Last long weekend, i got so bummed when the weather was "not at-all nice." Like everyone else, I was looking forward to it because it meant 4 days of family day! But then again, it was not at all good and we have to make out of what Mother Nature gave us for those days. On the first day of that "great" long weekend, we went to Greenbelt 5 - me, to attend the La Leche League monthly support group meeting (which I try to attend every month) and I was late because I didnt know about the change of venue teehee! - and J1 to play in Timezone (as promised by me) who ended up also playing with dear little J2 since there were not much kids playing inside the "playroom" of Timezone then, so they all went in - they owned the place technically that time haha!
I love seeing J1 play.He can be all sorts - he can be fearless but wary and careful (connect?). You know when kids play - they dont have apprehensions, they try everything (or some), they laugh like its the bestest thing in the world and they feel like the world is theirs.I hope adults can also be like that towards life but, oh well, things get different, they say.
Moving on... I am sharing with you pictures of my babies in the "playroom."
Warming up - thinking if he should try the kid-treadmill tehee!
Remember I told you he's fearless but careful haha!
Off he goes with Ate Claire
Trying to do the other way... Let's see.
He did not do it, instead he asked J2 to join him. Teehee!
And got comfortable on the slide, since no one was using it. Smart kids.
I know, this post should have been up last September 1 - but nonetheless, (as they always say, better late than never posted haha!) we're already on the BER months! Wohoo!!! Boy, do I sound so happy. Haha! I know! How time flies! I can almost smell the holiday season. Excited much?! I am more excited for my kids - you know when they say that Christmas is for children. But I think, it should also be our time - for everyone - to celebrate because its the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Celebrate, celebrate!!!
So in the next months, let us "savor" each day as we prepare for the real celebration. And let us make the celebration worth celebrating (each year!). Party on!!
Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (August). For this month, we join the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action in it's "Talk to Me!" theme where participants will share personal experiences, insights or recommendations in communicating breastfeeding intentions and goals to their support system. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants.
I was advised by a surgeon (when I was still single) that I have to breastfeed so that the lumps in my breasts will disappear. She added that those lumps are breastmilk waiting to happen. Whoa?! This surprised me - a lot.
What she told me has marked in my mind and has led me to set my mind on breastfeeding. I did not know breastfeeding was more, way more than words can say (Isn’t that a cliché?). I thought, just breastfeed and voila! Everything will be okay. It was far from thought that a support system is important for me to breastfeed successfully.
I was pregnant with my first when I was fortunate enough to attend the Infant and Young Child Feeding training organized by our office. So timing! All the more, it strengthened my decision to breastfeed. There I learned that aside from “just breastfeeding,” you need the people around you to know that you intend to breastfeed, for them to support you and the need to create an environment that will help mothers to sustain breastfeeding. It is important to communicate with the people you know will be with you in your journey to breastfeeding – determine your support system – your family, friends, etc. Talk and make it happen. How did I do it with the people around me?
1. The Husband
Seeking the support of my husband did not present any problem. After my IYCF training, he got a dose of it. Haha! I told him everything I know about breastfeeding even the counseling part. I love how he accepted and supported my decision to breastfeed our baby, besides knowing the benefits – the savings we get from breastfeeding is the all-time favorite. May I add? My husband is my number 1 fan and main cheerleader. The support I get from him is a whooping 110%. He helped me all the way most especially with my needs in breastfeeding.
2. The Parents
When my first-born had fever in his 3rd day, my mom bugged me that there may have been something wrong with my milk or I don’t have enough milk (I know my mom means well. She was just concerned with his grandson). We argued when they insisted that I give formula milk to our baby. Yeah, I missed seeking my parents support with my decision to breastfeed – I didn’t bother since we were not living with them and they live in the province. My mistake, I know.
Until I brought my parents to a breastfeeding lecture, it was like magic! My parents were so happy with what they learned about breastfeeding that during the lecture they were tapping me as if telling me, “well dear daughter, you’re doing a good job with your baby! Do it your way, breastfeed.” I felt so fulfilled after that. It was like they waved the white banner of surrender haha! After that, my parents became technically breastfeeding fan.
But it was not just the lecture that did it. Every time my parents visit us here in Manila, I give bits of facts and information about breastfeeding or share experiences of other breastfeeding moms that I have met – I inform them like a trivia thing for “recall.” Little did I know that I was turning them into “breastfeeding advocates.” When they go home to our province, they would mention about breastfeeding to their friends, convince them about it and how it is good for their daughters and sons (or for their grandsons and granddaughters).
Now, I have their support (all out!) with breastfeeding – from baby #1 till baby #2.
A lot of things have been in my mind lately. They say you have to unload to feel better. No, these thoughts are not "problems," but more of things I want to do or I want to happen.
I tweeted one time that I admire people who make things happen. Yes, I do. I want to be like them when I grow up. (LOL!) I want to make things happen, to bring change and I want to do a lot of things (I have a list and it isn't finish yet).
What should I do? I have myself to rely on to make "things" happen. I love this quote.
Do you believe what it says?
And these thoughts on my mind?
Will happen! Yes, I believe so!
And please...
At this point in my life, a wife and mother of two boys, with an 8-5 work time (or more) - I feel time is a luxury. I know other moms or other people will agree. With conviction, I know I will materialize these thoughts in mind. The next question is when. Soonest! In God's own time. So help me God. But I know (sometimes), I have to...
Its breastfeeding month! Hurray for breastfeeding moms and breastfed babies!
This blog post may have been written years ago but i wanted to share it with you. The article is so beautiful and inspiring. And my post was part commentary and sharing. I was breastfeeding J1 then.
I may not have readers in my site, but I would like to apologize for being inactive in my blog for a long time (more than a year). Though I have active in my facebook and twitter accounts. And sometimes, I chance to post in my tumblr and in my instagr.am (these two are linked).
A lot of things happened after my last post in my project blog. I know I said in the intro in this blog that I am making a dream happen for me, but some things have been out of hand (sort of). For the past year, hmmm, what happened?
Tons of work… (that I don’t want to elaborate further lol!)
I got PT (pityriasis rosea) which lasted for almost 3-4 months, which got me technically depressed. So depressed, I want to forget what happened.
And amidst that, I got pregnant!!! At first, I was so surprised, I (we) didn’t expect it. Though we were not in any (artificial) family planning method during that time. Come what may was the theme. (LOL again!) Highlights?
I was already six weeks on the way when I learned I got pregnant.
I was still breastfeeding J. It hurt every time he latched (but it wasn’t in my nearest thought that I might have been pregnant).
I did not think of stopping breastfeeding J but I got a blood clot inside me then that may contraindicate breastfeeding while I was pregnant (I was ready to breastfeed and even with tandem breastfeeding). My OB advised me to stop breastfeeding J. Stubborn that I was, I texted people I know if I can still continue but if baby’s health is at risk, I really have to stop. J had to be weaned (fast). And thank God, he managed.
Now, we have Uriel Jacob! My second J.
And now, I have J1 (Joaquin) and J2 (Jacob). Love love love!
Fast forward.
I am back to work after giving birth to J2. I am exclusively breastfeeding him for four months now. I am back to the “hullabaloo” of my job lol. I am trying to manage having two kids, adjusting. God is good. And I am excited in “revive” my blog. I am rather inspired with other moms who have their own blogs. See the blogs I am following – most (or all) of them are moms!
This is my “first” post after my hiatus. And I am crossing my fingers that there will be more posts after this.
And its August, happy breastfeeding month everyone!
I know a lot of woman/mother will agree with me that it has changed them – A LOT! It is an unexplainable feeling that it even overwhelms mother and overflows their heart with love.
I would like to share with this article from the Indigobaby’site – the first time I read it, I kept nodding my head and my heart was pounding hard – with LOVE (and tried not to cry).
BeingaMom We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."
"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."
But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.
I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call
of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.
I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.
She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester be lurking in that restroom.
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.
Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.
My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time.
TRY NOT TO CRY....
I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.
My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.
Please share this with aMom that you know or all of your girlfriends who may someday be Moms. May you always have in your arms the one who is in your heart.
I also found this article long ago from Babycenter. I enjoyed reading it and so true for moms. Really, many things changes when you have a baby – think, this is not a course or subject taken in school – and whoa! It always surprises us with a lot of things… Reading it was fun and realized, for me, that I love being a mom… I wanted to add more but the list is just so good – adding up is out of the question.
Forty-two things that change when you have a baby
What changes when you have a baby? A better question may be: What doesn't change? Here, writer and mom Rebecca Woolf lists her most notable post-baby observations. Then scroll down to read our favorite comments from readers about how their babies changed their lives.
1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. [See a reader's perspective in #22, below.]
3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
4. You respect your body ... finally.
5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
9. Your heart breaks much more easily.
10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.
11. Every day is a surprise.
12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
14. You become a morning person.
15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
And from our readers...
1. "You discover how much there is to say about one tooth." — Ashley's mom
2. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth." — Anonymous
3. "You now know where the sun comes from." — Charlotte
4. "You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have." — Sophie's mom
5. "You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers." — Roxanne
6. "You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night." — Kellye
7. "Silence? What's that?" — Anonymous
8. "You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having." — Brenda
9. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had." — Ronin and Brookie's mom
10. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule." — Thomas' mom
11. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one." — Jaidyn's mom
12. "Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog." — Kara
[Many readers begged to differ, saying things like, " I disagree with number 12. My dogs are my additional children," "Nothing about previous babies, whether two- or four-legged, changes when a new miracle comes along," "My dog will never be 'just a dog," and "This is sad to me. My dog is still my baby too."]
13. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late." — Tracey
14. "You learn that taking a shower is a luxury." — Jayden's mom
15. "You realize that you can love a complete stranger." — Dezarae's mom
16. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place. — Arizona
17. If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do! — Ciara
18. You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution. — Anon.
19. You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart. — Brooke&Boys
20. You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them. — Anon.
21. You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts. — Anon.
22. In response to #2 [above], I'd say that where you were once afraid, you're now fearless. I was always very timid and shy and let myself get walked all over … but now where my kid's concerned, I'll speak my mind and really connect with my inner "b"! — gummismom
23. The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect. — japanese_macaque
24. Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING! — DylanLsMom
25. No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!" — Anon.
26. You want to take better care of yourself for your child. — Treasor
27. You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo." — littlehulk2008
This is my (super late) post Mother’s Day blog. Cheers to all moms!
