Breastfeeding: personal commitment to my baby

I have been on my breastfeeding journey for more than five months now. It was a personal choice to do this. My husband has always been asking me when I was still pregnant if I was sure about it. He said we can afford to feed our Baby Princessita with formula, so there's no need to stress about breastfeeding. I appreciate that there was no pushing to utilize formula, nor to breastfeed from anybody else. My husband and my family left the decision making to me. I did my own research and contacted some Mommy friends who are on the same journey. I asked them the things I should do to get myself ready, and how to sustain my supply.

Well, I may not be abundantly blessed with milk supply, (abundantly - meaning I have a fridge full of milk stash), but I can confidently say that I have enough supply for my Baby Princessita. This is very obvious on her chunky built now. I don't have any back up stash as I am directly feeding my baby. Since last month when my supply decreased during my period, I stopped pumping as I wasn't getting any nor was my baby happy about the amount she was getting during that week. She was actually crying every time she was feeding, maybe because she was not getting enough. And I swear there was no breast engorgement the whole time. Panic was what I felt, so I consulted the internet and found out that it is normal to decrease supply while having a period and when you're on the pill - (guilty for both! I actually gave up the pill and told my husband to be very "disciplined".)

As of now, my baby and me are happy about my milk supply. And I hope not to experience the same last month.

Breastfeeding especially here in the kingdom is a commitment. Women should always be in their Abaya, so feeding in public is a dilemma. People are very conservative here, and Men are 'different" (so they say!). So it is not easy to just pop out your breast every time your baby cries. So basically, what I normally do is any of the following, whichever works at that very moment:

• make sure that Baby Princessita is full before we leave home.
• or I feed her on the way to our destination while still in the car.
• bring my nursing cover, and look for a restaurant that has an almost secluded location.
• or worse, feed her in the female toilet. Well not necessarily in the cubicle, but in that area. Thank goodness the toilet areas are usually big and far from the common walkways (where there are men and conservative others). Normalized breastfeeding is still uncommon to most countries, and I am sure it's gonna take a long while to happen here.
• before, I used to bring pumped milk and put them in bottles, however, now she is rejecting the bottle. She doesn't feed on it but just plays with it. Oh it's crazy!
• If all else fail, we go back to our car and feed her there.

But I have made it work for more than 5 months now. I have never been this proud about myself! When people commend how healthy my baby is, you should see my proud smile! :)

Until when am I willing to breastfeed her? Well, it's all up to my Baby Princessita! :)

My chunky Baby Princessita!

Well, hello to me!

Hi blogworld!


All these thinking, typing, blogging seem so new to me again... My last post was in 2011, when I still had the freedom in my hands during my stay in Japan. Now, everything has mostly changed... It is actually difficult to connect from the last post to this new entry... Creating a new blog was on top of my mind, but couldn't give up my previous entries... So I just decided to rename my blog from "malditang inhinyera" to "domestic royalty"... since this blog will be mostly about the random things about my new life as a Stay At Home Queen Mummy in my own royal domestic kingdom --- from my family life, motherhood, parenthood, fashion, shopping, and everything in between!

Forwarding you 4 years from my last post, currently here are some updates about my so-called new life:

• Topping my list... I have two wonderful daughters, Princess Ate who's a 5yo and my Baby Princessita who's 5mo young.

• Secondly... DRUM ROLLS PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!
  ....................
  I am now a SAHM!!!I have given up my long, 11-year career as an Engineer/Procurement Lead in a Japanese Oil and Gas Company. Without regrets I should say. I know it's cliché, and some people think that it is a woman's defense mechanism to say that, but that's how I really feel. I am more fulfilled now. There are no mornings where I feel like hating to wake up and get ready. Some days are monotonous, like every one else had, but mostly, I love waking up to my girls and being able to witness their everyday life, hone them to how I want them to be, and give all the attention they deserve. What job can top that?!
• AND...I have no Nanny...Yes! I do everything now! (according to an invisible schedule that I assume to follow! Duh! I have no other boss than myself, so let me do things as I please WHENEVER I want!)
• We are now based in the middle east.

photo from http://humanandnatural.com/img-caravans-rub-'al-khali-desert-saudi-arabia-4103.htm

• What else.... hmmm...I have not bought any pointed shoe for almost a year now, but have loaded some pairs of sneakers, Crocs, Fitflops, and rubber shoes for my daily errands.
• Have given up most of my formal/office bags and kept those which can be considered as
  "diaper bags" and "mall bags" - which basically fits my wallet and phone.
• But surprisingly, now I have time to use my make ups, specially my lippies! Hah!
• Oh! One of the very few things that didn't change, I am still on the heavy side.. still trying to lose weight, which is more difficult now because I am breastfeeding, and I still have all my stubborn pregnancy fats!
• I still have a long list of "EXCESS" as we call it... like new swimsuits that will never seem to fit; gym clothes that haven't been to any gym; watches which I can't seem to have enough of; etc! and now that I have a new baby,  Baby Princessita , cloth diapers were added to the list! Well those are her "EXCESS" anyway! But just last night, ROYal King reminded me, more like warned me, (with that warning look! uh-oh!) to stop buying CDs during our vacation this coming July in Ph.

Well that's all I can think of the moment... There are lots of topics in my head, that seem to have built up through all these years, and I am listing them up now in my notepad so that I don't miss a thing to share!

Okay, dinner time now... my Princess Ate is throwing a fit, and wants to eat!

Sharing our dinner tonight... Dried Chicken Adobo! Yummm!

Buh-bye!