indi + rani = noe | kei

Sorry Mr. Ong, for responding so-very-late to your 123 meme, Indrani have been occupied with things, sick kids, and flying back and forth Singapore-Jakarta. With easter holiday in the horizon, we just found the time to write again.

Indi hasn't been reading books lately, too busy with work, so that leaves me responding to the meme. The meme rules are:

• look up page 123 in the book that is nearest to you at this very minute
• look for the fifth sentence
• then post the three sentences that follow that fifth sentence on page 123.

Here goes:

Following my quick note on Pro Family World, this entry intends to compile blog entries / articles and other references on Pro Family World. This entry will be constantly updated as new references come in. I'm still contemplating on this "pro-family world" issue. But again, agree with Ari-Thalia child rearing is not just a woman's issue, it's a family issue for both men and women (so why do i tag it under "woman" then?).

• The end of work as we know it
• Council On (and Conference Of) Contemporary Families

This writing is to compare two breastfeeding experiences: Noe's first two weeks and Kei's.

Noe: I decided to fully breastfeed my baby because of what international health organization and experts recommends for baby's first six months. But I thought that breastfeeding should be natural and should not be learned. So I made no effort in looking for any information about breastfeeding at all. Despite that, I was really confident that I wouldn't face any difficulty breastfeeding. Later, it turned out that I was too cocky.

I'm back into the real world after two days being confined and pampered in the hospital ;> Now Kei is one week old. Anyway my handsome and caring husband has written the summary of the birth process in the previous entry, and I'll try to write down more details of the birthing experience before I forgot, so here goes. This story will come in several parts: the preparation, the birth story itself, and some afterthoughts. These stories are personal story of mine, and I share it here for my family and friends. And it's gonna be long because I want to dump as much details as possible that I can remember.

Technical (Medical) Preparation

Oh what a day!

We are pleased to announce the birth of our second son. All natural, all healthy!

date: 25 October 2007
time: 7:50pm (Singapore/HongKong time)
weight: 2.8kg
length: 49cm

We have chosen to name him Keilani Soemardjan (nickname: Kei). Keilani \ke(i)-la-ni\ is pronounced kay-ee-LAH-nee. It is of Hawaiian origin, and its meaning is "glorious chief". Keilana means "glory; calmness".

Kei is getting himself comfortable under infant warmer system in the delivery room of National University Hospital, Singapore.

Mark your calendar! Bring your whole family into the screening of Disney's latest "RATATOUILLE" in this family-friendly event held by the Breastfeeding Mothers Support Group in Singapore.

Date : 2 September 07 (Sunday)
Time : 3 pm
Venue : Eng Wah Cinema, Suntec City
Movie : Ratatouille
Ticket : S$12 each (Babies & toddlers under 0.9m who sit on Mommy and Daddy's laps come for free!)

You might have read in Weaned that Noe has made an announcement of his wish to self-wean. This is when Noe stopped night feeding (he had stopped daytime feeding for quite some time already). At that time, I noticed that my milk production is at its lowest point. I practically couldn't press anything out of my boobies and didn't feel any let-down anymore. It's totally empty!

Well, since a week ago, I noticed a change in Noe's night feeding pattern. He began to latch onto me for a longer period and seemed to enjoy breastfeeding again. Of course it is not fulfilling for him, so he still asks for other milk on top of the night breastfeeding session. I wonder why this change of pattern?

This is a comment from our friend Christina R. sent by email with regards to my previous entry. I put it as guest article because her comment is an article of itself. She responded to my article based on her reflection upon reading Maternal Desire by de Marneffe.

By Christina R.

Breastfeeding as Enlightenment

Breastfeeding for me is an enlightenment. Breastfeeding is a "source of thoughts", as quoted in Breastwork (Bartlett 2005 pp. 21-22)

"The bosom" is regarded as the seat of thoughts and feeling. ... Lactating breasts become fertile grounds of wisdom, active organs producing food for the mind as well as the body.