A 9m Journey

Most mothers went through hardship throughout the 1st trimester. Mine lasted till the 3rd trimester for both my kids (boy, how LUCKY I am!). Some even had the worst of morning sickness, bleeding through the 3rd trimester, and much much more other experiences. I had afternoon sickness so far, as it occurs only in the afternoon. I never actually gained weight during both my pregnancies. But, like they say, experiences will make you even wiser. I went through a miscarriage before, so despite the worst afternoon sickness I had to go throughout 9m, it's also a 'good sign' that my baby is developing normally. It just pay off with all those hardship, just to finally give birth to healthy, beautiful kids. So, pregnancy is not just about whining all the way towards 9m, but it's a matter of appreciation."Thank God for giving me this gold opportunity to be a MOM"..

Conceiving and Miscarriage

It seems quite hard to conceive these days. I have no specific tips to be more fertile, but I believe if you practice a good and healthy lifestyle, which includes good eating habits, then have no worries bout conceiving. No point of stressing out yourself, torturing your mind and soul bout getting pregnant as soon as possible. At the end of the day, you'll put your marriage at risk by making it even more difficult to conceive. Just relax and enjoy life with your partner. The time will come when you will have kids of your own.


I recalled the 1st time I was tested for pregnancy. The double positive line appeared vividly, but enough to make me on top of the world. I was a Mom at last! But fate just turned the table over me. As happy as a lark at 1st, I soon learned that my baby wasn't developing normally. At 10months, I had a miscarriage. I was still working at that time, you just couldn't image how miserable I was. I don't feel like going into public. I'm ashamed of myself, towards my family, friends. Everyone knew about the baby coming but now it's gone.


I then seek treatment for both physically and mentally through homeopathy. It works for me and till today, no more drugs for me and my kids, just homeopathy that does the cure. I was pregnant again with my 1st child 3m later.And 2yrs later with my 2nd child.

Colic/Windy tummy

Both my babies experience bad colic.It's worst when the wind just got mobile in tummy and refuse to 'go out'.I had colic myself as a baby.My mom just let me grow through it.In fact, I still experience it till today.But you know what?It's not easy to let your baby grow through it!It's even worst with my 2nd baby.Sometimes, I do feel like a huge mommy octopus, trying to solve 10 task at the same time!Ironically, I appreciate my mama even more..She went through a whole lot of experience to raise me and other siblings.


I tried almost everything to ease the colic, vapourising ointment, gripe water, etc.A friend of mine recently suggests to drop a few flakes of pounded black pepper on the baby's navel right after birth till it dries off.It'll somehow reduce the wind in the tummy.Will try it on my next child.

Jaundice

My 1st child experience it for less than 3d.But with my 2nd child, it prolonged till the end of my confinement period (nearly 44d).It differs with babies, I guess.


The best treatment as my paediatrician used to advice is to breastfed the baby as often as you can and also to expose him to some very early morning sunlight (mere 5-10min,depends on how the baby's skin can handle it).Besides that, I also give a few doses of Chelidonium Majus (Celandine)- a prominent homeopathic liver remedy.It helps to reduce his yellowness a bit.


I've worked in a clinic long enough to witness how jaundiced babies are treated.All the blood pricking and exposure under UV light which could only scales and dries up baby's skin even more.As a mother, I couldn't have the heart to let my kids experience through all that, so I took my paediatrician's advice and stick to breastmilk and early morning sunlight therapy.

Breast feeding and breast engorgement

One good tip I still practiced till now is to spare some frozen cabbage leaves throughout the 1st month of breastfeeding or till you have mastered breastfeeding skills.Its NOT an easy task to breastfed your baby.You may face problems such as little milk, too much milk could also be a problem as it could lead to breast engorgement and later you'll experienced chapped, sored or even bled nipples.The frozen cabbage leaves could somehow ease the engorged pain by just cupping it over your breast.It works for me.I also take Pulsatilla (Wind Flower).3 doses is enough to soothe my engorgement.


And another 1 helpful tip is to continue breastfeeding your baby.The more milk the baby feeds, the better the milk will flow, and soon the engorgement will soothe away by itself.Engorgement is a normal thing for me.It happens during my 1st and 2nd child.Its a normal signal your body shows when more milk need to be produced.Do not dab or soothe the engorged breast with anything warm because it can make pain even more unbearable.Frozen cabbage leaves does the trick.


Breastfed your baby correctly.You won't want to end up with sored nipples.Make sure the whole of the dark area (aureole) fits into your baby's mouth.The baby must not suck in his lips together while feeding.I close an eye on this issue.As a result, I experienced sored nipples and blocked ducts from time to time during my 1st child.