Hi Ladies - phew, I've finally got the internet up and running! I'm writing to you from South Africa - where it all began just over 1 year ago with Harrison. We had our IUI in February on valentines day, and here we are with our little bundle of joy! Being back here again has reminded me how much life has changed now that we have Harrison - we call him our little emperor, as he always gets his own way, and he's the one that always orders us around! haha
But it's so wonderful to be back here and breath a sigh of relief and content that we have our little boy.
2016 - thanks for the milk advice, do you know if Motillium has any side effects? I'm surprised all bf women aren't given it at hospital if it can help boost supply! I'll have to check it out in HK... I tried using that fb calculator on the kellymom.com website, but with Harrison feeding 8 times a day, it says 112ml (3.75oz) would be in the high range - that doesn't seem to be enough for Harrison, and based on what GG and Hibiscus are feeding their bubbas, it seems like we have some hungry monkeys!
So, this is all going to sound gross... but in Chinese custom, all bf women will drink fish soup or octupus soup to boost their milk supply. I was skeptical, so never had any - but in desperation to boost my supply back up, my mother made me octopus soup - it was gross, I came home and opened the big pot to find an octopus starring up at me, tenticles and all! - BUT, I drank 5 cups of the stuff throughout the day, and virtually instantaneously I had more milk - I know because after just 2 hours, I was able to pump 200ml (10oz!). Apparently it works as there are certain enzymes in the fish/octopus for stimulating more milk. The same goes for young green papayas. This makes sense to me now, as when I was in the hospital here, they kept feeding me this sweet papaya soup, it must have been for my milk supply. For those of you brave enough or curious enough to try, here is the fish soup recipie (octopus only for the very brave! haha):
https://www.thechinesesouplady.com/papaya-fish-soup/
Introduction:
This neutral soup is extremely rich in carotenes, antioxidants and vitamin C. It is the soup to make for women who are going through confinement and is said to aid in production of milk for breastfeeding women. The soup itself is very sweet and high nutritious. It is also ideal for babies and children.
What Ingredients are required?
4 medium-sized golden threadfin bream (or any other appropriate substitute)
1 large papaya (use green papaya if used for increasing milk in breastfeeding)
5-6 pieces of dried scallop
3 large dried dates
2 slices of fresh ginger
2 L of water
1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the fish)
1 teaspoon of oil (to fry the fish)
How do I prepare it?
1.After the fish is cleaned, wipe the fish with paper towels or a cloth to remove excess water
2.Cover the fish with a small amount of salt (inside and out)
3.Let it sit for an hour and then drain any water
4.Peel and cut the papaya into large edible cubes
5.Start boiling your soup water
6.In a pan, add oil and fry the ginger with the fish on low-medium heat (until the fish is completely cooked and the skin is a slightly browned)
7.Put the fish into a soup bag and add to water
8.Add papaya and ginger
9.Boil for at least an hour
Any benefits?
■This soup is rich vitamin C, carotenes and antioxidants
■It is said to aid in milk production for breastfeeding women (use green papayas in this case)
I'd love to hear from you if you try it!
Britt - I think you're totally right - the name Piper is strong and cute at the same time, and I love that it's so unique. Will she have a middle name? So you're over 22 weeks now... WOW! Can we see an updated bump pic? I bet you have a lovely little bump now! So have you had fun buying all your baby stuff, have you set up your nursery yet? I can't wait until we can eventually get our new house so that Harrison can have his own little nursery.
LB - what adorable pics of Zac!! He looks like he could be brothers with Harrison! haha. That's so cute that you have him in a bubble bath - does he try to eat the bubbles? I've thought of giving Harrison a bubble bath, but he keeps shoving his fingers in his mouth during bath time. Keep the pics coming! I can't believe how little he sleeps during the day! Harrison is still napping around 4 hours throughout the day and still wakes up in the middle of the night to feed, even though I've increased a lot of his feeds to 5oz, whenever I can pump that much.
I hope the rest of you ladies are doing well!
Harrison has been coping really well with the travelling - he didn't love the 13 hour flight to Jo-berg and then stopover before going to Cape Town, he doesn't feed much whilst we're flying, he just sleeps, then wakes crying after an hour and does that throughout the flight. But the airpressure doesn't hurt him during landing or take off now that we know about feeding him throughout. He coped yesterday in 41 degrees centigrade whilst we were petting cheetahs and having a picnic (we kept him in the shade). He's just been such a delight.
Britt - I don't know how you cope with the cole weather! bbrrr!! I find HK winters cold enough! I think the coldest we ever get is 10 degrees centigrade, and only for a few days a year!
I showed my hubby that pic of Jack with Sophie he thought it was pretty cute too 
We will be looking for a second place in BC soon so that will be nice and DH is taking me to Maui when our LO is about 4 months I think.
what the heck?? I thought I was doing okay, mind you my boobs are so huge now its uncomfortable. I dont think I am going to be a cute preggo lady like you were, more like a house by 10 months, I will need to shop for moo moos 
Libby has cut her first tooth!! didnt seem to bother her until it actually started to cut and now she has a little razor! my girl is growing too quickly I swear if I didnt know when my last period was I would say she was older than she is! She has been here before I swear hahaha
