To breastfeed or not to breastfeed?

That is the question.



However in my case, I have no reason not to breastfeed. Thank God for the abundance of breastmilk. (Magamit jud diay ang boobs!) I learned that I can lose weight with breastfeeding as the act helps burn 500 - 1,500 calories per day. Not only that, but there is a lot of truth behind the famous line, "BREASTFEEDING IS STILL BEST OF BABIES UP TO 2 YEARS."

There are so many BENEFITS of breastfeeding that I’m afraid I’ll run out of space just by talking about them. Breastfeeding was meant for a purpose and I’m just happy that I’m able to take advantage of it.



But it’s not as easy as it looks. And OMFG, at first, I thought I was going to die. Man, it hurt so bad that I swear nothing has hurt me as much as breastfeeding for the first few times.



Ever get the feeling when your nipples are being pinched as in the movies? Not that I had mine pinched or what… but you get the idea coz my nipples even bled!!! Ack!  X_X  Mikko looked like a vampire sucking out bloody milk from me. Que horror!

But as always, the support of friends and family is awesome so I got lots of tips/tricks and great advice from everyone.



Caren even sent me some nursing pads as well as an Avent Nipple Guard to help me get started. So sweet of her. :)



Additionally, I purchased some nipple creams for soothing.



As of today, I’m pretty much used to breastfeeding that I look forward to Mikko’s incessant crying calling me to feed him! LOL… From experience, it’s really a nice bonding time for mom and baby. I feel like I do want to protect my child and give him all the best that I can.

Even though Mikko Vincenzo aka Sir Poop-A-Lot is starting to become a stinker (yup, he farts and poops a lot but that’s characteristic of a breastfed baby daw…either that or he got the trait from me. Tee hee!), I just adore and love my baby boy. He’s everything to me. And I’m gonna make sure he’s gonna grow up to be just like his dad — you know, a really good great guy just like my Noodle Boy.

And really, you just can’t deny the similarity.

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Mamma Mia!

Okay, so where do I begin?



It’s been 14 days (2 weeks!) since our butterball was born via C-section, at 37 weeks near-term, because of a bad biophysical score since his fetal tone was poor and all because he couldn’t move much in my tummy due to his size. Whew! (That was a pretty long intro!) Thus, at 6:49 p.m. on August 15th, Mikko Vincenzo was brought to life!



And what a big boy was he! I don’t think I could have given birth normally with a kid that big… considering that I’m the girl with "no balakang" whatsoever.

 

 

They say he looked like a 2-month-old boy and not a newborn baby! LOL! Guess you can blame it on the genes… he’s pretty big for a Filipino baby as most are 48-50 cm when born full-term. My lil man on the other hand was already 52 cm at near term, weighing 8 lbs 2 oz! Can you imagine if I had given birth on my due date???

He could barely open his eyes but he was forced to so they could check him out fully.



The lil dude had to be placed on O2 and IV (I know, it was heartbreaking to look at!) because he wasn’t fully mature having almost no creases on the soles of his foot and he was also tachypnic. :(



But praise the Lord, everything went fine and on the 3rd day, he was in my arms.



I’m going to make a separate entry all about breastfeeding because really, are u effing kidding me? How can something so simple hurt like hell???

For now, here are two of my favorite pix of our precious lil one that I was able to capture and hopefully he’ll be happy to see these when he’s all grown up. ;)

  

Next thing I’ll know he’ll be running around and driving me crazy. LOL! But I look forward to all that…

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He's here!

Our very own bundle of joy. Mikko Vincenzo.

FULL SPECS: 
Weight - 8lbs 2oz 
Height - 52 cm (20.47 in)
Date of Birth - 08.15.11 
Time of Birth - 6:49 p.m.
Place of Birth - OSPA-FMC, Ormoc City

near-term (37 wks), complete, brand-new with box, NO HIDDEN DEFECTS!!!
needs recharging every 2 hours :P
DUAL BATT: Breastfeeding and/or formula

SRP: PRICELE$$!!!!!

I will tell you all about it later. Giving birth was a grand adventure you surely don’t want to miss.

Come back to read all about it.

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Nesting 101

What is “nesting"? Accordingly, this is an uncontrollable urge to clean one’s house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world. Now, the question… does it or will it ever apply to me?

The answer may be evident in the series of hard-to-believe photos you can see following this sentence.

The whole troop got involved.

Ramen Girl ♥ Noodle Boy.

Our ugly, dirty, and fat feet.

Noodle Boy, the dweeb.

That’s +50 lbs of the normal me!

Okay, I admit when I was single, I was never the type who cleaned my room regularly (blame it on the people who do it for me!) and honestly, I only do spring cleaning (once a year?). Tee hee! I’m lazy like that. That’s why I’m lucky to have married the coolest guy ever — Noodle Boy. As OC as he is, I am so very happy that he cleans our room… and yes, regularly. 

Oh okay, I know what you’re thinking… I’m a good for nothing wife, huh? Well, let’s just say, cleaning is not my forte. I do very well on other “wife duties and responsibilities". Ask Noodle Boy if you don’t believe me. :)

Anyways, they say that the nesting instinct is a sign that labor is near. Okay, I had false labor last week and I really thought I was going to give birth already after finding out I was 1 cm dilated and my cervix starting to be effaced. Alas! The bloody show stopped and now we’re just waiting til my water breaks or if I get even more dilated (which I am not because a few days later, I’m still 1 cm dilated! WTF right?!).

We had to get a biophysical profile since I’m already 37 weeks and LO! AND BEHOLD! The Baby got a perfect 10/10 score!!!

But the baby is HUUUUUUGE! The ultrasound won’t even register it’s actual weight because it’s too big for a Filipino baby. And because Noodle Boy’s parents both have American blood, so it’s all about the genes. It even registered as 39 weeks and 1 day, instead of 37 weeks and 2 days. Yikes! Good luck to me delivering the baby normally. Let’s just hope and prayyyyyyy that I do because I really don’t want a C-section. :( There’s no indication for it anyway, but the doctor says I might get induced for about 4 hours on Monday, then we’ll go from there. The baby needs to come out or it will turn into a giant if I give birth at 40 weeks. Well, I was imagining more of (Biag ni) Lam-Ang. Maybe the kid will run like the wind as soon as it comes out. ^_^

In other news, my feet hurt so bad now. It’s OEDIPUS REX, literally.

"Swollen Feet", that’s what it is! Guess I really am ready to pop, huh?

Oooohhh, I can’t wait.

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Sugar and spice... makes me fat?

My OB-GYNE ordered me to get a Fasting Blood Sugar. Oh I dunno, maybe because the baby is large for dates and most mothers who do get gestational diabetes also tend to have larger babies. Alas, I took the test and I only got 66. That’s pretty LOWWW!!! Normal is between seventy and a hundred I guess. So anyways, we can rule out that whole diabetic thingie… however, Noodle Boy doesn’t want me eating sweets. :( But then he allows me a soda pop or a little cupcake once in a while. The doctor said I’m allowed some treats anyway, just not to go overboard like I used to with the jar of Nutella and a whole dozen bread sticks. ^_^

I made a list of the things I truly crave and expect them to be in the hospital room after I give birth and here are just some of them:

Apparently, they’re all chocolates. People kept telling me I’m gonna get a dark-skinned baby because it’s all I ever crave… but we’ll just see. My OB-GYNE says it’s very improbable since our genes don’t really carry the dark-skinned trait. Again, we’ll just wait and see.

And speaking of waiting, I’m going to see my OB-GYNE tomorrow because I think I have what they say a “bloody show" already. I’m almost 37 weeks along and I could be going into labor any time soon! OMG! I really can’t be giving birth anywhere around the 12th and 13th of the month because I got a lot of work to do on those dates. Anytime after that is good though or before that — the 8th of August sounds good as well for I’ll have a couple of days to recover before my prior engagements. How I wish the estimated date of delivery would have been precise, ‘coz that gives me a couple of more weeks til the 27th!

Anyways, here’s a photo of me today. Just chillin’ and havin’ a good time at a party.

 Yes, I am 148 lbs. @_@

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We are expanding by "two feet".

Delivery will be just around the corner now that it is August. I really wish it won’t be the days when I’ve got so much work to do. Really can’t afford that because honestly, I have no idea how much does giving birth really cost and financially speaking, I’m not really sure we got it covered. I know! I should have saved up more for the rainy days, but duh… with all the improvements we made for our business and the room renovations, there were just so many unexpected expenses.

I’ve prepared 99% of my hospital bag and the baby’s stuffs already and read tips and information about delivering a baby. It’s both pretty exciting and stressful at the same time. Really, I don’t know what to expect. All mothers out there can probably relate to what it is I’m feeling right now. It consoles me that I’m not the only one that gets to experience this and I’m even super thankful that I’ve reached the end stages of pregnancy without any problems and complications. Praise the Lord!

Last night, I guess you can blame it on the epinephrine being released slowly in the body in preparation for delivery, I was wondering and imagining if I could just ask the good doctors and nurses for permission and cooperation so we can make a MUSIC VIDEO of my delivery to the soundtrack of Evanescence’s BRING ME TO LIFE. Can you picture that? It would be so cool! 

Anyways, I think I have to get started on my novenas and prayers for a safe delivery, too. In the meantime, here are some more maternity and pregnancy pictures I almost forgot to share with you. :) These are taken by my Noodle Boy and edited by yours truly, Ramen Girl.

For our Little Butterball who we can’t wait to meet soon!

Ready when you are, baby!

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