Friday, June 02, 2006

Pregnancy Update, Weaning, Zara Jiejie

Hui Sia asked why I don't mention much about the pregnancy in my blog. Actually I wanted to wait after the 1st trimester before I include updates of the pregnancy since things can still be very uncertain. We went to see the Dr 2 weeks ago for my first check up. By right at 7 weeks, the baby's heartbeat should be visible. However, the Dr couldn't find one. He told us to return in 2 weeks time. You can imagine how worried we were. Yesterday we went again. This time, the heartbeat was visible (at least to the Dr). From the size of the baby (slightly more than 1cm), Dr thinks that I'm only 7weeks + pregnant. Still very early in the pregnancy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Weaning Zara wasn't difficult. After I knew I was pregnant, I increased another feed of formula to Zara. I still let her nurse 1st thing in the morning and before she went to bed. I think my milk supply reduced a lot, because she still asked for a bottle after nursing. A week later, the nursing time also reduce, sometimes she just politely pulled down my t-shirt when I offered her the breast and said, "Close. Want bottle milk.". At this stage, I found that the taste of the milk has changed as well, from something sweetish it has become a bit sour, probably due to the pregnancy hormones, nature's way of weaning a child. By the time she turned 18mths (3 weeks later), she totally stopped wanting the breast. Happy to just have the "bottle breast", as she calls it. I was expecting engorgement, and some discomfort, but maybe because the weaning process was spaced out, I do not have any of this. The amazing thing is, the breasts immediately shrunk 2 cups smaller! Just like that. (If only the tummy can shrink in this manner.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've started telling Zara about the baby as well. She likes to bounce on my tummy, and I'd told her she can't do that anymore because there's a baby in my stomach, and the baby will feel the pain if she jumped on me. She seems to understand it. Now, if she forgot and started bouncing on me, I'll tell her, "Zara cannot jump on mummy". She would quickly stop, kiss my stomach and say, "Got baby inside".

40 comments:

jazzmint said...

oo..glad to hear that the 2nd checkup all went well :). take more rest and eat well.

wahh...shrinked by 2 cups!!! that's very fast. heheh.yah if only tummy can shrink like that will be so nice.

Good that she understands. Faythe thinks that I'm the didi sometimes, not the one inside the tummy!! Wonder how's her reaction when she sees didi next week

Anonymous said...

that's one smart and sensitive girl you've got there! awww... growing up fast now... :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my..!! you really have a smart kid there.. :)
I'll be praying and thinking of you and baby .. :)

blurblur said...

I was thinking about you this morning, wonder if you've gone for your check up...glad to know that things turn out well for the 2nd appt..don't worry, i'm sure all will be fine! :)

Hahaha...just 'shrink' like that ah? like magic hor? ;p

Zara is such a sensitive little girl, i'm sure she'll be a good jiejie to baby! :)

Take care ya! :)

domestic rat said...

I would be worried too! Do write about your pregnancy. It would great pre-emptive learning material for folks like moi. And two cups is alot... I can't imagine myself smaller by two cups. It's as good as digging two holes inside my chest!!!! Yikes!

Egghead said...

Zara really good girl lah... job well done on weaning her off breast... really need to start weaning off for my son :(

Jess said...

yeah, I also think that less than is uncertain, got be extra careful!
Don't worry too much, everything will be fine!
Zara got jie jie look now wor, know how to protect baby!

shoppingmum said...

Your cups only temporary skrinked leh, after a few months will pop up again! :P
It's good to start telling her about baby, even if she may confuse why it takes so long for baby to come. Have you bought some books about where baby comes from? It helps them to understand better.

Anonymous said...

Congratulation to you and Zara, naik pangkat :),
Take more rest and eat well, Zara such a good girl :)

nat nat's mommy said...

yap. when i told natalie that she was gonna be a jie jie, she somehow understood that she couldn't jump on my belly and neither could i carry her.

it is wonderfully amazing how God create humans and make the older one understand.

but do be prepare as the months go by. Zara 'might' show some weird crankiness... it is usually signs of jealousy. do be patient, they can really get overboard. =)

nat's momm.

Vien said...

Wow..2 cups size eh? I can't to see that happen to me. LOL! And Zara is so so super sweet. I just love the part she kissed your tummy and said "Got baby inside".

MomsyWorld said...

wow...isn't good to get preggy again?

I think Zara is now at the age of between know and not-know...but since she's a girl...she'll be more sensitive towards the Mommy...

7 weeks + is early...but you are already a 2nd time Mommy! :)

Anonymous said...

Shrink 2 cups? Anyway it will grow back 3-4 cups end of 2nd or 3rd trimester. Glad all went well. Don't worry and stay happy.

Anonymous said...

when i told karen there's a baby inside mommy's tummy , she asked, how did it go there?..err...i told her , when she grows up , mommy will tell her all tat she nids to know..after knowing tat i m pregnant , she seems to be a little more attached to me , asking me to carry her all the time.oh oh..i hope she wont be jealous of the baby..

seefei said...

thank you for the entry. know a bit more about preggy thing.

didnt know tt expand by 2 cups during pregnancy. unfortunately it doesnt stay that way.

take care!

Anonymous said...

I'm an avid reader of your blog and am really impressed with Zara's milestone.

My own baby girl, Isabelle, has just started walking. Can't wait till she starts talking like Zara! :-)

Anonymous said...

Zara is a very sensible child. You are truly a blessed mom :)

Take care and keep us updated more re to your 2nd pregnancy!

MayY . C 五月媽媽 said...

take good care orr,

Tracy said...

Never thought it would be so easy to wean Zara off ur boobs hor?

It's good dat jie jie Zara is interacting with baby inside mummy's stomach. Tell her more about baby and I'm sure she'll be very excited and wants to know more.

Do take care of urself.

Twin said...

hehe zara so clever oredi. :) She's gonna be a nice cheh cheh.

Sue said...

Hope all goes well in this pregnancy :)

I also hope belly will shrink the way breasts shrink after we stop breastfeeding LOL... so unfair..

Zara's so good at understanding instructions.. Ivan too.. and thing is, they have really good memory and tend to remember what you said the next time, experinced it with Ivan and it really gave me a pleasant surprise :)

ZMM said...

Jasmine,
Yes, it’s such a relieve. :)
Yeah loh.. just *poof* gone! All my bra suddenly so loose.
Haha.. Faythe is still confused maybe. Btw, do you bring her together to your check up? I brought along Zara, hopefully gives her better understanding of things.

May,
Yes.. she’s just so sensible. I hope she won’t change after #2 arrives.

Mamabok,
Thanks for your prayer.
She seems to understand, but I really don’t know if she does.

Blurblur,
I hope so too.. keeping my fingers crossed. Some more come 16weeks have to do amniotest. Yucks!
Yeah, my boobs just gone like that!

Domestic Rat,
Let the 1st trimester go, then I’ll provide regular updates on the pregnancy. :)
On the boobs size, your breasts enlarged when you get pregnant, and then they get bigger when you breast feed. The 2 cup size was what I ‘earned’ being pregnant and breastfeeding.
One of the benefit of breastfeeding is you get fully and bigger boobs, good enough motivations?

Simple American,
Haha.. she seems to be quite a loving girl, even to her little cousin Tasha.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful someone actually invented this ‘natural remedy’ for tummy sucking? What you want to keep, will always go first, and what you want to get rid, will always be there with you for longer than you welcome them. Life is just like that.

Egghead,
Like I told you, try to find a milk that LLS likes. Zara didn’t refuse the bottle once we gave her something she likes.

Jesslyn,
Yeah loh.. have to be careful still.
Have to see how she behaves first when the baby arrives. Now too soon to give that conclusion.

Shoppingmum,
Haha.. Doesn’t matter la to me. Now, I can wear back some old tops which were too tight in the front before. Enjoy first.
Once every thing is settled, I’ll get a book to show her all these. Right now, I use my pregnancy book to show her how much bigger the stomach will grow, and we’d started calling her jiejie. She gets a bit ‘kembang’ also. Hee hee.

Adrian & Alvan,
Naik pangkat for Zara la. Thanks, am trying to take more rest.

Momm,
Byrdie? What happened to your original site? It’s like it got invaded by some investment company.
Yes, it’s really wonderful to see how these kids ‘mature’ when they get a new addition in the family.
She was a bit cranky in the beginning. You know weaning her, and then started telling her she can’t jump on me and I can’t carry her so much. She was crying a lot, even saying things like “Don’t want mummy.” “Don’t want Zara”.
I had to reassure her a few times, telling her I’ll always love her, and then she just got better.

Vien,
When you stop breastfeeding Vien, you’ll see ‘them’ disappear over night.
Yes, she’s a sweetie.

Fannie,
This pregnancy is more difficult than when I had Zara. *sigh*
Yeah.. I really don’t know if she understand it, although she seems to show she does.
2nd time mummy doesn’t reduce the risk though. However, it’s already a good sign if the heartbeat is spotted.

Michelle,
Whatever that’s going to grow, will also shrink eventually. Can’t fight with nature.
Yes.. trying to stay happy.

Eve,
Karen is cute!
Yes, I think they will be jealous from the only one, now they have to share their attention, starting now. Poor them huh?

See Fei,
You expend 2 cups, and retain if you continue breastfeeding. But once you stop breast feeding *POOF* they’ll be back to the size before if not smaller.
Are you tossing your condoms away now? For this reason?
*hee hee*

Anonymous said...

Only 7 weeks? I thought you're already about 3 months...anyway good to hear the doctor's comments.

Actually I thought it would not be possible to get pregnant when one is breastfeeding. But me is blur one when it comes to these matters.

So sad hor...breasts just shrinking like that. Hiaz...and the experts say it won't happen.

Jason Lioh said...

Eh, 2nd one on the way already har. Congrats first. :D

Anonymous said...

Oh... I miss my breastfedding's breast LOL...

ZMM said...

Sui Lynn,
Thanks.
Oh.. You’ll have lots of fun now with Isabelle walking about.

Jean,
Yes, I’m really blessed to have Zara.
Will do once things are stabalised.

Blogie-talkie,
Will do.

Khong Family,
I definitely hope so that she’ll be a good jiejie.

Tracy,
Yeah, I thought I would be breastfeeding her till I pop. :P
I’m trying to let her be more involved, but then she’s still young, it’s not easy to make her understand, but she seems to be doing well though.

Mumsgather,
That’s right, if only it works the same for tummy.
I’d been telling people that, breast feed and you’ll have big boobs.. :)

Twin,
I really hope so.

Sue,
I hope so too.
Aaah, boobs and tummy doesn’t work the same, how we all wish they do yeah?
Yeah, these kids are amazing. Their memory is like an elephant. :)

Sesame,
I thought I was about 5weeks when I ‘announced’ it, but looks like I was only 3weeks. I shouldn’t have informed ‘the world’ so soon, but I was so excited.
Your fertility is affected by breastfeeding, but it’s not 100% impacted. There are quite a few blogging mummies who got pregnant while still breast feeding. I do hear that when the child is solely on breast milk and they nurse frequently (before they start solids), your fertility will be the most impacted during that time. Natural contraceptive.
Yeah, so sad, they just shrunk, but I know they’ll grow again later. Big, small, big, small, aigh.. imagine the stretch mark.

J-mumbles,
Very slow who you.

Maria,
Ahem.. time to try for 3rd loh.

Gene Lim said...

glad to hear everything is okie..well just take it easy.. i am glad zara is ready and listen to u :)
I bet she can't wait to be jie jie hhuh :)

seefei said...

nottie nottie...we are au natural all the way!

L B said...

Hei? How come I didn't comment earlier in here wan? I know.. you deleted my comment, izzit? BAWLLL..

Cocka Doodle said...

Weaning Zara wasn't difficult.

Of course! Weaning hubby would be almost impossible! Muahahahahaha!!!!

seefei said...

cocka
now i know where we got that t*t s**king habit from!! hahahaha....

Cocka Doodle said...

see fei....yep. We men never got around to weaning, ya!

Sabrina said...

Congrats....Don't worry. When I weaned off Keith on BM, I never experience any engorgement as well. Maybe it's because the milk supply is low. You'll still have milk whenever you press it as I've experience that for months even after weaning Keith off.Zara is so sweet. I think she must be so excited with the new baby coming along. As for Keith, when I asked him he wants baby or not and told him that baby in the tummy, he'll quickly hug my tummy and say " sayang" while kissing on it. I guess I have to work hard to get preggy soon.HEhe

ZMM said...

Gene,
Thanks.. I don’t know if she can’t wait to be jiejie, especially she has to share mummy’s attention.

See Fei,
You should have posted a post on your own blog to declare you are ‘natural’. Haha.
Aiyo.. you same league as Cocka one ah? I thought you decent guy.

LB,
Because you were too embarrassed to comment about breast and pregnancy? Haha.
I wouldn’t delete your comments in a hundred years! Or I can’t be a fan-see or yours.

Cocka Doodle,
Aigh.. men.. always so obsessed with breasts!

Allyfeel said...

It's so cool eh the nature's way of weaning baby off. It's just so wonderful that zara understood there is a baby in ur tummy.

Wah...shrink 2 cups ya...so have to change all bra lor?

Helen said...

Keep us posted about your pregnancy whenever possible!! :-)

Hey, tell Zara she's a big gilr now.... it's time for her to eat Yogurt. lol (since u say ur breast milk taste different..)

geeth said...

Good that you didn't have any problem weaning her off.
Wah, she is a very good girl.. understand mummy. Soon, she can take care of mummy too... mummy, don't eat that, don't do this ;)

ZMM said...

Allyfeel,
Go back to old bra loh. :(

Helen,
Sure will.
Not yogurt ler, sour cream.. blech.

Geetha,
Not sure if it's just an illussion that she understands all these.

seefei said...

hei! same frequency as cocka doesnt mean i am indecent wo...:-( keep us posted and toloong lah...have some tips for the men 2.

Anonymous said...

She will definitely be a good jie jie.. nice..