It's been a week since Gregory was born. How has it been? EVENTFUL. That's how I would describe the whole experience. When we were still warded, caring for Gregory was so much more easier but I did not appreciate it then. You see, when Gregory cries, he is really loud and I always felt bad that his crying disturbed my other roommates who were trying their best to rest, so I wished to be discharged as soon as possible so that I would not feel bad. Little did I realize that Gregory's loudness was just part of the challenges I would face. The nurses at the hospital were wonderful. Though it was a government hospital and charged very little for its services, the nurses treated me like a queen. Each morning, they would come to my bed side to make sure that I was ok. Someone would bring hot water and towel for me to wash up while another nurse would come and check my body condition and my wound before the doctors did their rounds. This luxury to be honest is something I can't get at home due to my husband's limitations (which I don't blame him for because he has so much in his hands). To add on, the nurses sometimes helped to nurse the baby too. Whenever he cried loudly, the nurse would rush in and wheel him away. They are also the one who bathes and dresses him. Each time they return Gregory, he is nicely swaddled and cuddly and he will sleep real soundly until he gets hungry again.

This one week has been a learning experience for the both of us. In fact, it was only yesterday that I successfully applied the right feeding formula for Gregory so that the three of us would not be left tired and restless throughout the night. For the past one week, we had not been able to sleep well at all because we were still unclear of Gregory's sleeping and feeding trend. For the first 4 days after delivery, I hardly had any milk to feed Gregory. Hence he was constantly wailing in hunger and constantly suckling for milk until my breast became sore and I became really tired. It was only until I shared this problem with some friends that I discovered that is was ok to feed him with some formula milk. However, we could not constantly depend on the formula milk as I personally wanted Greg to be breastfed at least while I am still not working. So we still had to juggle with different feeding method to ensure that Gregory had his feed, so the challenge continued. Why is feeding Gregory so exhausting? Let me share the whole process.

Option 1- Feeding directly from the breast.
1. Baby cries
2. Lift baby - my wound is still raw and I am still weak, so lifting him is a little challenging
3. Let baby suckle the breast- I don't know how much milk I have and how much is really enough for him. He will suck and suck and suck until he is satisfied. Sometimes it takes only 20 minutes, sometimes an hour. During the first few days, he suckled for more than 2 hours. When I feed him this way, he cries for milk more often.
4. Baby stops suckling -but we are unsure how much milk he has drunk
5. Time to burb the baby- we are still new at doing this so he does not burb so fast.
6. Check his diapers - so that he will not be left soaking in his poo or pee for ages. We do this last because sometimes he poos while he drinks his milk. Sometimes, doing this can be a real challenge as the baby has the tendency to soil the newly changed clothes. For example, just now, right after his bath, I fed him and he pooed right after that. While I was changing him, he pee right on his face and naked body. So with urine all over him, he had to be bathed once again. To add on, he left his changing area filled with pee. So we had to wash that place after that. As a result, the laundry is now full of his clothes which he wore for less than 30 minutes.

Option 2- Feeding from the bottle

Advantages
1. I know how much the baby drinks each time I feed him and I am 80% assured that he will not cry for the next 2 hours.
2. The milk is ready and I do not need to worry that I do not have enough to feed him.
3. Feeding time is reduced to 15-20 minutes.

Disadvantages
1. Less mother and child contact
2. Need some time to heat the bottled milk and prepare the feeding bottle

It is almost the same as the first except that there is washing to do before and after the feeding. Many people are encouraging me to start feeding him from the bottle now as many babies refuse to drink from the bottle after they get too used to suckling from the breast. This becomes very difficult when the mothers start working.