Yes, still doing full breastfeeding

Many are very surprised that Eunice is still an exclusively breastfed baby.

1. Enfamama called me up, and asked me if my baby is >6 months (I registered the info in their website). I said yes, and she asked what milk powder is your baby drinking? I said, breastmilk. And she responded with a very surprising tone:"Oh, still breastfeeding?" And I said yes. Next she said, OK you know breastfeeding mummies can drink Enfamama too. And I said yes I know. End of conversation. :)

2. Everytime I bring Eunice to her monthly checkup, Dr Dan will never fail to ask me what milk powder is your baby drinking now? And I always tell him, breastmilk. And everytime he'll reply:"Oh still breastfeeding? Very goood.."

3. My mum in law doesn't check on my milk stock anymore when she comes visit us. I think she's finally assured that I have enough supply for her granddaughter. And breastmilk is as nutritious as formula as it's advertised as her granddaughter is as chubby as the other babies, and has a very good weight. So good that sometimes she struggled to carry her well. :D

4. My mum still checks on my supply when we talk on the phone. Still asking if I have enough for Eunice. I told her yes because now she's on solid and I still pump 3 times a day. The next question is so when do I plan to stop. I told her I don't know yet I haven't planned. And she started to get worried about teething, biting, etc etc. And I told her, yeah yeah I know, and we'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

5. Some aunties that I met also very surprise that Eunice is still on breastmilk. I don't know where on the earth they heard that a mother can only produce breastmilk up to 4 months and it'll then slowly reduce to nothing. I'm been feeding & pumping for the past 9 months. And yes, sometimes the supply dropped and that's mainly due to my lack of sleep, but most of the time it has been maintained at 18oz-22oz a day.

Look at my cutie pie enjoying herself while suckling from mummy

When Eunice was admitted for high fever, she's spared from dripping because she drinks breastmilk. I thank God that I have endured so far.


I always encouraged my friends to continue breastfeeding no matter how hard the situation seems to be because I believe one day all these effort will pay off. I'm blessed with many breastfeeding moms around me and the encouragement and companionship to each other is a great motivation to keep me going on.


And as for me, my weight has gone back to my pre-preg weight even though I still eat like a cow. But many commented that I look thinner than last time (with bigger assets though :P). And I do notice that all my jeans are very loose now. But my tummy is still bulging.


Besides, my period has finally came back to me when Eunice hit her 8 months. I used to worry that my supply will be affected when my period is here but thank God it still maintains, maybe just slightly lesser but it's still more than what Eunice consume everyday.


So, when do I plan to stop? I don't know. I am used to wake up at 5.30am to pump everyday, and so used to lift up my shirt whenever my baby cries at night. Like I always tell EG, I've not been sleeping through any night ever since I become a mother. But I'm not complaining. One day I'll wean her off. The only thing that I look forward to after weaning is I can stop pumping. But I haven't planned the day yet.


We'll see. :)

Eunice's Tooth Chart

Though teething is not a very nice experience for all of us (but still manageable), but I'm nevertheless very happy that Eunice's teeth finally are coming out!! :)

Since Eunice is now teething, I'm going to update her tooth chart, just for fun!

Eunice's Hospitalised + Teething Episode

A week before we went to KL, while Eunice is 8.5 months old, Eunice had some fever. We fed her infant paracetamol (PCM) and it subsided. A week later after we came back from KL, her fever came back, and it's high. Hitting 39C. We had to give her suppository through her back in order to bring her fever down.

We brought her to Island Hospital for Dr Dan to check. She just had her PCM and her fever subsided then. And she remained active and was playing with the nurse. Dr Dan said she looked perfectly OK. So, we sent her back to her babysitter. When we picked Eunice up, babysitter told me they fed Eunice PCM at every 6 hourly (instead of 4 hourly) and it seems like her fever is under control. So, I felt rather relieved.

Her last feed of PCM on that Friday was 4.30pm. I was thinking even if it's 4 hourly, we should feed her last PCM at 8.30pm before she sleeps. When we reached home around 7.30pm, I told EG i think Eunice is rather warm. To our shock, her temp went up again to 39C. So, again, we gave her suppository to bring the temp down.

At night, Eunice woke up and cried. When I picked her up, I felt that she's so warm. I quickly shouted at EG to get him to get the thermometer to check on Eunice and to our shock, her temp had shot up to 39.8C! Quickly we brought her to another room with no air cond, and EG brought a tub of water and I kept sponging her. At the same time, we gave her suppository again. However, her temperature couldn't go down. And she was shivering a bit and still trying to babble. I remember my friend's suggestion to dip baby into water to bring the temperature down, and so I did, at 3am! Thank God after that, her temperature went down to 37C. And I actually called in to Island Hospital asking if I should admit her. But since her temperature already went back to normal, we have decided to bring her to hospital the next day.

So, the next day Saturday, there we went again to Island Hospital. This time, they took Eunice's blood for blood test and tried to collect her urine for test too. Talking about blood test, I was trying to imagine how do you take baby's blood esp. they will struggle. The nurse actually wrapped Eunice up in a blanket tightly, leaving one arm out. And that's how they drew her blood. Eunice was crying, but not because of pain because the moment it's done and when I picked her up, she's quiet. But I think she didn't like to be wrapped up and got poked. No one likes it. The result was out in less than an hour and thank God that the blood test shows everything is OK and hence Dr Dan said no antibiotic is needed.

As for the urine test, you must be wondering how do collect baby's urine since they don't take instruction.. :).. They sticked a plastic bag "there" so that when baby urinate, the urine will be collected. The problem is we waited from 10.30am to 1pm, Eunice wasn't urinating yet.

We went home. And to cut the story short, EG and I woke up every hour to check her temperature. It was really so tiring for both of us. And at 5am, Eunice passed motion and while I changed her diaper, not only I notice her stool was loose, also her diaper was light. She wasn't urinating much. I know my baby well, she urinates A LOT. Sometimes until the mamypoko diaper overflows! But this time she's not urinating. So, at 5am, I called into ISland to get ready with Eunice's file, and off we went to admit her.

Eunice was especially cranky in the hospital. Besides, she didn't want to drink too. Neither from my breast nor from the bottle. Actually she drank, but not to her usual 3 hours schedule. It's dragged to 5 hours sometimes. We had to get the nurse's help to syringe feed her. After every feed, she'll poo loose stool. However, thank God that her temperature was back to normal in hosp. The max it went up to 38.5 and after 1/2 day, her temperature was all back to normal. But she's still esp. cranky. We thought there was wind in her tummy - as she was passing gas, and still passing loose stool. So, EG and I were carrying her the whole day, walking up and down the hospital aisle. She only slept in the cot for 5 hours herself (allowing me to sleep for 5 hours on the lazy chair as well), before I had to carry her again to rock her / let her sleep on me.

When the doctor came the next day to check on her, the nurse told him that Eunice drank breastmilk - though not much but she drank. And Dr Dan said oh it's very good. Since she's drinking mummy's milk, then she doesn't need to go on drip. Phew! Imagine my relief when I heard that!!

The not-so-happy looking girl watching casper in her ward

Doctor suspected that Eunice was having roseola - a kind of baby measles. I did notice some rashes on her cheek and doc told me it's very safe and once the rash comes, it means the baby will be ok then. Since Eunice didn't have fever anymore, we discharged her the next day.

Taking care of sick baby is never fun. Eunice got extra clingy to me (maybe she's still not feeling comfortable) after she came back from hospital. And still, she's not drinking as much as she used to. We had to syringe feed her a bit before she was willing to drink direct from me.

We sent her to bbsitter the next day. Her rashes came out on her face first and later spread to the body. Thank God the rashes are not painful / itchy. After 2 days, the rashes subsided (that's FAST as normally it takes 5-7 days according to the internet). And one day when I went and picked up Eunice, the kakak who takes care of Eunice told me her tooth has came out! I was very surprise as we still haven't gotten over the fever + roseola thingy yet and her tooth came after that! But of course we're very happy. Sometimes I think parents are funny creatures - we'll just get extra ecstatic over baby's development. :o)

And when Eunice hit her 9 months, bbsitter called me one day while I was late in picking up Eunice as I was stucked in the heavy rain - telling me that my baby has been extra cranky. Didn't want to drink much & kept crying. Of course I got worried. And I noticed that at home too when I took care of her myself. It seems like only my breasts can soothe her and I was exhausted & complaining to EG - how could someone drink so much?!! Later on we suspected that Eunice's 2nd tooth was cutting out as she had almost all the teething symptoms mentioned in babycenter. That's why she's so cranky. She's crying almost all the time and this is the first time having me seeing her crying coming out from bbsitter's place as she's always coming out happily playing with kakak. :(

None of the teether helped her. Eunice has 4 teethers and none of it helps. Some told me feeding cold fruits helps - I tried, and she vomitted! We bought Dentinox teething gel for her too and it doesn't seem to help much. :(... I couldn't seem to find any way to help her. But I really thank God that her tooth finally cut out after 2 dramatic days!!

So now, Eunice is back as a happy girl - with her two front teeth. :D

And mummy is stuffing her with fruits / nutritious food that she can to build up her immunity system.

And daddy is already eyeing on other "not-that-cheap" teethers to help his precious, hoping that her next teething experience will be a better one.

It's NEVER fun to take care of a sick baby. And teething is NOT FUN too.

Eunice @ 9 Months

I remember when I first carried Eunice to her babysitter's place when she's merely 3 months old, I was so envious of the other parents who carry their children at the sitting up position. I was hoping in my heart that Eunice will grow up faster.

And now, Eunice is 9 months old. She can sit up well. And I'm carrying her at the sitting position to babysitter's place every morning. But ironically, I don't feel any relief, but rather, more tired. But of course, more joy. Every parent is happy to see their kid grows.

Why am I more tired? I used to think that cooking for babies is easy. Easier than feeding milk. Oh my gosh! How wrong I am to think that way. Maybe I'm just not good in cooking, or babysitter's food taste much better. Feeding Eunice solid can be one of the things that I hate to do the most, esp. now that she's more cheeky, she'll BLOW OUT her food all together when she dun feel like eating or when she lazy to chew. =.=... Till now I have tried cooking porridge with stock, without stock, over the stove, in slow cooker, double boil, all also not to much of her liking. So sad.... I am worried that she won't get enough nutrient through breastmilk, and now that she's not eating much makes me even more worry. However, I try to relax a bit since babysitter thinks that her eating amount is perfectly normal. So, as long as she eats in the 5 days @ babysitter's place, I'll just do my best during weekend to make her eat more. :P

At her 7.5 months, Eunice is already standing up by pulling herself up. I always have to be near her to make sure she is holding onto a steady platform to stand, or to support her when she falls.

Besides, Eunice is now crawling everywhere. I didn't buy any safety guard rail in the house as I told EG I'll want to teach her what to touch and what NOT TO touch by reasoning if we can. Of course if we really cannot, then we'll go for the guard rail for safety purpose. Because of this, I always have to catch her back to her playmat whenever she crawls to places where she shouldn't be.

And now that she's more verbal, and playful, sometimes she wants to be held, and wants to have people to play with her. Hence, there are times where I have to sit in her playmat to play with her to keep her entertained.

I couldn't believe that now I'm busier than when she's a baby. And now I understand why others told me that babies are easier to take care of now. Now, I can't cook I can't bake. When Eunice allows me to have some break, I'll rather surf net / watch tv / blog (now you know why I don't blog so often :P)..

But anyway, I'm still happy that Eunice is growing up happily and healthily.

Cutie pie sitting up straight @ ~7 mths

First standing in her cot @ 7 months

Mastering her stand-up skill

Standing straight up @ 8 months

Doing her rasperry blow during mealtime =.=

Playing with her food

Went for her first hair cut @ 9 months

My Breastfeeding Journey

Eunice is 7 months 1 week and 1 day old now. It also means that I have been her moo moo cow for 7 months 1 week and 1 day. *phew*

I pride myself in my determination has helped me go this far, and that Eunice has been on breastmilk exclusively. And she has been growing well~! Many are amazed by her michelin legs and round tummy. Well, at least I prove my mum and my mother in law and many aunties wrong - they always think breastmilk is less nutritious and it's impossible to provide enough for a young baby.

I wouldn't say the journey has been easy but I thank God that my breastfeeding journey is rather smooth. I don't produce A LOT bu I just produce enough for Eunice. I guess that's good enough. She has been drinking 20oz a day before she started solid and my supply is always between 18oz to 24ozs. During good days, it'll go up to 26oz. :). Now that she starts solid and skipped a milk feed, her daily consumption at babysitter's place has reduced to 14 - 15ozs but my production remains at +/-20ozs.

To date, my fridge has 49 bottles of breastmilk with avg of 4-5 ozs, some at babysitter's place. I have 68 bumblebee storage bottles and almost all of them are filled up. To make sure I fully utilise the bottles, I try to make sure I have minimum 4ozs per bottle (mix after pump). And for the stock that I have now, it can only last Eunice for 10-15 days for day time only. If for full day, I guess it will be all gone in less than 10 days.

I actually budget to buy an Ameda double breastpump after I confirm that I can go on with breastfeeding after my confinement, but when I went over to the shop, the sales person actually recommended me UniMOM Forte (never heard before leh...!) :P.. It's 50% cheaper than Ameda, except that it's a bit bulky and slightly heavy. Well, since I don't carry laptop to office, I just put this breastpump in a bag pack and carry to office everyday! In order to convince me to buy this cheaper breastpump, EG also volunteer to carry my bag for me if we ever need to bring it around. :P ... So far, I have no complain and it has been serving me well. :)

Of course I do crave for new branded breastpump. Well, I told EG this is what girls normally want to do - having >1 bags, >1 purses, >1 shoes and what more for this breastpump that's on daily usage. However, he's right that if a cheaper breastpump has already been doing its job well, why do I need to spend more for a branded one? Ahhh... So I'm still not getting any till now. Probably for my next baby I'll buy a Medela or Ameda then. :)

Many asked me how long I plan to breastfeed. I haven't really thought about it yet as I really enjoy breastfeeding now (though I don't like the pumping). But I do plan to do it as long as I have enough supply for my little one. For now, the target is when she reaches 1 year old.

I really thank God that it has been a great journey so far. :)

Eunice's first crawl

As a working mum, I often worry that I'll miss my baby's growth, esp. Eunice is spending almost the whole day @ babysitter's and only spend 1-2 hours with us before she goes to sleep. So, I try to spend all my time with her whenever I can, esp. during weekends. And I try to record / take as many pictures that I can to keep as our memories.

This time, I took a pic of my little cutie pie first few crawling when she's 6.5 mths old. She wasn't very stable as you can see but I think she did a great job in crawling! *proud mummy*...

Told you, I'm just amazed by baby's development. She learns soooooo fast! 1 month ago she was just "rocking" herself on her four, and then she started moving her hands and legs forward. Now @ her 7th month, she is crawling around my house! :)

The next thing that you'd expect from me is her walking around the house! :)

Parklon Playmat

Since Eunice hit her 6 mths old, she has been trying to lift herself up to crawl. We have a small piece of comforter where we let her lie down in the living room to have her tummy time or play time when she's not sleeping, but now the comforter is too thin for her. Several times she tried to crawl forward but she fell forward, and hit her face to the hard tiles. Of course she cries everytime.

The daddy was especially heartache to see his gerger who's learning to crawl, but always hit herself onto the floor. So, when my friend shared with me about the LG playmat, EG said we must get that for gerger.

After some searching in internet / forums, we got Parklon playmat (couldn't afford LG prime where the price is 2x of Parklon). I'm quite lucky to find a website to give me a good price and with free postage from KL to Penang!

As usual, the father is more excited than gerger.
We both like the packaging.

One side of the mat. We just took out from the packaging so it's slightly wrinkly.

My timid gerger was scared when we first put her on the mat. She dare not move and started crying. Haiyooo... I had to carry her and "introduce" her new mat to her by introducing the Pooh bear, Pigglet, Donkey and etc slowly. After a while, she's happily playing there! Phew!! Imagine if she doesn't like it - I'm going to cry as $$ wasted! That's always the risk to buy toys / stuff for babies as they won't be able to tell u if they like it!

The timid girl dare not move on her net mat

After warming up, now this is her playing area!

EG likes the mat very very much. Not only it's now safe for gerger to play on the mat, it's also very nice to lie on it. He sometimes will just take a short nap on the mat while gerger is playing. :)... He even suggested to buy another one to put in our bedroom.. =.="

Even though the mat is slightly expensive, but I think for daily use and safety purpose, it's worth all the money. And the material is very good. I believe we can keep it for the next baby in the future. :)

Eunice's nicknames

It's a funny feeling when I first became a mummy. When I first "met" Eunice, I didn't know how I should call her. Suddenly I have a daughter. Suddenly I'm a mother. I don't know how to describe the mixed feeling. And at the very first time, I called her "baby...". When my mum called me while I was still in hospital, she asked: "How's Eunice?". I found it funny as it took me a second to process who Eunice is. :)

Later on, I still referred her as baby. And trying to get used to it by calling her Eunice.

When I took care of her at home all by myself, EG will buy lunch back for me and check on both of us. He'll ask me how's his precious. I'll tell him how his 小瓜 (xiao gua) treated her mummy (me) as that's how some people call the young children. As usual, EG found it funny and asked me why it is called 小瓜 (xiao gua). And later on we translated it to english and it became Melon. :)

When we started to send Eunice to bbsitter and when I started working, EG and I only see her after work everyday. And normally we'll miss her terribly after work. And EG started to call her "girl girl" - sound sweet right? And one day, while chatting to EG about Eunice, he suddenly typed "gerger" - referring to our little precious. And since then, we have been calling her gerger - since it sounds really cute and no one has this name too. :)

Recently while chatting to some friends, I noticed they also call Eunice gerger. It makes me laugh everytime. A friend actually asked me why gerger? :D... I wonder how they would pronounce it actually. But my answer to my friend is - you know how we pronounce burger? The "ger" there... is the same "ger"...

Wakakakakaka. :)

Our dearest Gerger