Info: Babywearing

When I was pregnant, I envisioned a baby who lies quietly in his crib, watching the world go by. He would be cooing and smiling at the cute mobile dangling from the crib, entertaining himself while I go about my household chores, run on the treadmill to get rid of the baby fat, cook, eat or watch TV. From time to time I’d look to see how he’s doing, if he’d fallen asleep or if his diapers need changing. He’d only need to be picked up during bathing and feeding time, or when I feel like playing with him. This wasn’t just wishful thinking – this was exactly how my nephew spent his first few months of his life. He’d literally protested when picked up from his bed and preferred to be left alone. When he was bigger, my brother and his wife just put Baby Einstein DVDs on in front of him and left him in the room – he ended up learning his letters as well as hand signals all on his own when he was about two years old.

Unfortunately, the baby I gave birth to had an entirely different idea.

Info – baby swimming (part 1)

We have started to take Jojo swimming since he was around three months old. Once his neck is strong enough to support his head, we took him for a swim using a neck ring. A lot of people seem baffled by the neck ring, and so was I when I first saw it. It’s an inflatable swim ring that is worn around the neck to support baby’s head above water while the rest of his body  move freely in the water. It made sense to me, baby’s head is steady and his arms and legs can do whatever they want while swimming. We tried the arm rings, but only Jojo’s arms floated while the head swayed dangerously to every which way. We also tried the swim ring with seat and leg holes, but Jojo got cold quicker because the upper part of his body is exposed above water,only hips down were immersed. So the neck ring really suited him.
The very first swim session was in Experienced Mom’s swimming pool at her house. We chose to swim at around 3PM when the water’s quite warm after being heated by the sun all morning. Jojo was calm and happy after he took his nap and got fed. We had very little worry as he’s always happy when taking his bath, and true enough he took to water calmly and confidently. He floated happily and was smiling a lot, he wasn’t nervous at all. We made splashes around him and talked to him the whole time. Still, only fifteen minutes later he was already shivering. So we ended the swim, dried him off and had him feed again.

A lot of other new parents I know, particularly Asian ones, were a lot more apprehensive about introducing their infants to the water. They feared the baby would: a) drown, b) get a cold and c) develop infection from the water. In my opinion, these parents were underestimating a baby’s ability and stamina. A baby practically spent 9 months surrounded by water, and at a few months of age a relatively healthy baby still has quite a strong immune system passed on from the mother. As long as we keep a close eye and watch the signs of cold, tiredness and mood, there’s no reason why babies shouldn’t learn to enjoy water as early as possible. In some advanced countries there are even “swim” classes for newborns, where the babies can even dive! But we chose to be cautious and kept Jojo’s head above water at all times during the first swim session, just to keep him in a good mood.

Info: Management of Breastmilk

There are several reasons why breastfeeding mothers need to express their milk:

1. They are working moms who are away from their babies during the day

2. The babies sleep soundly through the night (like mine) so the breasts get full in the night

3. The babies can’t latch on properly (tongue-tied, inverted nipples etc) so they get breastmilk in the bottle

4. To increase or maintain breastmilk production rate – ideally we should empty both breasts after each feeding

5. To relieve breast engorgement

We can express breastmilk by hand (the marmet method), using manual or battery/electricity operated breastpump. I never got the gist of hand-expressing, so I chose to use a breastpump instead. During the first few months when the production rate was still low I used a manual breastpump, then during the peak period of breastmilk production I used an electric breastpump which gave more milk at a faster time. Working moms often chose double pump that can express both breasts at one go, very useful if you have limited time to express at the office. There are also pumps with massage feature to induce the let-down reflex. Nowadays there are myriad of options regarding breastpump types and brands, you’ll need to do a thorough research before deciding to purchase one. Or you can just receive one as a gift and stick with it, like I did.

Info: Breastfeeding

Right from the very beginning of my prgnancy, hubby and I had decided to breastfeed exclusively. We requested in our Birth Plan that no formula or sugar water should be given at the nursery room unless for emergency medical purposes. We also requested that early breastfeeding initiation should take place right after the delivery. We were planning for waterbirth but ended up with a Caesarean section instead – hubby steadfastly stuck to the agreement and followed the nurses to make sure no formula was given to the baby. He even took it up a notch and brought the baby to be breastfed off me at the surgery room even before I regained my consciousness – the ob-gyn was still stitching up my lower abdomen.

At the first attempt, no milk came out for about 15 minutes, and Jojo cried angrily. After a short break we tried again at the recovery room, I wasn’t fully conscious yet so one midwive and one nurse held the baby while Tom hovered near me. This time the colostrum came out and Jojo had his fill for some time. And I’ve been breastfeeding ever since. To this day, baby Jojo has never known formula.

Info: Lotus Birth

Before Jojo was born, hubby and I had decided that we wanted to do Lotus Birth. Our ob gyn is a big advocate on gentle birth, and he was very supportive of our decision. So when I ended up having an emergency Cesarean surgery, we asked if we still could do the Lotus Birth and the doctor okayed it.

Lotus Birth, or non-severence, is the practice of leaving the newborn with his umbilical cord intact until it falls off on its own. The reason we wanted to do this practice is to let the baby get the full benefit of his placenta. The placenta is full of nutrients, by severing the cord after the birth we also cut off the nutrients from flowing back to the baby’s body. Instead of harvesting the cord for cord blood banking (which we couldn’t afford) we chose to let the blood and stem cells flow back naturally to Jojo’s body, giving him all the nutrients and immune systems as it possibly could. 

Info: Introducing The Baby to Your Dogs

I gave birth on Saturday morning and went home on Monday late afternoon. Since we had four robust dogs that had been severely under-exercised since my last trimester, we had to put up a strategy on how to bring the baby home safely. From Saturday to Sunday Tom went home a few times with Jojo’s dirty diapers for the dogs to sniff on to their hearts’ content. This would make them aware of the baby’s scent so they wouldn’t be as excited as seeing a totally new creature. It was a good plan, but we forgot the other excitement factor: they were elated to see me again after three days’ absence. I should have greeted them alone first before introducing the baby. Instead, I sat on the couch with the baby (my body was so sore and I could hardly move without pain) then we let the dogs in. They were beside themselves with joy from seeing me, they tried to jump on the couch to lick my face and nearly knocked the baby on their way! I didn’t think they even saw baby JoJo, they only saw me. I shielded JoJo as best as I could, and with hubby’s help we finally managed to calm them down – as well as calming JoJo’s frantic grandmas who witnessed the incident. Then the dogs started to sniff JoJo, but it wasn’t a new scent so they soon lost interest. JoJo was instantly a member of the pack.

Info: Placenta Burial

Here in Indonesia we believe that the placenta is the baby’s “twin”, that shared the mother’s body for 40 weeks and will continue to be the “guardian angel” throughout the baby’s life. After the birth we honor the placenta by a cleaning ritual and bury it where we want the baby to someday return to when he/she is all grown up. Some bury the placenta in the backyard, some in the church. Hubby and I are both members of Kapal Selam Dive Club, and as well were all sea lovers we have this club tradition of burying the placenta in the ocean. We hope Jojo will grow up to love the ocean and become a scuba diver someday.

My Tips On Pregnancy

Now that I’ve been carrying baby Jojo for nearly nine months, I have tips to share with other moms-to-be out there. Hope they are useful…

Read, browse, learn

Spend some time reading pregnancy books, browse the internet for more information, and write down lists of questions to bring to your doctor. Learn all you can about pregnancy, delivery and childcare. If you are a working mom, also get information about maternity leave and what benefits you can get from your office regarding childbirth.

Get cozy with your obgyn

It’s very important to have a doctor that you are comfortable with and the one you can trust. Don’t hesitate to ask a lot of questions (even stupid ones!), hubby and I have a written list of things to ask my doctor during every visit. If your doctor can’t satisfy your need for openness and discussion, don’t hesitate to switch to another ob-gyn. Ask your friends for recommendation. For me it’s also important to have an ob-gyn who prefers natural birth instead of shoving a caesarean under your nose.

Third Trimester – What’s Going On

As week 29 starts, you’re stepping into the third and final trimester of your pregnancy. The fetus grows larger and the body organs mature. The brain and nervous system dare developed, the lungs practice breathing, the tastebuds can differentiate sweet and sour tastes, bowels are functioning.  The baby moves a lot more until he becomes too big and runs out of space (normally on week 32 onwards). By this time the baby will have settle into a head-down position in the uterus. The doctor’s visit will increase from once a month to once every two weeks, then once a week after week 36.

About Cloth Diapers.

Thanks to my friend Single Mom, I received a lot of cloth diapers so I don’t need to buy any. To some of you who may be wondering why I am stepping back in civilization and deciding to use cloth diapers instead of the practical and modern disposable diapers, here is the explanation. I think this info might be useful if you are clueless about diapers, like I was, having spent the entire lifetime walking past the diaper section of the grocery store without even a glance.

Why Cloth Diapers?

Two basic reasons: to save money and be kinder to the environment. Cloth diapers may cost a lot initially, but they last a lot longer and can even be passed down from one baby to another (like in my case). On average, disposable diapers here cost around Rp 2,000 per piece, and a newborn may easily go through 5 diapers a day. That’s already Rp 2,000 x 5 = Rp 10,000 per day, or Rp 300,000 a month. Cloth diapers cost around Rp 200,000 per piece yet they last for years with proper care.

Consider also the environmental value. True, cloth diapers takes up water and detergent to wash but you can minimize this by washing several diapers in one run and you only need to use 1/4 amount of detergent compared to washing normal clothes. You can dry out the cloth diapers under the sun to save electricity (we happen to have plenty of sunshine here). On the other hand, disposable diapers are a burden to the environment because of the sheer amount you throw away in the garbage every day. Not to mention the materials from disposable diapers often cause diaper rash on the baby, and some even contain dioxin which may be hazardous to health in the long run.