The END...

The END...

The end to my breastfeeding journey with my 1st born ~> baby Sienna

The end to my breastfeeding journey with my 2nd born ~>  baby Skyler
25th December 2016 marked the last day of my breastfeeding (BF) journey. 

I have been fully breastfeeding my 2 kids for the past 4.5 years in total!!! 

(Minus a few months during my pregnancy with baby Skye ~ click here to find out why). 

Wowwww...didn't know I could last this long!!! I guess all mommies are supermommies...
My ultimate goal was to BF till baby Skyler turned 3 years old (31 Jan 2017)... I almost made it ~ just shy by one month plus! 

***It's okay, this momma still deserves a pat on the back***

So we started to wean baby Skye off by having Mr. Hubby put the 2 kids to sleep in their own (shared) room !!! Finally they get their own room (after moving into our new place) n yayyy to us, the parents, for having the WHOLE queen size bed to ourselves and not having to squeeze n curl up like a "udang" aka shrimp!!!
***The feeling is Ohhh-sooo-awesome***
And NO MORE WAKING UP to feed... baby Skyler n mummy can finally sleep thru the night!!! Say no to "panda bear" eyes and no more feeling like a walking zombie... this momma haven't had her beauty sleep ever since the babies were born!!! N COFFEE!!! Yes, I can drink however much I want n like without the guilty feeling (I used to limit myself).

Okay now back to the story (got a little sidetrack)...
So, it worked but with a little tears and wanting mommy. Every night before Mr. Hubby puts Baby Skyler to bed, I made sure to tell him that he's a big boy now, no need nen-nen aka (.)(.) anymore, pray as a family, kiss our goodnight kisses n off I go! Kudos to Mr. Hubby for making bedtime fun and exciting as he will tell a story each with their favorite cartoon characters in it (which they get to choose their fav characters every night)... and then some days Mr. Hubby will let the kids tell him a story n put him to sleep instead!!! Happened a few times where they 3 feel asleep together ... oh wait, Mr. Hubby was the 1st one to be knocked out.... yayyy to mommy having the WHOLE bed to myself!!! Muahahaha...

But then when it came to their afternoon nap, this momma was left to put the 2 kids to sleep... and since I was there lying with them, Baby Skyler was on auto-mode and automatically latch on to me!!! I tried my best to say NO but he's so persistent and adamant that either I gave in or succumb to having my shirt ripped off... yes, it was that BAD!!!

So basically I was still BFeeding him once a day... Looking back, this was a GREAT outcome coz dropping off feedings gradually made my transition super easy as oppose to going "cold turkey"!!! I did NOT get engorged AT ALL and did not suffer any side effect whatsoever.... no mastitis, no block ducts, no aches, no pains!!! I was dreading and expecting the worst....

Thankfully Mr. Hubby got good news that he will be starting his new job beginning of 2017 which was the highlight of it all ... he would be WORKING from HOME!!! No more driving 2 hrs to n fro work...yayyy!!! More quality time with the kids...N best of all, Mr. Hubby can put the kids down for naps too....couldn't this be any more perfect???PERFECT timing!!!

To add the icing on the cake:-

Mr. Hubby and I came up with an ULTIMATE plan!!!
Since we were over at Karthik's parents place during Christmas (for 1 week), we decided to use the grand parents as the "art of distraction"!!! we told Sienna that the crib/baby cot that she was sleeping in whenever we were at the grandparents place, has been donated. So she immediately declared she's sleeping with the grandparents... and as always, "monkey see,monkey do!!!". Skyler wanted to join in the fun too...Little did he know what he was signing up for.
He cried for his momma once the lights were out... it didn't last long, and I declared victory!!! It happened just for 2-3 nights straight n lasted less than 5 mins...
It came naturally and of course with some coaxing.

Update -
A few weeks passed by, n there's still milk coming out when I press my (.)(.)...
I do really miss having our bonding time but at times it CAN and WILL get frustrating too... definitely a love-hate relationship!!! I knew it was for my baby's own good and n i knew he won't be a baby forever...and yes, my baby has grown up!!! Thus, this ends my breastfeeding journey!
A long journey with bumps here and there, uphill and downhill, but it was well worth it...

...

To all the mothers soon to deliver... Breastfeeding is NOT EASY... U need to be surrounded by supportive family especially hubby! U need to have determination, perseverance, hard core, commitment, hard working, strong willed, "kiasu", etc...
But let me tell u, it is soooo WORTH IT...
All the best... "Jia yu"... "GAMBATEH"... "Fighting"!!!

Baby Skye has only fallen sick twice! All thanks to the wonders of this liquid gold...
*sad**happy**sad**happy**sad**happy**... Arghhhh mixed emotions till this very day!!!
I miss my bonding sessions...only bf mothers will understand ;)

Next milestones:
.say bye bye to all the diapers in the house... diaper FREE!!! We are working on that...starting with nap time first...wish us all the best...

Disclaimer: That's Sienna being silly and wanted to join in the fun too!!! no breastfeeding was involved for this "baby"!!! Just for "show & tell" purposes ;)  

Best.Summer.Ever

Written by Mr. Hubby aka #SiennaSkyler Daddy

************************************************

Best.Summer.Ever.

The 2016 Summer was a very enjoyable one for the Nagas (Karthik's family) and the Viswanadhans (Karthik's sister's family).

The 4 little ones (#SiennaSkyler + cousins) got to bond with each other in New Jersey and West Virginia and with their parents/grandparents also, and Sienna and Skyler traveled to 5 of the United States (and Canada)!

New York: including Manhattan (Time Sq, Statue of Liberty, TODAY Show, kayaking on the Hudson), Brooklyn and Niagara Falls (including the Canada side)

New Jersey: including Newark, Jersey Shore and Jersey City

West Virginia: including Charleston (hiking at Kanawha State Forest, fun programs at grandmom's library), Summersville farm and Huntington (Camden Park)

Indiana: Columbus

North Carolina: Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Charlotte

Sienna and Skyler also got to expand their culinary experiences with lots of great restaurants and delicious home cooked food.  They also got to meet many of mommy and daddy's friends as they traveled to different cities and places.

The 4 kids had lots of learning opportunities at home, with classes in math, reading, Chinese, Tamil, spelling, drawing, gymnastics, sports, dancing, singing, swimming, cooking and MAGIC!

Perhaps most importantly it was a great time to enjoy the time together with family.  Some of these moments have been captured in the video below... 

Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe to the channel for more updates on SkyKarmienna's (Skyler+Karthik+Jamie+Sienna) journeys and adventures!

https://youtu.be/Vp-bcCcA6T4

The END...*sad**happy**sad**happy**sad**happy**... mixed emotions till this very day!!!

The end to my breastfeeding journey.... it is indeed a bittersweet moment!
didnt plan to totally wean baby si off but i guess baby Si self weaned herself.
On aug 5th, (after seeing my gynae 3days before, and my first day back in malaysia), I started to drop baby Si day feed but still continued to bf her during throughout the night. She would still ask for (.)(.) aka nen nen during the day but I told her that she's a big girl now and big girls drink fresh milk!!!
Tips: baby Si went on a milk strike... So this mummy decided to add some chocolate milk to her fresh milk, and voila... She's loving it :)

My gynae had mentioned to stop breastfeeding right away as it is harmful for baby karmie2 which I don't totally agree with him cause in my case, I am not a high risk pregnancy and neither was my 1st pregnancy with baby Si...and many mothers has successfully tandem breastfeed while being pregnant! Oh well, I thought I needed a break after breastfeeding baby Si for 16+ months!!! And thinking and planning well ahead what will happen once I'm in hospital to deliver since baby Si doesn't take formula milk and plus she doesn't take bottle feeding and I have surrendered my pump, sterilizer long long time ago!!!
My gynae even prescribed me a hormone pill (Duphaston 10mg-42 tabs..1 tab 3 times a day).
He mentioned that it will strengthen my womb... So my next qs was, is it specific to my case? Is something wrong with my scans that i need it? His answer was no... Just in general it is better to take it for all pregnant mothers....
Shesshhhh....
Note to self: no drugs while pregnant...actually say no to drugs!

I thought it would be hard to wean her off night feeding as she's addicted to it...ever since she was born, every2 hours (on the dot) she would wake up for nen nen...then at ard 8-9 months, it increased to every 3 hrs and finally ard 1 yr + it went up to 4 hrs! Imagined how this mummy has never slept more than 4 hours straight!!! *zombified*
Then once I started dropping her day feed, she miraculously started to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT (STTN)!!! U wouldn't know how it feels like to finally get my beauty sleep!
I never plan on totally weaning her off of breastfeeding! But I guess God has His plans and His timing! On a positive note, I get to rest well during the night while being pregnant (this 2nd pregnancy is much harder - morning, afternoon, nite, midnite puking sickness, feeling nausea the whole day)...

I'm glad baby Si transitioned amazingly well... I read a lot about how other mothers have to resort to using lemon or vinegar on their (.)(.) to discourage their lil ones, how their (.)(.) will get engorged which then leads to high fever and shivers, block ducts, mastitis, using the cold cabbages method, hot/cold compress, drugs, etc...

I was just thinking the other day how a gadget can be 100% loved by working mothers and yet at the same time 100% hated by stay at home mothers...it is the BREAST PUMP!
Can u think of another gadget?
Don't mention iPhone vs Samsung! Coz some iPhone users would like some features of the Samsung phone and how some Samsung users secretly wished they had some of the iPhone apps! Some are even converts... :p

To all the mothers soon to deliver (including me)... Breastfeeding is NOT EASY... U need to be surrounded by supportive family especially hubby! U need to have determination, perseverance, hard core, commitment, hard working, strong willed, "kiasu", etc...
But let me tell u, it is soooo WORTH IT... All the best... "Jia yu"... "GAMBATEH"... "Fighting"!!!

Baby Si has only fallen sick once! All thanks to the wonders of this liquid gold...
*sad**happy**sad**happy**sad**happy**... Arghhhh mixed emotions till this very day!!!
I miss my bonding sessions...only bf mothers will understand ;)

Next milestones:
.Wean baby Si off her "drug" aka pacifier (goal: before 2 yrs old)
.potty train (goal: +-2 yrs old)