed her formula milk, to see if her jaundice was caused by breastmilk. It turned out not to be, so I could continue breastfeeding. However, since we had already given her formula milk, we supplemented on and off with formula, as naturally I don't really have that much breastmilk supply and also so I could also get some sleep at night.

I am glad to say that it got easier and easier and now I have no trouble with baby latching on, engorgement or soreness. I am back to work now but Heidi is still exclusively breastfeeding at night and early in the morning when I am with her. I pump at work and I give my pumped milk to my mother-in-law to feed Heidi during the day. However, since I am not able to pump that much, she is supplemented with formula milk as well during the day. I was very stressed initially that I wanted to breastfeed exclusively, but with the jaundice and all, it was inevitable that Heidi would be drinking formula too. So I told myself that I will do the best I can, and it's a definite improvement from the previous time. If I am too hung up on it, I will not be able to enjoy breastfeeding and now I do enjoy it as it is a precious time for me to bond with Heidi.

Another first time experience I had this time around was having "urut" (massage) sessions post-delivery which I did not have when I delivered Hannah. I asked around for some contacts and decided to go with the one recommended by Julia. I was quite apprehensive at first because I am not the type who is comfortable with letting just anybody poke and prod me all over. Also I heard that it could be really painful at times.

However, the lady who came to urut me was very nice. She was friendly and gentle and could even speak English. Her massage didn't hurt at all, except the hot stone she used ("tukul") was pretty hot at times! She even didn't mind Hannah watching whilst she did the massage - understandably Hannah was curious. At first, she was rather shy, but towards the end of the sessions, she would ask "Aunty, are you coming again tomorrow?" It cost me RM50 per session (I did the recommended 10 sessions) and I felt it was well worth the money spent.

I don't know whether it was a result of the breastfeeding or the urut, but I have definitely lost weight faster this time than the last time. I could wear my pre-pregnancy clothes to work, for which I am thankful for. I still have some way to go, but hopefully with the continued breastfeeding and minor dieting, I will be back to my usual size (or less) very soon.

So much for my long-winded post, here are some recent photos of Heidi, and some with Hannah. Heidi is a very smiley baby when she wakes up early in the morning, so we usually take the opportunity to get some nice shots of her.

Hannah's first drawing

In my previous post, I posted that Hannah loves sand art, but she never really showed any inclination towards drawing or colouring. Usually she will just scribble abstract stuff when given a pen or pencil and paper.

Yesterday however, she surprised me by drawing this on one of the apps on her Daddy's phone (amazing what all these apps can teach the kids):

I don't know how to rotate it but if you look sideways, it's a face! Complete with two eyes, a nose, mouth and even eyebrows. It also has hair (blue nonetheless) and a pair of green ears.

Maybe we do have a budding artist on our hands after all. Probably she gets it from her Daddy who is quite good at art. I'm glad because I can't draw to save my life :)

Hannah's artwork

There is this shop in Gurney Plaza which Hannah loves to go to, they have sand art and other types of artwork for kids. It can get quite crowded during the weekends, which is why I took her a couple of times on weekdays when I was still on maternity leave.

She started off when she was about 2 and a half by learning how to do the sand art.

Happy little girl with her finished artwork - this was supposed to be given to Daddy for his birthday present.

After several times doing the sand painting, she wanted to try this other type of painting. I discouraged her at first because I thought it would be quite messy and that she could try when she was bigger, but her Daddy was convinced that she could do it.

Surprisingly enough, her hands were very steady and she could put the colours in within the lines - not too bad for a 3 year old.

Very proud of her finished work:

This is where all her artwork ends up in our house:

There is not much space anymore for us to put all the artwork, we may need to get her a folder or file or some sort soon! However, we were informed by the uncle who owns the shop that he needs to move to the 4th floor of Gurney Plaza (in front of Aussino) beginning 1st July as Gurney Plaza management needs his space for food and beverage kiosks (he is now at the basement next to the escalator). It's not as ideal as his location now as many parents drop their kids there while going to pick up groceries at Cold Storage. Oh well, maybe Hannah will not ask to go there as often as before since we do not have to pass by everytime we are at Gurney Plaza :)



Happy Fathers' Day!

A Dad is a person who's loving and kind,

And often he knows what you have on your mind.

He's someone who listens, suggests and defends,

A Dad can be one of your very best friends!

He's proud of your triumphs, but when things go wrong,

A Dad can be patient and helpful and strong.

In all that you do, a Dad's love plays a part,

There's always a place for him deep in your heart.

And each year that passes, you're even more glad,

More grateful and proud just to call him your Dad!

Thank you Dad for listening and caring, for giving and sharing

But especially for just being you!

From the Internet

Happy Fathers' Day to my Hubby and to my Papa too!

Hannah's 3rd Birthday

This is the first time Mummy is trying out the new blogger post settings so things may get a little haywire i.e. the words and photos. Anyway, I am now 3 years old! I had quite a number of birthday celebrations this year. On the morning of my birthday, Nanna and Gong Gong surprised me with a pretty pink ribbon cake.  I couldn't resist taking a lick even before putting the candles on.

I really liked my cake - I couldn't stop smiling :)

We took some family photos. This is the first time my mei-mei is celebrating my birthday with me so we had a nice picture of the 4 of us taken by Gong Gong.

And all of us plus Nanna and Gong Gong too - thanks to the handy tripod.

After a delicious lunch cooked by Nanna, we were off proper to my birthday treat! Daddy and Mummy took me to Adventure Zone at Golden Sands Hotel in Batu Ferringhi. Daddy and I went on the big slides - there were another 2 slides there which looked pretty freaky - Daddy didn't dare to try them out and the people working there said I was too small to go on them anyway.

In any case, I was quite contented at the toddlers area:)

After that, we headed to the beach! Uncle Steven got free rooms from one of the beach hotels so we got a nice beach hotel stay for the weekend. Nanna and Gong Gong and Heidi was supposed to come too but Heidi was not well (I passed her my germs from my cough and running nose) so Nanna offered to stay at home to look after her. Mummy also went home at night to relieve Nanna so only Daddy and I stayed the night at the hotel.

My biggest present for my birthday came from Uncle Steven! It was a lovely doll house.

The next morning, I had my favourite eggs for breakfast before heading to the beach again :)

Oh yes, the night before, we had dinner at Mario's with Uncle Steven too. My face was grumpy because I was getting sleepy - too many exciting happenings during the day caused me to miss my afternoon nap.

After we came back from the hotel, it was time for my birthday party at home and all my cousins came over.

The party was Mickey Mouse theme which I chose myself. So my birthday cake was also specially ordered for me. Isn't is colourful?

I was very excited to see the cake.

Another family photo with my mei mei Heidi, Daddy and Mummy.

I sure had a fun 3rd birthday! Mummy and Nanna have posted lots of pictures on their Facebook, so you can all take a look at my fun 3rd birthday celebration(s) there :) Thank you Daddy, Mummy, Nanna, Gong Gong and all my friends and family for a wonderful birthday!

So many things, so little time

With juggling two young kids, we are seriously lacking behind in our blog posts - so many things which have not been posted yet i.e. the second part of Heidi's birth story (finished but not posted yet), my breastfeeding and post natal massage experiences, Hannah's 3rd birthday and now Hubby's birthday is coming up. Further, I am starting work again next week! Anyway, we will try to get all these posts up ASAP and in the meantime, here are some recent photos of our two little princesses :)