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The One Where I Felt Like I Was Poisoning My Baby

Last week, I wrote that breastfeeding Aerin was going splendidly. Well, this just goes to show that anything can happen in the wild, crazy journey we call motherhood, because I am no longer breastfeeding. So what happened? I had mentioned earlier that Aerin was suffering from 3 different types of skin ailments: eczema, baby acne, and little red bumps that our pediatrician guessed was heat rash. Aerin developed these skin problems when she was about a week old, and they seemed to keep getting worse and worse no matter what we did. No only that, she was spitting up and vomiting frequently (I will never forget the Exorcist-like vomiting she performed on my birthday). I know that many babies spit up a lot, but Claire had only...

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A Small But (Hopefully) Meaningful Gift

I just realized that I never shared Aerin's Chinese and Korean names with you guys. Aerin's Chinese name — 君靖 (Gwan Zing) — was chosen by J from a list of "pre-approved" names given to him by his parents. Claire's Chinese name, 君婷 (Gwan Ting), was chosen this way too. In fact, J used the same list for both names, and when his brother has children, he too will be naming them from the list and the first character of the names will be the same as well. My father had chosen Claire's Korean name — 다정 (Da Jung) — and I personally love it. Not only is it cute and easy to pronounce, the word 다정 is used in the Korean language to describe...

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Switching Up the Morning Routine

Since the moment I got pregnant with Aerin, J took over Claire's night and morning duties so that I could get some extra rest. The routine has not changed with the birth of our second daughter. In fact, I think that J quite enjoys these moments alone with his eldest — despite the fact that he is not a morning person — and uses them as special father-daughter bonding times. A typical workday morning usually goes something like this (all times are VERY approximate and change daily): 6:00am:  Aerin wakes up. I change her diaper, feed her, and play with her a bit until she is ready to fall back asleep. Aerin may or may not be sleeping again when — 7:30am:  Claire wakes...

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The State of the Milk Factory

They say that it usually takes about six weeks to establish a good breastfeeding relationship. Aerin turned six weeks old today. And aside from a couple of bottles of formula in the first week of her life, we have been exclusively breastfeeding her (about 60% straight from the boob, and the rest from pumped milk). The verdict? I still don't like breastfeeding much. Sigh. I really, really thought — and wanted to believe! — that I would love breastfeeding my child if it was working out well. And it is going splendidly. Aerin is a great nurser. She latched on correctly from day one, has a strong suck, and does not suffer from nipple confusion. So why don't I love it? Why can't I look to nursing sessions...

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The Green-Eyed Monster

Disclaimer: I love my children. I am not suffering from post-partum depression. I am well-aware that my current life circumstances all stem from choices I have made. I know that there are tons of families who would kill to have two healthy babies. But everyone needs a gripe session once in a while, don't you agree?  ;-)  This is a warning to the readers who lurk in the shadows and pop in once every blue moon to call me selfish, immature, and overly dramatic. Because yes, this is one of those "woe is me" posts. And because I get far more comments from those who support my "tell it as it is" posts. :-) So what is it I want to confess? Life with two babies who...

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