What One Can Do

As I watched this, I cried and cried. Hugger, Juan Mann (pun for One Man), goes round hugging in Sydney. Think his campaign is going world-wide. Read about it here and watch his interview. For those in Sydney @ the moment, Monday's declared 'A Day of Hugging' and the city will be hugged at noon. :)

Some people might cringe at this movement, but recalling the fact that there are people who exist without experiencing much human touch is very painful. According to Hugs Therapy (actually Virgina Satir, family therapist), research shows that "we need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth."

Just one person can have such a huge rippling effect on the world - read especially the comments on the youtube site.

Have you hugged someone today?

Development

It's been a while since I posted on Abby's development. Actually I should record Shalom's also. While digging through old entries, I realised I haven't recorded enough. Argh. Partly I don't want this to be used as a competitive benchmark because it's actually a bad idea. We all should push toward Ability Driven education, instead of competition driven. Anywayz...

Abigail is almost fully toilet-trained, except that she can't really undress yet. Otherwise, she will let us know that she needs to 'Pass Urine' (a development from Pah-Ring), actually go on the toilet bowl with the Nuby Toilet seat (good gadget, highly recommended. From Kiddy Palace @ $9.90 after discount. Original price at $14.90. Place under Toilet bowl ring to prevent child from falling from seat if potty seat slips.), wipe herself (I'll wipe her after that) and then flush. She can put on her own panties and shorts. She can also differentiate between shorts and pants... Heh. She's still figuring out how to put on her top though, and it's really cute. She combs her own hair and my hair as well. We shower together, and she learns a lot by watching and my running commentary (sometimes only).

She can also put on and take off her shoes and sandals. Scary thing is - she is ULTRA-meticulous. When she puts them on, she'll dust her feet with her hand first before putting on each side of her shoe/sandal. As for taking off, she'll take one off, velcro the strap properly and then remove the other one. Then she'll put the both together and place them at their proper place. If she's taking off her socks, she'll tuck each sock into each shoe before putting her shoes back properly. Wow.

Language-wise, she's actually developing the SVOCA (Subject-Verb-Object-Complement-Adverbial) full set. E.g. Abigail (Subject) put (Verb) books (Object) on the table (Complement) properly (Adverbial). But she doesn't really speak like that all the time. Usually it's SVO which is really good! She'll add adverbs in whenever she thinks is appropriate. :)

As for my darling Shalom, he's a real charmer. He can act really well too! HE hasn't been feeding well, and I think it's caused by the thick coating on his tongue. Will get the medication from MIL to remove coating. Our actor's latest stunt is to feign choking whenever he sees the milk bottle or when it's near his mouth. He drinks only about 3-5oz eversince he started on the second med on monday. And MIL is not too happy about the PD's medicine. Oh well.

Here's the Granny Award winning performance by Shalom:



Just to explain the video abit: He got tired of drinking milk after drinking about 3oz then started his 'choking'. So each time the bottle goes near his mouth (or even getting him to hold his own bottle), he'd start choking. Milk doesn't even get near his mouth (except for the third attempt). Then when I announced 'All Done!' you could see the relief, confirmed when I sat him up. He's been doing it the past two days, first when he was with MIL, then with Lina. MIL couldn't help but laugh coz this little fella is too cute!

Child Centred Time

I had an experiment a couple of days ago. During the first experiment, I dictated what Abby should play and how she should play it. Ben sat through the results of the findings as one who had to withstand getting his nails torn apart by durian thorns. It was AWFUL. I was in pain, because it had been a terribly frustrating experience. I almost ended up hitting Abby because she deliberately did the things I told her not to, like use her lollipop as a crayon on the high chair and jumping at the edge of the bed. Both of us were exasperated with each other. It was very bad group work.

The next day, I tried the other approach. I took on the roles of the observer, helper and cheerleader. I watched how she played, assisted her whenever she had difficulty and cheered like mad whenever she did something right. It was an AWESOME time! We had so much fun! And she learnt so many things! :)

It felt like an Ezzo vs What I learn in NIE - Parent-directed vs Student centred approach. In the former, the teacher/parent decides what the child should learn and how to learn it. The other method focuses on the child, allows the child to take responsiblity over his/her own learning and the teacher no longer disseminates information and acts as if she's the queen of the classroom. Instead, she helps. It requires so much more. But it is really more rewarding. I really don't know how things will turn out with MOE doing away with EM3 and implementing subject-banding instead (as announced today in the news). The only downside is the stress the kid has to go through during post-evaluation after Foundation/Standard to move to Standard if he or she was being posted to Foundational level. Oh well. At least parents have the final say. Actually, that's a really scary thought.

ARGH!*!*! TEETH!$^%#&%!!!!!!

Had a great conversation and evening with Ben last night. Then we hit the pillow. Before I could fall asleep, Shalom stirred. Brought him over to our bed and I thought it would be 'business as usual'. BUT. Last night he was rather fidgety and kept CHEWING ME!!!!! His two bottom pearly whites are showly clearly, and his emerging upper left is also making its grand entrance. Each time he turned away and back, he'd almost latch on but chew and then let go. And each time he did that, I'd jolt right out of sleep into extreme awakeness. And he kept going at it until I actually yelled! (Or complained loudly rather.) Then he stopped and kwai kwai suckled and slept. The advice of stuffing his face in wouldn't have worked because he wasn't holding on biting. He just kept chewing. ARGH. God help me.

Climbing out of the Pit

Praise the Lord. The children are recovering. Abby's way better and Shalom doesn't wheeze as much. We're returning to the pd for a check up today to note their progress. I'm still on antibiotics, which I conveniently forgot about for the whole of yesterday. :(

It's term break, and I finally managed to draft a schedule. Ben & I had a great weekend. We took time out for a date and a movie (free, compliments from our insurance advisor Jenny who's a GREAT(!) consultant :D). We watched Singapore Dreaming which is probably finishing this weekend. I'm so proud of that movie. I'm supposed to tell 10 people about it. So I think I have. :D It's about a Singaporean family, and the storyline is so familiar. Moral of the story, loosely translated from the China woman in the show, "You singaporeans give up your dreams to do something you do not like, while we Chinese do the things we don't like to realise the dreams we have." She was a beer lady who later billed CK (Lim Yu Beng) $100 for the advice she dished out. Wah. More expensive than counsellor. But damn effective. I like humanoidinterface's personal reflection of the movie. Ben thinks the bro-sis duo in the film is dysfunctional because of attachment disorders. I think the movie can be read at so many levels. It hits too close to home. And it's a typical Singaporean family. What struck me also was the way the mother (Alice) gave part of her late husband's winnings to his undisclosed 'other family'. But what was unreal was the way that woman wore the same pair of earrings to the the dead man's wake. Erhm... we don't usually dress up or even put on make up to Chinese wakes. So... maybe she wore the earrings for sentimental reasons. (The patriach gave the same pair of earrings to his wife when he won the $2million toto jackpot, so the earrings were used as a giveaway indication to reveal the status of 'the other woman' at the wake. But anywayz...

We had a very stress-free weekend. Came home after lunch (although I was in a terribly foul mood for the strangest reasons which I am still clueless about) and we finally wrote down goals for the next 3 months. It's really quite exciting! Heh, and we got up at 6am this morning for our morning run! I felt like puking though. The whiffs of doo poo kept hitting me in the face, and my mental stamina is close to zero. And, who said Singapore does not have homeless people? We ran past this old man who was sleeping on the park bench. What can we do? Any suggestions to help him? :)

I hope Ben's recommendation to help me overcome several management problems will break my barriers. Right now I need the breakthrough badly. Otherwise I might slip right back into the pit again.

Tired. Really Tired.

Haven't been resting well. Too undisciplined. Energy level kicks in only after the kids are asleep - guess the playing helps me to recharge... and by the time I get into the swing of things (ie work) it's past midnight. I get a little done, and it's 1plus, almost 2. Then I have a 8.30 class the next day. I really have no idea how to adjust my body clock. Thank God the term break is here. I MUST HAVE ORDER IN MY LIFE.

Time to re-align my life. Amidst the chaos. Brought my two precious to dr ong (PD) today. Wanted to save $$, so went to polyclinic for the both of them last week and this week. Shalom's finished one course of Amoxyxilin - 7 days, and still unwell. Checked today AND HE HAS BRONCHITIS. Very phlegmy lungs. Brought the nebulizer machine for him to inhale at least 4 times a day, 4 hourly interval. Has a cocktail of medication to take - the BOTH of them. For Shalom, it's especially tricky. Can't take med at least 1/2 hr after his feed coz he tends to spit up quite a bit. For the nebuliser, S can't take any thing 1/2 hr before AND after the inhalation coz he'll most likely be spitting out his phlegm that's being dislodged from his lungs. Poor baby. Heart really break. I was awoken this morning by his wheezing. I was getting frantic coz it reminded me of asthma. When my bro was young, about 3, he was wheezing the whole day. When my mum came home, I got a huge scolding from her because of HIS wheezing! She asked me why I didn't tell her that he was wheezing. All along I thought he had either a blocked or very clogged nose. Never in my life have I heard asthmatic wheezing (I was only 10 years old) but ever since then, I jump whenever I heard any wheezing at all. Anyway, back to money - wanted to save money so brought the kids to polyclinic twice. Plus me twice. But today's pd visit busted everything. $270 total for the both of them. (Could hear MIL's silent grumbling when she asked, "How much?" Coz she complained that dr ong's really expensive. But I'd rather spend this on the kids' health that on another set of pots or typical fancy chinese dinner. Different priorities lah. Anyway not spending her money.) But thank God S doesn't have to be admitted to hospital. I think that'll be traumatising for everyone. I'm so glad to be sleeping with him tonight. He seems to be running a fever though. God please heal him.

As for my messed up life, I'm making a few adjustments. Hopefully they'll be permanent. I need to take more control over my life. As if I'm not a control-freak yet.

A Lifestyle We Can't Afford

Sep 18, 2006
SITNews: Paying for a lifestyle they can't afford
by Nur Amira Abdul Karim

UNDERGRADUATE Chua Wei Jun, 22, is majoring in finance - but his own accounts are in a mess.
He is deep in debt: He owes $600 in mobile phone bills and close to $3,000 in credit card payments.

He is one of a growing number of young Singaporeans who are losing control over their spending. They are borrowing money from banks, going wild with supplementary credit cards and tapping friends for loans.

Mr Chua's troubles began when his father gave him a supplementary credit card on his 21st birthday.

Since then, he has used it to buy a pair of Gucci shoes ($800), a PDA phone ($1,000), an iPod video ($500), branded clothes ($800) and a digital SLR camera ($1,900).

He also borrowed $600 from a cousin and $400 from his best friend to pay his credit card instalments and phone bills.

His parents have refused to bail him out.

His mother, Mrs E. Chua, said: 'My husband and I are very disappointed with our son's behaviour and we don't want to encourage it by helping him pay his outstanding bills.'

He is now giving tuition, earning about $800 a month, $550 of which he spends servicing his debts.

His cellphone line has been disconnected and he now uses a pre-paid card.

The only child of a restaurant manager and a housewife is seeking help to curb his compulsive spending habits.

The undergrad said: 'I have been seeing a counsellor in school about my problems. Some days, I can't sleep worrying about my debts.'

While Mr Chua's parents are aware of their son's debt problems, some young people YouthInk spoke to have managed to keep their financial woes fairly quiet.

Ms Suriyah M.A., 19, owes close to $2,000 to three friends for helping her finance a trip to Bali.

The Institute of Technical Education student went there for a week-long holiday, staying in a four-star hotel and splurging on partying, wakeboarding and diving lessons.

Her parents still think the trip was paid for by the school.

Ms Suriyah said: 'My parents would never let me go if they knew I had to pay for it. So I just looked for a way to finance it on my own.'

The nursing student, who works part-time at a manicure parlour and earns $700 a month, believes she can pay off her debt soon.

But fresh graduate Tan B.L., 24, has bitten off a bit more than he can chew.

Currently without a job, he saw his two-year-old Mazda sedan repossessed recently because he defaulted on his monthly instalment payments.

He owes $3,500 to the car dealer and has been threatened with legal action.

The aspiring model said: 'I wanted a flashy lifestyle - and I'm paying the price. I don't want to be sued. I can't afford to have such a stain on my record.'

Some other youngsters are in debt, too, but for less frivolous reasons.

Mr Muhammad Nasir and his friend, Mr Chandran S., both 26, each have $150,000 worth of education loans to repay.

The housemates studied law in the United Kingdom and are now working in a London law firm, each earning £4,000 (S$11,650) a month.

Mr Chandran said: 'Half my salary goes towards paying the loan. I basically live from pay cheque to pay cheque.'

Mr Muhammad, who has three younger siblings, also sends about $1,200 to his parents in Singapore every month.

But he does not see his financial commitments as a burden, 'they're merely my responsibilities'.

Not very many youths here share his sentiments, largely because they do not have a viable exit plan.

Should this trend continue, Singapore youth may share more than a love for pop culture with their American counterparts.

In the United States, young people under 35 have 30 per cent more debt than other age groups.

Said Mrs Chua: 'We should have set a credit limit on our son's card - but we trusted him.

'Hopefully, other parents will be more vigilant.'

The writer is a third-year political science and law student at the Singapore Management University

SLEEPLESS OVER DEBTS
'I have been seeing a counsellor... about my problems. Some days, I can't sleep worrying about my debts.'
MR CHUA WEI JUN, an undergraduate who owes $600 in mobile phone bills and close to $3,000 in credit card payments.

PRICE OF A FLASHY LIFESTYLE
'I wanted a flashy lifestyle - and I'm paying the price. I don't want to be sued. I can't afford to have such a stain on my record.'
MR TAN B.L., 24, a fresh graduate and currently unemployed. He owes a car dealer $3,500 and has been threatened with legal action

Ben and I were discussing about applying for a credit card. Our payslips have never really qualified us for one (mine actually) but recently, Ben's has, but we haven't really discussed about it coz we've been living on one paycheck for the last 2.5years. Coming from a family that's been torn apart by bad debt and instant gratification, I am hesitant about committing myself to a 'luxurious lifestyle' and 'instant ready credit'. I was given a vision before - one of a barrel of tar that's covered by a pretty top. It looked gorgeous and when a person fell into it, it was almost impossible to clean off the tar. I think it applies to credit cards also. Living in a generation of instant gratification, it's dumb to be still paying for that meal you ate a few months ago when you can't make the end-of-the-month credit payments and starts snowballing with interest.

So Ben and I have decided. There's really no need for a credit card. We've got a debit card each, and it works even better. There's no end of the month bills to 'look forward' with fear and trepidation to, and we can use the Mastercard facility just as well. Also, debt puts unnecessary strain on the marriage and the family, and life already provides enough strain for us not to add any extra. Also, I've seen how my mother has bailed her ex-husband (incidentally my dad) out countless times, and we've realised that lending money to pay off other people's debt essentially is saying goodbye to our money which we are trying to be careful with. It just isn't fair when we're trying so hard to be careful with our money and have someone whom we can't say no to ask to borrow from us and then possibly fret when we say no. It is not fair. If we lend, we deprive our children and others whom we can bless plentiful blessings. The borrower may think, "If you lend me, you're blessing me!" But we'll be cushioning the borrower from real consequences and the borrower can happily continue the mindless lifestyle. We don't want to pay for other people's stupidity. That's not fair to anyone at all.

As for our own stupidity, we pray that we will tread carefully in the area of finances. None of us dare to overconfidently proclaim that our marriage can withstand the storms of self-inflicted selfish decisions. Instead, we need to protect our marriage so that our children will grow up in an intact family. We really don't need that extra pair of Gucci shoes or the latest gadget. Great to have it if we can pay with budgeted cash, but it doesn't really hurt not to have it. Like the saying goes, "We buy the things we don't need with the money we don't have to impress the people we don't like (or don't know)." Even without a credit card, we already need to pay off personal loans, which we hopefully will clear by the end of next year. (We've already got a taste of being in debt. Sigh. But we won't ask anyone to bail us out coz we deserve to experience being responsible for our own debt.) What more with the game of using cards to roll debt around? We're definitely not susceptible; we're humans, therefore we have to be extremely cautious because we know we may fall into that trap too.

So we've learnt - if anyone (including ourselves) need to be charged for bankruptcy because of our own stupidity, it's not the end of the world. Be charged, clear the debt ourselves and start afresh. We really don't want to burden other people with any debt and deprive them from whatever they deserve for the money they've so diligently been a good steward over. It's really not fair to them.

I Don't Think I'm Mean Enough... :(

Mean Moms
Someday when my children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates a parent, I
will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:

I loved you enough . . . to ask where you were
going, with whom, and what time you would be
home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you
discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you go pay for the
bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, "I
stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."

I loved you enough to stand over you for two
hours while you cleaned your room, a job that
should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment , and tears in my eyes. Children
must learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your actions even when the
penalties were so harsh they almost broke my
heart .

But most of all, I loved you enough to say
NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm
glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.

And someday when your children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates parents, you
will tell them.

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the
meanest mother in the whole world! While other
kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have
cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi
and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat
sandwiches . And you can guess our mother fixed us
a dinner that was different from what other kids
had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all
times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

She had to know who our friends were, and what we
were doing with them. She insisted that if we
said we would be gone for an hour, we would be
gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the
nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us
work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds,
learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry,
empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I
think she would lie awake at night thinking of
more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she could read our
minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then,
life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the
horn when they drove up. They had to come up to
the door so she could meet them. While everyone
else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had
to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of
things other kids experienced. None of us have
ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing
other's property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated,
honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean
parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world
today .
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

Ben & I went to Compass Point this evening with Abby and we let her roam the library. The adventurous one started running around because it was really spacious but she kept homing so we thought she'd be fine. Then she ran too far. She started crying. Ben and I RAN towards her from two different directions. I knew she panicked. Ben was more thoughtful and wondered if she had hurt herself. Later she admitted she was afraid.

Then we were at Kiddy Palace. She kept her eye on us while she wondered around looking at the goodies. Ben said she managed to match a Hello Kitty bowl and cup that were from two distinctly different locations! I thought they were a set! Later, we were about to pay for our items at the cashier but we realised I forgot to take my KP card along. Ben tried to ask the lady if we could still obtain the discount. While we were trying our luck, our little princess actually walked out of the store with a box of toys! We were frantic. She walked in again to the store by herself as Ben dashed out to look for her. I felt sick in the stomach when Ben told me she actually wandered out of the store. We thought she'd stay within the store's premises.

Then as we were queuing up @ the ATM watching her, our brave self-help heroine happily walked off behind this auntie who was quite bewildered as she watched this little girl follow her. Abby walked about 10-15m away then she realised that her parents weren't with her. She turned around to look for us and found us watching her. Then she returned sheepishly. Sigh. I should be more mean! She's really my runaway baby! (That's my nick for her coz she likes to run outta the bath!)

Once again, my life has been spared

Haven't been to school the past few days coz I was ill, but had to go for at least the Maths session today coz... it's maths lah. So, I drove to school in lousy weather. It was raining so I took it easy. Usually I tend to go a little faster and sometimes I have to pump at the same time. But. Today I was a safe driver. No pumps, under the speed limit.

I was on PIE towards Jurong approaching the Clementi Road exit when I realised that the cars on my left were travelling faster. My lane had cars slowing down to filter right to Clementi Road exit, so I wanted to change lanes. However, there was this fella in the blind spot on my left who refused to let me change even though I signalled, so I just remained in my lane. Then I saw something in front. There was this cab facing an odd direction, then it disappeared. As I approached, the cab in front of my slowed down and the next thing I knew, the car had skidded and spun and I was about 120 degrees clockwise from my original orientation! I missed the divider by a few inches. I looked out the drivers window and saw oncoming cars filtering away from my lane. I was stunned, switched on hazard lights and couldn't really decide what to do. Things were happening too quickly. Later it hit me that I didn't hit the divider and drove off shouting "THANK YOU JESUS!" As I started to drive off, I saw one lorry and one cab driver getting out of their vehicles coz they too had spun and hit the railing at other side of the road. Behind me, in my rear view mirror, another cab also spun. It was scary. I almost died. Thank God for His protection, the car didn't spin too wildly. Praise the Lord!

How to Annoy Me

Tell me that whenever I'm home, Abby will not want to take her nap.

Implication: Buzz off. You're in the way.

Excruciation

I never knew I had so much pain inside. So. Much. Anger. I thought I had forgiven. Now I realise it is so hard to do. I find it absolutely disgusting to witness their manipulative and arm-twisting tactic to make the family accept the perpetrator as one of us. The continuous emotional blackmailing and ultimatums set forth are none the better.

Summary of events:
Granny's celebrating 70th birthday bash in november.
Granny's son's getting married to perpetrator ONE WEEK BEFORE BIG BIRTHDAY BASH. (So that she'll have full rights as daughter-in-law.)
Granny wants us (mum, bro & myself) to attend birthday bash.
I told her if she's going, it'll be painful for us to go. So we're not going.
Granny almost in tears threatens to disown us if we do not turn up.

It is damn painful. A sick kind of numbing pain. I think I'm gonna throw up.

I love this photo!

Isn't he absolutely gorgeous? :D

Thank you for flying with Benaudz Air.

"
Ripped from hubby's site. :)

"Look at what our satisfied customers have got to say.. Er, well we shall let the picture speak for itself. :)

*Sick*

*Sniffle* Ben's sick. Me's sick. Abby's recovering. Shalom's super phlegmy. I've got a deadline due tomorrow at 3.30pm. I'm procrastinating. I know I can get it done in half an hour. But I'm procrastinating. My head's groggy. I can't think.

We did our family shot today at Peter Pan Photography. We had a few almost perfect shots, but did a re-shoot (on the spot) coz none were good. The first batch was deleted. Then Shalom didn't smile for the second batch. :( Sigh. Oh well. It was really quite stressful.

Feeding Shalom

Warning: Breastfeeding talk.

My milk supply has been steadily dropping. During the early days, my supply came in late, like about the 4-5th day. Then I started getting 'abundant'. A few times I could pump out around 9.5-10oz, but that was about 4-5hrly intervatls. I even had the luxury of giving milk away, which I was really thrilled to do so. I really do believe in the goodness of breastmilk. Also, because Shalom was so young then, we thought he should have the freshest, so the 'not so fresh' ones (about 3wks but frozen) were giving away. He was taking an average of 4oz per 3hrly up to about 4months, and increased by an ounce in the fifth month.

Then school started. I tried to arm myself so that I would not give up breastfeeding like I did the last time. I got all the gear - my Medela Pump in Style, ice bag, ice blocks, my bottles, Pumpin Pals funnels, detergent, brush, basin, large ziplock bags and sterilising tablets so that I could sterilise in the car, a shawl for modest pumping and all the other miscellaneous items you'd never think about. My supply started dropping. Now, 5 weeks into school, I am barely hitting 4oz 3-4hrly and Shalom is beginning to take in 6ounces per 4 hourly - 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm. (I feed him at 7am and during the night, we co-sleep.)

And I am also losing weight steadily. It's scary because I haven't been making the effort to lose weight. I am just losing it. I didn't have any idea why. Then I realised. First, my schedule. I pop in breakfast - 2 slices of bread and coffee on the way to school. Lunch is usually a fast deal at the shortest queue whenever possible, or a sandwich to go. Then I get hungry but ignore the hunger pangs coz in about 1-2hours' time, it's dinner and I don't wanna spoil my appetite. Then I hurry through dinner coz Abby's done with hers and I need to settle her. Also, somehow I'm eating lesser for dinner. It's quite dumb actually - I have no idea how much the helpers eat, and so as a matter of courtesy, I'd leave at least one item of everything for everyone. Then I don't eat very much - but my MIL wants me to eat more coz 'there's enough for everyone'. I think I'm beginning to see that the helpers don't get to eat very much, or of everything. But then, why is the old one putting on so much weight?

So for all my meals, I don't really pay much attention to what I'm taking. My only top-up is my 3-in-1 milo before sleep. Pregnancy addiction that's been carried over to the post-pregnant era.

Also, having to conquer the 3-storey staircase several times a day (including forgetting stuff when I'm about to leave the house) also contributes to the mysterious weight loss and milk depletion.

So now, to get more milk, I'm increasing my caloric intake, my water intake (also not enough), Fenugreek supplements, lactating mother's tea (I got it when I was pregnant with Abby but never got round to drinking it till recently :P Dunno whether got expiry date or not.) and pumping ideally every 3 hourly. I'm even pumping on my way home from school so that I can maintain the supply. I'm not sure if the Pumping Pals funnel is actually causing the decrease, so I'm alternating with the traditional pump funnel just to play safe.

I really hope it will start increasing again. My goal is to get 7 ounces every 3-4hourly, because I suspect that's what Shalom wants - he's not very contented after 5 ounces, and we've just upped it to 6. Abby was taking 7 ounces I think during this time or slightly later, and I need more milk to mix in with the cereals which we are starting on the 9th, when he turns 6months.

Genesis 49:25
May the God of your ancestors help you;
may the Almighty bless you
with the blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the earth beneath,
and blessings of the breasts and womb.

Update: Yay! I hit a 7.5ounce at my last pump at 10.30pm! But it was about 4.5hrs after the previous pump. I ate lots during dinner (Ben's Trinity College Alumni gathering) and I think the Fenugreek's kicking in. I'm taking about 4 capsules of 620mg twice a day. Yay! I hope the supply will increase steadily. Otherwise my baby'll suffer. :'(