Mothering Corner

My brother is an insurance agent, so I agree to the need of being well insured. My kids are insured since they were babies, but mostly on investment and I would like to use the money for their education in the later years. Even if we have the insurance for them, we still have to save up in saving and checking account as they might want to study abroad when they grow up. Of course, the checks are for our own use, but most accounts are all in one now.

Some of my friends only get the medical cards for their kids and I don’t think it’s enough. The insurance premium will force us to pay for it, so we are ended up saving up more. Besides, the banks are not giving a nice interest now! So, I would rather look for other sources that keeping money only in the banks.

I supposed to see an Indian friend during Deepavali, but I was in Penang, so we didn’t pay her a visit. She has slimmed down a lot since her lap band surgery a year ago, and I am eager to see her in “a new” body. She has always been obese since young and no matter how she tried to shed off her weight by dieting and exercising, it just didn’t work.

Lap band is the most successful method to her so far, and it’s recommended by the doctors. If she didn’t control her weight, she will have more health related problems since she’s diabetic and having a high pressure too. If you have been thinking about losing weight, you can talk to your doctor about this. But it’s not about shedding a few kilos just to look great, only do it if you are very obese.

I love to teach my kids though play and some times I need some teaching aids. One of the topics I’m going through with them now is emotions. My gal can’t talk well, so she’s being frustrated most of the time when we don’t get what she wants. Even if I have a set that teaches about emotions already, I think I might want to get another set.

Jazmine gave the link to this webstore to me, but I haven’t registered yet. I got to find more about the conversion first before I get anything.

We read to our kids a lot and they will have at least 2 session of reading per day. Whenever I’m free, I will ask them if they want to read and they can have as many books as they want. But before bedtime, we only limit them to 2 books per session, if not they will ask us to read and read and keep delaying the bedtime!

Nowadays, both of them like to relate the story. My boy can talk us about it, but all of us will act it out. It’s just like a play and even my gal can take a small part and join in the fun as well. If you are looking for more activities for your kids, maybe you can give it a try by acting out a story that all of you can join in the role play. My kids love Goldilocks and The 3 Bears. My boy will be Goldilocks, while the 3 of us are Papa Bear, Mommy Bear and Baby Bear. It’s an easy story but everyone enjoy.

I thought about getting a Nursing Nest Breast Feeding Pillow when I was expecting my second baby. Hubby thought that it’s not necessary so I didn’t get it. But a lot of mothers will worry about nursing lying down as sometimes we might snooze off. If you want to prevent baby from suffocating, this is the product you can consider about .

If you are interested, you can check out more details about the pillow from AllegroMedical.com, which is an e-commerce website selling medical supplies and other maternity and baby care products. There are some breastpumps from the store as well and they are from Ameda. It’s a great site for medical supplies, so if you need anything related to health and wellbeing, you can take a look at the selection offered by the site.

After writing the previous topic, I think I should write about some mothers who opt for giving their babies the best milk in the world, even if they don’t breastfeed directly. Some mothers really tried hard, but you won’t fail breastfeeding easily. As long as you keep expressing and giving the breastmilk to your babies, even with bottles, you are still doing well. The only thing is expressing full time is tiring. I did that when I was away from my babies, and after expressing 3 hourly for 4 days, I really felt like I have had enough! I have always prefer direct nursing, so it’s a personal choice.

If you decide to express full time, just take note that it’s not easy, but it can be done. A lot of mothers did that. BTW, I really salute their determination in doing so as it’s really more hard work being an expressing mother.

I keep hearing some mothers telling me that they failed breastfeeding because they have inverted or flat nipples. However, I personally know a mother who successfully breastfed her boy up to 2 years old, even if she has inverted nipples. A lot of mothers failed to realized that it’s breastfeeding, not nipple feeding. I know the shape of the nipples might affect how a baby can latch on successfully, but there are certain things that a mother with inverted or flat nipples can do to breastfeed her baby.

Firstly, you can get get a breast shell during pregnancy, and start wearing them before feeding. They will provide certain pressure to push out the nipples and it will be easier for baby to latch on later.

Other than that, you can try to stimulate the nipples by using a breastpump or your fingers before baby is latching on. Most of the time, the nipples will be protruded when you are using a breastpump and baby can latch on faster without a lot of fuss. But once the baby is used to latching on, this step might not be necessary at all.

Some recommended nipple shield, but I don’t think it’s useful. The baby will have a tough time latching onto the breast once he’s used to sucking from the shield as he will only suck on the nipple, but not the whole areola. Lesser stipulation might also affect the mother’s milk production as well.

But if you really can’t make it, just express your milk and cup feed your baby first initially. Some mothers succeeded in giving their babies breastmilk exclusively, even if they have never breastfed.

I know I don’t have to worry about making money for my family, but after being financial independent for a few months, I am eager to continue my current status and continue to make money for myself if possible. I know that my blogs cannot help me now, so I have to look for other alternatives.

Maybe I should really learn about investing. I am not good at this, so I need a option screener software to help me to find and analyze which shares that will bring in more profit to me. If I’m serious about this, I will find out more about  PowerOptions® and see if I can make some money from share options.

But I’m very thrifty in this matter, so let me think about this first.

My blog buddy had just asked me about some options on birth control. I talked to my gynae 4 months after I delivered my gal, but he didn’t want me to rush for it. I was breastfeeding, so he made it clear that implanon might not be suitable for me as it might affect my milk production. Thus, I was asking him about Mirena. He suggested that I tried the copper IUD first since it’s cheaper. If I had any side effect, then only go for Mirena. He didn’t want to insert for me immediately and ask me to think about it and discuss with hubby.

If you are interested to know about the differences, here they are:

 The copper IUD is a T-shaped plastic frame with two threads attached. It’s inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. Once in place, it inhibits fertilization, as the IUD impedes the sperm’s journey to the fallopian tubes. If fertilization occurs, the device prevents the embryo from attaching to the uterine wall. ParaGard also slowly releases copper, which inactivates the sperm in the cervical mucus.

The hormonal IUD (Mirena) is a T-shaped plastic frame with thread attached. The IUD is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. Once in place, it inhibits fertilization, as the IUD impedes the sperm’s journey to the fallopian tubes. If fertilization occurs, the device prevents the embryo from attaching to the uterine wall. The hormonal IUD also releases progestin, which inhibits sperm mobility and makes the uterus unsuitable for a pregnancy.

There are more information available about IUD and other forms of contraception from Mayo Clinic, and I have been reading the site for the past 15 minutes! BTW, I haven’t inserted any IUD. Hubby and I decided to take things naturally, but if baby is out for the plan in 5 years, I better visit my gynae soon!

I have really low pain threshold, that’s why I made up my mind to go for epidural since the moment I knew I was pregnant. I knew about hypnobirthing, but I dare not give it a try. However, if I’m pregnant again, I might want to grab this book and learn more about it.

HypnoBirthing® teaches you how to use your mind to relax your body. When your mind and body are relaxed, you eliminate fear. Without fear, there is no tension in your muscles. Without tension, there is no pain!

See? It’s fear. I was too worried that I couldn’t take the pain so I chose for medical intervention  even if I might not need it. But I will learn more about this, if I’m expecting baby again.