Category Archives: Being Mummy

No need to pressure yourself

Posted by Misty Mom on 18/10/2010 None comments

I speak this from personal experience and what I felt being a mum who wanted to be just like all the other mums around me, but couldn’t. From the moment I knew I was pregnant with Arianna, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed her for as long as I could, or for as long as she wanted to. To my knowledge even though she was my first, I knew that breast milk was and is the ultimate baby food and if my body could produce it then, it’s what she would be getting.

Of course I had my share of the ups and downs of breastfeeding like any new mum would experience but with time and a lot of help from lactation consultants, and a LOT of patience, both of us got the hang of it and it was smooth sailing all the way for us after that. I treasure those moments and it is a special bond between mother and child. While I didn’t have issues feeding her anywhere…I just couldn’t “pop one out” in public like how most mothers are able to. While many believe that if my child is hungry, why should I care about other people, it it was just something that I couldn’t do although I did try it once. We were at the park in Parramatta and I thought I should try this because apparently, the more often you do it, you overcome your shyness. Sadly while I did manage to feed Arianna at the park that day, it was so stressful for me that I didn’t ever do it again until I had no choice. This was with KR and we were at a festival and way past their dinner time. She was hungry and I had no place to go so I draped a shawl over me and fed her. And once again, it stressed me out. Since then, I haven’t bothered to give it another try.

I’ve seen many mums just pop one out in public and this is without any cover and yet they seem so at ease and I wanted to be like that but instead, I constantly found myself running to the parents rooms to feed the girls and although I didn’t think it was a problem at all for me, I really wanted to just be like the other mums. That said, I’ve fed them both in the car by the roadside many times before but just not out in public like at the supermarket or the parks or in PUBLIC, out in the open. So many times I’ve faulted myself for not being able to be more ‘brave’, for the lack of a better word but you know what….I’ve come to realise that I shouldn’t bring myself down and beat myself up about it cause at the end of the day, however way I choose to feed them, as long as I AM feeding them, that’s all that matters.

So if you’ve ever felt pressured to feed in public coz every other mum you know does it as if it’s second nature, DON’T beat yourself up about it. Know that as long as bub is getting fed, where you do it doesn’t matter. ;) Took me awhile for the whole idea to sink in but now that it has, I feel free! :D

A hard days work…

Posted by Misty Mom on 13/10/2010 None comments

I had some time to myself this afternoon after the girls went for their nap and I was reminded of the time when I used to hold a job. Although it was what we call, an assigment aka temp/casual work, I still got paid. And I used to love the feeling of independance financially, at least. But at the same time, my mind would drift off to wonder what the kids were up to back home. Did they have a proper lunch? Are they dealing well without me around? How is Ted coping with the kids? The mind works in the most distressing way when you let it loose that I had to literally tell myself to let it go. It will be alright, THEY are alright.

Back then, I used to hold IT Jobs so, you really do have to concentrate on what you’re doing or you’d be in trouble if mistakes were made. I don’t think I ever screwed up big time but no one is perfect and in general, I was happy that I was given the chance to experience something that I hadn’t. I normally go for admin based jobs or office management. But after doing a couple of different types of jobs, I think I’ll really stick to admin coz honestly, it’s what I’m best at! ;)

I’m in no hurry at all

Posted by Misty Mom on 11/10/2010 None comments

And I’m referring to weight lost post-baby and not this current stage of pregnancy! lol :P I’m quite happy to welcome the little fella after 21/10 coz that’s when Mum arrives and once she does, he can too. Otherwise, my initial plan of getting induced on the duedate remains. I think we’re pretty much decided on that and since my doc is also open to this option, I might as well make the best out of it.

How many times have you seen this “click here to lose belly fat fast” around? I’ve seen it many times and I guess if I was looking for an option, I’d be clicking on it in a heartbeat but thankfully, Mother Nature is such that I don’t have to worry about losing weight after bub comes just yet. If you did not know, the best and fastest way to lose all that baby weight is to breastfeed fulltime. Yes, breastfeeding your baby fulltime helps with weight lost and helps you get back in shape faster, and it also helps to contract the womb back to its original form. More importantly, it’s a special bond between mother and baby that is so special, I can’t emphasize how important it is that if you can breastfeed, please do. I am definitely looking forward to it and this time around, I really hope and pray that we make it pass the 8 months mark.

Up till today, it still hurts to remember the day KR totally refused me on the spot and never looked back, not once. She totally self wean and refused to nurse even once. I was shocked, totally coz I did not expect it at all. Arianna was still nursing when we conceived KR and it was only because I was feeling sore that I stopped nursing her. Otherwise, I think we’d still be at it and I wouldn’t have minded it one bit! I don’t really want to brag but I think I should be happy that I didn’t really put on a lot of weight after the kids – or at least I’d like to think so! lol :P

Us at home on the balcony
This is me with Arianna when she was just 2 months old – I think I look alright. :)

So, I’m REALLY REALLY banking in on nursing as long as JR wants too!!

Only 33 days to go???

Posted by Misty Mom on 24/09/2010 6 comments

I just noticed that pregnancy ticker says that I got 33 days before I’m due. WTH??? Where did the time go? Was I out cold and just woken up?? LOL :P Omg….I really cannot believe that I’ve been preggers that long and it’s even closer to the fact that it will all be over before I can even blink again! One good thing though, I can finally touch my toes if I bend down. LOL

To be absolutely honest, we are SO unprepared for JR this time around. I mean, just last night I was talking to Ted and telling him how we are taking things SO lightly with JR example I’ve not washed or taken the newborn clothes out yet, the bassinet needs a good dry in the sun – not done, move KR into Arianna’s room – not done, we’ve got no newborn nappies – yet, and here I am blogging about this! What we do have is 3 new onesies and a pair of overalls that I sewed recently. :P

Just look at us! We are SOOOOOO relax about the whole thing!! Even my hospital bag is not packed, can you believe it?? And there I was advising Annie that she should pack her hospital bag at least a month before her duedate. :P But nevermind, I got one more day before I hit my target. Hahaha..actually, I’ve decided that I will, I MUST pack my hospital the minute we get back from my 36weeks check up next week. After all, Arianna came at 38+weeks so I really don’t know what to expect from JR. Perhaps for ONCE, he will be on time. :P

The things I’ve been doing the most is sewing up clothes for the girls mainly because once bub comes along, I won’t have the time to just sit and sew although I’ll be so tempted to. Even with my mum here to help, I think it will take time to organise myself and get things in order, and get the girls used to having a new bub around as well. Both of them are screamers at the worst of times and I can just see the both of them freaking out when bub cries and then he’ll most likely return the screams from stressing out due to THEIR screams. OMG, it’s going to be a fun-tastic circus here!!! >.<

And here's another random thought - I am actually REALLY REALLY excited to see JR. It's like I can't envision what he'd look like and it's just so exciting that I will get to see him in a month or less. I'm like, "I can't wait to see him!!!". Let's not hope for another overdue bub pls....that waiting game with KR was hell! It's bad enough that I was told he has a big head - what's with boys and their big heads?? Being overdue is just karma biting me back for whatever pain I put my mum through I reckon. :/

O well, enough random thoughts for now. I've got to figure out how I'm going to get my head around the fact that I don't got my raspberry leaf tea pills!!!! Apparently they have been discontinued. This is just SO not good for me mentally coz although I've been told that it doesn't really do anything, my mental being is hanging on it! >.< Will have to see if there are alternatives or not….

And Mummy turns 32

Posted by Misty Mom on 22/09/2010 1 comments

Well, I’m not sure if I’m suppose to celebrate the fact that I’m growing OLDER but what I do want to celebrate is the fact that I’ve lived another year to see my children grow up and to welcome a new member into our family in a few weeks time, and hopefully celebrate more years to come of course. :) I can’t believe I’m 32 this year…I don’t feel that age at all but I have to accept reality la! My younger, happening days are still fresh in my mind, thank goodness for that but more often than not, it takes awhile to refresh them. And this makes me think how time has really passed me by.

I am content and happy where I am today although there are a couple of things that I have not yet fulfilled. I’ve always wanted to work with animals and that desire is still very much alive although I don’t see it happening so soon coz I really don’t know where to start but SOMEDAY, I will definitely make this dream come through. I still dream of owning our own house someday. After all, with a new house, I can also hope for my own sewing room! :P What can I say…I’ve finally realised that I really enjoy sewing and its something that I won’t stop doing, at least for time being.

I am happy that I have been blessed in so many ways that I could go on and on and bore the heck out of you but one things for sure, the best things that has happened to me up till today is definitely the work of the Lord. Without Him in our lives, I think it would not be as good as it is today. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again….we may not be filthy rich (though we hope that someday we will be!) but we have everything we need to lead a comfy and happy life and, honestly from the bottom of my heart, I really couldn’t ask for more.

Here’s to another blessed year…. :)

Because I’ve been there….

Posted by Misty Mom on 20/09/2010 1 comments

I know what it feels like : the frustration, the desperation, the feeling of helplessness…you name it, I’ve felt it when we had settling and sleeping issues with Arianna. Hence, Annie….I know what you’re going through and I’m so glad that I could help in a small way. :)

While I cannot say that life has always been a breeze for me (I’ve had serious issues, ups and downs, and all that) but I have to admit that while all the bad that has happened to me, I reckon I’ve had more good things that has happened in my life than bad and I really can’t ask for more. It was another blessing for me because I had the girls here in Sydney and the after-birth support is excellent here. They have in-house lactation consultants and even a childhood nurse for you to go to if you had issues with your child in any way. Here, they have all sorts of helplines that cater to every single problem you could EVER experience with your new baby and for that I am thankful.

However, I don’t know if I can say the same about what goes on back home. As I was sending this link on settling baby and watching out for tired signs to Annie, I kept thinking about how she would not have suffered as she did with bub if she had the support that I had. Tis a real pity really….especially when you have no idea who to turn to. Of course you have your mum or aunt or a female family member who you could turn to but you’ll be surprise how much they don’t know despite having children of their own. I reckon back in those days, things were worst! At least, these days, the least you have, if not a proper organisation or group, is perhaps an online forum you could join. Perhaps I am underestimating what goes on back home, who knows….I do hope there are such groups and organisations out there that do provide help and support to new mum/parents because those first few weeks are normally the hardest and new parents are tricked into thinking that all bub does is feed, poop and sleep. Heck, if it were only that easy, earth’s population would have doubled or perhaps tripled by now! LOL

The evil Mummy

Posted by Misty Mom on 19/09/2010 None comments

Being a parent is never easy. Sometimes the decisions that you make don’t really help you get the result that you’re after. A simple example would be me, being the evil mother who forces her kids to have afternoon naps even if they don’t want to sleep. While some parents think that is it not necessary for their kids, I, on the other hand feel that it is an absolute must. 2 main reasons why I stick very firmly by this decision is because when MY kids don’t get their afternoon nap, they turn into cranky, bratty kids who make me just want to give them up to the gypsies and, as a SAHM, I need my time-out from them as well. As much as I love my babies…..I need my sanity to stay alive and not break their little necks when they get all whingy and whiny.

A lot of my friends just let their kids do what they want to and it works fine for them and I don’t doubt that perhaps that is what works best for them but not for me, ever. Today was a classic example of me pulling off the evil mummy. :P We sent the kids to bed at 1.30pm because they normally go for their afternoon nap between 1.30pm and 2pm, and at 3pm, I could still hear chatterings from Arianna’s room. Now, the same thing happened yesterday and I didn’t do anything about it because I thought, ‘Hey, she’s still resting and that’s the whole idea of an afternoon nap’. BUT the problem was that she most likely fell asleep around 4pm and we had to be getting ready for church at 4.30pm! So you can imagine how upset and tired she was, it was not a pretty sight and it took all the patience and sanity in me to hold it all together. It is no easy feat especially in my current state. So I sure as hell wasn’t going to let that repeat today.

So at 3.15pm I marched into her room and sort of sternly told her, ‘Now you close your eyes and you sleep! No playing in bed, go to sleep and when you wake up, you can watch some tv.’ Then I left the room and at 3.30pm, I heard her singing away! >.< So I marched in there again to find her bear still covering her face (the position she gets into when she wants to go to sleep) but still apparently wide awake and singing, and I told her more sternly this time, ‘ Go to sleep! I don’t want to hear anything from you, no singing…no making noise, no nothing. Close your eyes now and sleep!!’. Sure enough, that worked and she fell asleep. And like clockwork, KR wakes up at 4.30pm and gets to play with Arianna’s toy in peace coz I let Arianna have extra 20 min or so of sleep before I went in to get her at 5pm. And she was F.I.N.E! I was so glad I went screaming at her to go to bed. It may sound harsh and perhaps some parents wouldn’t even agree with what I’m going – perhaps it’s rather old fashion too but I do not stand alone on this. Ted, my mum, his mum…we all agree that the kids need their afternoon nap. Heck, I was forced to sleep every arvo too! And I can tell you that it did me more good than harm. ;) So, sorry girls…as long as I can help it, you’re going to bed every arvo whether you like it or not! :P

There is no such thing as ‘free time’!

Posted by Misty Mom on 01/09/2010 None comments

At least not to me…whatever free time I have, I seem to spend on sewing or tracing out some pattern to sew or rarely, read a book with my feet up!! After all, sewing is my way of relaxing coz I find it extremely therapheutic and definitely helps keep me sane. This is especially when you have 2 toddlers who are FOREVER grabbing toys from one another despite there being a million and one OTHER toys all around them. But no….if KR is playing with X toy, then THAT is the toy that Arianna would also want at that point of time despite the fact that she was happily watching tv seconds ago. Or (on rare occasions) KR would snatch something from Arianna just to ‘join in’ the fun and that in turn will turn into a toddler-fight which includes hair pulling and face scratching! O joy….

No idea where they get this whole hair pulling/face scratching or even the snatching of toys away because we don’t watch violent movies in front of them despite the pile of blu ray movies that we keep neatly stacked up beside the tv, in front of them and they are being constantly reminded to not do those hurtful things to each other. Ted reckons that it’s all part and parcel of their defence reaction which he is most likely right. But honestly, sometimes it just gets ridiculous that I feel like the really bad Mummy for taking stuff away from them coz they can’t share. Of course I am hoping that they will understand that if they don’t share then no one gets to play with the toys. Sadly, it doesn’t work all the time and the irony of it all is, the BOTH of them can tell me…must SHARE toys and yet, they are like NATO, No Action Talk Only. *sigh*

Can’t wait till JR reaches this age and then I get triple the FUN. Yay me. *sigh*

31 weeks 1 day and counting!

Posted by Misty Mom on 24/08/2010 None comments

Omg, I can’t believe how time flies when you’re ‘having fun’! Someone on FB comment on my FB status…fun indeed. lol Well, technically it’s still a ‘honeymoon’ period for me since I am still able to move around without much distress and not THAT huge yet though I gather that I’ll be massive in the next couple of weeks. After all, at my last check up at some 28/29 weeks in Malaysia, bub was merely approximately 1.4kg and now he’s 1.7 kgs and me….I’m 88kgs now and was merely some 84 kgs the last time!! O.O So yes, I reckon I am piling on a fair bit although I don’t really know where it’s coming from since I don’t really eat much or stuff myself silly with that all time favourite line – eating for 2.

At the checkup today, doc was pleased with JR’s progress. All is going well and developing well too. Today’s scan showed him already facing downwards but I reckon with still space in there to do the tango, samba and disco, he’s still be moving about a fair bit before he settles into his birth position which I pray and hope is not sunny side up. That would be bad for me – painful as heck! As if labour itself is not painful enough. :/

Anyway, with things going well with the both of us, we’re scheduled to see the doc in 3 weeks times instead of the usual 2 which is good for us. One less appointment a step closer to D-Day. I couldn’t resist but ask doc about the miraculous raspberry leaf tea pills I have every intention of taking and apparently he doesn’t think it works but at the same time, it doesn’t hurt to take it either hence, I’ll start taking it from 34 weeks onwards.

After all, if it don’t hurt why not right? Plus, I still got my supply here from KR’s time. LOL :P A good reason not to be wasteful….

I miss postcard swapping!

Posted by Misty Mom on 20/08/2010 None comments

Before KR came along, I was very active in Postcrossing. It is like a whole global network of postcard crazy people who sign up to receive postcards. The more you send out, the more you get and I was a regular, posting 5 official Postcrossing postcards and numerous swaps and tags and what-have-yous from their official forum. I was in postcard heaven then! My postbox would never fail to have at least 3 postcards a day – I really made the postman work for his money! lol

But these days, all the swapping has totally ceased. I can’t remember the last time I ever posted one but I did get one last week or so from someone random on FB. She was someone I swapped it many, many, MANY moons ago so much so that I had totally forgotten about her! lol Glad she still remembers me though. I remember that I used to spend a fair bit of money on this hobby of mine. In fact, as a remembrance of those days, I have boxes of postcards I don’t know what to do with. I treasure everyone of them but dont know what to do with them at the moment coz it’s taking up space! Wish I could swap them for money, really….most of these are bought postcards. I rather buy them as well than to be printing postcards out. Although I reckon it’s not such a bad idea to be printing postcards out for special occasions and send it out to family members say for Christmas. I’m still toying about the idea of doing so since there will be 5 of us by then. :) We’ll see how it goes…but it’s definitely a thought! :)