Motherhood: 10 Things a Breastfeeding Mother Should Do When Sick

Haven't been writing a lot lately because both QW and I are under the weather. Hence, this blog post.

If you are not feeling well, people would probably advise that you keep your distance from a baby/child so as not to spread the germs to them. That is generally advisable. But for breastfeeding mothers, it normally works a bit differently.

Here is what you should do if you are sick during your breastfeeding journey:

1. Continue to breastfeed - Yes, you are reading this correctly. Continue to breastfeed is normally the best defence/protection for babies[1][2]. If a breastfeeding mothers' is sick, her baby would have already been exposed to the same germs. When exposed to germs, our immune system spring into action and produce antibodies to fight them. So since the mothers' bodies have already mounted an attack on the germs, let the babies drink up that natural goodness to pass those antibodies contained in breast milk on to babies[3]! Having said that, there are exceptions (e.g. if a mother has chickenpox). So, do check with your pro-breastfeeding doctor if you are unsure.
2. Drink lots of fluid - Typical advice for anyone who is under the weather. Especially more so for breastfeeding mothers. Breast milk has high water content, which means it needs water to for its production. So drink it up, ladies~!
3. Eat healthily - Best way to build back your strength and help your body fight against the germs is to give it the fuel it needs. Hence, even if you do not have the appetite for anything, try to eat something and healthily. 
4. Rest well - Another typical advice even for non-breastfeeding sick ones is to ensure that he/she gets sufficient rest. 
5. Take breastfeeding friendly medicine - Give your body that extra helping hand to the road of recovery. But before you gobble those medicine down, check that it is breastfeeding friendly. If you visit your doctor, make sure you tell them that you are breastfeeding and ask them to prescribe breastfeeding friendly medicine. If you are buying your medicine over-the-counter, you can either check with the pharmacist in store, check online database or handphone app database[4].
6. Get support/help from family - So that the mother gets some rest and recover from the illness. Leave the house work to your family. Get them to help look after the baby. Just remind them to bring the baby back to you when the baby shows signs of wanting to be nursed.
7. Wear a mask - In other words, do not sneeze or cough on your baby. Germs are typically airborne or spread through secretions/contacts. Hence, minimise the chances of infecting your baby by wearing a mask.
8. Wash your hands frequently - Again, just another normal routine of minimising the chances of a sick mother passing on the germs on to her baby.
9. Limit face-to-face contact - Quote Lauren Sompayrac, author of How The Immune System Works "When a mother kisses her baby, she samples those pathogens that are on the baby's face. Those are the ones the baby is about to ingest ... B cells then migrate to the mother's breast where they produce just those antibodies that the baby needs."[5]. But when a mother is not feeling well, it is really not the time to kiss your baby. Let the breast do the job. 
10. Keep the room ventilated - So that the air quality would be good and minimise the chances of infecting your baby when he/she is being brought in for nursing.

Having said the benefits of breast milk, it is still not an elixir. It does not prevent/stop your baby from falling sick. So if your baby do fall ill, don't beat yourself up over it and/or think that there is something wrong or inadequate about your breast milk. Keep calm and latch on ;)

References:

1. Breastfeeding Basics - When a Nursing Mother Gets Sick
2. Babycenter - Is it Safe to Breastfeed if I'm Sick?
3. Ask Dr SEARS - Comparison of Human Milk and Formula
4. Kellymom - How Do I Determine if a Medication is Safe for Breastfeeding Mother?
5. Babycenter - Why Mothers Kiss Their Babies

Vegetarianism: Reunion Lunch at Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant, Quality Hotel

Happy Chinese New Year 2015! May 2015 be a even better year than 2014 for you and your family! 

When I was first married to him, we would have reunion lunch with his side of family and reunion dinner with my side. Why this arrangement? Because his grandmother used to cook reunion lunch for the family. Having reunion lunch instead of dinner meant that she could get rested earlier.

By the way, his grandmother was not a vegetarian. Yet, she always whip up delicious vegetarian dishes whenever we visit her. But for last few years, we had reunion lunch at restaurant when her health was on the declined. This year would be our 2nd time at Lotus Restaurant[1]. Sadly, it is the first time without her as she passed away in Jun 2014.

Food at Lotus Restaurant has always been delicious. We sometimes have steamboat buffet or International buffet at Lotus Restaurant on special occasions such as birthdays. Personally, it is 3rd best for such joyous occasions after Miao Yi Vegetarian Restaurant[2].

Of course, the best is still grandmother's cooking which we both dearly miss... We miss her so badly that discussions about her have been fond yet still heart breaking... 

Okay, let's get back to the topic. Ambience wise, it is so good that a couple of my friends had their ROM lunches held there. You can see more of their interior decoration from the reference link below. Here are pictures of the Lo Hei and herbal soup which were part of the reunion lunch package:

As they always say, eating is not just about the sense of taste. It also involve smell, sight, etc. From the crockery they used, it does produce that festive spirit which makes the whole eating experience very enjoyable.

Was it worth the price? I would say that food taste delicious, service is good, the ambience is great and it is a convenient place to be at especially for those who drive. It is a nice place to get together and if you are the early birds, you can get complimentary car park from them! If you have the budget and your family chef want to take some time off, then why not? 

But, I think nothing beats home cooked food still no matter how much more delicious the outside food is and/or no matter how less delicious the home cooked food taste. Don't you agree?

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.

References:

1. Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant
2. Facebook - Miao Yi Vegetarian Restaurant

Travel: 2012 May New York Pass

Before I arrived at Manhattan, I actually did not do a lot of planning except seeking advice from a friend who just got back from New York (NY). The best piece of advice she gave was to purchase the NY Pass[1] online and collect in NY. Why? Because it costs less than buying either the NY pass or admission tickets over the counter in NY itself!

You can match the duration of the NY pass to your stay. They offer 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7-day NY pass. I got myself the 7-day NY pass because I was there for a week. It came with a free guidebook, which was informative and small enough to fit into most bags.

For my 1st day in NY, I arrived just in time to collect the NY pass from the Times Square[2] Planet Hollywood. Purposely chose there to make sure that I visit the iconic Times Square at least once to soak up the Broadway atmosphere.

While at Times Square, I took a while to visit the NY tourist information counter to understand how their Metro subway system works. I also visited Madame Tussauds NY which is in the vicinity.

Times Square

To make the most out of the NY pass, I headed back to the hostel and spent the rest of my 1st night planning to squeeze in as many places as possible. Some quick tips on how I planned:

1. Select those places (usually the walking tours) which require online reservations and book ahead. Do note that some are not available daily, while others have limited slots. So, (personally I feel) it is best to plan your other visits around them;
2. Select as many places that I want to visit and start grouping them by location;
3. Indicate the Must-Go places.

The trickier part, as usual, was weather. To make the trip worthwhile, I cleared as many trips which are weather dependent as possible on days where the sky seemed clear. Such trips are rooftop view of Empire State Building and Top of the Rock (Rockerfeller building). 

View from Empire State Building
(aka King Kong building)

As for those pre-booked walking tours, I prayed hard that the weather would be good that day. Luckily for me, I booked 2 walking tours and both days were sunny days. As for the remaining days, I cleared places such as museums, libraries, Grand Central Terminal, etc. 

Here are some of the places I conquered during my 1-week stay in NY:

Rockerfeller building, Empire State building, Madame Tussauds NY, Central Library (where Day after Tomorrow was shoot), Grand Central Terminal, Central Park, NY Skyride, Radio City Music Hall, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, America Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, Museum of the City of NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Sex, The Charging Bull, Trinity Church, Times Square, Ground Zero, etc.

There are more places which I wished I had time to visit. That will have to wait until the next time I set foot there then.

Before I end, do note that the NY pass is valid for one admission per attraction (unless they change their terms and conditions) and it is activated for consecutive calendar days when used at your 1st attraction.

So if you are going NY, I hope this post has been of some help :)
Enjoy the Big Apple!

References:

1. Official New York Pass
2. Wikipedia - Times Square

Motherhood: Drool Pads for Baby Soft Structure Carrier

QW has been gnawing the shoulder straps of our Ergobaby carrier recently. Definitely one of the teething syndromes. I drool sometimes when I sleep (apologies for sharing such unglamourous information) and felt that the dried-up drool irritated my skin. True enough, I found articles on baby drool rash[1], i.e. baby's skin irritated by dried-up drool (e.g. on the shoulder straps).

So to prevent QW from developing drool rash, I have a few options:

1. wash the baby carrier,
2. roll a handkerchief around the shoulder strap (for her to gnaw) and wash only the handkerchief,
3. attach drool pads to the shoulder straps and wash only the drool pads,
4. don't use the baby carrier (just kidding), etc.

Out of the 4 options, I feel that washing the baby carrier every time she gnaws on it seems like a bigger project than the rest. Rolling a handkerchief seems a bit riskier as compared to drool pads because she may pull it off and drop it on the floor. When that happens, it is back to option 1. Option 4 is out. So, option 3 seems to be the better one.

Because I do not own a sewing machine at home (yet), I am unable to DIY drool pads[2]. Hence, I ordered (Yes, this is not a sponsored post) drool pads from a local seller, madewithlove[3]. Price wise, I feel it is reasonable and comparable to those sold in baby stores (such as Spring maternity). Plus point is that you get to personalise your own handmade drool pads.

So, I placed my orders for 2 pairs of single fabric drool pads on 28 Jan (there are also double fabric types[4]). On 30 Jan, she posted on Facebook that she would be using plain colour tags or make tags using cloth from the same fabric upon request for future projects. I guessed and confirmed that it is for the safety of babies because some tags had prints falling off from baby gnawing at them. Hence, I refined my orders on the same day.

Personally, I prefer to have tags because you get to hang things on them (such as baby toys, teether, rattle, etc.). It is handy to have things to keep QW entertained.

By 2 Feb, she took photos of the completed drool pads and updated me that the drool pads are ready. On top of that, she also sent me the photo of the package once she had it sent out. By 4 Feb, the drool pads were rolling around happily in my washing machine :)

The whole process was a very pleasant experience. I liked that she kept me updated of her progress (namely completion and posting of drool pads). Also, she is pretty efficient at getting the orders done.

One more plus point is that I felt like I paid half the price for them. Let me explain what I meant: For each pair of drool pads, I get to have one side with design I have chosen and the other side just plain colour. Hence, it felt like I am paying for 1 pair of drool pads but I get to use it in 2 ways. You get what I mean? Yes, the buttons are reversible.

Don't they look lovely?
Once they are washed and dried, it is time to put them to work.
Thanks Madewithlove~

References:

1. Babycenter - Drool Rash Treatment
2. Lu Bird Baby - Baby Sucking/Drool Pads for an Ergobaby Carrier Tutorial
3. Facebook - Madewithlove
4. Facebook - Madewithlove Double Fabric Design