3 & 4 - Pumping

Breast feeding is the hippie thing to do. Au naturel~

Okaylah, number 3 ngan number 4 tu actually ada kaitan. Kita start ngan pumping. Almaklum, mmg berhajat nak breastfeed Ilan exclusively ngan boobie milk at least sampai umur dia genap 6 bulan. Alhamdulillah, susu mencukupi for me to do so. 

Masa pantang aritu, semua org sowh pump and stock up for keje nanti. Kita ni amik sambil lewa je. Sumtimes pump, sumtimes idak. Nak seminggu nak start keje baru kalut takut susu tak cukup. 

Pumping

Mase memula tu guna Spectra3 Electric pump. Agak gedabak, but it does the work. Masa time pantang tu, i pump-and-use. Konon nyer Kiki tolong feed baby time malam coz kita dah seharian menyusukan baby and need the rest. Skang menyesal pasal nyer.... Nanti kita bgtau apa pasalnyer hokay. Continue reading pls.. :)

Mase memula pump, dapatlah dalam 2oz. Takut hokay!! Cukup ke? Banyak ni je ke Ilan dapat?? Pastu watlah research ngan Cik Google. Rupa nyer, mmg pun. We produce only what is needed. The laws of 'demand and supply' strictly applies here. Owh.. So barulah tau, mase baby brape hari ke beberapa minggu, mmg die perlukan sikit je. Perut diorg pun alahai.. kacipot! Okay... lega sikit.. Continue je pump, gradually supply pun increase... Jgn give-up and selalu berdoa untuk murahkan rezeki anak, niat pun kene betul.. Insyallah.

Alhamdulillah gak Ilan takde nipple confusion coz i started to let him have a taste of the bottle dari awal lagi. I think it was when he was only a few days old. Ni psl my boob engorgement yg teruk and bleeding nipples. So no nipple confusion for him. :) Cuma we changed from just using a newborn nipple on his milk storage bottles to Avent Natural (4oz) because of the newborn flow. Tommie Tippie does the same too, so it boils down to preference and $$.

We bought Ilan's at peekaboo shah alam for a good deal!

Start Keje + Pumping

Ark! Sehari lagi nak stat keje! Stock leh last sampai beberapa lama je!! Cammane ni??! Mmg risau and while at work risau tu tambah and plus lagi ni first time separated from baby for more than an hour. Gila lah rase dia. Sikit2 rasa nk call rumah. Nasib baik first day tu keje mmg melambak and email pun dah burst. Second day, bila dah settle back to the office barulah rindu tu melampaui batas. Siap meleleh lah air mae bila teringat Ilan kat umah.

Okay.. My workplace is not a workplace yg breast-feeding friendly. First day tu time lunch gi pump kat surau. Boleh plak lupa yg surau tu mix lelaki-pompuan, sambil pump bila dgr cam footseps jadik kelam-kabut. Hasil - 3oz! Owh dear.. owh no.. Kul 4 lari plak gi toilet pump. Used the dry toilet, tapi yelah kan.. aura2 and suasana toilet, nk pump pun tak selesa. Dapat lah dalam 2oz lebih. Makin hari tgk stock berpacket2 tu start to reduce.. Dari takleh nk close freezer drawers sampailah dah leh kira ngan sebelah tangan je brape packets tinggal. This needs drastic changes! Buat power-pumping lah, makan ni tu. Akhirnya, sampai skang none left in freezer, whatever i pump, i pump for next day usage. 

Tapi yang paling ketara - jangan pump bila tengah stress coz u tgk the result and it'll stress u more and lesser the production. Serious ni, tak main2.

Lepas hari ketiga, give-up toilet pumping and decide to use the meeting room time lunch. Kunci dari dalam, on ac. Selesa banyak :) ! Nak kata becoz of this change my production increase, tak gak. Sampai skang ada hari banyak, ada hari kurang and along the way, banyak gak hari yg risau gila susu tak cukup for the next day.

Choice of pump: Medela Swing

On good days..

Tapi kan Alhamdulillah, walaupun ada beberape hari tak cukup 24oz (Ilan drinks 4-5oz per feeding), bila sampai rumah, eh, mama kata susu cukup. Sumtimes ada terlebih plak satu packet.

Pumping on the road

Because of the dwindling supply (time pantang, leh gak dapat 16oz skali pump), i have resorted to extra pumping sessions during the day and the only time i have is during the journey to and from work. Yes.. Saya pump dalam kete.   

Tahu tak, lebih kurang kita bagi direct kat baby, supply kita pun makin kurang even kalau kita pump slalu. So makin hari my production makin kurang. Mana tak nye, Ilan menyusu time malam pun skejap je. Macam just nak basah tekak. Then die sambung tido lik. So malam dalam kul 3am kita buat gak pumping session.

Pumping dalam kreta ni mmg uncomfortable, lagi2lah atas jalanraya Malaysia yg sopak sana sini kan! Tapi demi Ilan, redha... Sarung je nursing cover, then pump.

Tipulah kalau ada org kata breastfeeding ni senang je.. Memang senang if you are a FTHW or a dedicated SAHM. Tapi for working ladies, ni sumthing yang sangat challenging. Penat cammane pun kene pump tengah2 malam, slalu sorg2 jelah bgn coz encik somi tgh berdengkor. Ngorok kate orang Boyan.

1. Mane nak pump?

2. Brape kali nak kene pump in a day?

3. Cukup ke susu ni untuk esok?

4. Seharian bekerja then balik kene bgn 2 - 3 times for feedings than pump gak at least once time malam.

5. Engorgement/leaking at work

6. Badan penat and dehydrated

List kat atas tu are some of the challenges for breastfeeding working mums. Walaupun nampak macam banyak, tapi tu bukan keluhan. Just listing down what we (bfeeding moms) worry about. Tapi pros dia lagiiii banyak. Kita tak lah kata kita anti formulas or nak meng-critisize mums yg tak bfeed, (Rezeki masing2 lain. Ni tak payah nak persoalkan.) tapi i pray that i get to provide at least the basic best for Ilan.

Satu lagi, janganlah jadi sombong or rase yang kita nyer susu akan kekal banyak je. So kalau og lain bg pendapat on macam mana nak increase milk supply ke, introduce milk boosters ke, try lah. No harm in trying kan? :) Even if tak nak try pun, decline cara elok, mesti niat org tu baik nak tolong kita coz sure dia tau what it feels like to be in our shoes if not takkan die nak menyibuk. Ye ke idak...??

Ni, my friend Adura from Temptations by Tiara (click here) ada bake and sell lactation cookies. Sedap woo.. Sugar-free cookies with oats, wholemeal wheat germs, brewers yeast, Hersheys choc chips, etc. Bagus gak for those yg not bfeeding but health-conscious and/or diabetic etc.  Try gak, now i cant stop! Sedap and addictive and it does help for me lah. Mahal skit dari cookies biasa, but its becoz of the ingredients hokayyyy.....

Insyallah, planning nak breast feed Ilan Aydeen sampai at least 6 bulan. If rezeki dia masih murah, extend ke 1 year.. Then tgk lagi, if masih murah, till 2 years.. Insyallah..

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the pump - Medela Swing

the bottle - Avent Natural 

lactation cookies - Supercookies by Temptations by Tiara (click here)