Our First Family Getaway to Singapore!

Finally, after 15 weeks of life, Adalyn took her first plane ride and visited Singapore.  It took (much) longer than expected to receive her passport and our Malaysian Visas so we were excited to start traveling again.  Eric and I were in need of a break from Penang and Malaysia lah, having been grounded almost 6 months, a record for our time here and probably one of the longest stretches of our adult life.  It was time, so off we went to Singapore, the large, clean, accessible, modern metropolis to the south.  We had an amazing time visiting our friends Louise, Eric and Mia.  Adi was a little star and allowed her parents a few late (10pm) nights and a few sleep ins (8am)! We enjoyed the conveniences of a modern city, hello sidewalks, shopped, ate (a lot) and saw a few of Singapore's many many sites.  All in all a great first trip away and good prep for our upcoming visit back to the States. 

We visited the amazing Gardens by the Bay on Saturday. We all enjoyed our time there and the cooler weather inside of the bio domes.  Adi was great, taking naps in her stroller and then showing off her smile in the baby bjorn.

Family pic with a napping baby.

Happy in the Bjorn!

On Sunday we spent a lazy afternoon at Clark Quay, taking advantage of the riverside dinning and the cooler weather.  We also took a cruise down the river checking out the city and the famed Marina Bay Sands.  After our cruise, we spent the evening drinking beer at Breworkz and eating delicious tacos at Senior Taco. 

First boat ride!

Marina Bay Sands.  Perhaps we will visit this famous hotel on our next trip.

Adi passed out after her afternoon snack

A very happy man with a "real" beer in his hand

Adi doing what she does best!  Fast asleep so her parents can enjoy a beer

Real Mexican Beer and Delicious Tacos

We HIGHLY recommend Senor Taco.  Legit Mexican tacos.  Expats you must go here!!

On our way back to Penang, Adi and Eric had some playtime in the airport!

First trip was a success!  I'm pretty confident we will be back to Singapore in the near future!  We all had a great time.  Next trip....back to the States.  Stay tuned, it will be a big one!

Our "Bestfed" Baby

I will preface this blog with a disclaimer:
It has taken me three months to write this blog with lots of pondering and thinking about others' feelings and how much our choices may/will be judged.  Either way, this blog contains personal choices that Eric and I have made as parents and by no means is meant as a way of judgement toward others' choices as parents.  We are ALL lovingly feeding our babies.

Most of you know a few simple facts about me:
1. I am a new mother to beautiful 3 month old Adalyn
2. I am BRCA1 positive
3. I chose to have a prophylactic double mastectomy two+ years ago to reduce my risk of developing breast cancer from 87% to 2%

Now, given those facts, it should be obvious that I am not breast feeding my daughter.  I cannot breast feed and in fact, I chose not to.  I chose to preventatively take off the part of my body meant to feed my babies in order for them to have their mom around.  I spent countless hours, well before becoming pregnant, accepting my choice and coming to the conclusion that if I could still have my mom alive today, I would without a doubt, rather have been bottle fed than a breast fed baby.  So I made my choice over 2 years ago to bottle feed my daughter. 

Here is where, for me, the lesson in surrender takes over.  I surrendered to my truth of not breast feeding.  Eric and I spent dozens of hours shopping and researching formula for Adi.  We scoured the island to make sure that we found the best formula for our little baby.  We settled on our formula two months before she was born, I had a stock ready to go to the hospital so we wouldn't have to switch formulas when we brought her home.  I was ready, formula and bottle in my bag, ready to feed my baby.

Shortly before Adi's birth a friend approached me and offered the precious gift of mother's milk.  She, without hesitation or solicitation, offered to help feed my baby the magic elixir that I never thought would be on her menu of choices.  I graciously accepted whatever amount she could give. Then another friend mentioned that her pediatrician, Dr. Hwang, was passionate about breast feeding and starting a milk bank.  I knew I had to meet her.

With the help of Dr. Hwang, I have a breast milk donor, who we call our milk angel.  This amazing woman, has been pumping milk for me since Adalyn was born.  Without fail, she pumps and brings it to the hospital for me to collect.  Today I collected 33 - 12oz bags, that Adalyn will eat over the next few weeks.  Our milk angel does this out of the kindness of her heart.   Our donor is not paid to donate her milk and she does not know me.  This selfless act has aided in our baby's health and growth since her birth.  I am forever grateful to her for helping feed our precious girl.

Our Bestfed baby's supply

At the hospital and for the first two weeks of her life, Adi ate 100% breast milk. Since then she is on a formula/breast milk combo that has lead to her doubling her birth weight and having the cutest chubby checks in town.  She and I still bond when I feed her, gazing lovingly into each others eyes.  My baby girl doesn't care how she gets her milk, as long as she gets it and trust me, she knows what her bottle looks like!

This is what our happy breast/bottle baby looks like!

To all of the mothers out there that are lovingly feeding their babies or have lovingly fed their babies, you are doing a great job!