Goodbye to Babyhood

SIL 1 (hubs' sister) showed me the stash of clothes they are donating to Sendong victims and it was a huge stash. There wasn't quite yet any equestrian riding apparel (my niece is just turning 6) but a lot of really cute, mostly pink and white and yellow, outfits were in the stash. She held onto a lot of her daughter's clothes for sentimental reasons, plus, she was thinking that I or our other SIL will have a girl who could inherit the clothes. So far, I've only managed to produce boys and SIL 3 (hubs' brother's wife) is just about to try to get preggy next year. She also told me she cried over those clothes.

Meanwhile, SIL 3 is preparing for her daughter's 7th birthday next year. I told her to put up a time capsule wall of pics, souvenirs and dresses at the party because it would really be a nice and inexpensive something to capture the years that went by.

I, on the other hand, told hubs on the way back home that this is probably the last Christmas that we'll have a baby. Yes, despite being very short-tempered already, I think it's really sad that come Christmas next year, Yamee won't really be a baby anymore.

Sigh.

Time flies so fast when you're learning how to love more and better.

Allergic Christmas

Ended last week with text messages to our allergologist asking if I and my youngest could take antihistamines/decongestants for our allergic rhinitis. Mine was keeping we awake and my sinuses were so painful so I was really ready for drugs.

We were given what to take and the dosage as well as an order to steam inhalate. It kinda made me wish we have this claw foot tub that's super huge where we can all fit, and I can just steam all our sniffles away while we're all in the tub... but alas, I have to make do with sitting on the toilet bowl while watching my sons (in separate huge plastic basins as makeshift tubs).

Good thing their delight was the same.

Then, yesterday, I got a weird allergic reaction to sago't gulaman. Weird, because my lips swelled and started feeling sore (normally, my eyes notify me of allergic reactions to food). Had to take antihistamine for that.

Sigh.

Now, my fingers are all cracked again... this after 2 weeks of strong steroid creams and sleeping with my hands in socks. Hubs tells me I might be stressed... well, I didn't think I was before but I sure am now!

Hey, Christmas, I am in no Rush!

Carolling and Midnight Mass has officially begun, classes have also ended for the year, and I am sure most people are on Christmas rush mode. The rest are just in stuck in traffic.

But apart from telling Yakee that we are not giving him gifts for Christmas (because we will be giving other people gifts, and yes, I guess that takes care of the Santa Claus talk too) and finally setting up our old Christmas tree (goodbye Jesse tree idea, maybe I will be more inspired next year), I really haven't done anything FOR Christmas. No shopping, no preparing, no planning even.

And now that a lot of fellowmen died (at least 440) because of typhoon Sendong, my only wish now is that THAT is the last of the typhoons for this year, and that the government has enough resources to send some sort of gusher pump to each community flooded by the typhoon, and not just let nature takes its course. I seriously don't want epidemics to plague those people on Christmas Day, much less have dengue outbreaks left and right greet the New Year in.

Are my sons shortchanged by a Mom so not in the Christmas mood? Maybe. But the important thing is they are loved and we are blessed.

The Gift of a Changed Man

"Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (December). For this month, we want to honor breastfeeding for having enriched our lives and blessed us, maybe even empowered us, in a way that only breastfeeding can. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants."

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Breastfeeding has many benefits, all of which are gifts that I enjoy and am very thankful for. But there is one thing breastfeeding has done for me that I am super happy about... and that is my breastfeeding-supportive husband.

True, his great love for me made him support my idea to breastfeed. But this is a man who was not really breastfed, nor were his siblings. This is a man who used to still feed from a bottle when he was already attending preschool (to drink chocolate milk). This was a man who grew up used to fast, processed and junk food.

Now, why am I talking about junk food now?

Well, because a lot about how we parent our sons now stem from breastfeeding.

My husband never had to be the one to register for our first brestfeeding seminar, but he did. He refused to read "What to Expect" and yet took the breastfeeding talk to heart, raised his questions then.... and months and years later, would even correct me when I faciliate group discussions on breastfeeding.

He could have insisted on formula when our firstborn wasn't pudgy. He could have blamed my milk whenever our son got sick. But always, he'd be the first to say, "thank God, you're breastfeeding mahal."

And after that, he also came around to the notion of not raising our kids in fast, processed and junk food. He has learned to celebrate our son's lean body since he knows he's fed well (and right) and focus instead on our son's speed, smarts and general well-being.

Hubby need not go to breastfeeding events with me, but he did, and he's learned more and more. Again, my group refers to him as an honorary LATCHer 'coz he's almost as visible as I am.

We could go to just any doctor but he'd understand, and sometimes wait with me, as I consult with breastfeeding-friendly ones.

And now, at work, he's the first to tell pregnant colleagues and expectant dads to TRY breastfeeding.

I believe, the fact that he embraced the beauty and natural-ness of breastfeeding helped him open up to Waldorf education and homeschooling.

I could go on and on and on, saying basically the same things about my best breastfeeding supporter, but it will really just boil down to him being a breastfeeding dad. Someone who doesn't have issues about a running child nursing from his wife. Someone who knows he has to share and doesn't have first dibs (for now). And that is the best gift I can think of that breastfeeding has brought into my life... it did not just change me, it also changed my husband. And in his own way, he has set himself on a journey of breastfeeding advocacy.

I will be forever thankful to God for that.

Merry Christmas, you all!

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Do take the time to check out all the posts in this month's carnival:
Shaps- Beyond Being Thin
Gretchen - Breastfeeding Gifts for Christmas
Carol - The Gift of Miracle
Jenny O.- The
Gifts of Breastfeeding
Anne - The Gift of Breastfeeding
Nats - We Wish You Merry Nursing
Jenny R. - If the Magi Were Queens
Em - The "Breast" Gift
Isis- Got Milk?
Armi - Breastfeeding Gifts
Liv - My Breastfeeding Journey
Laya - Time in a Drop of Milk

'Tis The Season to be Charging

... and I'm not, shopping and charging it to my credit card, that is.

You see, for the longest time, I have only been using a complementary credit card. But when I lost it, I started using the BDO credit card issued me (just because I opened a dollar account at BDO). It's the first time I am being billed for credit purchases and still getting the hang of it.

Like, when is the cutoff for purchases if I am planning my credit according to expected cash flow?

And I was waiting for the billing for this month, having forgotten that I seemed to have said yes to their offer of online billing. Thus, I have just incurred interest charges on unpaid balance. Hehe. What a painful way to learn.

I have also been intending to look into what rewards I can get and how, or where, when I use my credit card. Some banks offer free movie tickets, some offer free fast food. I just hope I can really maximize my charges and still get perks like those offered by cashmoneylife Best Business Credit Cards, definitely more enticing and useful than free pizza.

I was planning on charging anything and everything I can to avail of rewards points and establish my credit standing, but still pay off all charges when they're due so as not to incur interest charges. Hopefully, such will be the case in the coming months.

At least, within a month of using my credit card, I have already asked for my annual fee to be waived. Hubs has been paying annual fees for both our cards for 7 years now... that's around P20-30k we could have used shopping! :)

Shame on SM Management

Allow mw to direct you to two blog posts concerning recent incidents wherein breastfeeding moms were told by SM security guards that they cannot breastfeed in the mall, and that's why there was a nursing station provided in their mall.

The right to breastfeed: An open letter to Sm Supermalls Management

Incident at SM Davao

When I first read about it, I really said that if the same happened to me, I'd have probably cried buckets there and then from sheer anger and offence.

The fact is, breastfeeding stations are for those who might need/want a more quiet or private place to nurse... but just because there is one shouldn't mean breastfeeding should be done ONLY there.

I heard certain buses in Davao allot seats for breastfeeding moms as well... does that mean passengers intending to breastfeed should sit there and only there?

Last time I checked too, they don't allow companions in their nursing stations in SM... what is a mother supposed to do with her husband, child, etc who are all prospective shoppers/customers?

And what of the real supermalls where there is only ONE breastfeeding station? If you were at SMX, would you really walk all the way to heaven knows where in the main mall to nurse?

I tried going to the breastfeeding station at MOA before and couldn't find it, my son finished nursing during the course of our search. I never attempted to find it again.

I also don't know if it applies to all... or just some... but SM combines nursing stations with their clinic. Apart from the complaints that the nursing stations they've seen/been into do not smell good... could you blame a Mom if she does not want to go somewhere where some stranger with bad-a$$ germs could have sat?

Breastfeeding stations are like disabled lanes, it is a courtesy an establishment extends to its patrons... not some room like a CR where you SHOULD go to DO certain things that would be really objectionable and unsanitary if done in public.

Maybe, if SM looked at a breastfeeding station not as a loss of income for allotting facilities/staff that do not generate income but as an investment in their valued customers' well-being, then they'd do things better. These moms are the ones who frequent your Baby & Company area, and if they're happy, they will buy more.

Thankfully, No Twiddling

One thing I realized this afternoon while I was playing peek-a-boo with my son Yamee using my shirt is that he thankfully never even attempted to twiddle my nips for comfort. I know other breastfeeding moms who still have to put up with that even after weaning their babies...

I just really nipped any attempts in the bud, so to speak, and just held their hands or tucked their arms wherever I could, so they don't develop the habit of playing with the nipple they're not suckling from.

I guess that's why I wasn't enticed to buy a rubber necklace (or are nursing necklaces made from latex? Some, I know, are made from semi-precious stones and marble-like stuff). I didn't need it.

Maybe it made a difference that my kids are boys... a part of me doesn't want my boys running around touching other women's breasts, because they're drawn to them (and I don't mean orally).

Milk Mama Diaries for December: Breastfeeding Gifts

December is Christmastime... a time of celebration, gratitude and gift-giving. To cap our first (and succesful, if I may say so myself) blog carnival year, Milk Mama Diaries' topic for December is BREASTFEEDING GIFTS. We want you to focus on how breastfeeding has enriched your life or delighted you, or maybe even changed you.

You can focus on your most favorite gift, or have a list of three (like the Three Wise Men bearing gifts) or more. Feel free to make it as personal, introspective or grateful as you want.

For those interested to join but have no idea how a blog carnival works, check my latest blog carnival entry on extended breastfeeding.

Because everybody is bound to be busy, deadline for registration to the December Carnival will be on 11 December 2011.

Interested bloggers may register here. I repeat, deadline for registration is on 11 December 2011. Posting instructions and Carnival rules will be e-mailed to all participants on December 12 and the Carnival will go live on 13 December 2011.

If you have questions or need clarifications, please contact Jenny (jenny[at]chroniclesofanursingmom[dot]com) or Mec (delisyus[at]gmail[dot]com)

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Yes, if you've noticed, we finally have a blog carnival logo!

Credits for the image go to the lovely Ms. Erika Hastings of Mudspice: Mucking about in Art and Motherhood. Her original painting of breastfeeding a toddler was in autumn hues but I took the liberty of Photoshopping it a little to make it pinker, to touch on BREAST CANCER. I also decided to use the 'breastfeeding a toddler' painting rather than the 'breastfeeding an infant' one because WE ARE FOR EXTENDED BREASTFEEDING.

For those who will also notice, the words MILK MAMA looks like Angry Birds-ish and you will be right. However, I used the font because it's name is actually FEAST OF FLESH and 'us breastfeeding moms do offer our babies a feast using our flesh' :)