At the press conference for her and hubby Ogie Alcasid's upcoming V-Day concert, Mr. & Mrs. A, singer-actress Regine Velasquez confessed she went through postpartum blues because she had difficulty breastfeeding baby Nate.

"Nung una kasi, hindi nagla-latch si Nate (Nate wasn't latching at first)," she is quoted as saying on PEP.ph. "And I have very little milk. For about three weeks, bumibili ako ng breast milk sa breast milk bank ba yun? Merong days na iyak na lang ako nang iyak, kasi hindi ko alam kung papa'no ko pakakainin ang baby, kasi ayokong mag-[milk] formula sana. (For about three weeks, I bought breast milk from a breast milk bank. There were days when I would just cry and cry, because I didn't know how I would feed my baby, and I didn't want to use formula.)"

She said she'd prepared herself beforehand for what she thought was every aspect of taking care of a baby, but she didn't expect breastfeeding would be one of the hardest parts.

"Pag premature baby, pag pre-term, hindi agad nagla-latch (When a baby is premature or pre-term, he doesn't immediately latch)," she explained. "Nakaka-depress na hindi mo mapadedede ang baby, umiiyak na tina-try mo i-feed, umiiyak siya. (It's depressing when you can't breastfeed your baby, when he's crying as you try to feed him.) You feel inadequate."

When she was finally able to breastfeed Nate, her mood got a boost. "Nawala na yung baby blues ko," she said, laughing. "Yun lang pala yun!"

Regine thanked hubby Ogie for being understanding as she went through this. Ogie waved this away saying it was really what he should have done after noticing she was crying and getting frustrated. "Ang role ko dun siyempre, i-encourage siya na, 'Kaya mo naman yun, e.' (My role, of course, was just to encourage her, to tell her, 'You can do it.')"

The happy couple also presented Nate to the media for the first time at the press conference. They revealed that he will be baptized on January 22. Among some of his ninongs and ninangs are Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao, Judy Ann Santos, Kris Aquino, and Dingdong Dantes.


For more on Regine, Ogie, and baby Nate, check these out:

• Regine Velasquez Happy about Being a Mom, Dotes on Baby Nate
• Regine Velasquez Gives Birth to Baby Boy Nathaniel James, Name Trends on Twitter

Need information on breastfeeding and how it can help you with postpartum depression? Try these:

• Why Breast Milk Is Still Best for Your Baby
• 7 Breastfeeding Tips for Moms from Daphne Oseña-Paez and Patricia Bermudez-Hizon

For more on breastfeeding, here are some articles on FN:

• 10 Things Every Woman Should Know Before Having Her First Baby
• Daphne Oseña-Paez: The Celebrity Mom Turns Child Advocate

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)