The ONLY reason you need to BREASTFEED

my favourite bf photo, by my own personal part-time photographer

Forget the fact that breast milk is the best food for your baby. Forget the fact that breast milk contains all the wonderful anti bacterial properties, vitamins etc. Forget the fact that your baby will get the best immunization and health protection from breast milk. Forget all the health benefits that you will get from exclusive nursing. Forget the fact breastfeeding can help you lose weight easily. Forget about the money you’ll save for not needing expensive formula milk. Forget about the minimal stuff you need while traveling with baby thanks to breastfeeding. Forget about the easy night time feedings because you don’t need to get up to prepare formula. Forget about the more sleep you’ll get. Forget the fact that your baby’s poop will smell better.

The ONLY reason you need to breastfeed is this - the incomparable emotional bonding and satisfaction that only breastfeeding can give you.

From my personal experience;

When my baby is screaming / crying: I pick him up, lifted my shirt and immediately he smiles, latches on, close his eyes, and grabs my skin/shirt/tudung with his little fingers. Sigh…it’s the most wonderful feeling.

I see his contented face, calm and happy, smiling up at me.

My baby can’t sleep unless he is in my arms, latched on (even if he’s full and not really sucking anymore). We sleep in each other’s warmth.

I see my baby gaining weight well and I know I’m the only one contributing to it, and not some cows.

I am his source of comfort, not just food. He nurse when he’s upset, sad, bored, tired etc. I feel needed and I confident that I can soothe him.

He knows my face and my smell. When he sees me he will start to react: smile, turn his body towards me, becomes restless (wants me to hold him), once I hold him if he’s hungry he’ll start burying his face is my chest / open his mouth / tarik2 my shirt / start to babble..bla..bla..bla

My unlimited, growing love for him as I nurse him everyday.

On my bad days when I feel like I’m a terrible mother, that I cannot give my baby the best things that he deserve, when I see other supermoms who can do everything so organized, when I feel like everything I do with the baby are only trial and errors (many errors too!), when I feel guilty that I leave my baby to someone else to take care of while I’m at work, when I feel guilty that I often sleep early and didn’t teach/play with him at the end of a tiring day, when I feel guilty that I take my baby to my shopping trips until he gets exhausted….

I can always look back and be assured that at least; I know I am doing something right.

Breastfeeding, what a luxury. Alhamdulillah.

The day my baby taught me a lesson

Yesterday we went to the hospital to visit my dad. We were at the dining hall for dinnertime when the following event takes place. I was feeding my dad his porridge while my husband was holding Adam on the table. There are a few other patients and nurses there as well. One of them was a very frail and wrinkly old Chinese woman in a wheelchair. I’m talking really, REALLY old. She’s 94 years old. Adam was standing on the table right opposite this lady.

I heard the nurses call her PoPo (grandma). She had finished eating and was sitting there totally unresponsive. Adam was looking at PoPo and must have decided to “spread his charm”. He smiled to PoPo and started babbling…bla..bla..bla..as usual. Suddenly PoPo lifted up her hand as if trying to touch Adam. Remember this is a very old woman who could barely move her body. It must have taken a lot of effort for her to lift up that hand. And then Adam, seeing that hand extended to him, reached out and grabbed it ! (to try and put it in his mouth, of course) By now all the nurses were laughing, smiling and encouraging both PoPo and Adam to continue their little social encounter. As Adam held her hand, tears fell off her eyes. The nurses were saying, awww…PoPo, don’t cry!

PoPo made some funny faces and noises to play with Adam. This triggered even more laughter and surprised looks from the nurses. One of the nurses told me that they always make the same funny faces with PoPo to cheer her up. Suddenly now she’s using the same funny faces back to Adam. She even attempted to surprise him by saying “BAA!!”. It was really funny because if you look at her you wouldn’t think she’d be capable of talking or moving.

This little story may not seem like much, but to me it was very moving to watch.

Yesterday, my 4 month old son taught me how to make a 94 year old woman happy. Imagine that.

Adam, Mommy and Daddy are very proud that you made that old lady cry =)

my sick boys

Last weekend my two favourite boys tak sihat. Adam for the first time kene selsema. I don’t know if he got it from Daddy or his babysitter who was also sick. So both of them were having nose block, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes. Sian tgk..

smiley sick boys..

Adam cannot really sleep soundly at night because of the nose block. I can hear his nose making a noise. Dia pun berbunyi2 and bergerak2 sambil mata tutup because of discomfort. Nak breastfeed pun letih because takleh nak bernafas.

sian Adam..

We use this thing to sedut his nose. Poor baby..he hates it.. But I think he’s starting to understand that this tool will clear his nose. So he tries to stay still even though you can tell he’s uncomfortable.

kite bersihkan nose ok..

The doctor instructed us to give Adam his medicine 2 times daily with a syringe. The first time Daddy bagi Adam ubat, dia muntah habis…pastu bf then terus tido..The second time dia upset and mcm nak nangis…I bf him afterwards then tido…the third time dia dah ok…terus bukak je mulut voluntarily and lick the medicine mcm sedap pulak ( I tasted it and it tastes horrible!). I feel like crying watching him willingly eat his medicine..alaa my brave little boy…cian dia.. You did so well Adam…Mommy’s proud of you…

Elok je dia bukak mulut..

My poor husband pun selsema and batuk2…plus some fever…but he’s recovering quickly..hope you get better soon Sayang..

Adam pulak his selsema still tak baik lagi this morning..but he's back to his usual self - talkative and happy..I pray you’ll get better soon mcm Daddy ok, Adam…

My pumping gear

My pump gear has been changing a lot since I started work. It’s been improving with time as I discover/learn more things about pumping. In the beginning I used my Avent Isis pump, Avent thermal bag and 2 small Avent chiller. Basically mmg guna Out and About set la.

I found that the pump is not really for me, so I switched to Swing – read previous entry. The thermal bag became insufficient because I no longer have a fridge at work. So I switched to Fridge-To-Go. The Avent chillers from the beginning was causing problem because it wasn’t cold enough, small, and doesn’t keep for very long. So even with fridge to go I also use Techni Ice to keep my milk cool all day. And it works, even after more than 12 hours.

Just making this entry for any mommies who might be in a hurry to figure out a pump kit/equipment which works. For me, the combination of these gear has been excellent in making my pumping sessions efficient. It might change again in time, but for now I’m happy =)

The pump bag I got for free from Jusco when I bought some underwear. It’s large enough and kinda cute also ;) Fridge-to-Go I bought at a discounted price (rm 80 +) from Jusco Midvalley at the golf section. The drawstring bag came with the Swing pump. Agak convenient because boleh masuk byk barang (motor, tubing, containers, pump parts etc) and also doesn’t take up much room. The nursing cover is a God-sent because now I have to pump at the Surau which is used by many people. I ni kan pemalu……erk.

The milk shell is very good at keeping me dry and collecting milk. I only need one on the other breast while pumping. Via containers I like because nampak bersih dan kemas je my milk..hehe..and also easy to use..down side to these containers is that it takes up a lot of space in the fridge/freezer. The Swing pump I elaborated so much on in another entry – I LOVE this pump!!! My production has increased so much since I started using it !! (must go up to Medela’s HQ soon to claim my royalty). I bought this pump at The First Few Years in The Curve at rm 629. Surprisingly cheap compared to its price I saw on many websites. Pls buy yours there if you plan to. Ceh promosi lagi. Techni Ice I bought from Susuibu.com shop in Bangi for rm 30. Cheap and works very well..

Other mommies, what's in your pumping bag?

Aquaria Trip

We went to Aquaria!!!!!

When Adam saw these turtles –

Lovely turtles caught my baby's attention

He made some very unfamiliar sounds – Woo! Woo! Woo!! Woo! Woo!!

Both of us were really surprised. Was he in pain? Was he crying?

Turned out he was just really really EXCITED. He just kept staring at the turtles and made that sound. I wished I had recorded it on video because it was so cute! None of the other fish/sea creatures was able to get that kind of reaction from him. Neither could I, no matter how hard I tried to pretend I’m a turtle.

Adam: huarrgh! ngantuk aa Mommy..

Adam, Daddy and a BIG Shark

Adam watching (sleeping) the show

Overall, Aquaria? Oklahh….I give it 3 stars out of 5…

Adam @ 4 months

- He’s become really talkative! Oh dear! In the mornings, especially, when Mommy and Daddy are still trying to sleep. Pok, pek, pok, pek. The tones of his voice suggest he’s telling some sort of story. Sambil tu tangan tepuk kiri kanan kejutkan both of us. He also talks when he’s upset, when he wants something, when he’s sleepy and couldn’t sleep etc. Wah byknye Adam ckp skarang ni. Mcm gaya org membebel pun ade gak kadang..haha. Mmg lawak la tgk dia sembang. Layaaan jelah..Apa yg dia ckp tu mesti ada meaning. We just have to figure out his language. Contoh; kalau dia bebel kat Daddy ‘Where’s mommy??” nanti once mommy show up dia pun senyap la. Kalau dia bebel sbb nak soh angkat dia, nanti bila kite angkat dia senyapla.

- He laughed for the first time! Masa tu dia tgh merajuk/moody so I tried to distract him by playing with him with my scarf. The scarf is made of really soft silky material so I simply throw it on his face, dangle it over his head, main cak2 etc. Dia pun tersenyum2 gembira. Sekali tibe2 dia gelak-gelak. Byk kali. Waaa it was the sweetest sound. Comelnye Adam gelak…

- The scarf has somehow become his favourite toy. Infact, his only toy. The other toys we bought him semua dia tanak main. Dia saje buat muka tak interested. But the scarf, tgh bad mood ke tgh happy ke..tak kire la…it will make him smile..

Adam and his (Mommy's!) favourite scarf

- Adam suka ber*k duduk. Don’t know where he picked up this habit. Takmo ber*k baring/berdiri. Now that dia dah byk ckp so dia pun pokpek2 la until one of us sit him up. Once dah dpt duduk, terus tak buang masa dia pun poop. Hish..pelik betul la Adam ni…mcm dah besar sgt je..

- He has started rolling. Hurray! I know he can do it easily but refuses to do it when asked. He’ll only do it if Mommy and Daddy leave him alone and he gets a little lonely. To get our attention he’ll roll around, menyondol and talk talk talk!

- I know he’s still a little baby and probably doesn’t have too much of a vocabulary but I swear he knows what I say to him! Whenever I fake an angry/high tone with him he starts to frown and cry! And he loves it when I pujuk2 him balik…haha. Bak kata Daddy, Adam ni luar je nampak mcm bonzer tapi dlm sensitive tu…hehe. Baby pun ade perasaan tau…jgn nak main marah je…

- He loves watching TV. I regret to inform that he gets this from me. I’m a tv lover and now my son pun suka tgk tv. He gets bored easily when playing with his play gym but with tv the colours/sounds are always changing so dia lebih interested. Err…this is bad…right?

- He loves making a splash in his little bathtub…bathing him every morning is such a delight..

Adam lounging in his tub

- Adam suka berdiri. Kalau kita pegang dia, dia mesti nak push kaki dia so that he’ll be in standing position. Boleh tahan lama lak tu kaki dia berdiri. Siap gerak2 nak jalan kedepan. Mommy Daddy yg penat nak pegang..hehe.

- Another favourite hobby of his is putting into his mouth everything that crosses his path. Most often this would be his fingers, of course.

yummy tau, Mommy...

- Kalau org pegang dia, dia tak suka tgk muka kite, dia suka tgk kiri kanan. Sibuk je tgk keliling. Kalau mommy pegang dia, dia sibuk cari daddy. Kalau daddy pegang dia sibuk cari mommy pulak..

- He has started to recognise people. Whenever a stranger (even family who he hasn’t met for a while) tries to hold him, he’ll start wailing.

- He refuses to sleep without Mommy at night. So nowadays Mommy pun sleep at 8.30 – 9pm with him. I’m starting to wonder if babies come installed with a secret radar to let them know Mommy’s sneaking out of bed. The very moment I got up (painstakingly slowly), his eyes popped open! But as much as I complain about not having any tv time anymore, I can’t say I don’t enjoy our sleeping time together. Soon enough he’ll grow up and start asking me to please stop kissing him in front of his friends.

ssshhh..mommy and baby sleeping..

Happy 4 months birthday Adam. You know we love you!

Adam's first Art Project

After reading from this blog - littlekittle.com, I got inspired to let Adam have his first Art Project. Thank you Mamafiza, your blog has so much useful information!

I googled finger paint and found some recipes to make your own fingerpaint. I figured, hey, why don't we make our own, Adam? It's really easy and sooo much fun!



The ingredients are; cornflour, sugar, dishwashing liquid and food colouring. Simple enough? We used our halogen cooktop, to make sure it's safe for Adam. First, mix the flour and sugar. Then add in cold water slowly. Keep stirring at low heat. Once dah cool, mix in dishwashing liquid (make the paint washable) and food colouring.

Adam excited je nak tgk..

Our first batch tak jadi! Sbb termasak lama sgt sampai dia jadi berketul2..see picture above. But luckily our second batch menjadi jugak...hehe..I used a tupperware cover to pour the paint so that Adam can step on it. Lps tu terus pijakkan kaki dia kat paper. And the final artwork...walla!!

this is going in Adam's art folder (folder blom beli...hehe)

these will be Mommy and Daddy's personal bookmark =)

Hopefully we can do this frequently to see how fast Adam's feet are growing...