An Elephant's Journal

Something funny happened this morning. The Man is usually in charge of all midnight and early morning diaper changes. I’d wake him up to do it since he sleeps through most of the through-the-night-feeds. I actually think he has the shorter end of the deal because I only have to bring baby to the breasts, and baby and I then drift back to sleep, but he’d have to wake up properly to change nappies. Anyway, he brought the baby back to me, all fresh and clean this morning, and I continued nursing baby while patting his bum to help him sleep. It was all smooth and soft and at first I thought.. ahhhhhhh ..the feel of clean diapers (I was half asleep and groggy). But upon further patting…I realized I was patting on baby’s bare bottom! It jolted me awake and gave me mild panic because the baby had just farted (fart, shart..we never really know). But all was well and we had a laugh over it. I want to write about the Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump. The second picture is take...

Ahhh..the sweet spot. That heavenly feeling when you scratch that proverbial itch; when your hot drink is at the right sipping temperature; when a scent is sweet without cloying..you get the idea. The sweet spot I’m talking about here, and with which I struggle to achieve is that of being a good mom AND a happy person at the same time. The two should never be mutually exclusive. But there are so many physical, mental and emotional tolls that come with being a mother (I’m just beginning to get the taste of) – managing the household, ensuring the well-being and healthy development of your kid(s) in all aspects, taking care of yourself and other members of the family (such as the furry 4-legged ones), and, if you’re a working mama, holding down that job. All these different demands very easily corrode a woman’s personhood until all that fills the head is accomplishing tasks instead of simply living and enjoying your baby, your family and all the things that life has to offer. P...

Baby Boi is 2 months old!! Such an emotional day for mommy. Of course it is wonderful to watch him grow, how he gets more alert and engaging with his environment, and how he responds to us more. It’s such a joy. But I also miss him being a small small baby! Baby’s been fussy these few days. He’d sleep very minimally during the day, and be cranky and cry during the night. It’s still a “manageable” type of cry so I don’t think he is colicky – poor parents who have colicky babies! Nursing soothes and satisfies him, so he’s probably going through another growth spurt and doing cluster feeding. “Cluster feeding , also called bunch feeding, is when babies space feeding closer together at certain times of the day and go longer between feedings at other times… Cluster feeding often coincides with your baby’s  fussy time . Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry… on and on… for hours.”   (http://kellymom.com/parenting/pare...

Such a fancy, European sounding thing! Sounds like a quiche or something innit? Unfortunately the real thing is a pain in the ass, or rather, pain in the thumb / wrist / hand. “De Quervain's syndrome is a painful condition that affects tendons where they run through a tunnel on the thumb side of the wrist.” (source :   http://www.bssh.ac.uk/patients/conditions/19/de_quervains_syndrome) My thumbs and wrists started hurting about a week plus ago. It started on one side but within 2 days both hands/wrists took turns being really painful. Certain activities would trigger sharp, stinging pains in the thumbs and the entire area between the thumbs and the wrists : tying my hair, shampooing my hair, lifting the baby, trying to do a thumbs up..essentially all manners of activities requiring movements of the opposable thumbs – which is the majority of activities! I was ignoring the pains and soldiering on initially, praying that it’d go away on its own (they never do, why have ...