And I am talking about myself! More than a month ago I started supplementing with formula, giving Miguel one to two bottles a day. Though his aversion to bottles was almost gone past his 6th month, it wasn’t until October that bottlefeeding became a part of our daily routine. And I’d say I felt a bit insecure when he didn’t even protest with this new arrangement. In fact several days later, I noticed it was much easier for me to “force” him to finish his milk in a bottle rather than to encourage longer nursing session. And out of my desire to get him to take more milk (since weight gain and small appetite has always been an issue), I decided to put him on formula feeding at daytime and it’s only at night when I breastfeed. Again, this was accepted without protest, hmp!

Only 7 months ago I had been so desperate on getting him to take a bottle and I fairly remember wanting to give up on breastfeeding when he was about 2 weeks old. But I guess all that is part of the past. The other day I even brought out my “very slightly used manual breast pump” and for a moment, considered relactating. I have this strong longing to bring back fulltime “direct” breastfeeding, and every bit of my mommy-self is wanting to hold on!
But then again I realize I must learn how to let go, I must be ready to handle change. After all, life as a mommy will always be full of changes. Today, the issue is weaning. Later on, it will be time to send him off to school, and years from now he will decide to live on his own.

So just let me delight in the joys of the months that passed and enjoy the happenings of today, so I have fond memories to look back on when I’m old and gray.

Let me just say I am one with the world in celebrating Breastfeeding Week 2007! Though it has been quite a challenge for me to succeed in exclusively breastfeeding Miguel (and I almost gave up on the second week of trying), my decision and determination to pursue it is always affirmed when I read pieces of information on the net, magzines, newspaper or just about anywhere relating to the wonders of breastfeeding.

And today as the world celebrates Breastfeeding Week with a theme “Breastfeeding the 1st hour: Save One Million Babies”, I feel blessed that I was able to give my Miguel the best start in life.

Nico’s back from his 5-day Singapore trip. We were supposed to join him but I wasn’t able to process Miguel’s passport in time–to date, we still haven’t received it from the agency. Anyways, I wasn’t too eager to go when he first brought up the idea of us joining him in Singapore as I could only imagine the trouble of traveling with a 4-month old! But when my sister (who is based there) mentioned that the Great Singapore Sale is now on, I wished I had applied for Miguel’s passport sooner.


As soon as I knew there could be great bargains in Singapore, I immediately googled up ‘nursing wear’ and was lucky to find stylish collection at MothersenVogue. This got me really excited and I was able to choose 2 tops which I emailed to Nico so he wouldn’t forget. I would have liked to choose more but they are a bit pricey (yep, even on discount!) so I content myself with just 2.



For the past months, I have been alternately using the 2 tops I bought at Big&Small Company whenever I need to go out with Miguel. In fact, these tops became my official uniform as I wear them almost everywhere–to church, mall, doctor/pedia visit, and even when we went to the beach last weekend! I’ve been checking out Big&Small but they have a very limited collection and most of the designs don’t match my taste. Thus, I was more than happy for this opportunity even if it means I will trust Nico to do the shopping for me ;).


Today he came home with a big smile and proudly handed me a medium-sized shopping bag, and to my great delight, there were 4 nursing tops inside (**an even bigger smile here**)! I remember saying ‘thank you’ in between asking why he bought four tops, two of which are not on sale, when I specifically told him not to splurge. Apparently, the sales staff was able to persuade him to buy the two regular items by offering 10% discount and by appealing to his conscience that breastfeeding is such a noble commitment of a mother and that the least a husband could do is to support her in every way possible (hehehe, clever girl!).


Of course after my skimpiness waned, I tried everything on and was just too happy that they all fit me well. I especially like the fabric and the functional design So now I am all geared up to go nursing in public! Hahaha! :)
*here's one of my newest BF gear*

Hats off to all of us breastfeeding moms…I chanced upon two interesting articles on the subject which I thought are worth sharing. Read on…

Bosoms Up
Why Some Women Don’t Breastfeed

I’m desperate! I’ve been trying (on & off, though) to train Miguel to bottlefeed but he wouldn’t have any of it. His wailings seem to tell me ‘I’d rather go to sleep hungry than take my lunch from that silicone thing!’ waaa :(

When Miguel was about a week old, and out of desperation due to sore nipples, I was able to successfully feed him through the bottle. I thought it was a good sign until I read from one site that it is normal even for breastfed babies to take the bottle during their early weeks of life but may develop an aversion to bottles when they reach a certain age. It wasn’t a very good idea for me to express milk during the early weeks as my milk supply has not yet been established and I could only get a drip after pumping for several minutes, and by then Miguel would have been crying his lungs out because of hunger! So I carried on directly feeding him and thought I would start training him on his second month. And I did. But it seems two months of direct feeding is enough for Miguel to know he prefers mommy’s breast and would not like any other alternative.
Since I don’t plan to go back to work until after Miguel is 6 months old, I didn’t get a yaya right away. So what I normally do is to pump my milk, let my mom give the bottle, and pretend I am not around.

But unlike me, this boy is firm and knows what he wants! I want to train him to take the bottle, he wants mommy’s breast! And when I hear that crying little voice, I melt, and I would come running to offer him the real thing. I once found the courage to leave him, I went to Shangri-la with Nico and left seven bottles of 100ml breastmilk so he wouldn’t get hungry. But I couldn’t get my mind off him that I gave in to the temptation of texting mom to ask whether he’s had his milk already. My instincts were right, he’d been crying and wouldn’t eat. I couldn’t stand the thought that he’s going to sleep hungry, so we came rushing home even if we had not yet accomplished our goals.

I’ve tried several tricks like warming the milk and the teat and even tried Avent nipple (which they say has the shape most similar to mom’s breast) but they weren’t any good. He’s already on his fourth month and I worry that if I fail to train him now he may not take the bottle at all.
Though breastfeeding provides a bonding opportunity for us, I have to face the fact that I need to be away sometimes (and especially when I decide to go back to work). I dream of the day when I can have him feed thru the bottle at daytime and breastfeed him at night so I can pursue my goal of 1 year breastfeeding.

Other moms have done it, I hope I can do it too!

Miguel is 3 months today! Hooray! Sabi ni Nico hats off to me as I have gone this far on exclusive breastfeeding. I read from a breastfeeding site that ‘any mommy who has breastfed for even a day deserves a pat on the back’, and even more for those who have committed to exclusive breastfeeding, I think.

We’ve been doing it for 3 months already but the mommy & miguel tandem is still going thru a lot of fuss; guess we haven’t yet perfected the art. Blame it on me for failing to prepare for the greatest commitment I’ve ever made. I just knew I wanted to ‘try’ breastfeeding, my line of thinking was ‘if it happens then I’m breastfeeding, otherwise there’s always the option of giving milk formula’. Only now do I realize that I did not make any conscious effort to commit to exclusive breastfeeding when I was still pregnant. Breastfeeding was only one of my options. And because of this, I didn’t know there are things I need to learn, things I need to prepare myself for. My MIL was the one who talked me into committing to exclusive breastfeeding and the still uninformed mommy in me completely agreed. So when the nurse who was filling up my admission records at the Asian Hospital asked how Miguel will be fed, exclusive breastfeeding was my answer.

But it is a commitment I don’t regret. The only regret I have is the fact that I did not spend time learning all about it. Had I learned of the difficulties and challenges that go with breastfeeding, It might have been a lot easier especially during the first 2 weeks.

When Miguel first latched on, it felt both weird and wonderful. Since then I would look forward to calls from Huggery staff telling me it’s feeding time for Miguel. But the following days witnessed a different feeding experience for me. Miguel would feed for an average 30-45mins every 2 hours and it seemed to me all of his strength was put into sucking that at the end of the first week my nipples were sore and I was dreading every feeding session. I tried nipple creams and protector but they weren’t any good. I even tried expressing my milk to give in a bottle but I could only get a few drops which made me even more frustrated (related fact I didn’t know: our body produces only the amount of milk the baby needs–so I really can’t expect to squeeze out liters of milk during the first few weeks!).

During Miguel’s first pedia visit I was determined to ask for milk formula to supplement breastfeeding (another related fact I didn’t know: baby’s suckling motion stimulates milk production, the more the baby sucks, the more milk is produced, thus supplementing with formula will diminish milk supply). My plea was ignored by his pediatrician who even told me after complaining of sore nipples ‘konting tiis na lang, magkakalyo din yan!’ Sensing that I was actually not ready to give up on breastfeeding, she then explained its benefits and ended her ‘lecture’ telling me to just advise her when I finally decide to give formula milk to Miguel. So in the end the decision to continue or not was still left to me.

Looking back now, the fact that Miguel hasn’t had any sickness is reason enough for me to continue breastfeeding. Despite the hassles I’ve encountered during the first 3 months, I’m determined to carry on for another 9.