Happy 2 Months, Babyme!

Today Baby AH turned 2 months!

We celebrated by buying a cake from Bunny (Thanks for taking our order, Bunny!) and went to Andaman to surprise Nana.

It was also Baby AH's first party with the whole gang as I think the last one, he was still in the tummy and it was a party for him! Hehe.

Suffice to say, he needed to be breastfed and then proceeded to poo. So there we were, with a shawl over me, trying to breastfeed him and then put together 2 chairs, trying to change him.
While it is expected for smaller restaurants to not have a breastfeeding room nor a changing room for babies, I wonder how will I survive if I was at the Mall or Yayasan or Hua Ho. Luckily there are not many shopping malls in Brunei, otherwise the list will be longer!

I wonder if people will give me the look if I start breastfeeding my son in other restaurants or by the bench at the Mall. We were lucky as we had the private room at Andaman earlier, so the only other people in the room were my friends. Obviously, the girls were excited when I needed to breastfeed and changed baby AH's diaper. Although, they refused when I asked if any of them wanted to change his diaper. Hahaha.

Digressing.

Anyway, Happy 2 months old, baby! At 2 months,

- you love taking a bath! you will cry when we take you out of your bath tub.
- you will stare and laugh at the red cow your nini babu stuck on the wall, next to your changing table. sometimes, it even seems like you're talking to the cow!
- you can hold your head up (although you've started doing this since you were 3 weeks old!)
- you get bored easily, so we have to make sure you're not looking at the same thing too long
- you enjoy tummy time so much
- you will look up and make us talk to you. you actually enjoy this, which made us wonder whether you understand us or not
- after your second feed, you will want to sleep on mummy. we think its because you know i will be at work for the rest of the day
- you will want us to change your diaper straight after you poo, not a second later
- you can fall asleep on your own in your cot
- your father has taught you 1 - 10, the alphabets and how to spell your name. usually before going to bed and when you wake up. hehe. no pressure, baby!
- you love sleeping on the nursing pillow, on mummy's lap after a feed (like right now!)

... i think the list goes on and it just shows how both of us are embracing parenthood.

Once again, Happy 2 months old, baby AH! Mummy & Bapa looooovvvveeee you :) :)

Breastfeeding for a Working Mother

If I am not going home for lunch, I need to prepare around 8 bottles of 3.5oz of EBM for my baby.

On the first day of the dry-run, he consumed 6 bottles of 3.5oz and on the second day 5 bottles but we thought that to be safe, we should prepare 8 bottles.

I'm thinking of a timetable on how to prepare the EBMs for baby AH.

Tentatively,
5.30am: PUMP
6.30am: Feed before work
10.00am: PUMP
2.00pm: PUMP
5.30pm: Feed after work
7.30pm: Feed to sleep
9.00pm: PUMP
10.30pm: Feed, change, get in bed.
1.30am: Feed
4.30am: Feed

Hopefully, this will work. I am hoping that each pumping session, will get me 2 bottles of 3.5oz.
I, however, need to be realistic. There may be days where there will be enough milk, less milk or more milk.

On days with less milk, I am willing (albeit reluctant) to give my baby formula. I know, in today's world, there is more pressure to breastfeed your child more than anything else but Iwould rather baby AH have something to drink than cry endlessly and Mummy speeding home from anywhere.

I have been stressing out and under pressure for the past week or so on whether to supplement baby AH's feed or not. Yes, there are many benefits from breastfeeding exclusively but at the end of the day, only the mother knows what is best for both the baby and herself. In Y's word, s/he is MY baby and I will make the decision.

However, baby AH has to know that when mummy is at home, there will be no formula!

This does not mean I will stop eating soup and drinking milo. Har har. I will still try my best to ensure that I have plenty of supply for baby AH, insya Allah. I just do not want to be pressured and stressed out as everyone knows that this could ultimately reduce your supply.

Changes

As I'm starting work next week, we have been 'practising'. For the past 2 days, baby AH was looked after by my babu and the maid. He has been fed EBM from the bottle and I only fed him direct after 5pm.

However, I noticed that after each direct feed, he has refused to move from his feeding position, even after he has let go and I have 'packed up'. At night, he refused to sleep in his cot (prior to this, he would sleep in his own cot for approximately 3 hours before waking up for a feed). He even refused to sleep in our bed, between the both of us.

He would only sleep with his face on my chest in the feeding position, if I'm sitting upright, or on top of me when I'm lying down. He would then sleep at least 2 hours straight.

Can a 7 week old baby know how to miss his mother already?