Month: July 2011

The Doctor is Late

THE DOCTOR IS LATE should be the signage on her clinic door!

Her clinic is 8-10 AM but she arrives at 11! Wow. Happened to me in those two times I made an appointment with my new doctor. I panicked the first time because I didn’t leave pumped milk for my baby because I was first on the appointment list anyway and the clinic was less than a kilometer away from home. Turned out I waited for two hours so imagine how I felt. Baby might cry of hunger, might be looking for me, etc.

The reason for her being late: it was raining. So what?!

I heard a story from another patient. This patient arrived at 10.30 AM because she is so used to the doctor’s late arrival. But the nursing attendant said the doctor left already at 9 AM! The poor patient had to reschedule her doctor’s appointment again.

It’s not only with my doctor, but also of my baby’s pedia. Her clinic is 10 AM-12 PM and she has an afternoon schedule as well, but I always go in the morning after baby’s morning nap, or during naptime when she gets to snooze inside the clinic. Still, I make the earliest appointment but then, with the long waiting time, baby is cranky already while getting the vaccine shot. Ending: loud squealing, squirming, red-eyed baby.

This morning, we arrived a little early and on the waiting area was a young boy who seemed to have high fever. Her grandma carried her and the mother was just seated. They tried to give him milk in a bottle (formula perhaps) and rubbed his head and face with wet towel. A few minutes after, the mother was carrying her son out of the clinic, shouting his name, and rushed to the nearby hospital. Apparently the kid was having convulsions. Or something else. My baby and I stepped outside because I got one bored baby.

Poor kid. They could have brought him directly to the emergency room of the hospital across the street and not wait for the pedia, who arrived at 11 AM. Aria and I were there since 9.45 AM. She slept as soon as we reached home and almost missed lunch.

We all have appointments, right? It’s no fair that these medical professionals are always late for clinic appointments and charge sky high professional fees for two minutes of talking to one patient who waited for hours, who travelled hours to reach the clinic, and who left their babies or bring with them.

How’s your experience with your doctor? Do they come late or early?

The Importance of the First Birthday

Everything seems easy for babies. They cry when they want something — food, diaper change, nap, change of scenery, when they feel hot or cold, among other things.

But really, is it easy to be a baby? I don’t think it is.

And it’s precisely what I have observed with my eleven month old. Life isn’t easy.

Of course, babies have to practice and learn a gazillion skills to be bonafide “persons” in this world. They learn how to stretch their bodies (from being enclosed in a capsule that is the female tummy), roll over, crawl, sit, stand, walk, talk, cry, make funny sounds, make gestures like waving and clapping. Then after six months, solid food is introduced and you choose from a short list of possible first food for baby. They grew body parts, still, like their teeth.

The rest, as they say, is history. But the sweetest achievement for any baby, especially for the parents, is the first 365 days of life.

I didn’t pay much attention to celebrating Aria’s first birthday back then. I thought it’s not important because she won’t remember it anyway. Bur for a motherhood neophyte/drama queen like me, the past year was hard work, sacrifice, and glorious victories that I felt I needed to celebrate, in a frugal but memorable manner.

There’s McDonald’s and their themed parties. We chose Mickey Mouse Clubhouse since the kiddo never missed a beat when she hears the Hotdog Dance. Add a handful of family and friends, party food, some photobooth fun and voila, a sorta kiddie party for our Aria!

Will update you how the party goes, which is about a month from now. I’m super excited and thankful that our family will be celebrating this important event, especially that our little girl is growing more and more beautiful, smart, and cheerful. And we’re proud to be parents of this wonderful creation.

~ Touringkitty

A Breastfeeding Formula-Fed Mother

“Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (July). For this month, we join the National Nutrition Council – Department of Health in celebrating Nutrition Month with the theme “Isulong ang Breastfeeding – Tama, Sapat at EKsklusibo!” Participants will share their experiences in promoting breastfeeding or their tips on how breastfeeding should be promoted. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants.”

I live in the formula generation. I can’t recall an instance when my family talked about breastfeeding. It was all bottles, different brands of powdered milk, and sterilizers. None of my cousins (on my mom’s side) were breastfed.

I remember my mom told me that I was part of a formula brand testing and got a year’s supply of formula! The reason why I wasn’t breastfed is that my mom had a lump in one of her breasts that needed to be removed. I was breastfed for about a month. My younger sister, nada. Poor one didn’t even get to taste colostrum.

Not that I regret that I wasn’t breastfed. I grew up well and so did my sister and my cousins. But if I had a choice, I would have wanted to be breastfed.

So for our first daughter, I chose breastfeeding. I have been breastfeeding her for the past eleven months (and counting!). And I’m blessed to have a supportive family. Of course, it meant bringing the baby almost everywhere, choosing to work part-time and watching what I eat as if I’m still pregnant.

And now, this formula-fed mom is encouraging others to breastfeed. How?

1. Share information. Sometimes I do this by posting on my Facebook or Twitter, and friends would send me questions. I’m happy to share what I know and experienced because, really, experience is the best teacher. I just tend to overdo it sometimes, hence the very long replies!

I wonder, though, why some of my friends tell me I’m lucky I still breastfeed, when they didn’t even try for more than a month, saying they had a hard time or they didn’t have milk. They had all the opportunity and time, after all. They could have saved lots of money.

2. Live by example: nurse in public. At times, however, I tend to forget that I’m not in the comfort of my own home and just offer my breast to my daughter, covered or not covered, especially when she starts to be restless. My nursing cover is actually useless now because she just plays with it and removes it anyway.

What I do is wear something accessible for breastfeeding. Often a tube underneath a loose pull-up blouse is fine. I just cover whatever skin is exposed with a piece of cloth.

3. Invite pregnant and new moms to support meetings. Some moms need to hear from other moms to be convinced that they, too, can breastfeed. There are LATCH seminars, Medela classes, and La Leche League meets (where I started attending a year ago this month).

Plug: There will be a La Leche League meeting on July 23, 10:30 AM at Mothercare,Greenbelt5. More info on La Leche League Manila’s Facebook Page.

Not convinced yet? Maybe we could suggest the following to promote breastfeeding better:

1. Have more breastfeeding-friendly hospitals. My hospital had this big sign that theirs is indeed a breastfeeding-friendly one. It was from WHO, if I remember right. I did not take prenatal classes but with a little coaching and support from the resident doctors and midwives, I gave birth unmedicated. The baby was immediately latched on to me and she was roomed in a few hours after. The hospital had midwives who taught us about breastfeeding cues, latch, and so much more.

I’m fortunate also to have an OB-GYN who’s highly supportive of natural birth and breastfeeding. She’s vegetarian, too, so she made sure I ate healthy when I was still pregnant.

2. Have more breastfeeding-friendly pediatricians. Some say they’re breastfeeding-friendly, but they’d still resort to formula feeding after some time.

My baby’s own pedia asked if I still had breastmilk for my baby back when she was eight months, and yet she says she’s a breastfeeding advocate. Her secretary gave me a look when I breastfed my baby in the clinic while waiting for the doctor. She asked: “You still breastfeed? You still have milk?” As if it’s a bad thing!

3. Make nursing clothes mainstream, and cheaper. I only see nursing clothes online, and those in the mall are expensive and sad-looking, with zippers that are choking hazards. There’s the nursing cover, alright, but you need easy access to your milk source, right? You see really expensive nursing clothes and then tell yourself: nursing is for the rich.

Try the tube underneath your clothes. It does work, practice makes perfect. I have Undercover Mama from Mama Baby Love which hooks to your nursing bra.

4. Longer maternity leaves! Maybe four or six months is best for both mother and baby to establish breastfeeding and eventually introduce solids. Of course, ample recovery period for the mother, who may or may not suffer postpartum blues, is necessary.

My OB-GYN talked me into quitting my job to focus on my pregnancy, birth of the baby, and newborn care. So I did. And my husband and I didn’t regret making that decision. Slowly, I’m going back on track, teaching part-time and singing for events.

Breastfeeding involves dedication, passion, and determination. Don’t get mad, lactivists, but for beginners, I think a little breastfeeding is better than none. It’s a good start to convince new moms to breastfeed. It’s the most natural thing any mother can do, and it’s the cherry on top of the icing.

~ Touringkitty

Posts from other super breastfeeders below:

A Simple Breastfeeding Campaign by The Lazy Mama (@TheLazyMama)
I Am A Breastfeeding Mom by The Painter’s Wife (@PaintersWifePH)

W-u-r-r-w-u-r-r-w-u-r-r by Martha de Lusong (@frannie17) hosted by Jen CC Tan‘s MomExchange (@next9baby)

The Low-Milk-Supply Mommy Did It! by The Odyssey of Dinna
Breastfeeding Promotion Tips from a Formula Feeder (Yes, you read that correctly…) by The Fearless Formula Feeder (@FormulaFeeder)
On Promoting Breastfeeding by ImPerfectly Created (@imperfectlyours)
Milk Mama Diaries 3 by MimmaBenz (@benzcorana)
Breastfeeding Mama by canDIshhh
I *heart* Breastfeeding by The Mum Side (@rachelcrz)
Spreading the Word on Breastfeeding by My Mommy Kuwentos
A Breastfeeding Formula-Fed Mother by Touring Kitty (@touringkitty)
Breastfeeding: Promoting It Even if I Didn’t Get Lucky The First Time Around by Glamma Momma (Mommy Erl’s Online Diary)
I am your breastfeeding friend by Changing Nappies in High Heels (@lilly_pad)
Thoughts of a LactatING Counselor: Breastfeeding is More of Psychology!by HandyMommy
Taking Breastfeeding Further by Mec as Mom (@delisyus)
Breastfeeding Promotion – A View from a UK Doctor by Good Enough Mummy
Celebrating my Magic Milk by Denise Gonzales (@deelirious)
Breastfeeding Sisters by Isis Evasco
More Breastfeeding Promotion Plus a Guest Post by Chronicles of a Nursing Mom (@mamababylove).  Guest post by Shaps Lim (@cromartielove)

Raising a Condo Kid

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This 30 square meter condo unit has been our home for the past three years. We bought this before we got married and decided to build our family here.

But our “seventh heaven,” as we call this home seven storeys high, seems to be just enough for us three. There’s truth in saying that two’s a company, three’s a crowd. What if we become four (either a helper will stay-in or another baby on board)?

Prior to buying this property, this was rented by a family of four – a mother and three boys who were half-Americans, so imagine how tall they were, and they fit! They had a double decked bed, a mattress, and the sofa. That’s where four people sleep. Add to that their dressers and other stuff. Wow!

And now we’re having space issues. See, our little princess has a lot of furnitures of her own – a crib, a walker, stroller, a small chair, two seaters (we’re selling these!), play gym, rubber mats, toy box, among others. Her clothes invaded what was once OUR clothes drawer, and her diaper changing and other paraphernalia is atop our filing cabinet. Her shoes on top of another cabinet. Did I mention she co-sleeps with us? We don’t have a bed frame so we’re sleeping on mattresses only. And the crib? That’s where we put her when we need to move around.

And the challenge remains: how do we keep her entertained in these four corners? It’s hard, really. She easily gets bored so she needs various activities at one time. And since she’s really on the move now, she’s restless so we keep on chasing after her just to avoid bumps and bruises. We usually bring her down to the lobby to be entertained by people passing by. Or to the poolside where other condo kids play and run around. Since she can’t walk alone yet, she’s carried or worn most of the time. Poor arms and backs.

As for sleeptime, this is harder especially with naptime. She is carried most of her naptime because she gets disturbed by car horns, construction noise outside, falling barbels from the gym two floors directly below us. She is sleep deprived during daytime so we want to give her as much sleep as she can, even if it means carrying her and not doing anything else, i.e. no eating, drinking, yes, no toilet visit either.

We’re not spoiling her by carrying her the whole day. Of course we let her crawl and walk but with her restlessness, she easily stumbles or hits her head. What more if she could walk independently? Add the fact that she’s babbling, screaming, and shrieking really loud and high. Her silencer is breastfeeding, nothing else.

We don’t want to go out everyday, either, to the mall or to friends, because it’s always a “grand production” when we’re going out: baby bag filled with diapers, changing stuff, clothes change, lotsa lampin, toys and food (we still bring our own baon maybe until one and a half). Not to mention stroller or sling. Good thing no bottles to pack, except when I’m at work and there’s always an emergency bottle of expressed milk. So we stay home instead, and figure out other ways to make the kid stay. We do go out on weekends though, but for most of the week, the farthest we could go is at the condo lobby.

How about you, condo dwellers, how do you do it? Would appreciate tips from you.

~ Touringkitty

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