The End of My Breastfeeding Journey

October 2017: And the last has come to an end. I weaned my son after sixteen months of breastfeeding. The team and tasks I have now requires more analysis and sitting down, and have to focus on the deadlines. No reports should be missed to submit on time. What even challenging is that, I have to extend for another 7 hours or so in order to finish the report. That made my production diminished. I wasn’t able to pump on time, worst, I wasn’t able to pump in the office. And when at home, I also did not nurse my son, I have decided not to, to finally stop him from latching. One reason also of weaning him is - he wants to latch sa nag aalaga sa kanya while I am not beside him at night haha. He lifted her clothes,  begging to nurse him but cannot. Sorry baby. Because direct latching is one of the reasons for you to have milk for your baby, which I haven’t done for a week, and because I skipped pumping in the office, my milk now is starting to bid bye to me ?? I tried to get back to expressing milk since Monday October 16, but oh no, I only had 3oz - that’s after 2 days of my last pump. I only get 1oz in a day, that’s how konti my milk na.

I have given my son the best and most nutritious food for 16 months, I believe it’s already a big achievement for us. Congratulations to me I now need to allot money for his monthly formula milk, more than Php1k a month huh. That’s how important breastfeeding is, aside from the health benefits, it also has a financial benefit- it is a big savings. Thank you God for giving me body that is able to produce milk for my son. It was a big help for him to be healthy and strong. And it also benefited me I keep my sexy body! Chos just kidding! For all the breastfeeding mothers out there, just keep giving the best for your kids. And God bless your breastfeeding journey. Thank you and God bless!

Got Boils Inside My Nose

Last Friday March 10 2017, my nose started to be reddish and BIG. "I have a pimple inside my nose and it's so painful" sabi ko sa mga officemates ko. I laughed at the way  how my nose looked. I told myself buti mag weekend na and it will soon disappear.

 

Came weekend, I felt so exhausted. I had a headache the whole day because of my nose. I took bioflu and felt so sleepy the whole time. To add, my kids woke up at 5am! Too early for Saturday huhu, I was planning to get up at 8 but did not happen because the two were already active and didn't allow me to sleep again ?? Ang ending - puyat and really sleepy. I was supposed to review my daughter for their 4th quarterly exam but really I was feeling so exhausted that I think all I did was sleeping. Sorry baby. Came Sunday - it got worse. I again wasn't able to review Jhaydii. I slept! Oh I reviewed her an hour before we slept. Then workday again. I decided to have my nose checked as I had a strong feeling it wasn't just a plain pimple. Paalam kay boss... Fortunately there is an accredited clinic located in MoA where I can go into. So I headed to Borough Clinic and was checked up at around 3pm by an ENT doctor.

 

 Findings.... yes it's a boil. Because there's pus being secreted inside, my head hurts and my nose felt warm. Doc said it's the right thing to do - to have it checked because nose is a delicate part as it directly connected to brain. And if it gets infected - deretso sa brain. He prepared the prescription and discussed about the antibiotic that I am about to take. I asked him if it's good to breastfeed while taking it and he said naku hindi pwede, yung pinaka strong ang ibibigay ko sayo. He advised me to stop nursing :( . I bought the medicines from Watsons.

   

Pero sayang, I don't want to stop breastfeeding baby kiehl. I remember kasi my OB gave me the same clindamycin when I got boils a month after I gave birth, sa pwet naman yun grabe and 3x ha. One after the other. Waaa so painful! Because I don't want to believe ENT doctor and I still want to continue breastfeeding, I asked my friend's help to contact her pedia as I don't have a contact number of my babies' pedia. The advice - asked the ENT doctor if he can prescribe me a different medicine that is suitable for breastfeeding mama like me. Pero nabili ko na ang gamot huhu! It's Php38.50 each!! 21 pcs nga yung nireseta ni Doc eh and because it's mahal, I opted to buy only 9 pieces plus the ointment... So, to make sure that I can continue while taking the antibiotic, I searched at BFP group (breastfeeding pinay FB group) the word Clindamycin... And swerte there are lots of mothers who were asking if this one is safe to take for bfeeding like us. And one also suggested to check at e-lactancia.org, and below is the assessment. LOW RISK!

   

Because many breastfeeding mothers experienced, testified and proved that it was safe to take this antibiotic, I took it with no doubt while nursing baby Kiehl. Been taking it for two days already and there really is no bad effect for him! Yey!!! That is why I am sharing this post kahit na somehow gross na experience :) After 6 days of having boils.... I can say that it's gone now... And hopefully no more next... Madala naman sya no? 

 

Happy 10 Month Old baby Kiehl!

Last April 12, 2017 marks the 10th month of our baby son. The very kulit, likot baby boy. I now experience how different the boy from girl is :) Super active ang mga boy. Whew! Baby pa yan ha, what more when he grows up? Yay!  And oh - proud mama here to say that he's still breastfed :) Meanwhile, let me share you pictures taken a day before he turned 10 months, taken by her ate Kim. Enjoy!

 

Natuwa lang ako sa series :D so I put caption on them. Hope you enjoyed too as much as I did ;-)

Happy 10 months baby Kiehl! May God protect and bless you always! We love you so so much! 

Till next milestone,

Repost from 2017: Jhaydii Turns 5

Time wanes so fast (gasgas na intro ko haha)... Our eldest is now 5, she celebrated her birthday on March 21. And of course this is one of the important celebrations in the family so I had to take a leave of absence from work and be there with my family. May isip na ang anak natin and they will remember everything when they grow up. The plan was just a celebration in her school on OLGS with classmates, and then nothing na at home. But before that.... The night before her birthday and when she was already sleeping, my husband and I prepared our surprise for her. Decorating the spot where we are going to throw her a surprise! And here it was.

   

She needs to wake up early because they still have a class. She woke up before 6AM, and then I guided her to the table underneath the decoration. She was speechless when she saw the wall :) Bagong gising eh, reaction-less hehe.. Antok pa ;)

Kiehl also was already awake. So after opening her gifts, we had them picture taken. Siblings! 

In school..

We went to Jollibee Mexico to order foods for her classmates and teachers and also her classmates' guardians. Total bill was Php2,440. We just had a kiddie meal so it already includes a toy, and the rest are chicken with spag. At 9:00 am, on the dot, we headed to her school and brought them JD's treats for her classmates and teachers.


 Here are the photos

   

But the kids' guardians were not there so we had to take home theirs :(

While at home :)

We prepared spaghetti and pancit... Had ice cream and cakes... Just a simple celebration to make her birthday more memorable for her. As we were eating she kept on asking "Mama did you enjoy the party?" I said "Of course I am!, did you enjoy it?" "yup"

 

After the party, we played ball. And then she suddenly picked a flower and handed it to me. "Mama this is for you, thank you for all the things that you gave me today" Aww so touching! You are most welcome baby! You deserve it! We wanted you to remember everything, we want this celebration to be as enjoyable and happy so it will leave mark and will etch on your heart and mind forever.... Thank you so much for being a sweet, loving and good daughter. May your wish and dream do come true! God bless your journey on Earth baby! Stay healthy and safe, please God.... Thank you Lord God for giving her to us and for everything... 

We love you! Love, Mama Dhy, Daddy Jay and Baby Kiehl

Kiehl's First Birthday

It's been a while, I've never posted anything hayst... And I will try this time while I am on my way home. I am sleepy, my eyes want to close and doze while traveling home by the bus. But my mind says no, not yet - post something new and update tour blog. That is why here I am again mamas, and hope to finish this article before I reach home ? But oh sadly, I am palpitating right now. Need to breath deeply whew! Okay okay... June 12, 2017 - Kiehl's first birthday, it was a simple celebration done at home. But before we came up with this, I had two other options like Jollibee celebration or a catering celeb at a function hall. No worries when celebration is to be done in JFC - they already have the host, games, prizes and give aways. The only not so good is that the foods aren't that appetizing, hehe. The second is through catering. Oh yes - so many food selections. Also less worry about the dishwashing and all. But but... have to rent a venue, and everthing. This option is mpre expensive that JFC. So the final decision is to do it at home. True enough, it took most of our time with the preparation. Our budget was 40k (initially was forecasting to spend only 20k but I felt guilty) But I think we only spent 35k. Our theme - Cavs basketball. Most of the decorations are DIY. My creativity was tested.

Here's the DIY backdrop, made mostly of crepe paper and cartolina. Printed out the Happy Birthday in basketball with Kiehl's pictures.

The huge tarpaulin is sponsored by Tita Carla, thank you Tita!

And here is what I love - my DIY handwritten craft for sweet corner

And the clown by H Clown and Services from Angeles Pampanga

Before the party started, there was a painting session for kids and kids at heart.

 

Ate Jhaydii on her face paint

And the FOODS! Yum!

 

Yummy Morkon (Embutido) 

Menudo

Chicken in BBQ Sauce

 

Chicken Fillet

CAKE from A La Creme

Basketball Cake

                                                       Give Away  from YOuniqueU

Our Family :)

 

Thank you to our guests, they made our son's celebration a lot fun. Hope they  enjoyed the party though. Kiehl's mood during the celebration, he's hyper! He knew there was an occasion that we found it hard to put him into an afternoon nap, grabe ayaw matulog. He just had a thirty minute nap. Fortunately he didn't have tantrums, was only afraid of the clowns that is why he cried. Thanks for reading!


 

Looney Tunes Electric Breast Pump

And yeah - here's another post for the new electric breast pump I'm using right now. As promised :) So far so good and performs better than the Precious Moments. There is no pain and it's not as noisy as the PM - although there still is a sound and vibration. I am amazed on how great the Looney Tunes breast pump is. It automatically shuts off after thirty minutes of using it. Na-rattle talaga ako when Precious Moments EP gave up, kaya naman kahit at work I went to SM Dept Store to buy a new one, buti na lang it's near the office kaya it's not that a problem. I don't know how to hand express din kasi kaya I opted to buy a replacement. No regrets - because it pumps really good. I'm sharing here a video on how it works ;)

 

Hover over this picture and click to see the video

 Can you see how it sucks my nips and how flowy my milk is? That is why I love this cheap yet good quality breast pump Looney Tunes. This one is recommended ;) It only costs Php2K (original price is Php2,500.00). So cheap right?

And here's what I produced.

The milk I produced at work.

As I've said, I feel very happy every time I pump more milk and wishing to continue the breastfeeding journey as much as I can. Well, I hope this breast pump won't give up agad agad, I hope this lasts for long.

 Till here mamas,  

Foods to Boost Your Breastmilk

Well, this is one of the topics that interests me most nowadays. I am always reading articles about it - on how to increase my breastmilk. Prior to joining the Breastfeeding Pinays facebook group, I only knew that eating malungay and soupy foods will give you more milk, and drinking more water of course. I stuck to it. Until my friend told me to join the BFP group - from there, I learned a lot of things and most of the questions on my mind have been answered. They say yakult, milo and  oatmeal will boost your milk, I tried all these! But the output is still the same, 3oz to 5oz per express. Honestly, I produce that amount even without taking those foods. And since I wanted to pump more because I feel that my supply for Kiehl is not enough, I wanted to increase my milk - just like those that produces more than 4oz in one session. Grabe lang, nakakainggit ang mga mommies who are able to pump more than 6oz in 10minutes :( kaya I am wishing na ganun din ako. I am following Bianca Gonzales in instagram, and peeking Helga's, from there I learned about how effective the lactation cookies in increasing the breastmilk - so again, I tried it! I ordered from Mom's Basket the chocolate chip cookies for Php389, 28pieces and is good for a week supply. I hastily ate it when I received it, and it's very yummy! I was imagining the overflowing milk na mapoproduce ko after I ate it. Haha pero still - NO EFFECT. They say wait for several days for it to take effect, pero wala pa din. Same pa din ang output ko, 3oz, 4oz and pag sinwerte, 5oz. Lactation cookies now X for me.

 

Yummy Lactation Cookies from Mom's Basket 

Okay - let us try another. I always see a lot of mommies posting in BFP group how malunggay tea helps them boost their milk. I looked at it in Robinson pero wala yung kagaya ng pinopost nila sa facebook - so I had the powdered malunggay tea na lang. And the result????? Nothing hahaha :D

   

O sige, another tea which many inays are telling super effective daw.... The M2 malunggay tea, can be bought online daw and at the Robinsons. I was looking for it in Robinsons Pampanga but nil. And luckily last Friday, October 21, as I passed by the SM Hypermarket in Mall of Asia I saw it na! Yey - Friday kasi kaya madami delicacies. I bought 2 bottles for Php250 each. Dahil gusto ko na madami ako maiuwi for baby Kiehl, naka 1L ako nainom that day. ANd wow to my imagination... I was planning to ask from my co-breastfeeding mama a milk storage kasi I was expecting madami ako mapa pump. I was imagining that I will be expressing more than 6oz because of drinking it.... And tada! First pump was 3oz, I haven't drank tea yet, it's okay lang kasi kadarating ko lang nun in the office. On my second pump, which is 2.5 hour interval from my last pump, I had 3.5 oz, okay lang din kasi short time. And then I had the M2, 1L, and to add, I had not pump for 5 hours, so expected ko talaga na makapump ako ng more than 4oz nun. But huhubels mga mama, my imagination of using more than one milk storage and pumping more than 6oz milk did not happen. I was really disappointed, kasi lalo umunti na express ko. Dapat I will have more than 5oz given that I did not pump for 5hours. But I only had 4oz :(

The M2 Malunggay Tea

 

These were the milk I expressed on October 25, 2016. Super laki ng difference and ang effect ng water for me. I was able to express more with water lang, and less when I drank the M2 malunggay tea.[/caption] I also tried the mother's milk tea, fenugreek tablet and moringay powder given to me by my officemate, but still, negative :(

 

Kaya yan mga mama, taking anything that they say will help boost milk is not for me :) For others yes and wow for you mamas! One thing I'm really sure of... only drinking plenty of water will help me boost my milk. And that I don't need to have sobra sobrang milk, I am producing just enough for our baby. I have stash of 9 to 10 containers of 4oz of breast milk in our freezer, good for 2 days. Basta wag lang mawala milk ko, I am so happy na! He's drinking 4 to 5 containers daily. And I hope I can sustain pa din and he'd be purely breastfed. This is the usual milk I am producing nung purely water lang ang intake ko :) plenty right? Expressed in 20 minutes!

 

Very happy breastfeeding our son, and will continue until I can. Here he is ;)

 

Taken at Robinsons Baby and Mother Lounge (Nursing Room)

And our lovely 4 year old daughter

 

Lovely Ate Jhaydii at Pizza Hut

I feel so blessed having them, and breastmilk is a bonus na. Fact: I only breasfed our eldest during her first and half month.

To summarize, here are the foods I tried and they say will help boost your milk.

1. Drinking plenty of water
2. Malunggay Leaves
3. Soupy foods
4. Malunggay Tea (powdered of the M2)
5. Lactation Cookies
6. Fenugreek tablet

Additionally, we need to eat healthy mamas so we'll be feeding our babies healthily as well. Happy breastfeeding mamas!