Breast Is Best

...and I am firmly sticking to that!

After Dade's check up with that pedia from Makati Med, I blindly followed her advice & succumbed to giving my son formula milk for fear that he is not getting enough nourishment *yep, big mistake!*  However, I decided to cut it off after having spoken to a lactation consultant (and after more or less 10 ounces of formula fed to my son - ouch!). I lost confidence in myself for a while but slowly regained it after a pep talk with the lactation consultant and after seeing Dade gain weight again. I swear, breastfeeding is really tough! Unless you're absolutely focused and dedicated to nursing, you'll never succeed. It takes a lot of willpower and bullheadedness to achieve your goal, which, unfortunately is not as easy as it seems.

Whenever I pray, I ask God for milk for my son. Yes, I pray for myself to produce enough milk for my little boy. It helps me loosen up & avoid getting stressed about my supply of milk.  Hubby is more supportive than before, and his encouraging words now help me get through each passing day. We are also happy that we have found a very good pedia for our son who supports me with my breastfeeding, and who also gives me & the hubby encouragement in raising our baby.

Things are falling in the right places now, and I cannot be happier!

What's In A Name?

Dade was finally baptized last Monday, 14th December. It was a pleasant afternoon - perfect for baby's naming day :)

Ever wondered why we named our son Dade and why his full name is such? I'll tell you why.

When I was still pregnant, as soon as we confirmed the gender of our baby, Ryan and I started thinking of names to call him. I initially wanted a Spanish sounding name to go well with our last name but the husband didn't approve of it. he wanted a Western sounding name, and so he got his wish. I searched for possible names in the internet, hoping to stumble upon a nice name for our son.

Then one day, Ryan suggested the name Dade. He's liked that name ever since he heard it from that 1995 movie "Hackers" (remember Angelina Jolie with her first husband, Jonny Lee Miller?) Dade Murphy a.k.a Crash Override/Zero Cool is the protagonist in the movie and his character was that of a computer whiz. I know he's so keen about that name because he uses that when he saves his PSP games.

And so I sought for names that would make "Dade" a possible nickname. Thanks to the internet, I got the perfect names for Dade - Daniel Jayden Erix, whose etymology are as follows:

Daniel - (dan-yel) Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge". This name is also from one of the beloved bible stories, Daniel and the Lions' Den. Coincidentally, Daniel is the name of my maternal great grandfather.
Jayden - (jay-den) Hebrew origin meaning "Jehovah has heard". I personally love this name because of what it means. Dade is an answered prayer, and this name fits him perfectly.
Erix - (e-rix) Derived from the Old Norse name, Eric, which means "forever ruler". This was from Ryan's second name that I have requested to add to our first born's name.

Our son would probably not like us in the future for his lengthy name (especially when he starts writing it) but I hope someday, he would learn to appreciate it.

Still Alive

Been very busy since we arrived here in Manila last Friday, 4th December. Pardon me if i'll write in bullets because I have no time to gather my thoughts properly.

• Dade was well-behaved in the plane. Didn't fuss a lot, except when he was hungry. But sleeping was a challenge as he didn't want to stay put in the bassinet. He ended up sleeping in Ryan's arms for most part of the trip.
• Baptism preps are still underway. Been very, very busy contacting suppliers, meeting up with them, and coordinating everything in just a week's time. A few more days, and our REAL holiday will finally begin!
• Still have to shop for the right shoes for me to use for the baptism. I found the appropriate dress to wear - thanks to K & Company - they do have my size! :) I still need to find a pair of shoes to wear though.
  
• Gotta have Ryan's khakis altered.  He still has to have his black trousers tailored in time for the wedding we're to attend on the 21st!  Thanks to good 'ole Divi, I was able to get him a ready-to-wear barong tagalog.
• We're staying at my in-laws in Paranaque so it's convenient for us to get to places we need to go to. And thank heavens we have internet connection so I am still able to catch up with friends through the net.
  
• It's my maternal grandma's 88th birthday this coming Saturday. We're all so excited! My son will finally meet his other lolos, lolas, aunts, uncles & cousins from my side of the family.
• I am having problems with lactation. Since we arrived here in Manila, my son has been losing weight. It's so frustrating! We're now supplementing, and it's driving me nuts! I desperately want to exclusively breastfeed him but we're facing the challenge of low milk supply. I'm taking fenugreek and drinking Mother's Milk Tea to boost my supply. I'm contacting a lactation consultant to help me, too. It tears my heart when my son cries because he's bitin with his milk. I don't wanna give up BF!  If any of you have any suggestions, I'm open to them. I acknowledge the fact that i do need help.
  

I'll be posting pics of the baptism here next week. Bear with me and my post. I will try to write something more cohesive next week.

How about you guys, what have you been up to lately? Busy with Christmas shopping?

In Panic Mode

The holidays for the Eid Al Adha were just announced, and I am so annoyed because the announcement was made nearer to the date so we were not able to plan our holidays more carefully.The holidays will be from the 26^th November until the 3^rd December so that is a good 7 days of bumming around in the UAE when we could’ve been in the Philippines preparing for Dade’s baptism. I couldn’t move our flights because all flights are full, and the only way we can fly out early is by taking a business class flight, which we do not have a budget for. How sad.

The Christening of Dade is a very important event for us because this will also be officially his meet and greet party. And as much as first birthdays are considered very special, so is Christening, too. In fact, I highly regard this occasion because this is the day our son will be welcomed to God’s family.

Anyway, I still have a lot of things to finalize for the big day which I hope I’d be able to finish in time. I planned for this Christening way ahead of time, and yet I still feel like I've insufficient time to prepare. These are the things that i still need to work on:

• Purchase baptismal gown. My Mom will take care of this. thanks, Mommy! I know I can always rely on you for anything related to my son’s needs. (and thanks also to Eper for referring the shop where we can buy the traditional baptismal gown for babies!)
• Buy soft soled shoes to go with Dade’s baptismal gown
• Sort out pictures & videos for the AVP that Dade’s godfather will create for him
• Pick out appropriate songs to be played during the reception
• Purchase & decorate the candles for the ceremony
• Buy tokens for kids who will be attending the event
• Purchase some arts & crafts stuff to keep the kids busy during the reception

I swear it’s really not easy to organize an event when you’re thousands of miles away. I just hope we’ll be able to pull this off. Please luck be on our side!

Quarter 1 Update

Now that Dade has turned 3 months old, a lot of changes have taken place. Let me update you with what he’s been up to these days and how we as first-time parents are coping with his growth.

At 3 months old, he can now sit on his Bumbo Seat with support from a pillow. We use his boppy pillow most of the time. Until he has a better head control, we will keep that pillow to keep him comfortable.

During tummy time, he is able to raise his head to 45 degrees, move it from left to right, and keep it steady. Sometimes he likes tummy time, sometimes he doesn’t. But trust me: this boy sure knows how to kick his legs manically when overstimulated.

The little monkey finally discovered his feet. the LO developed the habit of rubbing his feet together when cradled by Ryan in his boppy, and he seems to be fascinated when watching his feet move. With or without socks, he would rub all the way. Just the other day, he started lifting his legs together, and would rub his feet in the air. It’s a funny sight, I tell ya!

He now enjoys hearing himself babble so imagine how much he baby talks these days. Say hi to him, and you’ll get the cutest coos & giggles ever!

Sometimes we find him trying to roll over on his left side. He’s still unsuccessful, but 10,000 brownie points for him for trying :)

He can now grasp on to little things, like his binky for example. When he holds onto my finger, he would clutch ever so tightly.

Unfortunately, he still isn’t sleeping through the night. He still feeds every 2 hours – on the dot! Because of that, he ended up co-sleeping with us so he can easily nurse when he wakes up hungry. It also saved me the trouble of getting up many times in the night. At first, I was against this because I was so afraid of the risks that come with co-sleeping (because he does sleep in our bed, not on a separate co-sleeper cot), but I've come to realize that I had to do it for both of our sakes. We just had to take some precautionary measures to keep our bed safe for Dade.

During daytime, he prefers sleeping on Ryan. It leaves the hubby no time to eat, sleep properly or even take a bathroom break! Poor Daddy!

We always hear comments that Dade is a “long” baby. He has grown so much that I had to bring out his 3-6 months sized clothes earlier than planned. He’s outgrown his frogsuits so quickly that he’s now using his jammies when sleeping. Picture his onesies not fitting his torso vertically not horizontally.

It was also time to bring out the Level 2 nipples & the 3-6 months binkies. We had to say buh-bye to the Evenflo dummy he loved so much. He’s still in the transition stage with his new dummy that every so often, he would push them out of his mouth through his tongue and cry when he couldn’t pull it back.

To help me keep track of his medical records, I got the newly released Dr. Mom Health Journal from Indigo Manila. I saw this journal by chance as I was ordering some milktrays and Baby Legs for Dade. Good thing I was able to grab one at their introductory price of PHP1,500. For more info about this product, please visit their site: http://indigomanila.multiply.com/. I bought a lot of cool stuff from them, too. Go natural! Go Pinoy!

Dade’s is now 5.6 kg :) no wonder why the Dad is complaining whenever he carries the baby in his car seat. I was happy to learn about that from last Saturday's check up. His pedia was supposed to see him by end of this month for his booster shots, but I decided to bring him to the doctor to check if he's developing according to his age. I wanna keep a close track of his weight gain since he's a breastfed baby.

So far, the hardworking cow in me is still working so very hard to keep my milk production stable. As much as possible, I pump every 2 hours at work. The most is 3 hours. I'm so lucky this country recognizes the value of breastfeeding. *yay UAE & the Employment Law of DIFC!* Every breastfeeding Mom gets an extra hour of break for 18 months. That's why I leave at 4:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm everyday. Yep, extra time with the baby :) And oh, I just wanna share that I've heard enough comments about the breastpump bag from my colleagues (i.e., You going to the gym? What's the bag for? Oh, no, you're late! *assuming that I've jsut arrived for work). I just had to tell them what it's for, and trust me, it's really AWKWARD to tell that to my male colleagues.

Speaking of breastfeeding, as they say, there's always a first time for everything. I've already breastfed Dade in our car a couple of times, and even in a fitting room at the mall! :) Thanks to the kind sales person at the Gap Store in Deira City Centre, I was able to BF my son at the kids' fitting room. I remember that feeding quite well because when I burped Dade, he gave out a very load belch :D And because I was able to nurse successfully inside the mall, whenever we go out these days, we preferred going to malls that have breastfeeding or mother & child rooms. No more bottles to bring so the milk in the freezer are kept solely for his consumption while I'm away at work.

With all these changes, I say we're A-ok and doing great as a young family. It may be an overwhelming first quarter (especially in the first few weeks) for us, but hubby and I are so thankful that we have a blessing this wonderful in our lives. The happiness we feel with our dear Dade is the best we've ever felt, and we couldn't ask for more! :)