9 + 6 mois

That is how long a pregnancy should last. I am not kidding. The 9 months is when the baby is inside the mum's womb. The 6 months is when the baby is “attached” to the mum via breastfeeding (BF). WHO recommends that baby be exclusively breastfed for a minimum of 6 months.

As of today, I have officially ended my "pregnancy". I have fulfilled the minimum requirement of bfing M. I think I have come a long way and give myself a pat on the shoulder. You will understand my heart beat only if you have BF your baby. Sorry Dads, but you will never be able to comprehend the strong bond a mother develops out of bfing her baby.

The experience of bfing J and M are totally different; just as their characters are totally different.

For J, it was a rocky start as it was the 1st time for me and I had some breast complications. In the 1st month, I was still not producing enough milk so I faced some family pressure to give him formula milk instead and give up bfing. However, I was very determined to fully breastfeed J so I worked very hard to increase my supplement. Every 3 hours, I was either latching him on or expressing the milk. Even at night, I will wake up even at 2 am and 5 am to express. By the 6 weeks, I am able to catch up with J’s demand of 180ml (6oz).

During these 6 weeks, I suffered from engorgement and blocked milk ducts. I visited the lactation consultant several times to treat the block ducts. Every session was filled with tears and pains as the LC firmly massage the blocked lump away. I had to sneak glances at J whom I always bring along to such session in order to draw strength.

By the end of 8 weeks, J and I have worked out the kinks and have established a routine pattern. I vividly recall having letdown the minute I think of him. Every night after washing up, he will definitely latch on to sleep. There was once my helper held him after washing up and he turned to look at my breasts. I swear that was a twinkle in his eyes.

J was a professional sucker by the 3rd month. He refused to drink from the bottle when my 3 months maternity was up and I had to get back to work. It took almost 1 week to coax him to acept it. I would still latch him on whenever times permit and after work. I always look forward to the time spend together when he latches onto my breast. I would stroke his cheeks while he stares intensely at me when suckling away. Recalling that those moments still brings a lump to my throat.

By the 7th month, my milk supply was declining and being more active by then, he is reluctant to stay still for his milk. It was painful to let go of the bf experience but J and I shared this special time for 9 months and 13 days.

As for M, it is a totally different ballgame. When I was pregnant, I was looking forward to beating J’s record of 9 months 13 days.

M was a very strong sucker but was an impatient one too. It took 7 days for my milk to kick in and by then, he was slightly accustomed to the bottle. He also has a stronger temperament and has a preference for one of the breasts. Coupled with disturbances from J whenever I latch M on, I yielded to the bottle much easily because I thought it should be easy to re-latch M when J gets over the jealousy period of having a new brother.

By the time all these disturbances settled down, 2 months has passed and M has started to show a strong preference for the bottle and refuse the breast. I was quite disturbed by it but being 2nd time mother, I know there is more to motherhood than breastfeeding, thus I did request for medication to stop lactation but lack the courage to pop the pills. (I am glad I did not because M has a suspected case of UTI. Thank God it was a wrong diagnose but if it had been true, I would have blamed myself profusely because exclusive bfing for 7 months would help to prevent recurrence of infection).

I had to return to work by the 3rd month, so it might not be a bad idea to just go with the flow and use the bottle so that M does not goes through a transition. Initially, he would still latch onto his favorite breast but by the time he turned 4.5months old, he has even rejected that and would only drink from the bottle. There goes the hope of beating J’s record.

From then onwards, I have been expressing for him and have done so for 1.5 months. It is definitely more troublesome as I need to plan my time around the expressing schedule. When I see other mothers latching on, I would yearn for that intimacy (lump in my throat again), I make up for it by giving him the bottle at night so that I can cuddle him in my arms and watch his angelic face fast asleep (he won’t take the bottle from me if he is awake as he is used to my helper feeding him)

Now that 6 months is up, will I give up? The answer is “no”. I will continue to do it as long as I have milk. Why? Because I am addicted to love.

Half year old

6 months ago, I saw M's face for the 1st time. Even till now, I still remember how warm he felt when I held him in my arms.

6 months on, M is 9kg, has 2 pearlies and is crawling all over the place.



M is the exact opposite of J.

1. He puts everything into his mouth while J would not even put food into his mouth.
2. He has curly hair while J's hair is poker-straight.
3. He is fair but J is tan.
4. He cries everyday while J hardly even whimper.
5. He is aggressive while J is mild.

The only thing they have in common is that they look alike and how much I love them.

It's just an introduction, the rest is up to you

Who can forget the infamous tagline the SDU uses many years back in their matchmaking TV ads?

The data shows that in Singapore, for every 1.08 boys at birth, there is only 1 girl. For the age of 0 - 14 years old, there are 353,333 males and 329,005 female. This means that there are more males than females in Singapore. This data is manifested among my circle of friends. Just as an example below:

• Male - M x 2, Jo x 1, Rach x 1, Em x 1, Doris x 1, Elaine x 2, Irene x 1, Glad x 1, Jas x 1, G x 1, HT x 2. AL x 2 = 16 boys


• Female - G x 1, Itene x 1, Doris x 1, Rach x 1, Irene x 1, Doris x 1, YN x 1, Denise x 1, HT x 1, AL x 1 = 10 girls.

Whenever there is a "new girl in town", some of us anxious mummy would try to "chop" (reserve) the girl for our boys. Thus when Baby A, she immediately has 3 boys added to her waiting list - J and Elaine's 2 boys, R & C. (M has been reserved by Rach for her girl. No one can resist M's lotus root arm)

In order to have an upperhand over Elaine, I make sure that I visit YN before Elaine get to do so and seal the deal. (Just kidding, Elaine!)

Baby A is a sweetie pie who looks like her dad (But her dad don't look like a sweetie pie leh). J was very nice and gentle towards her and even gamely gave her a peck on the cheek! (He would not even kiss me!) I guess he has scored some brownie points with YN too. Ding ding, round 1, J scores!

If we ever buy The Seaview (my dream house in the same district that YN is living in), we will be even 1 step closer to bringing the trophy home! J, Mummy is rooting for you so give it your best shot ok?

Maybe I watch too much cartoon when I was pregnant?

That is why they look like cartoon characters?

C,D and E grows up

C,D and E are K’s niece and nephews. When K are I first got to know each other, S had just delivered E. I remember when I first met these 3 kiddos, E, who is the youngest was not even 2 yrs old.

I was going through my collection of photos and come across a pix taken of them in 2005 on D’s birthday. You can see that they have grown up except for E who seems to look the same.

C is now a teenager who is a great help to me whenever she visits us. She will play and read to J and attend to him as much as she could. She aspires to be a gynecologist and loves to bicker with K.

D is now 2x of his size! I can’t believe he used to be skinny. He is still the boy whom his mother wishes that he will grow up faster. A few weeks ago, D overslept in the bus when he was on the way home. When S couldn’t contact him, she panic and went hysterical. I think to S, he will be the boy who never grows up despite her desire.

E is the baby of the family till J came along. He is a very assertive and independent child who can conduct himself at a very young age. Whenever J acts up or refuse to behave, my MIL will definitely recall stories of how independent E was when he is J’s age. E would go to the potty by himself and when he is sleepy, he knows how to put the mattress down and take his nap without any assistance.

In a blink of an eye, they will soon be teenagers and S will have a new set of challenges to deal with.

Baby A turns 1....

....thus she is now officially a toddler.

It only seems like yesterday that Tiffany got pregnant with A so it is unbelievable that she had turned 1. The party was held in the function hall of the The Seaview. (This is when I fell in love with my dream home)

The party was in a "Strawberry Shortcake" theme and A was all decked in pink. She looks as sweet as a candy. J was very excited during the cake-cutting as he gets to sing the 'Happy Birthday' song. A's birthday cake was huge and there was 2 cakes as it was Tiff's MIL birthday as well.

Happy Birthday, A!

Just add a little imagination

If you caught me smiling to myself......

........it's because I am thinking of them.

Hello, give me one more please!

When J was 5 months old, I tried to test his readiness for weaning by giving a few spoons of cereal. Hoever, he refused to open his mouth. Even when he is much older, J is not a child that will put things like toys into his mouth. In fact, when he can start to eat snacks like biscuits, we had to force him to pick it up and put it in his mouth.

In another month's time, M would be ready to start on solid. Thus I am starting to "test" him out too. So what is the result? Check out the video or scroll down to view his request.