Baby's superfood. ❤

This is a super wordy entry. (: Got the mood to type non-stop. So read, only if you're interested.

I'm a proud mummy to Kayla, and always will be. Been breastfeeding Kayla since the day of birth, till now, and I'm not giving up breastfeeding at all. So I'm gonna blog more about my breastfeeding journey thus far. (: Share with mummies-to-be, encouraging every mummy to breastfeed your precious little one.

On 10th October 2009, I gave birth to Kayla around 12 noon, and she's brought to me to cuddle and hold. And I asked to feed my baby girl immediately. And I swear the feeling was so magical. Babies are equipped with this reflex to search for nipples when tickled at the cheeks or chin, called 'rooting reflex'. I don't know if she drank any breast milk that very first time I fed her, but I am really glad I did that. The night at the hospital alone, feeding Kayla is indeed tough. Cause she keep falling asleep and sometimes even refuse to open her tiny mouth and feed! I feel helpless cos my hubby is not around and my stitches aches! I told myself not to give up, and just keep persevere! I called for lactation aid finally and it worked. I just kept myself relaxed and keep talking to Kayla, and touching her cheeks and try to 'stuff' my nipple into her mouth. I was afraid her tiny nose wouldn't be able to breathe, but the nurse reassured me that is not a worry!

Early the next morning, the nurse told me that Kayla hasn't urine yet! That means I can't have her discharge together with me. I am totally devastated, cos I don't want to go home without my girl. Nurses came to me and see what to do to help, they advise me to feed Kayla with formula milk, see if it works. I insisted not, cos I don't want her to reject my nehneh later on. But hours past, still no urine. So I gave in, part of me was worrying if my girl is all right, worrying my milk might be insufficient to her, that's why no urine. ): So I discharged at 12noon, but my girl still hasn't urined, so I waited till almost 3PM till she finally did! Which is like 27+ hours after delivery.

Breastfeeding for the first week is darn trying and hard! I almost gave up. And I was seriously, on the very verge of just saying forget it. No one was around to motivate me to go on with exclusive breastfeeding. No one saying things like breastfeeding is good, continue this way. Even my hubby say that if I think I can't do it, then buy formula milk to feed. I just kept thinking that, 'Breastfeed is the way that it should be, and that this is absolutely the best food for my baby. And there is no substitute anywhere near my own breast milk.' Moreover, it's free. Where to find stuffs which is the best and free? And our precious little ones only have this once to have breast milk to benefit the rest of his/her life, so why give up? So I kept my faith and endure all hardships and near total sleepless weeks to just stay up and breastfeed my girl. Those first few weeks were terrible. I had super engorged breasts at first, very terrible feeling. I don't feed my girl basing on a schedule, but instead, I on demand, and I strongly recommend this. (: Meaning feed when your baby is hungry or wants milk. Feed when she wails for no apparent reason. Feed when she needs some suckling to soothe her. Feed when your baby wants it. (:

Now seeing her being so chubby and cute really warms my heart. She's growing all so healthy all feeding on my nehneh. Though I do admit that going out times are a tad more troublesome. You can't just pour just formula powder and feed, instead need to go search for nursing rooms to feed, before your baby wails for milk. But it's all worth it. (: Really! So don't think about some nonsense mother-in-law, telling you your milk is not enough, saying your baby's not full yet, blah blah blah. These are all nonsense. Be an informed mummy, with update information. (: Like what I say to my husband, 'Baby is ours, not theirs. Baby doesn't have a second chance to be a baby again, I will not give in just cos your mum doesn't agree, but in fact it is something beneficial to my girl.' I guess, you need to strongly believe in breastfeeding your baby before you can stand firm on your ground.

I've read from countless sources that babies have the super ability to recognise their mother right from the point of birth, if I recall correctly, it's cause of the amniotic fluid or something like this. And the sense of touch of skin to skin is very important! So make very sure you ask your baby to you at the point of birth. And bring her to your breast to feed. (:

Okays. I am super duper uber ultra lo-so here la! But I just want to motivate, encourage and hope more mummies can breastfeed till at least 6 months. Unless, of course, there's medical condition deterring you or something. (:

Happy breastfeeding, mummies! ❤