Since Elian was born, it became hard for me to work and do my own thing again. I was used to running things, doing things and creating things. But life does change when you become a mother.

And in my first year of motherhood, I craved to be able to do those again.

Since I was breastfeeding, my baby clung to me the whole time especially on his first months. Our breastfeeding journey didn’t start off easy. I didn’t have a lot of milk and had to get from my sister, sister-in-law and some mommy friends. I attended breastfeeding classes months before I gave birth. And I tried to remember as many tips as I could when he was born. I made him latch as best as I could the moment he was handed to me in the recovery room. He was so tiny at only 6.9 lbs and I was so scared holding him and didn’t have a clue if I was breastfeeding him correctly. He was a crier and our first months were hardest months ever. He would cry and cry and I wondered if my milk was enough but it turned out he was also colic. Good thing it turned around after his 5th month.

On those darkest early months, I experienced the worst things — clogged painful milk ducts, lumps, milk blisters, etc. etc. and I couldn’t imagine breastfeeding him for a month, what more a year. And lo and behold, it’s already been more than 22 months and we’re still at it.

And during this whole time of breastfeeding him direct, one of the biggest things I missed were wearing all my favourite styles. Fashion and clothing became limited for me. Elian hated the nursing covers and I was always on the lookout for nursing wear but there aren’t a lot of nice options. I found myself creating my own clothes and friends would compliment the kinds of clothes I wore that turns out to be breastfeeding-friendly ones. They urged me to sell to them and to make it into my own brand. I never really got to do it until last month. With all the things we do on a day-to-day managing the home, Elian, office despite being yaya-less and household help-less, it was tough to get it started and I almost passed on it. The only thing that made me actually do it is because I was already planning to wean off Elian and if I wean him off already and still haven’t started it, then I really won’t get to do it anymore. And I thought I might regret not doing it and giving it a try. So last September, a day after my birthday, I scheduled a shoot to launch the birth of Bub & Weave, and we launched at the end of that same month, my birth month. And the rest just flowed naturally, after months of working on it. Big big thanks to Antidote for helping me pull this off! To Ken, for thinking of the name and the logo direction and everybody else in the team for putting together our site, etc. etc.

I am so happy and proud to be able to start something new again. Since I started Early Bird Breakfast Club in 2013 along with my husband, Ken, I miss creating and doing something new. And so here we are. A month of Bub & Weave and we’ve already sold more than a hundred pieces for moms of different sizes in different places. We’re so happy to be able to be part of the breastfeeding journey of various mums! I sometimes get surprised to see orders from the provinces and different cities as far as Visayas and Mindanao and some even abroad (mommies visiting the country but living in UAE, Singapore, Norway) as I thought we’d only be able to tap Manila.

We hope we can continue to help more moms especially the first-time moms/ new mom like me. Because in reality, breastfeeding is never really easy. But just like motherhood, it’s what makes it really special. In my own personal experience, I’m so glad that I chose to breastfeed Elian and continue to do so until now, because it really made us closer than ever. I love that for all those times he needed comforting (after a bad fall, a boo boo, during times he doesn’t feel well, or that time he got hospitalized), it was my breastfeeding that really comforted him and made him better. And I’m so glad I am able to do it for him especially for his first years.

I am not sure when I can actually wean him off but I am glad we are able to capture our breastfeeding journey through the launch of Bub & Weave. Here’s a little something for us to remember when we look back. And here’s a little something for all your mums out there! Breastfeeding is a priceless gift you can give your little one that actually lasts a lifetime. ❤