Friday, December 21, 2007

So Unpredictable!

I have not been sleeping well for the past few nights.. Gareth's sleep and feeding pattern has suddenly changed. It started about three nights ago, when he dozed off in less than 5minutes each time I latched him onto my breast for his feed. I had tried ways to wake him up (e.g., change his diaper, put him on the bed etc) but to no avail. He wasn't like that few days ago! Naturally, I had to put him back into his cot so that he could continue sleeping. However, he would wake up in less than half an hour. Confinement lady kept saying that my breastmilk isn't sufficient (though I didn't have the problem during the first 2 weeks when Gareth arrived) and had wanted me to express my milk. I wasn't keen to do so because of some bad experiences I went through when I first had Gregory. Anyway, I allowed the confinement lady to give formula milk just to test her hypothesis. Apparently, Gareth still woke up in 30minutes after feed. He startled easily, and we have also tried ways to solve this problem (e.g., put beansprout pillow on his chest - but he kicked it up to cover his face.. oh my gosh!; swaddled him but he would struggle to free both his hands - confinement lady suggested tying his hands to his body using a cloth but I strongly objected; on soft music but it didn't help). Confinement lady then suggested bathing the baby in "red flower water" but it didn't seem effective either. Finally last night she asked me if I had "talisman"... aiyo! I guess that must be her very last resort. Even when I asked her if Gareth is experiencing some wind in the tummy, she told me the baby cot may not be suitable for Gareth! Oh my gosh, the first thought that came to my mind was that she wasn't objective and she didn't seem experienced as a confinement lady. Frankly speaking, my primary concern is that Gareth has enough sleep. Sms-ed my friends who are experienced mummies, and yes, I am going to try to put Gareth on his tummy when he has his nap during the day so that I could monitor him and ensure that he doesn't get suffocated. I am now keeping my fingers crossed that this would work. Well, how about his sleep at night then? Hmm.. I am going to just take one step at a time. If it really works and is deemed safe after some days of monitoring, then I may put him on his tummy to sleep at night.

I am also thinking of slowly having my breastmilk ceased. After what happened during the past three nights, I guess because of the insufficient rest I had and the bottles of formula milk introduced by confinement lady as trials, my milk supply seems to have reduced. Also, I think I have somewhat neglected Greg since Gareth has arrived. I guess I cannot just keep thinking of nursing Gareth or pump out my milk all the time.. I believe motherhood is a lot more than these things. Come to think of it, I just want to be a happy mother and be able to spend quality time with both my boys and hubby. That's all.

1 comment:

Idy said...

The main reason I quit breastfeeding Ilis was because I also found that I had neglected Iden while feeding her.

I am not encouraging or discouraging you to b/f. I just want to say that motherhood is not just about b/f. There is a lot more.... Take care.