Thanksgiving and Heather's November Blues

November is typically a somewhat antsy month, right? The excitement is building up for Christmas, everywhere you look Christmas decorations are up, yet it's not Christmas yet. The lead up to Christmas and countdown to new year always gets me excited. And for mostly Americans, there's Thanksgiving. Whilst I do not celebrate Thanksgiving, there are a couple of things that I am really thankful for:

• Bradley - the most amazing, incredible thing that happened to me. 
• DH - without him, I wouldn't have Bradley. Without him, I wouldn't have come so far. I love him so much. 
• My family - as with every big families, there are bound to be conflicts, misunderstandings, unhappiness. Mine too, but its through all these that made my family extremely close and bonded
• Health - what's wealth without health? (Although, health plus wealth would be a big bonus!)

Jokes aside, I've always taken my health for granted. Even after losing my father to renal failure that was brought upon by diabetes and hypertension. But now that I have Bradley, I try to make sure DH and I eat healthy by cooking at home more. I cannot imagine having to care for B if I'm down sick, worse, I cannot bear to have the thought of B losing his parents at a young age. Any parents will feel the same. So I cannot imagine what Heather von St James went through when she was first diagnosed with mesothelioma when her daughter was just three months old.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, affecting the membrane lining of lungs and abdomen. There is no known cure but chemo and surgery have helped to improve prognosis. Typically, someone with mesothelioma is given 15 months to live, but Heather beat the odds and is one of the few survivors of this cancer.

As she was diagnosed in November, every year this month Heather gets the "November Blues". Could you blame her? But she has made what, in her words, started out as a tragedy ended up in triumph. She has since embarked on a mission to spread awareness of mesothelioma by sharing her story.

Have you heard of mesothelioma before? I haven't. Sure I've heard of lung cancers, ovarian cancers, cervical cancers, and even have a good friend who is diagnosed with breast cancer. But mesothelioma? No. So when Heather contacted me and asked if I would share her story and help create awareness, I did a little reading. It is extremely sad to read things like "at some point, the management of the disease will shift from trying to cure the disease to trying to keep the patient as comfortable as possible for as long as possible". Yet on the other hand, you read about Heather beating the odds and coming out as a survivor.

Whether you know of anyone who has cancer, be it a friend's friend, or you just happen to be the curious passerby, spend a couple of minutes to watch this video and help spread the word. 

Lastly, think about the things that you are thankful for. The simple pleasures in life.

xx

Bradley at 7 Months

As I'm writing this post, DH is in Jakarta having meetings with clients, B is having his nap and I'm eating a hum chin peng for lunch at 3.30pm. My mood? Incredulous. Simple things in life make me happy. Now, I would be really happy if B can take at least an hour nap.

At 7months, he recognises things, people, songs. He shows different emotions, and of late, scared and sad.

I needed to get a new pair of specs desperately as I had an eye infection from wearing my contacts too long and my old pair of specs is really blurry. So we went to an optical shop across the road to see if I can get a pair. You know how these shops display their specs frames on the wall? When we stepped in, B let out a loud cry and we took him out immediately. Thinking it was nothing, after calming him down, we went in again. And when he saw those frames on the wall, he jumped and had a scare, as cried even harder! I guess those frames look like eyes looking at him? 

Today, his 5 yo cousin looked at him and said "what?" in a slightly louder tone, poor B thought he was being scolded and cried too. My heart broke on both occasions.

Every morning when he wakes up, we hear his coos through the baby monitor and we'll go into his room to see what he's doing. I typically greet him with a song, same song no less, and without fail he breaks into this sweetest smile. When he hears the song but doesn't see me, he'll pause whatever he's doing and wait for me to appear. I guess this is what happiness means.

5 more months to a year old, I haven't even grapple with the fact I have a baby! When will it actually sink in? That DH and I are now parents and we are in this forever... 

And So We Did It

I don't know what I did that made this post went missing. Well, it's back now.

With no fanfare, no tears, no emotional conversation with B, just like that, I weaned B off my breastmilk. :)

Talk about being random. It happened two days ago after putting B to bed, DH and I were having dinner and I was too tired to pump. I was already pumping twice a day and very irregularly, and so I decided to skip that pump and go to bed early. Random isn't it? All those thoughts and imagination about how I will tell B, "Baby, this is the last bottle of breastmilk, after this you will move on to drinking fm, ok?" never happened. B's nonchalent attitude towards what he was drinking made it easier. Man, can I love this boy even more?

I got up in the middle of the night with a soaking top and stone hard boobs, but I was too tired (read: lazy) to get up and pump. Honestly I think it was a bad idea to somewhat abruptly stop. It could lead to mastitis and from what I heard, some said its worse than childbirth! I hand expressed a little but succumbed to the pump twice. Today, I'm glad to report my boobs although full, doesn't hurt, so I assume we are doing ok.

I am enjoying my "pumpless" moments, for one, I got to somewhat sleep in today till B woke us up. We only need to carry a flask for hot water, the fm and empty bottle when we go out. No more cooler bags with ice packs in them, no more thermo flask with container to warm up ebm. DH is totally enjoying carrying the lighter bag. I got to eat what I have not eaten since pregnancy days - mackerel, raw oysters and drinking guilt-free. When one is breastfeeding, one really needs to be mindful of the diet as it gets passed on to the baby. I have a friend whose pd was concerned that a particular persistent cough was taking so long to recover. Eventually, they suspected diet played a part.

Anyway I digressed. My whole point is, I can now say "been there, done that". Given a chance to start all over again, I probably would choose to do the same thing over despite the pains and stress in the beginning, all those hours spent hooked up to the pump, the countless times I dozed off while pumping...... But ask me what I feel about breastmilk, my honest opinion? It's probably a tad overrated. I get that "breast is best"... but "excuse me, are you a formula fed/breastfed baby?" says no one ever. I am glad my breastfeeding days are over, I am glad B was exclusively bf for at least 6 months, but more importantly, I'm glad B's healthy and happy. That's all I ask for.

Meanwhile, let me sit back and enjoy my drink. :)

Product Review: Sinchies Reusable Pouch

Ever since B started solids, I've been preparing his purées almost everyday. It's hard enough to plan DH and my dinner everyday, wrecking my brain on what to serve on the dining table, I now have another person's meal to think about.

Typically, B has his porridge in the morning and cereal late afternoon. And with his porridge, I cook it with a piece of 'bak tao' in the slow cooker. Bak Tao, if I translate it literally from hokkien is the meat near the pig's head. I'm not sure if it actually is but apparently this cut of the pig gives the porridge a great fragrant and flavour (note to self: reconfirm if indeed meat near head). Served with his porridge are usually sweet potatos, carrots, peas, pumpkin or salmon purées. As for his cereal, I serve them with fruit purées like apples, nectarines, pears.

So you can imagine the amount of cooking, steaming and pureeing I do on a daily basis. With that, I will need storage solutions as well - something that I can freeze/chill and warm up nicely. I've used many things - those Avent 125ml milk bottles that I have so many, Avent storage cups, breastmilk bags, baby cubes. They all work fine but I am always game to try products that can store these baby food. When I heard of the Sinchies Reusable Pouches, I was eager to try and was sent a couple for reviewing. 

Here's how I used them:

They come in different sizes: 80ml, 140ml, 200ml, 1L. Perfect for storing different food intended for different meals. For the purpose of this review, I made sweet potato puree.

Usually, the sweet potatoes I get are the red-purple skin types and they are really sweet and delicious. But I came across the golden honey sweet potato the other day and thought I give it a try. Whilst the colour is not as appetizing, its taste is comparable.

Whether you are cooking it with the skin on or off, I think its a good idea to scrub the skin clean before cooking. You could either steam or bake it, I chose the former.

(I know, I know, don't judge me. I'm probably one of the very few mothers left not using a Philip steamer/blender. Don't get me wrong, I think that's a great product, but I'm used to this method. One day, I might get it. It's year end already, time for DH's company to give away department stores voucher. ;p )

Steam the sweet potato until tender, and transfer it to choice of equipment for blending/pureeing. I did get this hand blender which has been put to good use ever since.

Happy with the consistency, it's now ready to be transferred to the Sinchies pouch.

I prepared this the night before, so off into the fridge it went. When ready to serve, just warm it up in a cup/bowl of hot water.

Squeeze them out of the pouch, easy and fuss-free.

Give it a good mix, and it's ready for savouring.

I think B approves because this was all that was left:

What I liked about Sinchies pouches:

- it comes in different sizes

- can be sterilized (for the paranoid mothers like me)

- perfect for on-the-go feeding

- for older babies, you can serve them smoothies directly from the pouch

What I feel could be improved:

- the opening of the pouch, especially the 80ml pouch is a little too small to fill puree. Although there's no such problem with the bigger pouches. Might be a good idea to fill the 80ml ones with liquid.

My verdict: it's perfect for on-the-go feeding and saves space in your fridge. I can imagine filling it with juices or smoothies for B next time. Probably not so much for every day use at home, but certainly for outdoors!

To find out more, like Sinchies Singapore on their Facebook page.

Disclaimer: I was sent the pouches for reviews but all opinions are mine.

Various Milestones

And so I can't deny it any further, my little baby is no longer that little anymore. He screams in displeasure, throws his tantrum but also warms your heart with the sweetest smile. He's nearly 7 months already. 

Random updates on B:

~ his 2 teeth are visible (and sharp!)

~ he's learning to crawl and on his fours most times. This makes diaper changing extremely difficult. We also bought a play yard for this purpose

~ he doesn't stay still when washing his butt after pooing. Not the innocent baby who loves getting his butt washed anymore. He squirm and arch and splash

~ We have lowered his cot because he had attempted to do a prison break a few times, or even trying to reach got items outside his cot. For my benefit and to save my back, we are looking for a cot bed and have every intention to get a new one. I wished someone told me about all these nitty gritty yet important stuff so that we could possibly shop wiser.

As for mummy, she's doing very well now having dropped yet another pump. We are giving B fm for the middle of night feed and when we go out. Makes staying home alone with B more enjoyable and I find myself doing that more than going to my mum's. Being at home gives me time to do more stuff, like preparing for dinner, B's purée or even the laundry! This whole motherhood thing is beginning to make more sense.

Latest PD Visit

And so we went for B's vaccine yesterday. Boy was the clinic crowded, probably backlog from his mc and his clinic closing for a week starting Friday. We waited about 30 minutes or slightly more for our turn and glad B didn't lose his patience. He just sat on my lap and happily sucking his fingers away.

B is now 8.4kg and 70cm. According to dr and some of my mummy friends, he's a tall boy. As for his milk intake, I'm no longer concerned he's only drinking 140ml coz some other babies who are older than him are taking in the same amount too. and obviously he's doing fine with this so I really should stop worrying.

Dr and I chatted about the kind of solids we have given him, and I asked him for recommendation of fm since it has been so long since he had taken fm - he gave us a tin of sample. The reason why it is advisable for babies to start solids round about the 6 month mark is because their bodies need the iron which breastmilk alone is not able to provide sufficiently. Baby cereals are often fortified with irons and the introduction of fish with red meat like salmon and tuna are good for them. FM also has the iron which breastmilk lacks. And so we went home with me thinking when I should start the fm. Well listen to this, I finally did last night! Dr said if we plan to intro fm, might be a good idea to give it for his last feed as it will probably last him longer. I was actually excited making the fm and when I offered it to B, I half expected he will cringe a little because of the taste, but NO! 不给面子, he drank like there's no difference at all. TMD. But I was actually happy. It was easier than I expected. But...... the fm did not make him fuller. He still woke for milk. Which I'm thinking could possibly be outta habit. But it's ok, in time to come I'm sure it will pass.

The funny thing happened after I pumped - as I was pouring the bm into the milk bag, I caught myself smiling. It was like telling myself I won't be doing this for long. So happy. All this while I've been persistent in pumping but it wasn't really because of the "benefits of bm".. I guess it's more of "it's what I should do for six months at least". And truth be told, as the days got along, you really will get 不舍得 as there is some kinda bond. I can't imagine mums who latch weaning off, must be worse.

The end is near.....

P/S: B's tooth is coming out! I thought I saw something underneath his swollen gums and doctor confirmed it! It's gonna be so irritatingly cute!

Drinking Your Way To Better Health

I don't know if you are aware, but I am quite the lazy bug. If there is an easier way to do certain thing or not to do anything at all, I would choose not to do it. Like if I can drink tap water, why bother boiling it? But thankfully I hate the taste of regular tap water, unless it's chilled. That's what restaurants serve you by the way.

Anyhow, since I got pregnant and with me breastfeeding, I drink so much water. Like seriously a lot. DH and I got tired of boiling water all the time. Then we found a solution to our problem one day when we were at my sis' place: a water purifier.

All you need to do is to pour tap water into the filter and let it do the rest. It will shock you how dirty our tap water is. Not PUB's fault, but the water pipes and our taps. We just need to wash it every month and change the filter every year. Tadah! Fresh, crisp water all the time. There really is a difference in the taste of the water. I guess crisp best describes it. DH uses the water to make his coffee and he says there's a difference.

What I really like about this:

- it's a standalone unit with no need to plug into a power point. So you can place this anywhere.

- it's really simple to use: just pour in tap water. That's it!

- a whole lot of benefits from drinking alkaline water which supposedly helps in slowing down oxidation, better hydration and detoxification.

Well, for the lazy me, the real benefit is I get to drink clean water all the time, no need for boiling and transferring water to a pitcher. In turn, making me drink more water and don't we all know drinking water is good for you? :)

Oh might I add, all these convenience and benefits actually come quite affordable, we got it for $199 at Best Denki. 

Sleep Deprived

Aren't we all? Before B came along, I felt sleep deprived every morning when waking up for work. But not that deprived to stop us from going to the gym, having one drink too many the night before or falling sick from it.

And then came Master B. I finally understood the real meaning of sleep deprivation. DH said he had gone through this in the army, but me? I was nearing hallucinations was it not for the adrenalin of having a new baby that kept me going.

Since then, it has been so much better. Or has it really? Whilst he used to wake every 2-3 hours for milk in the first 2-3months, he started sleeping through at 4 months but stopped one day. We kinda resigned to the fact that he will wake for a night feed, usually between 1-3am. I tell myself it's ok, I'm not working and will be happy for any opportunity for him to up his total milk intake. It's true, you just have to keep telling yourself that. -_-"

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday. It was a good catch up and I have to say I really did enjoy myself. It helped that B's bed time is 7... So we had uninterrupted "adult time" with our friends. By the time they left and we cleaned up, it was midnight. Needless to say, we felt zombiefied the next day. There we go, sleep deprivation again.

B's pd was on mc so we had to postpone the visit, and hence the introduction of fm. Funnily enough, the boobs sisters must have thought it was amusing to screw me up as the supply increased. It was enough previously despite the drop but now as B is taking in more solids, he has dropped one milk feed too. Here I am again with the same freaking dilemma of do I then continue pumping? I guess I'm about 85% sure I will stop very soon especially after enjoying the convenience of giving fm.

Whatever, I'm so tired of my fickled self. Watch this space I guess.

Of Bonding, Eating and Loving

Of late, I feel that B and I are spending more quality times together. I mean, we have been together since his birth but it's only recently that I feel our mother and son bond is strengthening. For one, as he grows, he's more aware of his surroundings and what's happening. I'm spending more time with him alone at home then at my mum's. On days like today when we are home alone and have nothing on our agenda, it's just mother and son time. The helper came in the morning and left by noon, B and I went to get lunch, later this afternoon we will go for our daily walk. There's no other distractions for me, I can just focus on him. Seeing his face lit up with smile when you go near him is simply heartwarming. I will do all I can to always be there for him.

He's taking in solids well. Besides the store bought cereals, he'd tried home made pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, green peas, potato, avocado, apple and porridge. I think his favourite so far are avocado and apples. The hand blender we bought have been put to good use and when I'm preparing his purée, I really enjoy it and do it with so much love it's so cliche. Oh the joys of motherhood.

Motherhood would be even better if we don't have to deal with other "family issues".

A Day In The Life of a SAHM - Part II

0500: first pump of the day

0530-0630: baby wakes. Lotsa love, hugs, cuddles. Take a shower, have breakfast, attempt to read the papers. Wash and sterilise. Dump the laundry into washing machine

0730: baby's first milk. Hb leaves for work

0745-0830: baby's first nap. Hang up laundry, wash bottle, prepare towels and clothes for baby bath, prepare diaper bag to bring out, prepare milk for next 2 feeds

0830: baby wakes. Bath

0845-0900: ready to leave the house for mum's. Call mum, possible detour to pick mum from market.

0930: feed baby solid. Play time

1030: milk feed. Baby naps. Wash bottles and bowls.

1130: second pump

12-1230: baby active play time

1330: milk. Nap.

1330-1430: mummy's down time - Facebook, whatsapp chats, Instagram and possibly nap.

1500-1530: drive home. Feed baby solids

1630: milk. Nap. Prepares ingredients for dinner. Prepare baby's purée.

1700-1730: baby wakes from nap. Take a walk with baby.

1800-1830: wipe down for baby. Simple games, lotsa reading, winding down.

1900: last milk feed. If hubby is back, hubby feeds and I prepare dinner

1930: baby asleep. Dinner. Wash up

2000-2030: last pump. Watch tv while pumping 

2100: KO 

2300-0000: baby flipped in sleep, annoyed, cries. Baby dropped paci, annoyed, cries. Walk to and fro baby's room to flip baby back and put paci in. 

0300: baby stirring. Warm up milk. Feed. Change diaper

0330: lay in bed, can't sleep. Check fb

0345: KO

0500: alarm rings. First pump of the day 

Conclusion: it's nice to be a baby.