sleepyhead
our little angel
According to a book I’ve read, babies’ first smiles are because of gas and not a voluntary thing. Although this smile was totally involuntary, the picture totally wins me over.
pooping face
The first time Ramil and I noticed this expression, we didn’t think much of it. Then we started noticing it everytime he is pooping. Everytime we see this kind of face now we go, uh-oh!We finally brought our baby home. After staying in my parents’ house in QC for almost 2 weeks, Ramil and I decided to go back to our place in Taytay and really start the nitty-gritty of family life. Another reason is Ramil’s paternity leave which ended last Friday.
Life as we know it, has ended. We are no longer the carefree couple we used to be. No more eating out whenever we don’t feel like cooking. No more dvd marathons. No more late night outs. No more lounging in bed until noon. No more uninterrupted 8-hour sleeps. Really, nothing can prepare anyone for this. Noone who hasn’t had a baby can fully grasp how difficult it is when somebody describes how it will be. That a small creature could take over two people’s lives completely. Books say it will payoff. When you see that first smile meant specially for you. When you hear the first ‘mama’ or ‘dada’. When you hear that first laugh. When you go through each and every milestone of your baby and you are there to experience it with him.
Even when Mateo was still inside me, Ramil and I would constantly joke about selling the little guy when it gets too difficult for us. The joke has had more mention now than ever. Hehe! But we will wait. For that first smile. For those first words. For that first laugh. For all those firsts. Then we will see.
With my boys.
These two people have been making my day lately. I only have to look at them to know that God has blessed me with so much. Nevermind that we’re not as financially comfortable as we want to. I have all the riches I’ll ever need.
our satisfied milk guzzler
More on my breastfeeding situation later, gotta go pump.
Ramil and I are lucky parents. Mateo has been a well-behaved newborn. We think God gave us such a good little angel because Ramil and I sucked from day 1. Hehe!
I was dead-set on breastfeeding Mateo even before I gave birth. There were just so much more advantages of giving him breastmilk than formula. So right after giving birth, even when I was still groggy from the meds, I was picking a fight with the nurses because I kept on telling them that I plan to breastfeed and I don’t want any formula given to my baby. So just a few hours after delivery, I was up and walking in the nursery to breastfeed (or at least try to). I wasn’t very successful the first time, Mateo wasn’t able to suck well (both of us being beginners and all). The next day though, since I was able to get to the nursery right before feeding time, he sucked well and hard. The first time he latched on and sucked, I wanted to pull the little angel’s mouth right away. The whole thing was really painful; I was cringing the whole time. When I returned Mateo to his bassinet, the nurse gave him back to me and told me he wants more because he’s still crying. It seemed that I wasn’t producing that much milk yet. The remaining times I would visit Mateo in the nursery, they were already done with feeding time so I was left with nothing but a sleeping baby. I still spend minutes just holding him and looking at him. One of the nurses suggested rooming-in but I didn’t want to risk any kind of infection from the visitors.
He slept the whole time on the way to my parents’ house last Wednesday. Since Ramil and I live on our own, we decided to stay at my parents’ for a week or two until I feel better and until we get the hang of things. We got home at around 2 pm and by 5 pm, he was starting to wake up. It was obvious he was hungry because his mouth was opening wide, as if trying to look for something. So I tried to breastfeed him. He latched on easily but after almost an hour of trying to feed him, he would still cry whenever I would remove him from my breasts. I would rest for a few minutes and then try again. This went on for hours until I was crying every time he would latch on because it was getting really painful already. Ramil was very supportive; he was there with me the whole time inside our room, trying to sooth me with wisecracks and kisses. By 10 pm, I was telling Ramil to go out and buy some formula milk. When he got back we immediately fed Mateo and he was asleep in less than 5 minutes. Poor baby, we kind of like starved him the whole time I guess because my milk wasn’t enough.
The next day, Ramil and I went to SM Fairview and we bought an Avent breastpump. My milk was getting stronger yet I couldn’t feed Mateo from my breasts because I have sore and cracked nipples already. Our solution was to pump the milk so that it would continue to come. I got around 20 ml of milk the first time I pumped. I took malunggay capsules and drank a lot of fluids. I am now getting around 50-60 ml of milk every 2 hours! Plus, Mateo has been feeding from me from time to time. It seems though that my milk is not enough to keep up with him. We still find ourselves preparing an additional 40-50 ml of formula every feeding time to keep him satisfied.
Aside from being a very demanding milk consumer, Mateo hasn’t given us much of a hassle. We would only hear him cry when he wakes up because he’s hungry. We are lucky parents. I must say that Ramil and I are enjoying the challenges of being parents. It’s very demanding, we find ourselves attending to Mateo’s needs every 2 hours, but it has been very fulfilling.