Baby Pictorial 2

Yeps, we had another baby pictorial last February 9 at Babies in Baskets studio in Fairview. Our photographer is still VJ Matias. The baby photography business was just new since he is really in the wedding photography industry.

I think this pictorial is more challenging since Pipay is older and she moves a lot as compared to our 1st pictorial, but since VJ is patient enough we were able to have lots of good shots.

Here are some of my favorites.

Pipay's Teeth and Biting and Breastfeeding

At around 7.5 months, her teeth came out.. Here is her picture sporting her teeth.

I already blogged about her biting me, and how it was painful. Now, with 2 tiny teeth that are not yet fully out, her biting is more painful than before. I not yet sure how to deal with this. We noticed that when she bit me and I reacted, she'd laugh and do it again. I think she does that because she think it was fun and because she gets my attention (and others).

I am worried for the next months, when she has teeth in the upper gums because it would be worse. I wonder how breastfeeding mothers like me deals with the biting...

First Tooth (or teeth)

We were assuming since she was 3 months old that she is teething. It was because, (1) she drools (2) she sometime pull her hair and ears; which, according to some articles, could be a sign of teething. Apparently, we are wrong.

Her teeth (the tiny tip of her 2 lower front teeth) came out last April 6. Well, not exactly that day, but that was the first day that we felt (when she bit my finger) the hard sharp tip of her teeth. We were excited, and happy.

However, I was worried too, because this could mean that some of our nursing sessions would be more painful. Sometimes, Pipay loves to bite my nipple, then pull it. It was very very painful, and I guess it would be much much painful now that she has teeth.

I guess, nipple biting is one of so many sacrifices that breastfeeding mothers must face. Howell, goodluck to me!

Here is Pipay's photo on the day we felt her teeth, she was adorably touching her teeth with her tongue. I'll post another one soon (in 2-3 weeks maybe), in which her teeth are already showing.

Baby Pictorial

This is a late blog. The pictorial was last October 15, 2013. Our photographer was VJ Matias of  Virtuoso (He was our prenup photographer too). He is not really the photographer of their group, he is the videographer. And their forte is wedding. But since he is our friend and he really love to try to have a photo shoot with babies (he is a soon to be a dad), we all agreed to have the pictorial.

Phil and I looked for possible concepts and I did the props. We even bought a basket and a new pashmina. It was a great session. It was not rainy (we did indoor since Pipay was less than 2 months) so the lighting from the big glass window at the department of computer science faculty lounge (It was holiday and do not have any better venue) was perfect. VJ was great. He loves kids so he was all cute, kind and patient to Pipay. 

All in all, we had 5 scenes. And the whole photo shoot took us about 3 or 4 hours. The hardest part was making Pipay smile, and when we need her sleeping, she was wide awake. But  The results are all awesome.

Here are some of the awesome pictures of Pipay. :)

Start of My Breastfeeding Journey

I decided to exclusively breastfeed my first born. The first week up to the first month was super hard for me and I guess for my baby too. The past 6 weeks and 4 days was a roller coaster of emotion. At first I thought I was not producing milk, but knowing that her tummy is still so small comforted me. She doesn't need so much yet, in fact according to my OB (thankfully, we had a breastfeeding seminar with her when I was pregnant) babies can survive up to 2 weeks without any food intake after birth and that her stomach is smaller than a grapefruit. 

Below is the estimated size of a baby's tummy.

Breast feeding is a skill that both mother and baby have to learn. I want my baby and I to be the best breastfeeding partner, so I always seek answers for whatever problem we have on our breastfeeding journey.

The key to a successful breastfeeding is a good latch. However, since day 1, we are already having problems with latching. I really don't know what the problem is. May be my nipple is too big for her mouth, or she just really don't know how, my position is wrong, or her position is wrong. At some point there's this feeling that you are producing too little. And sometimes, I think my milk let down is too much for her to handle. Worst, maybe she doesn't want me, my breast, my smell or my sound. So I am always happy when she latches right away when I offer my breast.

According to the books and other online sources, the proper position is a key to a proper latch. So here are some of the breastfeeding positions. (pic source)

I still don't know what is wrong with me and my baby. She can't latch. Latching had been always difficult at the start of every feeding session. Our routine? She'll cry then I'll calm her down then we will try to latch again. It will usually take us more than 10 tries before she can finally latch properly. Sometimes, after a successful latch, my nipple will just slip out of her mouth and then she'll cry again. It was a struggle and I don't know what's wrong.

I came across Lip Tie and Tongue Tie as possible reason for not properly latching. There's a lot of good resources online, here are some of the symptoms:

I immediately checked Pipay's mouth. Her tongue seems Ok. I followed the instructions here to check for tongue tied. I looked for pictures and examples online, and I thought her upper lip is tied. The picture below is  from a mother's blog about daughter's upper lip tie (upper left photo) and their decisions to have it corrected.

Below is my daughter's upper lip and gums. It really looked like a lip tie. So I told my husband, and we researched about it. We learned that it could be operated and that the process is quick and could be done as early as infancy. If not treated it could make breastfeeding difficult (not for some), or there could be speech and dental care problems in the future. 

It was heart breaking knowing that your very young child would undergo an operation. We have to make sure, so we have to consult her pedia first. I told my mother too. And when she checked, she said she think it is normal and that she will check my nephew's mouth too. She texted me, Jared's lip and gums look the same.

I asked our pedia (her first pedia) and she said, that is not lip tie. Whew! We are no longer worried and we decided that my baby was just 'Maarte' when breastfeeding. I also asked the new pedia, she did not check it but she told me that lip tie will not affect breastfeeding.

Difficulty latching is very frustrating. However, it could not mean that something is wrong with me or my boobs, there is nothing wrong with my baby too. I would like to attribute it to he process of learning. I am learning. My child is learning. And we are getting better everyday.

1st month Celeb and Pictorial

Last Tuesday was Purple Raine's 1st month. We went to the dept to celebrate it with friends and to meet Richard Eaton who looks like Jack Bauer of the TV series 24.

We want Pipay to have a new born pictorial, but the package at the Picture Company was expensive, while the packages in Pic-A-Boo are not so good since they don't provide a high resolution copy. So we took her pictures ourselves instead. We bought a pink hairband and browsed the internet for ideas.

However, our Pipay was awake during the pictorial. So she was makulit, malikot and iiyak iyak. Eniwez, here are some of the results of our amateur photo session with our angel.

Hello Purple Raine Sale Zuniga!

I saw her in ultrasound images. I even saw her move during the 3D/4D ultrasound. And I finally saw her right after she greeted the world, but I was not able to remember her face (maybe because of the sedative and tiredness) so the moment I saw her when I was fully conscious was really magical and full of emotion.

When I saw her face, I felt like crying (have to stop myself, nakakahiya naman e). This is the baby I cared and love for around 9 months. The baby who slowed me down and gave me different emotions and experiences. The baby whom I vow to protect and love.

Our first born, our first child, our first angel. Phil and I are really happy to see you baby Purple Raine!

Here is some information about our baby.

• Date of Delivery: August 24, 2013
• Time of Delivery: 2:40 PM
• Type of Delivery: Normal Spontaneous Delivery (NSD)
• Birth Weight: 6 lbs 11oz (3033 g)
• Birth Length: 52 cm
• Head Circumference: 33 cm

Below are some of my angel's pictures right after her delivery.




Below is one of our first pictures as a family.