2011 in Retrospect

The year has come and gone and it's been more than a fortnight since the new year arrived. I have been busy lately, or rather, I haven't given any time to blog and post what's happening with me especially since I'm already in my last trimester and on my way to becoming a new mom the second time around.

2011 has been an interesting year. J and I have gone to several trip with Jack-Jack, once within the country, and once outside the country. We've been to Dumaguete (which I promised we will come back sometime in the future as we now know where the best possible place to stay is) and then we went to Singapore.

It was also the year that I told and nagged J that I have to get pregnant so that the age gap between Jack-Jack and his sibling would be almost three - not too close, yet not to far either. Just about right. I was actually hoping that I would already be pregnant when we went to Singapore just so my expected due date would fall on March this year (as I promised my sister I will try my hardest to give her somebody who has the same birth month as hers. I did get pregnant... But it was after our Singapore trip and I learned it while J was away on a company trip. I took the test a few days before I was due to have my next period, excited because instinct told me I'd be carrying then... And I was right.

2011 was also the year we started seriously potty-training Jack-Jack. I even went so far as to buy a book on how to enforce it gently. Of course, we modified it and I'm glad to say that while he isn't 100% potty-trained, he does go to the toilet when he needs to go (although sometimes with a bit of pushing) and our bed remains dry most days in a month (I can probably count 2-3 times we woke up with a wet patch in the last few months).

And as 2011 was the year Jack-Jack turned two... Well. Terrible Two's it is. We've had shouting matches, crying episodes... I even had to step back and take a breather, get away from it all as I felt too strung, too tough, too hard, too everything and I'm worried I'm making some dent in my son's personality and overall mental behavior than progress. Hay. But I think we're making progress right now. I've purchased several books to help me and J... It's just a matter of finishing them and applying them. Tho we're applying some already as we go along.

It was also the time J and I argued so much, raised voices, and subsequently called for talk time. Must be my hormones. Haha. Yes, I'm blaming them... Then this time around, I'm going to blame post-partum effects. I love J sincerely, though. And I'm always thankful he's by my side and my partner for life.

2011 was also the time I splurged... Again. Le sigh. When will I ever learn? Probably soon. Praying soon. Hoping soon. As two kids will be hard to raise when everything seems to be rising with them.

In the end, I'm grateful for everything that happened last 2011. It's been fun. I've met new people, gained friends, and reconnected with a previous passion, my love of reading.

Here's to a grand 2012. Looking forward to birthing my second baby and bonding with my two kids during my leave. :)

So I finally merged all my blogger blogs

Into one. Which started when I was still in college and then when I was preparing for our wedding. It's quite nostalgic, when I read some of the posts I did, especially during my college days, how young and shallow my worries were. Hee. I guess we all have to grow up sometime. :)

The start of a journey

I bought a sewing machine last year in the hopes that I'd find the time and resources to learn how to use it and start a hobby that would, hopefully in time, turn into a business so that I can spend more time at home with my son. Sadly, I still haven't really used it, though I already threaded it a few months back. I almost have all the resources. What are missing are the fabric and some other notions.

I found the fabric in Glorietta 5 and Divisoria. Notions were from National Bookstore and Landmark. I even got to photocopy the pattern. So what's stopping me? Time. It seems I have to make time for it, when I can find and make time to read, and still do my mommy duties.

In about four months, I'll be giving birth and I need to start on this project, this journey. You see, I want to sew cloth diapers for this next baby. The instructions seem easy enough and I'm not about to venture into the unknown world of fold-over elastics (FOE) so I'll be sticking with regular polybraid elastics and such.

So I need to make time. I'll probably do it one step at a time. Cut out the pattern copies then trace them to the fabrics. Then cut the fabrics... Then sew.

Hopefully, by making this project, this dream public, I'll be able to start off soon. Besides which, I'll be giving birth soon enough anyway.

And speaking of cloth diapers, I've been researching on how meconium is with cloth diapers. Is it easy to wash? Hard? Does it stain? Thankfully, all my research tells me that it's quite easy to wash off! Yay! If I manage to sew at all, my next goal is to CD by Day 1.

Wish me luck!

I just wonder

I've been breastfeeding for 27 months already, 6 of those months pregnant. And with all the hullaballoo's surrounding breastfeeding in public (posts from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom and from the Painter's Wife here and here), I suddenly wonder about it. Why some breastfeeding mothers have no qualms about nursing in public (with or without cover), some prefer to nurse in the comfort of a nursing station, and some would bring expressed milk in bottles when they're out and about with their babies.

I for one, am comfortable nursing in public. It was a struggle at first, I admit, as I was a new mom, with continuously leaking breasts during the first few months, and a demanding son who usually cannot wait until we get to a nursing station. So my nursing poncho from Indigo Baby was always in my bag to cover up when Jack-Jack wanted to nurse. Other covers I used were my ring sling from Next 9, and pouch and SaYa from Indigo Baby. Until I felt comfortable enough to nurse without a cover especially since I already collected enough nursing tops that I can discreetly nurse in public. Of course, my husband was more conscious for me. He'd tell me that it was so obvious I'm breastfeeding and that I should at least cover up and I'd always retort that he noticed since he knew that I really was breastfeeding.

I haven't really been harassed nor was asked to nurse someplace else, except that one time in Circles when a waitress offered a shawl for my use as a cover to which I politely declined. Who would stare at me, anyway, when it was lunch time and we were sitted at a corner? Besides, I chose not to use a cover and thankfully, there was no objection at my refusal.

I love breastfeeding, with all those advantages and convenience it brought to our lives. We didn't have to invest with a lot of bottles nor bottle nipples with different flows (my son never complained that he was stuck with the slow flow nipples until he weaned from the bottle). I only woke my husband up in the middle of the night when I needed help in changing diapers as I didn't have to get up when my son needed to nurse back to sleep. We didn't have to bring bottles with sterile water and powdered milk containers when we go out, nor did we have to worry if we bought enough milk for his consumption or if the temperature was just right.

That's why I wonder... why there were/are mothers who breastfeed their babies and yet they would bring expressed milk when they go out for the baby's consumption. Do they also bring their pumps with them? To replenish their stocks and to empty their breasts since the baby would be getting milk from the bottle and not direct? I'm just curious because like I said, one of the reasons I loved and embraced breastfeeding was because of the convenience. Anybody can enlighten me on this? Is this an unconscious choice due to shying away from breastfeeding in public (which was one of the reasons I thought of when I thought of one reason why I'd bring expressed milk with me)? I'm just thinking out loud as I know someone from my family who brings bottles with expressed milk and gives the bottle to her baby when my niece was hungry. I never really got to ask her why she does that.

So anybody, somebody... Do you know or have any idea why?

The search is on

For a new OB. Yes, yes, I know. I'm on my 20th week already. But what can I do? I need someone who is not just accredited with St. Luke's Global City, but also someone who does maternity packages in that hospital. I seriously thought I didn't have to search for a new OB since my current doctor is affiliated there. However, we just found out that she doesn't do packages in St. Luke's. And Makati Med's new packages are just woah. They're more expensive than St. Luke's packages. We can't afford to pay out the same amount like we did when I first gave birth. We have more things to consider this time around and just paying out that much isn't practical.

I've already had a few in mind to check out on but I'm still waiting for feedback and referrals from my trustee online support group. There are already a few referrals but I'm hoping I'd get more by the end of the day so that I can already set an appointment for Saturday.

And because of that... Any referrals?

My mom was surprised

That I can still breastfeed Jack-Jack despited being pregnant. She found out when we were going home from his second-cousin's birthday party and he asked for milk. I knew he was already tired and wanted some snuggling, which meant that as soon as he latches, his eyes would roll upwards, as if on a high, then slowly closing until he was fast asleep. And they did. It wasn't even five minutes and he was already dozing off.

Mama was surprised that Jack-Jack was still nursing from me, despite already drinking Nido, and despite me being pregnant. But she didn't say anything negative about it. In fact, she was amazed at how our body works, to be able to provide to my babies both in and out of my tummy. Well, so was I.

Still breastfeeding after 2 years

Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (November). For this month, we focus on extended breastfeeding. Participants will share their experiences and tips on breastfeeding their child/ren beyond 12 months. Please scroll down to the end of the post and check out the other carnival participants."

When I first got pregnant, one of the things that I immediately decided upon was that I'd breastfeed my child. And if he ever self-weaned before he was two, I told myself that I'd pump and give my expressed milk to him until his 2nd birthday just so that he'd be getting all those wonderful benefits of breastmilk. Especially since my husband's side of the family has all those illnesses I don't want my son to have when he'd grow older.

Well, now, Jack-Jack's already 25 months old, and with no sign of weaning anytime soon. I admittedly stopped expressing milk for him around a month before his 2nd birthday, because it was admittedly tiresome to lug around a cold bag with milk in it everyday, and also because there wasn't a dedicated lactation room in our office at that time that I pump inside a toilet cubicle. Yes, it's admittedly not the best place but even the clinic is crowded. I recently heard that there's now a lactation room but I have yet to inquire if it's true. I supplemented my diminishing supply of expressed milk with fresh milk and powdered milk (which I forgot to up the amount when my stash was completely consumed until his pedia check-up, thus the dilemna on his weight gain which I posted here and moaned about it here). But despite that, he still nurses directly from me before he goes to sleep at night, and when we're together during the weekends and I'm trying to make him nap. Even now when I'm already pregnant with my 2nd.

So our breastfeeding relationship continues. Our still on-going journey is like this: having a correct latch from the onset, minor problems on sore nipples during the first month, no biting when he was teething but he loves pulling my nipples out when he was done, having to slowly take it out when he's already fast asleep since he doesn't have the habit of letting it go himself, pulling my shirt up or tugging the neckline down when he wanted his milk, playing with me at night like trying/joking to latch on with my shirt still covering my breast, and several other instances like acrobatic stunts while nursing himself to sleep.

At 5 months...

At 21 months...

It was, and still is, a pretty easy relationship, despite having those sore nipples at the start or the (what I thought then as) neverending sessions during the first 2 weeks or not being to sleep longer than 3 hours during the night as he nurses in the middle of the night.

I think we're slowly on the way to weaning, in my opinion at least, as he now rarely roots for the breast in the middle of the night. Of course, I still wake up due to my full bladder courtesy of my pregnancy. It's one step towards his self-weaning. But I'm in no rush. It's now one of the precious moments I cherish since he's already growing up and I feel that it'd be one of the ways that he wouldn't feel left out when the new baby comes out. Until the day he's ready to stop requesting for my breast, I wouldn't refuse him when he asks.


Check out these posts from other participating bloggers (updated throughout the day):

Chronicles of a Nursing Mom - Barriers/Myths vs. Extended Breastfeeding

J and the Three Boys - No More "de-de"

My Mommyology - My Extended Breastfeeding Experience

Mommyluscious - Breastfeeding For Two Beyond Two

Truly Rich Mom - Truly Rich Tips for Moms: On Extended Breastfeeding (a perfectly normal thing to do!)

Got to Belive - Breastfeeding Room Story

apples & dumplings - My Constant Challenge with Extending Breastfeeding

Mommy Kwentos - Challenges and Rewards of Extended Breastfeeding

The Odyssey of Dina - nurturing rafael: extended breastfeeding, stretching some more lovin'

Legally Mom - Breastfeeding Beyond 1 Year: Barriers and Issues

Mec as Mom - Shooting for the Benefits, Extending the Love

Homeschooling Mommy - Yes, I've Got Milk

SOlovelyN - As long as he wants, I can

Life of a babywearing and breastfeeding mommy - Still breastfeeding after 2 years