I never thought that I will still be breastfeeding my Littlest Girl past 2 years old!
I'm a breastfeeding purist (i.e. only full breast milk and no formula) for the 1st year of each of my child's life; however, once my babies turned 1 year old, I will usually wean them by starting them on formula. Why? Because I'm a full-time working mum who really did not enjoy a toddler biting my you-know-where or pumping constantly at the office. It's a good to have but not necessary.
Slowly but surely, my two older children would realise that I didn't have any more breast milk and decide on their own to stop breastfeeding. The Eldest Girl decided to stop nursing at 18 months old when I went back to work full-time while the Boy stopped abruptly at 13 months old.
Not my Littlest Girl! It has been more than a year of drinking formula but my Littlest has not given up on breastfeeding! Perhaps the situation was also special this time as she had access to me throughout the day since I was working from home since Circuit Breaker last year. Even though she has finished a bottle of formula milk, she would still climb on me and 'beg' me to breastfeed her. She is very determined and I find it hard to refuse her! ๐
I started by slowly reducing the number of daytime feeds, breastfeeding her only in the morning and at night. She seemed to be ok with it so I removed her morning feed as well, replacing it with formula milk and other food.
For a month, she was only breastfeeding at night before bed as I wasn't able to remove her night-time feeds because she relied heavily on breastfeeding in order to sleep. I also wanted it to be a gradual process and did not believe in going 'cold turkey' (I'm a psychologist you know).
Slowly, by May, she was only breastfeeding every alternate night before bed (or when I couldn't get her to sleep!). She also no longer woke up in the middle of the night to nurse! ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
By June, she was only nursing whenever she needed comfort, though I barely have any milk left!
Sometime around July I stopped breastfeeding her completely and she seems to get by just fine without it.
Once in a while she would put her face on my chest, take a deep breath and say "boob, boob!" Don't ask me where she learnt it, I don't remember teaching her to say this! In response I would say, "no more, mummy doesn't have any more milk" and she would take it in her stride and did not pursue the matter further.
With that, I've breastfed my littlest baby for 30 months, the longest I've ever breastfed at one go! In total, I've breastfed for 5 years! ๐
And here's signing off on my breastfeeding diary series. Thanks for joining me on my journey.
P.S: if you are struggling with breastfeeding, feel free to reach out. I can't say for sure that I can solve your problems but I can certainly lend an empathetic ear if you need one. Stay strong and press on!! You can do this ๐ช๐ป
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This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
My personal view on how long to breastfeed is this: my baby must be fully 100% breastfed until 12 months old, after which to continue depending on the willingness of mother and baby.
Hence, for all my babies, they were fully breastfed till they were 12 months old. My firstborn decided she wanted to continue, with no signs of stopping, until she turned 18 months old as I had started work and my supply probably dipped to nothing (I didn't pump at work). My boy decided to stop latching when he turned 13 months old and I decided it was not worth the effort to continue pumping at work so I stopped. As a result, I have never breastfed for longer than 18 months.
My littlest girl is nothing like her sister and brother. She does not have a favorite pillow and does not like the pacifier. The only thing that brings her comfort and helps her to sleep is my boobs, which are both the pillow and pacifier to her! ๐คฑ
My 18-month-old littlest baby girl
At 18 months old, the littlest baby is showing no signs of stopping. When I'm at home or in the room, the littlest can only sleep when I nurse her. And with Work From Home being the default arrangement these days, she now has 24-hour access to my milk! I hardly ever use my breast pump anymore!
However, this also means that almost every night, I am rudely awaken from my slumber very often. Maybe it's a bad dream or teething pains; but she often wakes up in the middle of the night wanting to breastfeed. After 18 months of sleep deprivation, somehow my body has learnt to survive on disrupted sleep! ๐ด
Nevertheless, I know from experience that this is only a very short episode in my journey of motherhood. Very soon my baby will not be a baby anymore and when I look back, I will miss the time when my baby only wanted me and no one else! What a privilege it is to receive the absolute 100% pure love of a child! ๐
My little cutie ๐
Many people have asked me out of curiosity on when I am going to stop breastfeeding. Frankly, I don't know. I've never had to force my kids to stop before (they have always decided when to stop) so this is new to me. I'm torn between wanting to continue being the comforter to my girl and also wanting back the freedom to wear my favourite dresses that have been collecting dust (quite literally) since I got pregnant! But I don't think I have the heart to tell her no when she wants to breastfeed. I'll just have to take each day as it comes ๐
~~~~~
This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
Reaching the 12th month mark is a significant milestone for all mothers who breastfeed exclusively! Definitely want to celebrate even though this is my 3rd time reaching this milestone ๐
Breastfeeding this baby hasn't always been smooth despite my years of experience with breastfeeding. My period came back around the time when the littlest baby girl was 9 months old. This definitely affected my mood and milk supply.
When my baby was around 10 months old, my supply started to drop to about 160ml every pump. I suspected that it was probably because the baby is less dependent on milk and eating solid food.
However, my baby probably noticed the drop in supply so when she turned 11 months old, she suddenly started drinking milk every 1-2 hours at night! I'm guessing it was likely that she had a growth spurt or she was not willing to give up breastfeeding as her main source of food! I'm perpetually tired every morning ๐ฉ!
Because of her constant need to latch, my milk supply has increased to 240ml every session! ❤️๐๐ป
Latching the littlest baby at home
I'm loving how much my baby has grown and am glad I got to be a big part of it!
When she was 1 day old versus 12 months old with the same giant red packet my BFF made.
What a big difference! She can't even fit into the red packet anymore!
Learning how to do human things like using the remote control and walking
I'm especially thankful that I'm breastfeeding my baby as the world battles the COVID-19. At least I know that my baby will not be left defenceless with my antibodies.
Ironically, now that baby girl is 12 months old and we do not have to force feed her breast milk from a bottle if she does not want to, she is now ok with drinking from the bottle ๐
She does not seem to want to give up nursing anytime soon and neither do I ๐ I'm happy to pump twice a day at work and feed on demand as long as she wants me to. I will cherish her babyness for as long as I can! ❤️
~~~~~
This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
My littlest girl has been exclusively breastfed but part of that journey meant that we had to start introducing solid food to her once she is ready.
At 4-5 Months:
The recommended age to start pureed food is 6 months but we started to feed her pureed earlier because:
She refused to drink from the bottle so we thought she will have something to eat while I was at work.
She was very ready for food (watches us while we eat, licks lips, opens and closes her mouth, etc)
Enjoying her pureed meal
Loving her food! True blue foodie!
My mum-in-law, our in-house masterchef, is in charge of all our food. My children have always liked pumpkin so it was the first food that she pureed for the littlest girl. The food for babies this age is filtered through a sieve and contains no fibrous bits. We also added my breast milk to give it additional taste.
Her favourite food is pumpkin and carrot. For some reason, she dislikes apple!
To aid us in feeding her, her dad bought her an Ingenuity chair that can be used on the floor as well as the chair
At 6-7 Months:
The mum-in-law aka masterchef started making porridge with the girl's favourite ingredients for my baby girl. It was carrot porridge one week and pumpkin porridge the next. The mum-in-law cooked a batch and kept it in the fridge so that it can last for about 3-5 days.
We also introduced her to baby snacks, which she enjoyed in between her meals.
Her favourite snack!
At 8-9 Months:
Baby girl was starting to show her true colours as a real foodie and would sometimes reject food that she had eaten consecutively in a row. The mum-in-law had to think creatively on feeding her a variety of food so that she won't be bored! She was also extremely interested in the food that we were eating! There were a number of occasions where she rejected the home cooked food we were feeding her in favour of the food the rest of the family were eating!
I'm not one who insists my baby eats organic natural food. I prefer to let her have a little taste of everything just so that she can explore what she likes or dislikes. Balance is key of course.
Dislikes:
Apple (though she eats Fuji apple selectively).
At 9 months old, she still drinks breast milk every 3 hours (via direct latch or spoon-fed expressed milk) but eats a small bowl of porridge twice a day.
Ultimately, despite her love for food, one thing is clear. It is still NOT yet a replacement for her favourite food of all: my breast milk! ๐๐
~~~~~
This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
*Warning: Detailed documentation of breastfeeding and its related terms ahead. Reader's discretion is advised; please do not read if you feel uncomfortable =)
PREPARATION FOR WORK
Shortly after she turned one month old and fully breastfed by direct latch alone, I started to become worried about the amount of milk that I needed to prepare for her when I eventually go back to work.
I was entitled to 16 weeks maternity leave (thank you Singapore!) and it is compulsory to take the first 8 weeks consecutively, and the last 8 weeks according to your personal preferences (like annual leave).
I decided that I wanted to go back to work after 8 weeks of leave and then spread out the rest of my 8 weeks of maternity leave so that I only needed to work 3 days a week for about 5 months.
I had learnt my lesson the hard way with my boy, who didn't drink milk frozen for more than a month. I had to throw away bags and bags of my precious milk! This time, I was careful not to keep breast milk frozen for longer than a couple of weeks because I was sure littlest baby girl will not drink it.
In order to ensure freshness of the expressed milk, I decided to start pumping an extra 100-150ml of milk every day about 2 weeks before I was due to go back to work. By the time I returned to work, I had about six 180ml packets of milk for my baby.
BACK TO WORK
At work, I used a Spectra pump that I had borrowed from my friend. I really like Spectra as the suction is very powerful and can empty my breasts quite adequately.
My friend's Spectra S1
I have always pumped anywhere when I had my boy and that's not going to change now that I have my girl! I find it so much easier to just pump at my desk ๐
My daily output
I usually pump about 150-250ml per session. I tried to pump at least 4 times (i.e. every 2 hours) when I'm at work but, unsurprisingly, I haven't been successful! I suppose I was too ambitious! Now I try to achieve at least 3 sessions a day at work so that I can maintain my supply.
Pumping 3 times a day wasn't the problem for me; it's washing my pump 3 times a day that's the issue! I really don't enjoy washing the pump!
When I complained to my colleague, she suggested that I put the pump parts in the fridge so that I can re-use it and not have to wash after every session. That really helped to lighten the burden of washing for me!
I read about the usefulness of the Freemie online and bought it to try it for myself. Instead of the usual funnels, Freemie collection cups fit into your regular nursing bra and collects your milk so that you can go hands-free. Apparently you can even pump while walking and I decided to try it. Guess what? It works! ๐
Freemie collection cups
You can choose to buy Freemie's pump motor or you can use your existing motor. Freemie is compatible with motors such as the Spectra and Avent. Do check whether your pump motor is compatible before you buy!
Unfortunately for me, when my Freemie first arrived, I found a crack in barrier. I tried to get it replaced but the process took a reeeeeaaalllly LONG time!!
There was a crack in my barrier when it arrived. Don't forget to examine all your pump parts before you use!
After multiple emails and calls back and forth for 2 months, a representative from the distributor FINALLY called me and told me that she will deliver the barrier to my house! I was so happy to receive it so that I can finally use my Freemie!
I really like the Freemie as it is indeed very convenient. I connect the cups to the motor, put them in my bra and viola, I can do whatever I need to do with both my hands. It is especially useful when I need to pump while taking minutes during meetings! ๐
To help me to transport my pump and milk, I also bought a bag with a cooler compartment at the bottom.
Pump at the top, milk at the bottom
Cooler compartment to store milk
I have since upgraded to a bigger bag but still use this bag to store the pump motor.
BABY REFUSES THE BOTTLE
While I was managing my pumping at work, the mum in law was trying very hard to feed the baby at home.
Unfortunately, no matter how we tried, the baby refused the bottle!
It was not the milk because she would reject all types of my expressed milk, no matter whether it was frozen or freshly expressed.
It was not the type of bottle teat or brand because we tried 3 types of bottle teats from different brands such as Avent, Pigeon and Dr Brown and yet she would reject them (I refused to waste money to buy more after that!). She would suck on them for the first day and then completely reject them the next day!
It was definitely not because I was hovering around and the baby could smell me because I was at work the whole time.
The mum-in-law tried letting her cry, hoping that she will eventually realise she had to suck it up and drink. I mean, as long as you are hungry enough, you'll eat anything right? Who would say no to a growling stomach? Most people would eventually give in, don't they?
Evidently, not my stubborn and determined littlest baby girl. The longest she had ever gone on a hunger strike, having drunk only 20ml the entire day, was 10 hours!
She wants what she wants and no amount of coaxing will do. It was a nightmare for my mum-in-law, who couldn't bear to hear her cries all day.
Finally we decided to try feeding her using a syringe, which was painfully slow and exhausting but seemed to work to get a little bit more milk in her system.
When she turned 4 months old and showed interest in food, the mum-in-law tried feeding milk with a silicone spoon to some success, it really depends on the baby's mood!!!! ๐ด
However, the baby will only drink expressed milk for at most 2 feeds in a day. If the mum-in-law tried to feed her with expressed milk again, the attempt will be met with screams of anger! ๐
BABY AT WORK
I could tell my mum-in-law was almost at her breaking point and decided to give her a break by bringing the baby to office. I was hoping I could utilise my 'supermum powers' and take care of a baby while working a full time job.
Baby at work with her favourite person! ๐
Sleeping in her stroller at my cubicle
Although I managed to get work done while taking care of my baby (miraculously by God's grace!), it was physically and mentally exhausting! By the time I got home, both baby and I were so tired that we fell asleep earlier than usual and slept through the night!
If I can't take care of her for a whole day in office (especially not on days that I have meetings and/or trainings) and the mum-in-law can't take care of her for a whole day at home, the best compromise would be to split it between us (me half day, mum-in-law half day).
Usually this means that I will bring her to office in the morning, meet the mum-in-law for lunch and then she will bring the baby home (if I have meetings all day, she would bring the baby to me during lunch and go shopping till it is time for the baby's next feed). This arrangement has been very inconvenient for the mum-in-law logistically but has saved her a lot of frustration so she is happy with it so far. So thankful for a dedicated mum-in-law! ❤️
The littlest baby, on the other hand, LOVES going to work with me and meeting all my colleagues. She smiles at every single person she meets and wins their hearts! This is great because so far, no one has complained about her being in office!
So very grateful to understanding bosses and colleagues, who have had to endure the sudden cries of a baby every now and then but yet are always happy to see her in office! Colleagues have also volunteered to watch her while I finish my work. I really love my workplace! Very, very blessed! ♥️
Hopefully I won't have to bring her to work any more once she starts eating more solids when she turns 6 months old and can drink more milk via the silicone spoon. We're also crossing our fingers that she will suddenly drink from the bottle๐ค๐ปUntil then, it looks like the baby is sticking to me for a while, everywhere that I go!
Thank God that I still have maternity leave left! I'm enjoying every minute with my very clingy baby while I still can!๐คฑ๐ฅฐ
~~~~~
This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
*Warning: Detailed documentation of breastfeeding and its related terms ahead. Reader's discretion is advised; please do not read if you feel uncomfortable =)
The moment after I had delivered my baby girl in the delivery suite, she started puckering her lips and sticking out her tongue, which was a clear indication that she wanted to breastfeed. As usual, I latched her directly as I had done with baby boy when he was born and fully remembered how to do it despite not having breastfed for the last 4 years!
When I got transferred to the ward, the nurse in the ward immediately checked, as is their SOP, on how I am doing with breastfeeding. She proceeded to squeeze my nipples very tightly (ouch!) before exclaiming, "wow, that's very good, a lot of colostrum!"
Tip: make sure you start breastfeeding as early as possible and as many times as the baby wants in order to develop your milk supply.
The nurse checked my latching and was equally impressed by the baby's strong sucking. I think it makes a huge difference choosing to give birth without epidural because the baby is not drowsy after birth as compared to an epidural assisted birth.
Seeing that I was a very experienced mum (not to brag but I have done this three times!), they left me alone for the rest of my stay in the hospital. If I were the nurses, I would love having me as their patient as I made their job really easy! *laughs*
As usual, I requested that the baby room in with me (and not return to the nursery) so that I can feed her on demand. This is so that I have full control of my breastfeeding and can learn about her breastfeeding style from the start. Of course, this is only possible if you stay in a single-bedder room so please consider it if you can afford it.
Tip: Keep the baby with you as much as possible so that you can learn to recognise the baby's cries for milk (which is different from the baby's cries for comfort and pain), and respond to him/her before those cries become uncontrollable and stress-inducing. Don't be over-reliant on the nurses or your confinement nanny otherwise you won't be able to do it on your own.
The first day of breastfeeding went well but the night was terrible. Baby wanted to feed every 15 minutes but only drank for 5 minutes before falling asleep. I did not sleep AT ALL for 24 hours since the delivery and was so exhausted that by 6am in the morning, I was slightly hallucinating!
Me and baby alone in our room in the morning
Thank goodness I decided to ask the nurse to bring the baby to the nursery for her vaccinations so that I have some alone time to freshen up. I felt so much better after that. Breastfeeding a newborn with a tiny stomach is not easy!
After discharge, I realised that my baby was still not pooping after 4 days since the first poop. Her paediatrician suggested feeding longer at each breast (10-15 minutes, instead of 5-10 minutes) so that baby can take in more of the fatty part of the milk. I had totally forgotten that the fore milk is made up of mainly water and that the hind milk which comes at the back is made of the fats that the baby needs to poop, stay full and gain weight. I did what the paediatrician recommended and viola, she started pooping a lot! ๐
Tip: If your baby is like mine and tends to sleep after sucking for 5 minutes, you can try burping the baby and then continuing to latch the baby from the same breast rather than switching breast. This is to ensure that the baby gets enough of the fatty hind milk.
Happily sleeping soundly after a feed
As with all my babies, my breasts started to be engorged by the time my baby was 4 days old. However, I decided not to pump like I did with my baby boy as it could make the engorgement worse. Pumping was also more exhausting than latching and gave me a lot of problems with mastitis when I forgot to pump during the night due to exhaustion! (You can read all about my experience here). I was keen to not repeat the same problems I had with pumping too early in my breastfeeding journey hence, I decided to hand-express excess breast milk instead of pumping.
So far, baby girl is drinking far more breast milk than her brother so hand-expressing has been sufficient. This has worked so well for me that by the time my massage therapist arrived on the 10th day of my confinement, my breasts are no longer engorged. Although my breasts will get full and slightly hard before breastfeeding, they will be easily emptied by the baby after feeding.
A selfie of me breastfeeding my girl at home!
The biggest difficulty that I have with direct latching is the soreness of my nipples. Despite having mastered the correct latching position, I still experienced pain simply because my newborn baby's mouth is very small and my nipples were, well, not. The pain can be so bad that I had to bite my lip to endure it for the first 10 seconds every time my baby latched. Thank God that the pain subsided by the fourth week of birth once baby grew bigger in size.
My baby's drinking pattern: drink from both breasts at least three times on each side at a go and then sleep undisturbed for 2.5-3 hours after that. It can be very stressful for me when she wants a lot of milk in a short amount of time but my breasts needs time to produce the milk!
But all my hard work is worth it when I get to see all my hard work getting translated into baby fats! ๐
Love spending quality time with her!
My eldest girl was a whooping 95 percentile by the time she turned 2.5 months old so I'm hoping that it will be the same for my littlest girl! At the rate that she is going, she is definitely on track! ๐
After 28 days of confinement, I could finally go out with baby girl for the first time! Breastfeeding on the go has also been really easy ๐
I'm really enjoying my journey breastfeeding and bonding with my baby! Cherishing every moment, the good and even the painful because I know that it will not last long! ♥️
~~~~~
This post is part of my series My Breastfeeding Diary, where I document the highs and lows of my breastfeeding journey.
*Warning: This post contains very graphic documentation of my birth experience, which may result in significant stress reactions in some mums-to-be. Reader's discretion is advised.
As I entered into the third trimester of pregnancy and approaching the Estimated Date of Delivery (EDD) of 12 Feb, I started to feel a sense of dread that I did not have for my first two pregnancies. As you know, things did not go as I had expected the last time I was in the delivery suite giving birth to my boy. The epidural I was given did not work in time and till date, I can still remember the intense pain of every contraction and it still gives me the shivers!
So, although my tummy was getting so big that it had become extremely uncomfortable for me, I was still not enthusiastic about getting her out.
I told the baby to hold off coming into the world till after the third day of CNY, as that's when my doctor will be back from leave. She's a good girl; she listened to me ๐
On 7 Feb, we had fully expected to go into labour any time in the next few days so I stayed home as much as I could in preparation for delivery. We were hoping that baby will be born on 9 Feb 2019 as it was an easy date to remember.
However, 9 Feb came and went without any signs of labour except for occasional cramps that I've been feeling on and off the whole of the third trimester. I was starting to think that maybe she will be born on her EDD instead.
That night on 10 Feb 2019, I was awoken at 2.30am with very bad abdominal pain. Initially it felt like a bad case of diarrhoea so I went to the toilet and thought I could go back to sleep afterwards. That was not to be because the pain intensified and I immediately recognised the feeling. I was having contractions.
I looked at the clock; it was now around 3.30am. I thought that maybe I could sleep through the earlier part of contractions like I did for my earlier two pregnancies but the contractions were relentless. One contraction was occurring every 10 minutes.
By about 4am, the contractions were once every 5 minutes and I knew we had to get to the hospital ASAP. I quickly took a bath and informed the hubby and Mum-in-law that the baby was coming!
From experience, I knew that I needed to eat something in order to have the energy to push so the Mum-in-law quickly cooked some instant noodles for me. I could hardly eat as the contractions continued.
Left: Last photo of me pregnant just before we head to the Delivery Suite; Right: Trying to finish my bowl of instant Noodles at 4.30am.
At around 5am, after I had called the Delivery Suite to let them know that I was coming, the hubby drove me to the hospital (NUH).
At around 5.15am, I checked into the Delivery Suite. The nurses did the usual checks and the male on-call doctor did a cervical exam, which I hate! Thankfully this was the first time I'm getting my cervix examined for this pregnancy.
The doctor informed me that I was already 8cm dilated! As usual, it was their duty to inform me of my options for pain relief (which I had already memorised by heart) and asked me if I needed the epidural.
To be honest, I strongly contemplated getting the epidural even though I was already so far dilated. The dread of the pain that was to come was a very strong motivation.
However, the hubby reminded me that epidural injections had never gone well for me in the past. Epidural caused me to be unable to push my first baby out as I could not feel anything whilst epidural did not work when I was only 3cm dilated for my second baby. He was quite sure that it will not work this time and deep down, the logical brain in me knew that he was right. Nevertheless, the hubby left the decision entirely to me because I'm the one who has to go through the pain.
While I was still trying to make a decision, the nurse advised me to try breathing the Entonox gas to see if it can help with the pain instead. Although it did not help me when I was having my second baby, she said it could be because I was already in active labour and not able to breathe it correctly and at the right time. The gas also requires some time to work so starting on it early might help.
I finally decided (very bravely too if I might add) to try the gas instead of epidural and prayed to God that the labour will be so fast that the pain will not be long lasting.
Me breathing the gas whenever I started to feel contractions
The nurse was right; this time when I breathed in the gas at the right time and in the correct way, it did help me cope with the contractions. Although it did not take away the pain entirely, it reduced its intensity from a pain rating of 8-9 to a pain rating of 4-5. At least I was able to chit chat with the hubby in between contractions and not already screaming in pain like I did when I was giving birth to baby boy!
At around 6.30am, my doctor Prof Su Lin Lin came to check on how I was doing. When she checked my cervix again (ouch!!! ๐), I had dilated to 9cm and the baby's head was still "high up" which meant that baby wasn't coming out yet. Prof Su advised me to push if I felt like it as I was starting to feel the pressure on my cervix.
From 6.30-7am, the contractions started to intensify to such a degree that even with the gas, my pain rating was 10 out of 10! ๐ตOne of the contractions was so bad that I started pushing and felt a strong pain in my youknowwhere, like pain you feel when passing excrement after 2 weeks of constipation just so much more intense.
The baby's head was probably in view after that contraction, which occurred some time after 7am, andthe nurse promptly announced loudly, "call Prof Su! It's time!"
By now I was already screaming, crying and writhing in pain while the nurses tried to encourage me to focus on breathing the gas. I really tried to do what they said but at this point in active labour, no pain relief other than epidural will help!!
While Prof Su and the nurses prepared for the delivery, I was in so much pain I wasn't even fully aware of what's really happening. It was only when Prof Su said with such urgency, "OK push harder the baby's head is coming out!" that I realised that this was it! I pushed and pushed and pushed so hard that it really felt like my youknowwhere was going to explode! Thankfully, after three or four major pushes, the baby was out at 7.21am! Thank you Jesus!
She came out crying with gusto like a healthy baby should! She weighed 3.3kg, slightly smaller than her sister and brother. I was incredibly happy! ๐
The worse part of the process was over but there was still stitching and the placenta that needed to be delivered so the pain was not all over yet. As I had no pain relief other than the gas, I could feel everything, even more than when my epidural did not work during my second delivery. Perhaps the epidural still managed to numb some parts of my body. This time however, certain stitches could still be felt even though my doctor had given me local anesthesia (it felt like multiple injections...).
However, all the pain was well worth it because I looked and felt energetic after the delivery since I did not have to suffer any side effects from epidural such as dizzyness, vomiting, shivering, etc. Really incredibly awesome feeling!
Skin to skin with the newest addition to our family!
I think I looked younger and better than how I had looked after giving birth to my girl 9 years ago (you can go check it out here).
I had to stay in the Delivery Suite for another hour to monitor my blood pressure before they could transfer me to the ward. During this time, baby girl was already smacking and licking her lips so I went ahead to latch her and she started breastfeeding right away.
When the hour was up at around 8.45am, I was taken to the ward at Kent Ridge Wing. There are two types of rooms for private patients: A1 (single bedder) or B1 (4-bedder). I've tried both and of course preferred the A1 for its privacy and spaciousness. Nothing beats having your own toilet!
My single-bedder room
The room was great except for the aircon or lack there of, which could be intentional because they didn't want babies to freeze. However, it was so hot that I was sweating the whole time! ๐ฅต
I requested for the baby to be with me at all times in the room so that I can breastfeed on demand. I know this means that I will have to be very hands on from the start and get very little rest but I'm OK with that if it means that I'll be able to establish my milk supply and gauge her feeding pattern.
While I had my lunch, the hubby went to pick up the rest of the family to come meet their little sister for the first time.
My very healthy meal which I ate hungrily
The kids have been looking forward to meeting their sister for months! They were so happy to see her! ๐
Our first family photo
The grandma and big sister couldn't wait to carry the baby!
The rest of the family also came to visit me throughout the day.
My mum and sister, proud grandma and aunt for the third time!
Group photo with my family
Group photo with the bro-in-law and sis-in-law
My cousin (left) and colleagues (right)
There were folks who didn't manage to visit us in the hospital because I got discharged the very next day! This was the first time that I had only stayed one night in the hospital! Woohoo!!
Me with the baby alone in our room on the morning of our discharge
Thank you to all for your well-wishes and gifts! We are very blessed!
Gifts from my company, colleagues, church leaders and family
Thankful to Jesus for a smooth delivery and healthy baby girl. I was so grateful that I only needed to stay in the hospital for one night! There is no place like my comfy bed in my own home! ❤️
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Just a final note:
I highly recommend Prof/Dr Su Lin Lin if you need a Obstetrician/Gynaecologist. She has delivered all three of my babies and I have seen her grow in her career from a consultant when I started seeing her in 2010 till now as professor and head of department at NUH! She is very patient and chillax, which I like because I'm equally chillax and don't work well with people who are 'gan cheong spiders'. Most importantly, she is good at what she does and I always recover very well after the whole delivery process.
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Interestingly, our firstborn is an Independence Day ๐บ๐ฒ baby, our second one is a Christmas ๐ baby (well almost Christmas anyway) while our third one is a Chinese New Year๐งงbaby!
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