I'm a full-time mummy

I have previously written about our kiddos' final playgroup session for 2013. Just want to share that when we first started attending the playgroup sessions in September 2013, there are quite a number of parents and caretakers of the children there asking me which kindergarten Benjamin goes to. When I said none, they will asked why I did not send him yet or whether I will be looking for any soon and some kind-hearted ones will even start recommending me which kindergarten to ask around.

Later on, a mummy friend told me that the playgroup session we are attending is run by a church and they also run kindergarten as well. According to her, the kindy classes come in highly recommended by a lot of those playgroup mummies and told me to try asking whether there are any slots available for 2014 batch.

Why the kindy classes is highly recommended? There are only about 18 children in a class, they do 5 days a week classes of 3 hours every class, homework given during the school holidays and they instill a lot of Christian values to the children and they still have the fun element plus a bit of academic structure in their classes.

Few days later I went to inquire from the person in-charge and was told that the 2014 batch is full already and if I'm still interested, she will put us on waiting list for 2015 batch or if we don't mind, she will slot Benjamin in for the K4 class (which is for 6 years old). I felt sad seeing the gloomy outcome of having only 2015 to hope for!

When I got home with our kiddos, I told hubby what happened and he was upset that I did not register our kiddos even though we will be put on the waiting list. Hubby said, "At least by that time there is available slot, Alyson will be old enough to go to the class! And as for Benjamin, just because the lady said no more slots available until 2015, that doesn't mean you should just listen and give up. Even if there is slot for 6 years old and Ben is too young for the class, just register! At least few hours away from the house and he gets to make friends is better than nothing. Just register and leave it to God to handle this!'

And so the very next day, I brought our boy along to see the person in-charge again, and this time, registered both our kiddos' names in the waiting list. I told the person in-charge even though Ben might be too young, if there is any slots available even for the 6 years old class, just let him join. And so we waited.

2 months later, I received a call and it was from the kindy's person in-charge. She asked whether we are still keen to enrol Benjamin in the kindy class. I said YESSSSSSS!!! She said there is a boy who pulled out from next year's batch and so there is a slot available. I said thank you, we will take it and asked what age group will Ben be placed in. She said it is for K3 class which is meant for 5 years old. Perfect! Benjamin will turned 5 years old in March next year.

Oh my... God is really awesome! Truly awesome! And so I am reminded with this bible verse, Luke 18:27 (NIV) ~ “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Just because I was told there is no more slots available until 2015 and I think there is no more possibilities for us and our boy, God turned it around and shoved it at my face that yes, everything is possible through Him! Amen to that!

Thank you God for You truly knows what is best for us: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) ~ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And when is the best time to reveal everything to us. Habakkuk 2:3 (NIV) ~ For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it[a] will certainly come and will not delay.

Now if you are wondering why we wanted our boy to go to classes when we have plans to teach him, well, like I mentioned above, hubby wanted our kiddos to mix around with other children, to make friends and to get away from the house for a few hours everyday so I can spend time to focus on our 2 younger kiddos. We also wanted Benjamin to be more sociable (unlike his super shy anti social mummy) and make more friends.

I plan to still teach Benjamin after he finishes his class (half day) and on the days when there are playgroup sessions, I can bring our girls along and be able to handle 2 kiddos instead of 3 which I have been worrying of earlier. So yes, God plans out everything for us nicely!!!

Looking forward for our Benjamin to start his classes in 2014! And what an awesome God we have!

**Personal notes: Apologies but due to my paranoia of privacy and security of myself, my family and my kiddos, I am not going to reveal what is the playgroup name, the kindergarten name, the area and so on. Apologies but like I said, I am really paranoid and with info like this being shown in public, I hope you can understand my reasons for doing so.

The last I wrote about our kiddos' playgroup session was on the last day of September 2013 (I actually blogged 1-2 weeks in advance) sharing my bittersweet memories that I won't be bringing our 2 kiddos to their church playgroup sessions as our 3rd baby is due then and I will be busy for some time settling down with 3 kiddos then.

First week of October, our 4.5 years old already asking me when will we be going to the playgroup session. I feel like a crappy mum for not being able to bring our kiddos there!

Second week of October, I was so tempted to bring our kiddos there when I backed out last minute after seeing quite a number of mummy friends sharing that their children and classmates are down with cough, flu and cold. It wasn't that I'm afraid our 2 kiddos will get it, I'm more worried that they got it and brought back the virus home and infect our newborn. So plan delayed.

Third week of October, again, backed out last minute due to the viral season still lingering.

Last week of October, I decided this is it. This is the final session for 2013 as the playgroup center follows the national school holidays session whereby schools will be closed from mid November until early 2014. I didn't see anymore postings from mummies about kiddos falling sick so I thought this is just right. Discussed with hubby for him to take care of baby Carolyn for an hour while I bring Benjamin and Alyson to their playgroup session for the last hour activities (we missed the storytelling session as we were late).

I still remember how excited Benjamin was the night before when I told him if he behaves and goes to bed early and wakes up early, mummy will bring him and Alyson to playgroup session. His face lit up literally and he reserved his Spiderman clothes for the playgroup session!

Like I mentioned earlier, we missed the storytelling session since we were a bit late. When we arrived, it was time to queue up to wash hands for snacks. Some mums were surprised to see me bringing our kiddos (for Chinese, I should still be couped up at home for confinement period) and they were surprised to see me being out and about so fast.

After the snack session, the kiddos had a short freeplay session where they get to play with some bricks (refer picture #1) while the parents and caretakers have a short tea break. I didn't join in the tea break as usual as I prefer to be near my kiddos and watched out after them (yeah, I know, I'm like a mama hen!)

The final activity for the day is costume play where all of us went upstairs into this room, all prepped up with jewelleries and costumes for parents to choose for their kiddos to try and wear and take pictures and simply just have fun!

Alyson went straight to the makeup table in the center and sat right into one of the chairs and got busy decorating herself! (refer picture #2)

Wow! I honestly didn't know where she learned all this from since I'm never the type of person to do any make up at all! (*Note: Probably she got it from my mother-in-law as our kiddos are used to seeing her getting ready with makeup and stuff in front of her makeup table)

I managed to take some pictures of our kiddos trying out the costumes and jewelleries they liked. (refer picture #3) I also snapped a picture
(refer picture #4) which surprised me and brought a smile to my face, I finally saw my 4.5 years old boy approaching a little girl in the playgroup center and heard him saying 'Hey, can I be your friend?' Wow! Social milestone!

You see, like his mummy, our boy is very shy and reserved with strangers but to see him ditching this shyness and approaching a girl asking whether he can be her friend, and mind you, I also snapped a picture of the little girl looking surprised hearing his question and then she went on to flipped her skirt sideways blushing at the same time, so so so cute! I hope this will continue and our boy will finally be able to make some new friends!!!

Looking forward for 2014 playgroup sessions!

**Personal notes: Apologies but due to my paranoia of privacy and security of myself, my family and my kiddos, I am not going to reveal what is the playgroup name, the area and so on. Apologies but like I said, I am really paranoid and with info like this being shown in public, I hope you can understand my reasons for doing so.

I started my breastfeeding journey since March 2009, when our 1st child was born and I never stopped breastfeeding since then. I breastfed our 1st child past 1, 2, 3 years old, throughout my 2nd pregnancy, then went on to tandem nursed our first 2 kiddos for 1.5 years until our 1st child self-weaned at 45 months old. As for 2nd child, she is still nursing right now at 2 years old, I nursed through my 3rd pregnancy and currently tandem nursing our 2nd and 3rd child since 1st October 2013.

With all these experiences gained in my breastfeeding journey, I decided to pen down the critical phases which I think contributed to a successful breastfeeding journey.

For my 1st post, I will start off with: the 1st hour after giving birth to your baby.

Yes, a new mum will normally starts producing breastmilk around day 4-5 after labor but that does not mean you have to wait till day 4-5 to start breastfeeding! I will always advice new mums to start latching immediately after delivery! Even though your body has yet to start producing milk, starting on with the latching will send signals to your brain that, yes, your body need to make milk FASTER! And of course, latching early will also help baby to practise his latching technique and help YOU in your breastfeeding techniques too.

Here's a picture of me breastfeeding my half hour old baby Carolyn. If I have my camera or handphone with me I would've snapped an earlier photo but too bad, don't have them with me and can only rely on my hubby to take the picture (and he was busy answering calls and announcing to everyone on the arrival of our baby)

Now, the birth hospitals you are in also play a huge part in making sure you are off to a successful breastfeeding journey. If you are determined to breastfeed your child, please make sure you inform the hospital staff beforehand that you want your baby to be breastfeed and no formula feeding whatsoever. There are hospitals (private ones especially) which will feed formula milk to your baby so you need to make sure to inform the staff if you do not want this arrangement.

Also, do note that baby actually do not need feeding for the first 4-5 days. Think... our breastmilk comes on day 4-5, so Mother Nature intends for all things to be sync and work for each other in the right time. There is no need to panic that baby is hungry just because he/she is crying! Think, your baby has been comfortably coccooned in your womb for 9-10 months in total darkness, no sound, no smell etc and to be born suddenly into a world of bright lights, loud sounds, hot/cold environment etc of course baby will cry!

If you already caved into feeding formula to baby in the 1st hour itself, it is already jeopardising your breastfeeding journey! A newborn baby's stomach is VERY VERY small only and if you are not careful, you may overfeed the baby and too much feeding will expand baby's stomach and this is a vicious cycle. Stomach gets bigger with extra feeding, you need to feed more next round, so on and so forth.

There are new parents who, under pressure and influence from old folks will give in to supplementing with formula since mum is not 'able' to produce 'enough' breastmilk for baby. Do also take note that formula milk is made from cow's milk - milk meant for calf, not human baby. So it will take longer time for baby to digest the formula milk due to the higher protein content in the formula milk (which is easier to digest if it is drank by a calf) So we get the wrong perception that baby is sleeping well because he/she is taking formula milk compared to a baby who is taking breastmilk who wakes up more frequently - because human's milk is easily digested by baby and when a baby nurse, he/she will automatically stop when he/she is full (so no overfeeding here!)

To sum this post up:

Critical Phase For Successful Breastfeeding Journey : the 1st hour after giving birth to your baby.

• Starting on with the latching will send signals to your brain that, yes, your body need to make milk FASTER!
  

• Latching early will also help baby to practise his latching technique
  

• Latching early will help YOU in your breastfeeding techniques too

• Please make sure you inform the hospital staff beforehand that you want your baby to be breastfeed and no formula feeding whatsoever

That's all for my 1st post in the critical phase for a successful breastfeeding journey!

Feel free to ask and share if you have questions or feedback!