Moo, Pare

It is 8:37 and Lucia is asleep.

Today is the beginning of the end of my break from school. Come Monday, I shall be back with my colleagues, planning for the school year to come. It also means, by Monday, I won't be with Lucia 24 hours a day.

Every day since the break began, our schedule has been pretty much the same. We'd wake between 6 and 7 in the morning. Yaya will whisk her away so she could eat brekkie and I'd sneak in a few more minutes of sleep. I'd have a hasty meal and then it's reading time for me and her. At around 9, I'd turn on the TV so she can watch Dora the Explorer and The Backyardigans. At 10, it's off to her morning bath. I'd sneak in a quick shower as well, but she'd be soaking and playing in her tub for about half an hour (she loooves the water). If all goes well, she'll nurse a bit and then nap for about 2-3 hours. We go have lunch when she wakes up and then we play around some more. At around 2 or 3, we'll prep the pool so we can go swimming (have I told you how much she loooves the water?) and then we go have a little snack. She either watches TV or we play around until dinner at around 6. We have our evening bath at around 7 (my husband usually does this part) and then we watch her all-time favorites: Pocoyo, Elmo, and/or the Backyardigans. By 8 (or 9), she's usually asleep.

In between all that -- nay, in the midst of all of that -- there is breastfeeding. Yup. Lucia is 17.5 months old, and she still almost exclusively still relies on me for milk. We've had a difficult and expensive relationship with formula since she was born, and we've only very recently discovered (almost by pure accident) the kind of milk that she actually likes.

(Aside: She will only take this formula that's actually gleaned from goat's milk. Funnily enough, a pedia told us before that goat's milk actually mimics human milk more than cow's milk; maybe that's why Lucia hated all those other kinds of formula.) 

As a result of being the human version of the sacred cow of India, I've had to eat/drink weird things -- and amazing quantities of them -- just to keep up with the demand. I dunno if it's the actual food/drink or the power of suggestion that is at play here, but for some weird reason, it actually works. So indulge me if this would seem strange, but I am hoping that this would prove useful to at least some of you who would accidentally stumble upon this particular entry. :))

Okay, so here are the things I eat/drink:

1. Balut - If you don't know what this is, I urge you to Google it...on an empty stomach (because if you don't know what it is, then you won't know that people actually eat this). I don't mind since, ehem, I'm actually fond of balut. 
2. Malunggay - This is something most Filipino mothers know (if only because every.single.person has probably told a pregnant Filipino mother to eat malunggay, and lots of it). I eat copious amounts of the leaves plus that long, weird-looking fruit (or is it vegetable) that grows along with the leaves. 
3. Clams - Our manang has been serving this for lunch every Saturday, telling me to eat.eat.eat.eat.eat because it's good for my milk production. Well, it looks like it's working.working.working.working. 
4. Ampalaya - There aren't many fans of ampalaya. I've only actually begun appreciating its taste fairly recently. Again, for some odd reason, eating it seems to work. 
5. Dark Beer - No, seriously. I've been told it works. I am not just creating a loophole to sustain my functioning alcoholism ;p. 

Needless to say, of all the "nursing aids", this is my favorite. So there. I've been asked about how long I plan to breastfeed. I really don't know. Inasmuch as this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do (hmmm, wait, being in labor for a day and a half might be a tad harder), the thought of weaning makes me shudder. It'll happen when it'll happen. I'm not really rushing.

'Sides, look at the tasty things I have to get to eat! :D