World Breastfeeding Week in October and St. Patrick Baby Breastfeeding Statement Clothes (Plus Raffle)

World Breastfeeding Week in October

 

It's World Breastfeeding Week again! You might be surprised to read this but you read it right! 

 

The official date of World Breastfeeding Week is from August 1-7. Most countries, including the Philippines, celebrate in August. But there are countries like Canada, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and UK  who organize their breastfeeding campaign on the 40th week (in October) to increase public participation and media attention because most people are on holiday in August in these countries.

 

Canada adapts the theme for the year, BREASTFEEDING: A Winning Goal - For Life!, as it celebrates World Breastfeeding Week this week from October 1 to 7. This theme asserts the importance of increasing and sustaining the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding - in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) countdown, and beyond.

 

Photo source here.

In Ireland, the theme for their National Breastfeeding Week this October is Every Breastfeed Makes a Difference. This year's theme reminds moms that every breastfeeding session makes a difference in the health of the baby as well as the mom. It also reminds moms that every breastfeeding session brings a mom closer to the achievement of her breastfeeding goal. Isn't that beautiful? This message is close to my heart because that's what I advocate in my book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking.

 

HSE National Breastfeeding Coordinator Siobhan Hourigan  said:  "Support can really help mothers to get started with breastfeeding and to breastfeed for longer."

 

WABA, which stands for World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, exhorts everyone to Protect, Promote and Support breastfeeding because it is a vital, life-saving goal!

 

Here's an infographic from the WHO website that tells us
how family members and friends can help support breastfeeding moms.

 

St. Patrick Baby Breastfeeding Statement Clothes

 

Aside from the celebration of World Breastfeeding Week in the countries mentioned above, October is also a special month for me and my family because it's the birth month of our eldest son, whom I breastfed for at least two years.

 

In line with these celebrations, I have partnered with St. Patrick Baby to run a raffle promo this October for all the buyers of the paperback edition of my book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking.

 

I first learned about these products by St. Patrick Baby last year in August through a Breastfeeding Group that I was a part of. Breastfeeding moms from our group ordered and bought these breastfeeding statement clothes for their breastfed babies. I wanted to order too but it was already too late when I found out. The stocks have ran out.

 

This year, I'm glad that I was able to get these breastfeeding statement clothes for my upcoming (3rd) baby. I'm excited to let him wear these clothes when he comes out sometime in late November or early December!

 

Early baby shower presents/Christmas gifts from St. Patrick Baby!

You may check out the photos and details of these nice baby clothes by clicking this link.

 

These products are also available at the following SM Department Store branches (infant section):

SM Megamall
SM Mall of Asia
SM North EDSA
SM Makati
SM Las Pinas
SM Aura
 

Let me share with you 3 main reasons why I like these products:

 

1. These baby clothes are 100% made from organic cotton. This means that the cotton used in these baby clothes were grown and harvested without the use of harmful chemicals. Thus, these baby clothes are gentle and are not a threat to our baby's delicate skin.
 

 

2. I love the illustrations and statements on the baby clothes that helps raise awareness on breastfeeding and its benefits. Through these clothes, breastfeeding moms and advocates can help promote breastfeeding in their own personal way.

 

3. Last but not least, since there were no chemicals used in the growing and harvesting of the cotton used for these baby clothes, these products help save/preserve Mother Earth. Supporting products and advocacies that protect and preserve the environment are also close to my heart.
 

 

As I've mentioned earlier, we will raffle off a St. Patrick Baby Statement product as part of our celebration this October. All buyers of my book's paperback edition who will purchase it directly through me (via email or the book's Facebook Page) will get a chance to win a singlet romper from St. Patrick Baby. Each paperback copy bought entitles the buyer one raffle entry.

 

 

 

If you do not have a copy of the paperback edition of BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking, I encourage to buy your copy this month. If you already have one, I invite you to help other moms by giving away a copy of this book as a present to your pregnant or breastfeeding friends or relatives. You can also make this a wedding or bridal shower gift to future moms or a Christmas present.

 

The raffle promo will run from October 1 to 26, 2014 and is open to all residents in the Philippines. Also, please make sure that you have liked my book's Facebook Page to make your raffle entry valid.

 

Place your order now! Email me at teregmps@yahoo.com or teresa@fulllifecube.com or send me a PM through https://www.facebook.com/BreastfeedingJourneyWorthTaking.

The Power of a Story Plus Giveaways

Stories are powerful. The greatest speakers are mostly, if not all, great storytellers. Even Jesus used stories a lot to proclaim about the kingdom of God.

 

Stories help people, especially ordinary ones, understand even the most complex of concepts. Stories help establish connections between people that once were not there. Stories inspire, encourage, motivate and change lives.

 

That is why I chose to include a number of breastfeeding stories in my book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking. Aside from sharing my own breastfeeding story, I gathered moms from different walks of life to share their breastfeeding stories as well. I wanted moms who will read my book to find at least one story they can relate to... a story that will touch their hearts and make a difference in their breastfeeding journey and their family.

 

I believe that with just one story, the course of a life can be changed. With one man's story, humanity has been saved from their sins. With another man's story of bravery, a nation got the courage to rise against a dictator and staged a peaceful revolution.

 

As the National Breastfeeding Awareness Month comes to a close, I'd like to ask the readers of BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking which breastfeeding story in the book moved, inspired or encouraged them the most and why it did so.

 

This will be my last blog giveaway in celebration of breastfeeding awareness month. I will choose 2 lucky winners via Rafflecopter who will win 1 box each of Obi tie-side and pajama set.

The first to leave a comment/tell us which breastfeeding story moved her the most will get these prizes.

The second to comment will get this prize.

The first three (3) to join (leave a comment on this blog post) will win prizes from MomBabyFabric. 


This giveaway is open to all Philippine residents who have read my breastfeeding book.

The third to comment will get this prize.

I will announce the winners next week. Join now!

UPDATE:

The winners for our MomBabyFabric items are the following:
Nappy Pouch - Darl Corral-Piquero
Bib and Clean up cloth - Nor Ann Balatbat
Madison Pouch - Yen Morales

The winners of our Obi tie-side and pajama sets are Mommy Que and Mommy Sigrid!

Congratulations to all our winners!
 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Breastfeeding Awareness Month Plus Blog Giveaways Courtesy of Mama Chows

The month of August has been designated as National Breastfeeding Awareness Month in the Philippines in order to protect, promote and support breastfeeding as the normal, natural and preferred method of feeding infants and young children. According to the bill introduced by Senator Pia Cayetano, it has been reported that 16,000 babies die every year because of the harmful effects of bottle-feeding/formula-feeding.

 

Moreover, breastfed children have at least six times greater chance of survival during their early months than children who were not breastfed. This was based on the 2008 report by Lancet, a renowned medical journal.

 

 

Let me share a few more things about breastfeeding.

 

1. Did you know that children who were breastfed have a 20% lower risk of dying between the ages of 28 days and one year than children who weren't breastfeed? This was based on a study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the US.

 

2. Did you know that breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in mothers? And that studies have shown that the longer mothers breastfeed, the greater is their immunity to these two kinds of cancers?

 

3. Did you also know that breastfeeding helps a family save at least P4,000 each month (could vary depending on the kind of milk formula bought per household to feed their child)?

 

These are just a few of the benefits of breastfeeding to the child, mother and the entire family. You may read and learn more about breastfeeding and its benefits when you buy a copy of BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking. You may purchase a copy here and here.  

One of my reasons for writing this book is to help educate more women, especially Filipinas, on the benefits of breastfeeding. I want to inspire more moms to breastfeed their babies and to equip them as they take on this challenging but rewarding task.

 

The paperback edition of this book was first published last year in October while the Kindle/eBook edition was published in July of this year. With the launch of the eBook edition, it is my hope that I would be able to help more moms in their breastfeeding journey through this book.

 

And since it's National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, we are celebrating it with a blog giveaway. We were blessed to have Mama Chows as our major sponsor for this blog giveaway. We are giving away five (5) gift certificates for a one (1) week supply each of oatmeal cookies from Mama Chows to five (5) lucky winners. It's so easy to join! Those who have read the book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking simply need to tell us by leaving a comment on this blog post how the book helped them in their breastfeeding journey or how the book enabled them to win over their breastfeeding challenges. We will pick five (5) winners through Rafflecopter at the end of this week. Also, we will be giving one gift pack each, consisting of 1 box of malunggay capsules and 1 box malunggay tea, from Moringana to the first three (3) moms who will join our blog giveaway by leaving a comment on this post.

 

Do you already have a copy of this bestselling book? Are you done reading it? Join our blog giveaway and tell us how this book helped you?

UPDATE:

Congratulations to our winners!

The 3 winners of 1 gift pack each from Moringana are the following:
1. Sally Yu
2. Darl Corral-Piquero
3. Kehrin Morales



Kindly email your complete name, address and mobile number to teresa@fulllifecube.com so we can ship your prize. Thanks!

The 5 winners of 1 GC each from Mama Chows are the following:
1. Yen Morales
2. Christine Plata
3. Aegeane Brioso
4. Marites Panio-Rojas
5. Jenina Tuazon

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking (Kindle Edition) is Now an Amazon Best Seller

It's now time to celebrate after all the hard work and challenges I went through in making BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking available in Kindle edition on Amazon. (You may read about some of the challenges I experienced here in one of my previous posts.) My breastfeeding book's Kindle edition was listed in Amazon's Best Seller List! Hurray! I also got a bonus from God. I got Number 1 Author Ranking because of this on August 1 and 2!!! Amazing!!! Wow! This is one BIG surprise indeed from Him! (Read my previous post about my decision to let God surprise me here.)

 

I will praise the name of God in song,

and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:31



My author ranking as of August 1





I've been monitoring Amazon closely, hours before the start of my 3-day Free Book Promotion. I even got tensed around past 3 PM (Manila, Philippines time) when I did not see the regular price of my book change to $0.00. It was already August 1 Pacific time which is the time when the first day of the promotion should go live. I kept hitting the refresh button to see if the price would be updated. Almost an hour has passed, the price has not changed still. I was already very stressed. I sent an email to ask Amazon's help line why the price hasn't changed. I kept looking at my Amazon KDP account and wondered why the status of the Free Book Promotion was reflected there to be ongoing but the price of my book on the different Amazon marketplaces continued to reflect the regular price. There were already people inquiring in my book's Facebook Page if they can already download the eBook for free. So, I posted a few lines from Amazon KDP's website where they mentioned that due to system latencies and differences in time zones, there could be some delays in the price update.

 

After around two LONG hours of waiting, the price of the book became $0.00! I posted an announcement right away on my book's Facebook Page as well as on my personal Facebook account. I was so relieved!!! 

 

Click here to go to my book's Amazon page and to download it for free.

 

What followed was a continuous monitoring of my breastfeeding book's performance in the different categories and subcategories where it was classified. My husband, my virtual assistant (Clarice) and myself worked together to monitor the developments (book ranking, number of units downloaded, posts or articles written about the eBook and the Free Book Promotion, mentions of the book and the promotion on social media sites, etc.) and to promote the eBook Promotion as widely as we can. It was quite challenging to monitor the performance of the book and the effectiveness of the promotion because of the difference in time zones. The Free Book Promotion started around 5 PM already in the Philippines. I stayed up until around past 12 MN to check and document the developments. The result so far of the virtual eBook launch was worth the sacrifice! The many late nights that I worked on this project these past weeks were overshadowed by the outcome! 

 

This was my breastfeeding book's ranking on August 1 before MN in Manila, Philippines and on August 2 until around after lunch (same time zone).

 

One of my goals when I decided to work on this project of making my breastfeeding book available in Amazon is to see its title included in Amazon's Best Sellers List. I know that there are tens of thousands of books being sold on Amazon. I did not dare dream to be on number one spot in any of the natural categories where my book would be placed. I simply dreamed and desired to be included in the Best Sellers List. But my God had greater plans... as usual. :) He surprised me once more by giving me more than what I prayed for. 

 

BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking became Number 1 in the subcategory Motherhood!!!

 

When I was still studying the categories and subcategories on Amazon, I did not plan to put my book in a big category like motherhood because there were too many books competing in that category. (I got this advice from many authors whose posts I read online.) I was thinking of putting it in smaller subcategories like breastfeeding and family health which had over 200 titles and less than a hundred titles respectively. But when I finally uploaded my book on Amazon, I could not find those subcategories in the choices. The only categories I could find which closely matched my book's topic were motherhood and family relationships. I added some keywords hoping that these would help my book get classified in those subcategories. I added breastfeeding, child care, pregnancy, family health, nutrition, parenting and nursing. I was not very optimistic that I would top the subcategories I have chosen even though I'm running a Free Book Promotion for 3 consecutive days. There simply are too many free books competing.     

 

My breastfeeding book landed on this spot on the night of August 1 
and continued to be in that spot as of this writing. 

 

God reminded me however that He can work wonders and miracles! The task of monitoring the performance of my book during this 3-day promotion became more exciting when it started showing in Amazon's Best Sellers List, Top 100 Free. Then, I became more excited as I saw its ranking go up until it hit the Number 1 spot for the subcategory Motherhood. It was surreal!

 

On top of that, it also went up in ranking in another subcategory -- Child Care. It hit the Number 2 spot!

 

 

 

I thought these were already awesome news but my AWESOME GOD also made it possible for my breastfeeding book to hit the Number 3 spot in the bigger category Family Relationships, Number 4 on Parenting and Number 6 in the much bigger category Parenting & Relationships! I believe that only God can make this possible. Looking back, I realized that God really made it happen that way that I could not find the smaller subcategories in the choices as I uploaded my book on Amazon so that He can demonstrate once more His power and glory in my life as an author. I feel so grateful and honored. I thank God for fulfilling my dream, for helping me achieve and even surpass my goal.

 

 

I'm so happy I was able to document these milestones! The first time a book that I authored landed on the Best Seller List, I was not able to take pictures. It happened to my first published title, When My Bridegroom Comes. I wrote it when I was still single and it was in National Bookstores Best Seller List when I first launched it. It also became Number 1 for its category. Sadly, I do not have pictures of that milestone. I was still working full time then as Training Manager in a multinational company. I just learned the news from my mom who was the one checking the displays of my books in the bookstores. One of National Bookstore's staff at SM MOA shared that good news to her while she was going through the bookstores to check my book's performance. At least now, even though I do not have a camera on hand, I was able to take screen shots of my latest book's milestones and document all these here in my blog. :)

 

 

 

There are over 300 downloads already of BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking as of this time. You can still avail of the FREE eBOOK PROMOTION since it will run until tomorrow, August 3. Click here to download your copy.

 

I still have so much to share but I'm feeling tired and sleepy already from all the monitoring and work that I have done in the past days. I promise to share with you more insights, learnings and tips in my upcoming posts. So, make sure you come back or better yet subscribe to my blog.

 

I need to sleep early tonight because tomorrow is the last day in my 3-day book promotion. It will be another busy and exciting day for me.

 

Good night and sweet dreams! May your dreams come true as well! Remember, dreams do come true when you choose to pursue them with God by your side.

 

Breastfeeding Mom On A Mission

I encountered a lot of humps and bumps on the road in my breastfeeding journey with both of my sons. There were many times when I thought of quitting. But I chose not to give up because I knew that achieving my breastfeeding goals for each of them is worth the fight.

 

My boys whom I breastfed 
beyond 2 years old.

I chose not to focus on my bruises as I stumbled along the way. I kept going, got up on my feet after every fall. I fixed my eyes on my end goal and celebrated my short term victories as I achieved them. Before I knew it, I already hit my short term goal (to breastfeed for at least 6 months). I even surpassed my stretch goal (to breastfeed each child for two years).

 

I realized that those difficult years -- when I was still breastfeeding my children and I was going through a number of breastfeeding challenges -- formed my character and strengthened me as a mother. Also, God planted a mission in my heart after I succeeded in achieving my breastfeeding goals for each of my sons. At first I didn’t understand why I had to go through many tests in my breastfeeding journey, especially with my eldest son. Looking back however, I realized that God allowed me to experience those tests because He will eventually use my passing of those tests as my testimony to inspire and empower other moms in their breastfeeding journey.

 

Thus, a dream and a mission were planted in my heart. That God-sized dream was to write and publish a book that will help moms like me to win over their breastfeeding challenges. It was a dream that consumed me with passion for I knew firsthand how difficult it is to persevere in this noble path. I was very grateful to God and to the people who have helped me in one way or another to succeed in this journey. I wanted to pay it forward. I wanted to move from success to significance. I didn't want to be content with enjoying my success and the fruits of my decision to breastfeed my kids. I want to help other breastfeeding moms to be successful as well.

 

By the grace of God, that God-sized dream was fulfilled last year and the paperback edition/print book for BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking was successfully launched January of this year. (You can read about the launch of the paperback edition here.) Aside from sharing my own breastfeeding success story, I also featured the breastfeeding success stories of moms from different walks of life — stay-at-home moms, work-at-home moms, moms working outside the home and mompreneurs. My goal was to help each reader find a story she can relate to and inspire her to persevere as she faces her own challenges. I discussed breastfeeding basics also, which I thought would be most helpful to first-time moms or first-time breastfeeding moms. It's not a technical book. It's a breastfeeding book written by a breastfeeding mom for fellow breastfeeding moms. I wanted it to be very easy to read and understand.

God has moved me though to keep going in this mission. A few months later, I embarked on making an eBook version of my breastfeeding book to be available on Amazon so I can share the inspiration to more families and make a difference in the lives of more children.

 

I made it my goal this year to release the eBook version of BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking before World Breastfeeding Week 2014. Moreover, I scheduled a 3-day book promotion to make the Kindle edition of my book FREE for download on the first three days of World Breastfeeding Week 2014 as my way of supporting it. This is my gift to moms as we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week this year. (Click here to download my gift to you, your FREE copy of my eBook.) This makes this year's World Breastfeeding Week celebration memorable to me. A couple of weeks before the release of my breastfeeding book's Kindle edition, I found out that the theme for this year's World Breastfeeding Week is Breastfeeding: A Winning Goal for Life! My heart skipped a beat after I read this in their website. I felt God affirm me that I made the right decision to work on this book project and to schedule my 3-day book promotion on August 1-3. I was excited to help more breastfeeding moms become winners for life!

 

Photo from my book's Facebook Page.

It's now day 1 of World Breastfeeding Week 2014! My hope and my prayer is that in my own unique way, I would be able to inspire and empower moms all over the world to win over their breastfeeding challenges. I hope that by reading my book, more families would choose to take this path. 

 

Let me close with these lines from my breastfeeding book:

 

Breastfeeding can be challenging.

But in spite of the humps and bumps
on the road,

breastfeeding is a journey
definitely worth taking!

 

HAPPY WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK! 

P.S.
I'm linking this post to the #WBW2014 Blog Carnival hosted by 5 Degrees of Chaos and Handbag Mafia. Hope you can visit the other blogs who joined.
 

My Adventure in Making BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking Available on Amazon Kindle

"Your book is available in the Kindle Store!"

 

That's the email I received in my inbox a few hours after I uploaded my book's file on Amazon.

I didn't expect to receive feedback from Amazon right away. I read in their website that it would take around 12 hours at least to review the book before they could review and approve a book. This email was a welcomed surprise!


It was surreal to see my book on the list of new releases
on Amazon that night!

I started preparing for this project of releasing a Kindle edition of my breastfeeding book around April after my celebrating my birthday. Around that time also, I found out that I was pregnant again so I chose to hire a project coordinator. I hired Judith, my friend who is also a freelance writer like myself because I know she wants to publish her own book someday. I didn't want to hire just anyone because I want the job to add value to the person I will hire for the project. I was so glad she accepted my offer. And because she's my friend, she exhibited a strong commitment and dedication in helping me meet my goals.

 

I thought that hiring a project coordinator would spare me from a lot of stress. But stress still found its way to me quite well. First, Judith and I had a hard time looking for a layout artist who is available to do the revisions on the layout based on our timeline and budget. Then, when we finally found one, the layout artist that we hired made us believe things were on track for around a week only to tell us around the time she was supposed to submit our expected end result that she didn't get all the required files that we sent. She also began asking questions which she should have asked at the beginning. She couldn't assure us when she'd be able to deliver the expected output. When she finally communicated with us (after some lull), she gave a date that was way beyond my target date of completion for layout revisions. Thus, on the weekend that the layout artist gave us these problems, I decided to do the work myself with the help of my husband. I asked my husband to convert the Pdf file of my book's first edition into Word. Then, I did the updating, editing and required revisions myself. It was very stressful weekend for me! I worked double-time to meet my deadline. I wished that I had worked on the files myself and chose not to outsource to someone else since I ended up doing it under so much time-pressure and stress. Sadly, I didn't know or expect that the person I will hire would be so unprofessional to give me and Judith problems at the last minute. In the end, I was still grateful to God for enabling me to accomplish the task which I initially didn't think I could do.
 

 

One of the posters I made.

I thought that my problem with artists stopped when I finished the revisions on the layout. I was wrong. I experienced problems again when I hired artists for the next steps I needed to do in preparation for the Amazon release. Again, I had difficulty finding an artist to revise the back cover of my book. Then, I had hard time looking for an artist to make the posters and other promotional materials for the campaign/release. When I finally found artists who will do the job for me, they turned out not skilled and professional enough to deliver the results I expected. Another disappointment! After a lot of exchanges and headaches, the graphic artist I asked to revise my book's back cover finally delivered the output I required to my satisfaction. But the graphic artist I hired to do my posters wasted a week of my precious time only to tell me that she can't deliver my requirements. At first, she submitted work that did not follow my instructions. Naturally, I asked her to correct the work since these did not meet my requirements. We had a number of email exchanges. I was getting frustrated because simple instructions like what to put behind and what to put in front were not carried out. I had to test my instructions on my 5-year-old boy and our helper to check if my instructions were simple enough to be understood. Unfortunately, the graphic artist failed to understand my instructions even after I translated my instructions in Filipino, unlike my eldest son and our helper who got what I meant. I tried giving the artist a lot of chances by giving additional instructions but after a number of exchanges, the graphic artist emailed me that she's quitting on the job. She even complained that I asked too many revisions on the images. That the amount of work she has done is not commensurate to the rate she gave me. I was terribly disappointed! Honestly, I got mad at her for wasting my precious time making me believe that she will make the corrections/revisions eventually. Imagine, I spent 6 days of communicating with her trying to make her understand what I wanted her to execute when she initially said (before we closed the deal) that she can work on the design concepts I shared in just a few hours. I told her that it was very unprofessional of her to quit after committing that she will make the corrections/revisions and that she will help me meet my deadlines. I also told her that there would have been no need for corrections or revisions had she followed my step-by-step instructions. I even shared with her links to the images I wanted her to use as reference or guide in each poster/image that I wanted her to make. Once more, I had another stressful weekend because of an artist! I decided to do the required work myself because the artists I used to work with were all busy with projects and the good artists I found on Fiverr.com had a long line of clients waiting for them to finish their current gigs. It would be too costly for me to hire them. I would need to pay rush fees if I hire them to meet my deadline. By God's grace, I was able to do the work I wanted the graphic artist to do for me. 

In the end, I thanked the Lord for enabling me to do the work required even though the people I hired failed to deliver. The blessing behind these unexpected problems was that I was somehow able to save some money since I didn't have to pay for artists. I just regretted that I chose to hire/outsource these services. I should have done these things myself at an earlier time. Sadly, I didn't expect/know that the people I will hire would be unprofessional. The good news is that I was able to overcome these obstacles.

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

 

Judith and I found someone on Fiverr.com who will convert my Pdf and Word file into mobi (one of the formats needed to upload your book in Amazon). Praise God for this person that we hired was very professional. She even went the extra mile to help me get the best Kindle version of my book. It happened that there were a lot of formatting errors even with repeatedly proofreading and corrections. My patience was being tested once more. Thankfully, Beth (the one whom we hired) patiently corrected all the errors I found. When I found additional errors that needed to be revised (which were no longer within our agreement), I offered to buy at least 1 extra gig from her. To my surprise, she declined. Instead she did some more revisions. In the end, she even gave me additional instructions so my husband and I can eventually do the corrections ourselves in the future. Wow! What great service! Thank God for sending her our way!

 

I spent many days and nights proofreading the book after each revision/correction from my converter. What I expected we'd finish in 2-3 days, we finished in over a week. I'm still grateful to God though that we got to upload the file and get approval before our deadliest deadline. My book finally went live on Amazon on July 24 (Philippine time) after much hard work and challenges! My husband and I praised and thanked God for this achievement and milestone.

 

Actually, doing the administrative stuff before finally getting the approval from Amazon was also not a breeze. We had internet connection problems the whole week. Our country (and city) was hit by a typhoon, which caused power interruption in our area and in other parts of the metro. We had not electricity for three days. Then, when we finally had electricity, we suffered from intermittent internet connection. These slowed me down even more in meeting my targets.  What I could have finished in a few minutes took me almost the whole day. Actually, I started working around mid-morning. I finished uploading after dinner. I felt like I was inching my way to the finish line!

 

But ALL the negative feelings and thoughts were replaced by joy and thanksgiving when I finally saw my book on Amazon! Praise God! I know that God paved the way for it to be available in Kindle edition despite the many obstacles I had to overcome. I know that it was His grace that sustained me in all these hardships.

Click here to go to my book page on Amazon.

 

I hope and pray that this development would help me achieve my goal of inspiring and empowering more moms around the world through my book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking. Just like my breastfeeding adventure with my kids that was replete with challenges, I still consider this adventure and journey towards having my book published on Amazon a journey worth taking. ;)

 

Are you also an aspiring author? Are you also going through difficulties in making your dream a reality? Don't quit! Don't give up on your dream! Sometimes, the Lord allows challenges and hardships our way to increase our skills and to stretch our capacity to receive more blessings from Him and to expand our reach and ability to touch more lives. Most of the time, He allows these things to happen to us to help us grow in faith in Him and to draw us closer to Him. May your challenges bring out the best in you in the same way that my challenges brought the best in me! 

 

Download my BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking's Kindle Edition now and get at least 20% savings! Click here to avail of this offer.  

Check out these posts from other bloggers and sites about this piece of good news!

Filipina-Authored Breastfeeding eBook Now at Amazon.com, FREE on Aug 1-3! by The Nanay Notebook

Breastfeeding: A Journey Worth Taking (Download for Free) by Pinions and Plumage of Love

Filipino Author Releases Breastfeeding Book on Amazon Kindle by Sumptuous Style

Free Download of Breastfeeding Book in Support of World Breastfeeding Week 2014 by Sumptuous Style

Activities for August Breastfeeding Month by Chronicles of a Nursing Mom

Free Download of Breastfeeding Book in Support of World Breastfeeding Week 2014 by AllPromosPH

Filipino Breastfeeding Book on Amazon Kindle by Life of Que

Inspiring Breastfeeding Book and Stories to Mark World Breastfeeding Week 2014 by Nanay's Trip

Free Download of Breastfeeding Book in Support of World Breastfeeding Week 2014 by Lally's Reflections

BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking - Free for a Limited Time by Little Pieces of Happy    

Free Download of Breastfeeding Book in Support of World Breastfeeding Week 2014 by Joys of a Wife and Mom

Breastfeeding: A Journey Worth Taking (FREE EBOOK from August 1-3!) by Snap.Play.Love

Awesome August Activities for Moms by Tina Rodriguez for Philstar unBlogged

Free eBook download in support of World Breastfeeding Week by Blog Watch

August is Breastfeeding Month! Dr. Jack Newman is Coming Plus a Free Book by Apples and Dumplings

 

Breastfeeding is Love Poured Out From One Heart to Another

A child first learns about God's love 

at his mother's breasts.

When a mother promptly provides milk for her hungry child, a child experiences and learns about God's timely provisions. When a mother consistently nurses her child over a long period of time (like a number of years), the child experiences and learns about God's faithfulness. A nursing mother's loving arms gently wrapped around her baby warms not only a baby's body but also the baby's heart and soul. The baby is comforted by his mother's loving presence and touch. This experience in infancy gives the baby a sense of security and protection from the world around him. Psalm 22:9 (AMP) says, "Yet You are He who took me out of the womb; You made me hope and trust when I was on my mother's breasts." Babies learn to hope and trust that their needs would be met at the breasts. They hope and trust that when they cry (be it out of hunger, thirst or fear), their mom would be there to nourish and comfort them. Breastfeeding, therefore, not only provides for their bodies; but also, for their souls.

I was amazed when I discovered in the Old Testament that God compares His love for His people to the love of a nursing mother for her child. One popular verse related to this is Isaiah 49:15 (NLT) that says, "Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget." This verse recognizes the very strong unique bond between a mother and the child that she nursed. It's as if God was saying in this verse that it's impossible for a mother to forget or stop loving the child that she nursed at her breasts. Wow!

Here's another verse. This time, it's from Isaiah 66:12-13 (ESV). "For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you..." I'm so honored to be a nursing mom! Imagine, God compared Himself to a nursing mom like me! God must have high regard for nursing moms! He definitely sees the powerful love that fills a nursing mother's heart which overflows through the milk that comes from her breasts. This verse gave insight, too, to the other purpose of breastfeeding, which is to bring comfort to a child.

When I was a first-time nursing mom, one of the pieces of advice that I heard was that I should not use my breasts to pacify or comfort my baby. I was told that breastfeeding should be mainly for providing my baby with food. I felt torn by this advice; for, a part of me wanted so much to bring my baby to my bosom every time he cried. Now I understand why I felt that way!

God designed a mother's breast not only as a source of nutrition or food for her child; but also, as a place of comfort and love.

I'm glad that as I grew in experience as a nursing mom, I've learned to break away from this advice. I'm thankful for the grace and wisdom to follow my instincts and to comfort my child through my breasts whenever he needs it. My second child is so blessed since he benefitted from the new lessons I have learned.

That's me breastfeeding my youngest son last year 
during our Mother's Day photo shoot.

I so love breastfeeding! I think God designed us moms this way so that when our babies are hungry, we would feel it in our breasts. When we are away from our babies, we would feel a tug in our hearts to run home to them. I think God designed us mothers to be near our children especially when they are young. I pray that we moms would recognize this wiring from God and we would choose to show our love to our children by breastfeeding them.

*****

This piece above is an excerpt from the first chapter of my latest book BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking, which was released during the last quarter of last year and launched officially at Mothercare, BGC last January 25, 2014.

My strong belief is that breastfeeding is love poured out from God's heart to a mother's heart and into a baby's heart. I believe that we moms are privileged to be given this sacred task of being God's first instruments in making His unconditional and passionate love known to our children. I pray that more mothers would accept and embrace this sacred calling. That is one of my reasons for writing BREASTFEEDING: A Journey Worth Taking. If only more moms would know what really transpires when a mom breastfeeds her baby, I think that more moms would choose to breastfeed their kids.

  

Let's keep the love flowing from God's heart through ours into the hearts of our babes!

To buy a copy of my breastfeeding book, please click here.

This post is part of the "Breastfeeding is Love" blog link up party. 

Please feel free to visit other posts from fellow mommy bloggers on the joys of breastfeeding! 

Hosted by Chic Mompreneur

Chic Mompreneur: Breastfeeding is Love

My Finance MD: Breastfeeding is Love

Art of Being A Mom: Breastfeeding Love

Mommy Bares All: Breastfeeding is Love Poured Out

Wear and Nurse Baby: Breastfeeding is Love! Why I Breastfeed. 

 Pinions and Plumage of Love: B-R-E-A-S-T-F-E-E-D-I-N-G is the Longest Spelling of Love

The Binondo Mommy: Breastfeeding is Love

Mamanee's Nest: Breastfeeding is Love

*I'm linking this as well to the Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Link Up Blitz for February 2014.