This post is not just about Breastfeeding but also about NewlywedsAtWork (N@W). Ok backgrounder. N@W is an offshoot of WeddingsAtWork (W@W). We have our W@W Website and our W@W eGroup who live, talk & breathe wedding preps day in and day out. Since it is inevitable for the members who are married to discuss others things after their wedding, we created N@W, in N@W we discuss anything and everything, showbiz, recipes, shopping, travels, investments and whole lot more but of course majorly about being parents. N@W is my magic place, my solace, my refuge, my go to place. Things I cant post in FB as they are too personal I can easily post in N@W. My motherhood journey is made doubly and triply better because I got N@Wies to share and enjoy it with. I was able to successfully and easily breastfeed solely because of N@W. I actually hesitate blogging about N@W because I am not keen on making it a bigger group than it already is… ssshhhh (di ko talaga binigay ang link noh)
Ok now that you understand how much N@W means to me, then you can easily understand why I wanted to organize the N@W Breastfeed Marathon Shoot. Am actually dumbfounded why I didnt think of this last year or the year before. I was tagged by Stan and Jenny on their Breastfeed Shoot Project and it was just then when it hit me why not make one for N@W. On Aug 2 I sent some text message here and there, emailed the N@Wies asking if anybody’s interested and by Aug 4 the shoot was set and we had 16 mommies (with varied ages of babies from 2 months old to 3 years old and we also have a twins in the set, galing!) which grew to 20 and 19 made it 
We didnt have a theme nor a look nor a peg we just wanted a breastfeeding shot so we can join in celebrating Breastfeeding Month and at the same time have the N@Wie moms have a nice portrait of them breastfeeding for posterity. Hopefully it would help make them ambassadors of breastfeeding among their own peers.
How the shoot came about and thank you’s… First to Stan Ong for saying yes he is willing to do it; to Abie & Clarice for saying yes it is a great idea and they will join… those were my first yesses and it fueled me to go on so when schedule with Stan didnt work out, my next yesses came in the form of Lisa and then John Mateos Ong. Aug 3 when the studio we were eyeing still didnt reply I got a yes from Nelwin agreeing to let us use his studio Cocoon then Chichi came in to say she would want to put some quick make up on the moms, all this while the excited mommies kept emailing they wanna join. Then finally I spoke with Jong and Monique everything was easily set, Life by ImagineNation na daw bahala, then ako pa ang choosy I asked sino pipicture haha when he said Arlene of The Boudoir Dolls I knew it will be perfect na, then he said we can shoot in his place where there is daylight, where there is a big space and he can send us photogs (with S) aside from Arlene to shoot us. And just like that the shoot was finalized na. Special shout out to Bea, Olive & Brianna for being so gaan and so accommodating with all of us being such stage moms and dads, sorry walang kain break atat na stage parents andun eh! Special shout out to Chichi who didnt have along line aba minsan sila pa naghihintay ng next! Iba kayo Team Chichi (am proud to say before she became a professional make up artist W@Wie din siya)! And special shout out to Monique who made things happen, a day before she texted me what do we need, I said water and she had a water dispenser and cups ready, I said we will bring snacks na lang and she had tables for snacks ready, I told the group come early then let kids play, she made a play area with mats and provided toys for the kids too. Diba ang smooth!
Day of the Shoot! It was so much fun, no stress, no complain, no I WISH, no WE SHOULD HAVEs during the shoot and I was truly amazed how it all just worked out. We were even able to take advantage of the shoot and not only did we have breastfeeding shots but also kiddie portraits and family portraits as well. Each family got to shot at all the 3 set ups (black background set up; white background set up and the daylight set up) and we even had Jeff & Lisa take behind the scene shots while waiting for our turns. We didnt have diva moms who wanted to hog time, we didnt have bratty kids who ruined the mood of other kids (oh of course we had whiny kids but none that whined the whole time) I was wondering how come this shoot was so smooth and my only conclusion was because it was a family, we didnt care if a mom had to singit and shoot first kasi her kids suddenly went to the sofa na, it didnt matter if I am the next but a baby is suddenly feeding na so siya na una nag fe-feed na eh, it didnt matter if some had a go at the set several times and some once lang. It was a FAMILY and there was so much love in the set. There so so much love that we ended up posting and texting endless thank you’s the whole night via phone and via FB as we all felt the magic. Before I get too sappy… here please enjoy our shoot. Am proud to say N@W has been and will continue to be a big tool, resource, support to breastfeeding mommies.
Mommy Abie feeding Baby Raja (7 months)
Mommy Carolyn feeding Baby Carl (10 months)
Mommy Cheng feeding Baby Andric (11 months)
Mommy Chichi feeding Baby Marco (5 months)
Mommy Pittipat feeding Baby Janina (32 months)
Mommy Angela feeding Baby Dylan (11 months)
Mommy Bing feeding Baby Rafa (7 months)
Mommy Liza feeding Baby Nikko (14 months)
Mommy Ivy feeding Rafa (8 months)
Mommy Mona feeding Baby Lara (2 months)
Mommy Maricar feeding Baby Joaquin (24 months)
Mommy Kate feeding Baby Jacob (16 months)
Mommy Clarice feeding Baby Jia (49 months)
Mommy Monique feeding Baby Ezra (1 month old)
Mommy Hannah feeding Jaime Luiz (35 months)
Me feeding Baby Laya (28 months)
Our finale, Mommy Nikki tandem feeding Babies Fonso / Sancho (21 months)
To the mommies… N@W is happy to be able to give you this portrait. May you find these pictures when your kids are all grown up and be transported back to this wonderful chapter of your journey as a mom. If these photos help convince even just one of your friend to breastfeed then what a great gift we gave back to the world.
And Happy Breastfeeding Month to all.
Read Mommy Chichi’s account on the marathon shoot and her breastfeeding journey.
Read Mommy Tina of TrulyRichMom’s blog on this.
