Darkness In The Hearth

Darkness looms over the day,

Paths become unclear,

Trees and flowers wither away,

It doesn't matter where you hide,

It will still haunt you by the end,

It will still haunt you endlessly.

Nervous, fear, anxiety covers you,

Cold sweats breaking out,

Bloodshot eye darts left and right,

You can run,

But you cannot hide,

You know it will and can still haunt you.

You cry out for help,

Your silent cries went unheard,

Like water poured over leaf, 

It went ignored even if it is heard,

Nobody listens, 

Nobody cares.

You reach out your hands,

In hope that someone will reach yours,

Held out as you may,

The hands were frozen overtime,

No warmth came to you,

All that's left is just hard cold chills.

All that's left to do,

Is wonder if anyone,

Or anything,

Will hear you,

Will see you, 

Will cross your paths,

Will reach out to you,

Or not. 

We Grieve, We Pray, We Remember

This month has not treated me any better than it should. All I can do is drown myself in my musics while working and at home, hug my little baby tightly. By now, the whole world are talking about the crash of MAS airplane MH0017. Hashtag #MH17 and #PrayForMH17 are going on wildly now at all social media. I have my own post on it as well, and this will be my blog post about it.

This year itself, MAS have suffered from the worst aviation incident ever, twice in a year. As we remember, it was the #MH370 which had tragically went missing and not found until now. Nights ago, on July 17th, slightly before midnight, news of MH0017 being shot down near or at Ukraine was all over the world. I couldn't be bothered with pesky news, I definitely wouldn't want to share the pictures.

People, here, I ask all of you to stop sharing those images and respect the privacy of those grieving families and leave them alone, especially you slobbing journalists. I know you people are trying to work, but people are hurting, they are grieving. So please give them a peace of mind, stop pestering these poor souls.

Here, a little short tribute to the lost souls on board:

All set,
Ready to go home,
Ready to go for holiday,
Ready to meet the loved ones,
Ready to spend memorable time with all,

Exhilarated with excitement,
Can't wait for the moment,
The next thing knew,
Everything went black.

Loved ones cried their hearts out,
The souls bleed,
The hearts cracked,
Millions grieved.

Pain stays, only to be numbed,
Prayers given,
Hope goes on,
Faith is that you finds it better to be with God,
Happily and merrily.

Memories were made,
It lives on when those that remember lives,
Memories will be passed on,
Memories will never fade,
We grieve, We pray and We will remember.

My Breastfeeding Journey (Part 2)

I know it's been a delay for quite sometime since I've last posted. Taking care of a baby is not easy and it is definitely tiring. My salute to other parents out there who have more than 3 kids. I do not know how you guys did it but it was simply awesome that you did.

Source: www.hlntv.com

On to breastfeeding part two, there is so much information and stuff to talk and teach about breastfeeding that I just don't know what to say now.

Okay, some simple ideas that you'd need when you need to stock up before going back to work, milks stored in deep freezers (below zero celcius) can last you up to 6 months at max. Milks stored in normal two door freezers lasts you up to 3 months at max. Milks at chiller can last you 3-4 days whereas milk outside at room temperature can last you up to 4-5 hours. Now, besides storing the milks, note that most time we'd have to smell the milks especially those stored outside on room temperature so that it does not have sour smell, if it does, discard immediately or make milk spa for baby. When you take out the frozen milk for feeding, you gotta thaw it by taking it out from freezer and put into chiller. Once it's thawed, it have to be consumed within 24 hours and if it's not finished, THROW THEM AWAY. Once you warmed up (NOT BOILING HOT cuz you're gonna kill the good bacteria inside) the thawed milk, it have to be consumed within one hour and again, not finished THEN THROW IT AWAY ! or save for baby milk spa, which I always do.

Source: http://blog.medelabreastfeedingus.com/

For different mothers, there are different types of food that boosts the milk supply and food that decreases the milk supply. Here are some samples:

Source from: http://healthfulmama.com

It's just some as listed on the picture. But, it's all about trial and error. For my case, nothing i eat increases my supply, it does help a little while, but after that, it doesn't help anymore. It's only of late that I stopped trying that my milk supply is a normal 4-5oz at every pump. Speaking of pumping for working mothers, I don't look at the schedule. I look at the last time I fed my baby, then every three hour gap at max four, I'd pump once. You MUST pump or feed your baby at midnight especially between 2-5AM as these are the hours when a certain body condition works the hardest to supply more milk. This ensures your milk supply is there and not dropping, which is equally important for all mothers.

Back to the foods that boosts or decreases milk supply. There are herbs that does the same. On early research for all mothers, the most common you'd hear about is fenugreek to help increase milk supply. But what about Alfalfa? Let's not forget that too. Herbs like mints, parsley, rosemary and a few more as per picture below, decreases the milk supply, so beware.

Source: www.pharmacologyweekly.com

If you're not sure on what to eat or not, go download this app called LactMed on your smartphone. It has most details on what to eat or not and side effects (if any). Visit http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/herbs_to_avoid/ for more information or ask Mr.Google, your best friend or call your paed.