My first 6 months breastfeeding experience

-- Spoiler Alert : Postingan yang panjang.. mudahan gak bosen yah bacanya :) --

Gak terasa... 4 hari lagi perjalanan breastfeedingku dengan Adam mencapai 6 bulan. Banyak banget yang aku pelajari dari proses 6 bulan menyusui. Bener-bener berangkat dari pengetahuan yang 'nol' ttg asi (masih ingat pertama kali ke bazaar produk bayi melongo ngeliat bentuk2 n merek breastpump) sampai akhirnya lulus 6bln Asi, orang bilang S1 (hihi lucu aja deh gelarnya nih).

Awal kehamilan, belum kepikiran tuh mau ngasih minum baby apa nantinya. Tapi seiring dengan rajin baca2 tentang proses melahirkan dan tumbuh kembang bayi di awal kehamilan, secara natural aja, tertanam di aku kalo metode asi eksklusif lah yang akan kupilih. Ternyata aku baru tau rekomendasi dari asosiasi kedokteran (termasuk yg dari Amrik) dan WHO adalah memberi asi eksklusif untuk bayi sampai dengan minimal 1 tahun, syukur2 bisa 2 tahun. Sempat sangsi juga, emang tubuh sekecil aku ini (+ ukuran bra yg minimalis hehe) bisa gituh ngeluarin ASI, jangankan banyak, apalagi sedikit? Berkat sumber2 internet, aku dapetin kalo ternyata umumnya sebagian besar wanita setelah melahirkan pasti akan bisa mengeluarkan ASI. Dan yang sama sekali tidak bisa mengeluarkan ASI itu paling hanya < 1%. Dari situ mulai deh, aku mulai terapin pede positive-thinking, bahwa pasti ada deh ASI ini di saat yang dibutuhkan nantinya. Ternyata, sebelum kelahiran pun, aku dapet tanda positif, mulai dari minggu ke-18, aku sudah mendapatkan tetesan 'kolustrum' keluar dari payudara. Jadinya makin positive thinking deh.

PENGENALAN DENGAN POMPA ASI:
Tapi lucunya (atau lebih tepatnya, lugunya) dan karena kurang pengetahuan (or krn justru kebanyakan narasumber, yang mana kadang pendapatnya bertolak belakang), aku jadi konservatif dan gak berani beli pompa asi sampai setelah si kecil brojol n asi-ku lancar.
Waktu itu aku banyak orang2 yg bilang tiap orang cocoknya ama pompa2 yg berbeda n mengingat harga pompa elektrik gak murah (minimal 800rb utk single pump yg merek barat), mending beli pompa-nya nanti aja biar bisa nyoba dulu stelah asi lancar. Padahal setelah akhirnya ke toko n nyobain beberapa merek, semuanya cocok ajah n sebenarnya susah jg ambil kesimpulan mana yg paling cocok klo nyobanya cuma sebentar2 per pompa (gak mungkin dong 1 pompa dicobain utk 1 full pumping, masa musti datang 4x ke toko cuma utk nyobain). Plus, dalam bayangan aku waktu itu, butuh pompa di awal lahiran itu paling kalo Asi ada tapi gak lancar (kurang). Padahal ternyata pompa tuh malah berguna banget kalo Asi-nya terlalu lancar, supaya gak sakit di pd (mastitis). Malah klo gak lancar, yang bener harusnya makin sering di-nenen-in langsung n bukannya make pompa, krn lbh bagus daya hisap bayi langsung drpd pompa.
Lugu yang ke-2, awal2 kelahiran n selama kehamilan, aku gak pernah ngebayangin klo butuh cukup banyak effort dan waktu utk berkali-kali pumping nge-stok ASI utk persiapan kerja. Baru ngeh, pas baca/liat foto2 ibu2 hebat yang kulkasnya bisa penuh dengan ASIP berpuluh-puluh apa ber-ratus2 botol. Untungnya belum terlalu telat aku ngejar 'ketinggalan' ini, ngeh-nya pas di wkt 2 bulan-an dan karena aku cuti 3.5 bulan, masih ada waktu ngestok 1.5 bulan.
Disamping itu, aku jg parno banget mau ngenalin dot ke bayi krn takut bingung puting. Ternyata, menurut salah satu 'ahli persusuan bayi' dari Engress, si Gina Ford, gak apa ngasi bayi ASIP via botol dari kecil asal maksimal 1x sehari aja.
Jadilah pompa dibeli di awal bulan ke-2, itupun aku diemin dulu 2 minggu gak dicoba2. Pas dicoba pun nyoba 1-2x, berhenti lagi seminggu. Abisnya awal2 dapetnya cuma dikit, sampai stres mikir apa salah beli merek/gak cocok ama pump-nya n udah mahal pula (aku decide utk beli yg double-pump biar hemat waktu klo pumping terutama di kantor) n bisa handsfree (digantung gitu di bra, jadi 2 tangan bebas mau main hp kek, mau ngapain kek :) ) . Ternyata, baca2 situs internet, emang dibilang payudara butuh waktu utk adjust ke pumping machine, percaya gak percaya, ya bener sih. Abisan setelah 2 minggu, flownya udah lebih baik. Dan pelan2 sehari nyetok 1 botol. Pas udah 3-4 minggu terakhir mau masuk kerja, karena semakin panik takut stok gak cukup, akhirnya bisa nyetok sampai 4 botol per hari. Tiap malam pun kalopun Adam gak bangun, aku tetep bangun per 3 jam utk nge-stok. Wah beneran deh, memang breastfeeding ini menguras tenaga, tapi karena motivasi-nya memang kuat, jadi dijalanin aja dengan ikhlas.
All in all, pump ini berguna banget, n learning experience buat aku, lain kali nyetok lebih awal deh. Apalagi minggu ke-2 s/d mgu ke-5 tuh, waktu lbh sering engorged terutama pagi. Plus lumayan banget klo kt bisa pompa misal di pagi, stoknya selain untuk long term, bisa juga langsung dipake sorenya utk si bayi, dimana gw biasanya lagi cape2nya, jadinya kita bisa istirahat/recover energy utk ronde malamnya :).

DOT BAYI
Nah ini aku saklek banget dari awal lahir. Gak mau kenalin Adam dengan dot, baik botol dot or pacifier, sampai Adam udah pinter banget nenen-nya. Menurut beberapa sumber, katanya paling aman stlh 2 bulan baru boleh introduce. Jadilah aku baru kenalin botol ke baby A pas dia umur 2 bulan (klo pacifier tetep aku gak mau krn nurut aku bayi <6bulan klo nangis memang ada sebabnya n musti dicari sebabnya dan bukannya disumpel pake paci).
Nah ternyata, awal2 dengan botol, susah bener deh... Adam terlalu nyaman sama mimik langsung yah, plus biasanya timingnya lama, rata2 nempel 40 menit. Nah dengan botol dan volume yg kira2 sebanding (90-120ml), gak sampai 10 menit, ASIPnya udah habis. Jadilah dia masih meraung2 belum puas ngenyot. Baru setelah 3 minggu deh, dia mulai stabil n terbiasa dengan botol. Nah pas umur 2 bulan-an itu aku juga baca bukunya Gina Ford (khatam deh ini buku, mudah2an bisa posting khusus ttg bukunya), dia testify klo dari beratus2 bayi yg dia handle, klo bayi dikasi 1x botol aja sehari (dan gak lebih) dari minggu ke-2 stlh lahir (stlh lancar latching on kayanya ya) gak akan bingung puting. Nah ke depannya mgkn aku mau praktek-in ini hihihi.
Terus pe-er satu lagi yg gak tau bakal sanggup gak suatu hari nanti... bisa gak ya ngepraktekin bayi minum tanpa dot. Untuk Adam yang aku consider pinter banget nenen (gak pernah nolak nenen, setiap kali nangis pasti langsung tenang klo di-nenen-in n gak pernah bikin sakit gigitnya), setelah 2-3 minggu aku tinggal kerja full-day, akhirnya ngalamin kejadian bingung puting jugah... sempet kaget n sedih juga pas kejadian, tp aku tau itu bukan masalah besar. Jadinya, dia sempet nolak minum direct dari aku, tp untungnya nolaknya max 1x sehari aja, sisanya masih mau. Kayanya momen dia nolaknya itu klo dia udah kelaperan banget, dia maunya dari botol (karena kenyang lebih cepet yah). Jadinya aku siasatin gak berani aku biarin haus2 banget dianya n pas weekend beneran aku geber deh nenen langsungnya biar dia 'kembali inget' ama nyamannya nenen langsung :). Nah akhirnya yang ini udah stabil lagi sekarang... Tapi sisi lainnya, sekarang timing minum langsungnya kadang2 jadinya jadi lebih cepet, <10mnt per sisi. padahal dulu 40 menit itu udah minimal (biasanya aku lepas kalo udah >40mnt, sejak kenal botol, spy gak kebanting perbandingan waktunya). Sementara aku yakin banget klo dia minum <10mntx2, masih ada lhoh asi yg bisa dia serap langsung, cuma flownya mgkn udah lebih lamban yah. Dan krn dia udah kenal ama flow botol yg selalu cepet, jadi gak sabar deh dia nunggu 'LDR'/let down reflex-nya ASI utk keluar lagi dengan cepet. Cuma yang nenangin, biasanya klo pun gini, dia udah pasang tampang happy sih setelah 'melepaskan diri' dari posisi mengenyot.., jadi aku gak paksain juga. Paling konsekuensinya ke dia, dia jadi lbh cepet haus. Tapi konsekuensi ke aku nya yg aga2 bikin ketir nih, krn otomatis produksi asi payudara nyesuain dengan kebutuhan bayi, takutnya produksi menurun klo dia minumnya tambah sebentar. Nah, sekarang lagi kepikiran mau hunting pil2 fenugreek - bumbu rempah india gitu - yang katanya sih emang beneran efektif ningkatin produksi asi.
Nah kembali ke topik botol, sebenarnya kan ada media lain utk memberikan ASIP, tapi aku kemaren2 gak tega nih nyuruh orang rumah kasi minum via alat lain selain dot (sendok, pipet or gelas). Pastinya ribet banget (dokter pun bilang begitu), udah gitu Adam klo haus kan langsung nangis2 gitu pengen minum lahap, klo pk sndk/glas kan lbh lambat ya. Pe-er ke depannya (semoga diberikan anugerah lagi), kepikiran minta suster RS (tentunya RS-nya harus breastfeeding friendly sperti kemarin) untuk ngajarin ngasi minum pake gelas dari awal lahiran. Sempet nyobain sendiri sih sekali, waktu adam 2 bulanan, tp gagal total hihihi.. bleber kemana2. Mungkin klo suster yang udah ahli, lebih enak buat si bayi.

PERJALANAN YANG GAK GAMPANG TAPI SO-WORTH-IT
All in all, perjalanan ASIX (Asi Eksklusif) ini pengalaman berharga banget buat aku:
- Dari proses belajar latching-on (bayi n aku sama2 belajar) di 2 minggu pertama, yang mana kadang kita berdua butuh waktu 10 menit untuk si bayi bisa 'mangap' dengan pas ke areola ku. Terus makin lama, sama2 makin pinter latchingnya.
- Dari awalnya gak pe-de bakalan bisa ngasi ASI, jangankan eksklusif, keluar pun udah bersyukur banget. Terus dengan mindset yg sederhana aja, pokoknya selama ASI ada dan cukup, ya akan kuberikan ASI si baby ini. Ternyata oh ternyata, memang dicukupkan, PTL!
-Minum tiap 2-3 jam sepanjang hari, sampe kira2 2.5 bulanan, dimana akhirnya Adam mulai tidur panjang 5jam-an klo malem, jadinya aku-nya lbh bisa istirahat n waktu sengggangnya bisa dipake utk pumping juga. Bener-bener menguras tenaga klo dinget2. Sekarang sih udah mendingan banget. Tapi dulu msh inget tiap bangun pagi, udah kebayang bakal capenya sepanjang hari gimana hihihi dan berharap hari cepet2 sore/malem lagi hihihi. Belum lagi ada momen growth spurt dia (pas mau 1 bulanan) yg kaya gak kenyang2 tiap jam nangis, minum, nangis lagi, dari jam 6 sore s/d jam 1 pagi. Untungnya ini cuma 1 malam.
- Saking cape-nya, tiap kali nenen-in, pasti browsing di hp (selain main game) tentang trik2 spy baby bisa tidur lebih panjang... hehe ternyata memang everything is a phase and sooner it will be another phase.
- Belajar trik pumping, termasuk dengan ngasi minum baby 1 pd, dan 1 lagi-nya utk di-pump. bawa2 tas pumping beserta peralatannya ke kantor, disamping tas laptop, berasa pindahan kecil2an tiap hari hihi.
- Rasa terpuaskan banget sebagai seorang ibu setiap kali liat wajah kenyangnya abis minum susu :) bonding yang gak tergantikan :) walo umumnya dia selalu nyusu sambil merem (jadinya jarang banget tuh liat2an selama nyusu).
- Nah yg ini, aga curhat sedikit :). Mau baby kita minumnya ASI or Formula, sepertinya selalu ada yah omongan2 orang, even dari org2 dekat, yang mempertanyakan pilihan kita.. (Wah ini bisa 1 posting sendiri klo dibahas). Aku juga sempet ngerasain ini dan sempet brasa 'spanneng' juga. Komen seperti 'ASI-nya gak cukup tuh..', 'dibantu botol ajah..', 'dikasih empeng ajah..', 'dikasih air ajah..', 'nanti kalo udah ngantor gimana tuh klo cuma bisa minum ASI..' Wah macem2 deh dan cape juga nangkisnya. Padahal di saat2 gini, kitanya justru butuh banget denger omongan yg mendukung, bukannya yg menyudutkan ya. Aku tau sih orang2 yg komen ini bermaksud baik, mgkn mrk pikir kasihan ngeliat bayinya nangis (padahal kan wajar aja), or kasian negliat akunya kecapean. Cuma aku berasa gak ngebantu banget deh komen2 seperti ini. Ada yang bilang ini 'well-meant comment that are meaningless' :), jadi gak usah didengerin hihii. Untungnya setelah makin kesini, proses menyusui dan tumbuh-kembang bayi  semakin lancar, terbukti baby A tumbuh dengan sehat sekali, berat badannya bagus dan juga puji Tuhan selalu sehat (Terbukti aku beberapa kali flu berat, tp dia gak ketularan sedikitpun). Jadinya, sekarang udah gak ada lagi komen2 seperti ini :), malah banyakan komen positif yang aku dengar sekarang :).
- Priceless to see my baby growing wonderfully dari yg awalnya kecil mungil, menyusui musti diganjal pake bantal, sampai sekarang tinggal gelendotan aja dgn kakinya udah napak di kasur. Dari yg Adam bergaya menyusui diem gak berkutik sampai sekarang menyusui dengan banyak gaya (kadang suka dimainin deh skrg ngenyotnya, atau tiba2 berhenti senyum2 terus lanjut lagi). Klo gw boleh bilang, takjub deh ngeliat bayi bisa berkembang seperti ini, just with the support of ASI (n parents love :) ). It is a miracle water, created by the creator of the universe, cukup buat si jabang bayi bertumbuh dengan sempurna :).

So, it has been a delightful, challenging, fully rewarding, and full of learning journey. Semoga ke depannya aku masih bisa lancar memberi ASI. Sebenarnya aku juga gak neko2 dan gak mau terlalu ambisius kok, yang penting baby A masih demen sama ASI dan aku jg masih lancar flow-nya. Kalo seperti ini kan tentunya tetap akan memberikan ASI :) as it is just the natural thing to do. So, let's do it one step at a time :)

Gearing up towards 6 months

Yeah been some time n my baby is definitely getting more agile and it feels like the baby stage is going to be over before i know it ;p.

By now he is able to:
- lift both his butt n tummy from the ground when he's facing down,its a full push up,yay!
- has said 'Hai...' twice very loudly. Doubt he knows what it means but i'd like to think it is his first meaningful word :) second time was with a shopkeepeer,she was very shocked to hear it.
- travelled airbound on 7 flights already. Little munchkin getting easier to travel with.
- still vigorously sucks his 2 fingers (at least), i have no idea how to stop this. Hoping he will know when to stop,esp when his teeths erupt later. But the up-side is this keeps him occupied so we can do other things in peace :). It is like it is his fave toys. Doctor says not to worry.
- so easy to give smiles,wide ones, when there are others who grin at him, stranger or not :D
- just learning to eat solid (6mth minus 1.5wk), paedi says it is ok. It's been tiny servings, probably 20ml portion. Tried breastmilk with very little avocado - not too much success (first try, think was too diluted for him, plus he was still full from the morning feed, n the avocado tasted a bit too plain for me), steamed pear puree & red rice flour - the last 2 were successful.
- moves much faster n agile when on prone, tends to move backward if he is not rotating.
He was 7.7 kg n 65 cm at 5.5 mth.


ps: no pic at the mom. my laptop harddisk is full n i cant be bothered to connect to my external hard disk drive to do picture file transfer. I need a new laptop :)

3.5 Months Update

- Today, he turned from 'upward' position to prone position for the first time, as my folks call it 'belajar tengkurap'. I didnt see it though, missed it by 1/2 minute as I was in the kitchen. Bummer :) It was a bit of a cheat since the small cushion below his head probably helped him, but he has been turning sideways quite often lately to start with.
- He is sucking his fingers big time, but the good side of it it seems it has helped him (or me/the caregiver) to occupy himself. Gone is the phase where we had to be with him all the time when he's awake so that he doesnt get bored & starts being cranky :).
- As he gained more control of his limbs & his attention span (? not too sure but i think), he starts to be able to self-soothe himself to sleep. It is still a long way to go, as he has been pretty used swayed in a sling, but yeah we are working on this as we dont want to carry him all the time to make him sleep.
- He is cooing more and more, not only when he is happy (when he is engaged with other people or look at interesting toys), but also when he is calming himself to sleep.
- He is loving swimming. Today hubby said he was totally at ease in the water moving his arms around. This has been his 4th day properly baby-swimming.
- He gets really annoyed by sudden loud voices, like car alarm, speeding motorbike, person suddenly talking  to him very loudly. He will shriek suddenly & cries, but quietens quickly too after the sound is gone (& we are there to comfort him).

- He is drinking 120ml per feeding when I'm away, 2 or 3 bottles a day. I'm still experimenting with the bottle volume, trying to increase a bit more especially in the mid morning & late afternoon so he can last a bit longer before I come back home to b/f directly.
- I am very happy that I have been able to pump sufficiently for him and currently my daily pumping volume is more than or at least the same that he needs. This was a big question mark before I started to work, I had a conservative prediction that I would be pumping deficit, as in if he needed 4 bottles a day, I would only be able to pump 3. But thank goodness it is currently all good.

Back to work

It's been 3 days I have gone back to work. Of course I miss him dearly. The first 100 steps out of the house are the heaviest. It's like i'm having the time of my life because of this little man's presence in our house, but yet I am leaving him to do something else. So the first day was the hardest *only for me, and not for him ;) *, I haven't even left my door step and my eyes are red already :).
Anyway, first day didnt turn up to be so hard. Just one hour resting my bum on the office chair, we all ran out of the building 'cause a fire drill was about to start. So there I was back at home from 10.00 am to 2pm to be back with my son :).
It's been 3 days & I have managed to be back at home during lunch break time so that I can breastfeed him directly & of course to see his little blossoming smile & play with him a little bit. Been going to office early (on time) so I can leave on time too. I don't know how long I can keep up doing this, but I will try my hardest to do this as often as I can. Afterall I am gladly doing it.
Ah the joy of motherhood :)

First Travel Trip

Hello! We just came back from a balik-kampung trip to Jakarta & Yogyakarta, me & Adam :) . I must say Adam behaved really well during the travelling time. Phew! He slept easily on train rides & plane flights. Must be the bouncing feel of the train tracks & the zero noise effects on the plane.

This is what I did to prepare for the trip:
- the night before, i didnt do full pumping, so i have extra gush flow in the first half of the day in case A gets cranky.
- minimize hand carry bag weight. Put most things in the checked-in baggage. forego the idea of bringing a stroller along as he can still be cranky on stroller anyway, but is most comfortable when held close, so a sling is the most efficient choice in carrying him (Tested in duo trips to local neighbourhoods).
- ordered the KLIA limousine-train-VIP service to ensure i have someone else carry my baggage till fully check-in while i concentrate fully on carrying & holding A. (Since A cannot hold his head upright yet by himself, sometimes i need one hand holding his neck & the other holding his torso or free to pull out wallet etc from my bag).
- Made my maid stay back with me all the way till i'm in the cab which picked me up in the condo.
- thank goodness i brought a copy of A's birth cert in Malaysia. Eventhough his passport already said he's born here & that's obviously why his passport is still blank from any immigration chop, I still get questions by the young immigration officer. So the malaysian sijil copy helped to prove the case.
- The only 2 times Adam let out a sharp cry was when i was standing still too long waiting on the check in desk & the immigration desk. Rocking motions quickly calmed him down in less than 10secs (and also helped rushed the officers in charge to process my forms faster ;p ).
- Noticed that A slept back when we boarded the sattelite train between the airport 2 terminals. So i decided to hang around longer inside the back-and-forth train for 30mins instead of the 3 mins trip :). Yap and he slept like a baby (notice the pun?). So all i had left was 20mins in the boarding lounge which was spent nursing him and once on the plane, i spent 10-15mins cuddling him before he falls asleep again for most of the flight time :)
- Garuda gave me first row seat & priority baggage queue, so the arrival process was done quickly. The jakarta immigration officer also escorted me to the diplomatic immigration counter to avoid the usual long queing :) Happy me & Adam :)
- Quick nappy change in the airport & quick cuddling on the nappy room mat (since he loves being put freely on a mat once he's full & awake) before picking up the baggage & meet my parents outside the airport :)
- He got a bit cranky towards the last 30mins of the taxi trip to home, that i'm not surprised, after all who can bear the traffic madness of Jakarta. But of course, to all his crankiness, breastfeeding is a simple quick solution :)

Ok, so the travelling was smooth! Before I decided I would go for the trip duo with A (Hubby is on a long stretch of offshore assignment), I had 2 concerns..:
1. will i be able to keep up on pumping breastmilk for stock up purpose
2. i need A to get increasingly familiar with bottle feeding & needs training for this!

Well, the first few days in Jakarta, the 2 things above did not go very well. I kind of discounted the fact of how much help I have been getting in KL with my maid's presence. My parents are not exactly the baby-wearers type who willingly or have the strength to carry a 3m baby for long minutes. And A does not take day naps unless he is swayed & he usually needs at least 15-20mins of being carried before falling asleep! so there i go, handling Adam all day & just hoping the 6pm time will come soon enough, as beyond that he starts deep sleeping & does not need the cradling anymore. So yes, i was exhausted :p taking care of him. First few nights i opted for longer sleeps rather than extra awake time for pumping.

And then on the bottle training, mum was eager to give him bottle at the beginning, but i knew that A preferring milk way better on breast than bottle, will still be cranky after feeding from bottle & will need swaying again to soothe him (This is my maid's trick which is working better & better every day). So after I had a few bottle of stocks, she tried once & found it very hard to soothe Adam after that... so i told myself i will not ask my mum to bottlefeed him again unless she volunteered (which she never did after that ;p ). However, i dont blame my mum, her joints are not strong to withstand this kind of 'exercise'.

After a few days & with some hints here & there, i think my parents saw that i was getting too exhausted, they start to get more involved in handling A, at least when he's not so cranky :p so i have more time to rest. I was quite amazed & impressed by Dad who then handled baby A at his crankiest time of the day (always on the late afternoon) & patiently tried to soothe him (without rocking that is) for at least 1 hour in my 3 days in Jogja. So with this extra help, i was able to be on track again for pumping. Well for bottle training, let's just get back to KL and restart again with my maid. Finger crossed it will be ok.. anyway it's not like we have a choice, he will have to drink from it once i get back to work ... er... in 10 days time from now.. comfort or not comfort now, but he will adapt sooner or later.

So here i am tonight, with Adam peacefully asleep since 9 pm, my mum n my maid each also sleeping in their own room, and I was able to play 'the sims' on the net for 1 hour + ;p. Welcome home to us & cheers to the back-to-daily-routine!

Bouncer testing

On a shopping trip, we dropped by at the local toy store & made Adam try the bouncer. Here is his reaction

1. Blank look, not aware yet what's going on & why mummy put him down from the sling (yes, i do carry him in a sling when i travel solo)

2. Three secs later, starts to look around & notice what's surrounding him.

3. And then glimpse of smile start to appear & became a greater grin (which i didnt snap as I was then giggling with him :) )

Ow the thing with these baby toys...

Adam 2.5 mth

Yay, he has reached 2.5 months now!
I am so happy i can be with him every day and night, nurturing him and see his smile, grin, and even cries. He is my daily dose of happiness.

He gained another kg in 1 mth, now weighing at 5.5 kg n measuring 57cm (i thought i measured him bynmyseld n got 59cm). Anyway, as long as he is growing in normal range n healthy, it is all good!

Notes:
- he's still light enough for me to 'pangku' him upright with bare 2 arms for short time swaying in the house. But for outbound trips, i carry him in a ringsling ( i also have a wrap but bit cumbersome to wrap it arnd my body, though very comfortable. Ring sling easier to wear)
- have sort of trained him for push up exercise, ha, well more like a neck push up exx so he has a stronger muscle there n hopefully can hold his head upright soon (will help a lot when i carry him, dont have to worry abt his head tilting weirdly downwards). Showing some gd progress! Saw him hold up his neck for 'bout 4 secs 2consec times today. But ya, dont worry Adam, take your time, dont want to push too hard either!
- sleeping longer stretches at night. Record so far is 7 hrs straight. Usually in deep sleep 7pm-7am range, with 3-3 wakeup times just for 'refreshment'. In the day,feeds at 2-3 hrs interval, with crankiness up in late afternoon,b4 he finally enters his deep sleep
Zone. Dont want to talk too much on this at the risk of jinx-ing it!
- so with the above, i am able to have more rest, more chance to pump too. Am storing abt 2-4 btls daily now @100ml aprox. N using 1 btl daily for btl practise by our helper for Adam to get used to it. He's getting there i think.. N i hope.. I dont dare to give halfday or full
Day practise yet as i want to stock
up the milk too, cause i think he might
be a heavy drinker! Wonder if the freezer has got enough space for frozen breastmilk till 1 more mth.
- he used to wake up always crying, but now he can wake up throwing me smiles when i open my eyes. What wonderful morning greeting!
- during the day, he is often alert n happy for 1hr after @feed. I usually play with him, sing (naik delman is a favourite, repeat 15 times in a row!), sing while massaging his leg n stomach, tell stories, try to have conversation back n forth w him (more like him cooing n
Me re-echoing his word n combine it with other words) n play music to his ears. he can pay attention when i tell him stories based on a brightly coloured softbook. So cute to
see him scrutinizing the pic on each page of the book as i go thru with him page by page :)
- he is more aware of using his arm
N hand. I can feel him cling to me
more using his arm when i carry him. Also he has started to put his fist into his mouth. I first thought this was a hunger signal like he used to do, but now he's doing it like 15mins after a satisfactory feeding. Paedi also said this is not hunger n he will soon enter both fists there.
- some rashes on his cheeks. People say its because of breastmilk but not according to paedi, it's a form of eczema but will disappear n no need to worry.
- he got his 5-in-1 mandatory vaccine ( let me try to remember this correctly): dpt, polio, n 1 more ?. Plus rotavirus n pneumococcal.
- he will fly first time next wednesday to our Tanah Air n he will see papa again after 1mth. Yippee!

His latest napping position: warm
on mummy's tummy.