9 posts tagged “breast feeding”

hmmm.. havent made a declaration yet, almost forgot...

My ups and down.. again on my milk supply. i've tried some the stuff suggested.. but still.. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the days when its difficult to collect supply... Im trying kurma now.. hope it will be right up again... :( 

Milk is back..after 'decreasing for a few days', alhamdulillah, but still couldnt make it for a day in nursery. Zahraa needs more than 12oz now as she soon will be 4 months.... maybe, once a day in the nursery, she still will have to take formula, about 1-3oz... so, which milk is good? I saw so many formula in the market..how to choose the right one, which one is good, some are too expensive, which are sweet and which are not.....??? Hmm another dilemma..... 

We've been briefed by our paed on these two vaccination, optional to the list of vaccines the government made compulsory. Rotavirus and pneumococal. It sounds like a good vaccine for Zahraa, as she is a day care baby and is exposed to so many unwanted things, dont have to mention what... many babies i knew had rotavirus, and been warded for it. And I had knewn some ones' baby had meningitis, and there's other who passed away caused of it. Pneumococal seems vital, and rotavirus to be easily infected. But both are expensive shots. We decide, maybe we will take both of the vaccination, one at a time. 

It was not easy. And I agree breastfeeding is a TOTAL commitment.. especially for working mums. Since I was expecting, I felt I really wanted to BF my baby. Deep inside, along the 9 months journey,I prayed so that I'd be able to.. (who knows, rite??) as for my husband, he himself really wants me BF out baby as well..if possible up until 2 years. He studied about BF as well, the reasons.. why and when it should be done. 

thanks mye for asking, i create another post just to respond to you, so anybody could read it too :D..

3 bags tu differently... 1 consists of zahraa's personal stuff e.g cloths etc...1 is the ice bag (techni ice happy mothers) with all  the bottles and ice ..and the last one is my back pack.. consists of my stuffs.... so i really look dump with all those stuffs and little zahraa..and high heels too!!! Dangerous is it??? Please dont do this... but i have no choice.. (if Zahrein is available, he help to bring all the bags to the car..) 

Sterilize bottle kat ofis?? hmm that is impossible of course...so just wash dgn hot water, then keep it in the ice bag as well to avoid bacterias or whatever germs...that is all i could and manage to do so far..... :( (err..takkan nak angkut sterilizer in another back pack??) And you will never expect where did i do all those pumpings......make a guess....

Oh yeah.. by the way, on the mandi issue.. yeah.. "benda putih tu" is really really useful and helped a lot. (even it is more expensive than the basin itself) to those who is not used to bathing baby and worry about me, i suggest you get one of those, at the first few years, the curve..cost: rm56...

The total holiday is OVER!!! I had to get back to work. this week is my 1st week back. I started on Tuesday, on the 8th, even though ectually it is best to start on wednesday (as suggested in breastfeeding for working mum articles). Its a busy day now, having Zahraa around. On the night before, I have to prepare few things.

1. Zahraa's bag - 6 diapers, 5 cloths, towels, etc

2. Zahraa's milk bag - ice packs, 6 bottles of 2 oz EBM

3. My bag - ice packs, 3 empty storage bottles, pump, wallet, keys, phone

Its is quite clumsy.. I have to carry her and bring ALL these things. They are heavy, as for the ice packs. I cant use handbag anymore. Since now, I am using a back pack!!! Its like getting back to the old days of schools. But I have no choice...do I ??? Imagine with all those things, with her.. hahaha.. Its even difficult to open the car door... luckily it doesn't rain (my car is parked outside our condo).. So this is why a carrier is needed (oo.. not again!! still in craze) Therefore, I have to get up early every morning to set everything up. There's no time for breakfast anymore. I just prepare my husband's breakfast and had to let him eat alone without me. Before leaving the house, Zahraa's diaper had to be changed. (luckily i dont have to bath her.. the nursery will bath her twice a day).

Zahraa's first few days at the nursery seems to be going fine. She didn't get cranky and sleep easily (how did they manage to do that?) She finished all her 6 bottles..wow..no wonder she grow up really quick..She was put on a bouncy net. There's 8 babies in the same nursery with her, and she's the youngest and smallest.

My days?? Well..meetings are waiting for me even on the first day I'm back. I couldnt really focus on work, thinking of Zahraa. I flip through files to study the project progress since I'm gone. I went to pump for milk 3 times on the 1st day, which is at 10.30 am, 1.15 pm and 4.45pm. On the next day, I just pump 2 times. So far things are doing fine..people still has not notice where did I go when I;m gone once in a while. I hope my office is ok with my pumping schedule, hope no one complain (breastfeeding is not popular at where I work).

I pick up Zahraa at 5.30 and get home. Luckily these days I dont have to cook, my husband will bring home some dishes, I just cook some rice. At home, i pump again (if my husband is available to hold Zahraa) sterilize all bottles, freeze ice pack again, thaw milk for tomorrow and divide them into 6 bottles, wipe and change zahraa into sleeping uniform (they bath her before i pick her up), pack Zahraa's bag and prepare storage bottles again. And of course theres dinner, prayers, quran recitation and ironing as usual. I can only goes to bed after settling Zahraa.

It seems my days will never be the same again.. I can only watch tv while rocking her to sleep. Its hard, tiring and seems to be hectic, but I enjoy all of these (well, at the moment) I even post my blog with her on my lap nursing nowadays..(one hand typing, yeah) I receive a lot of comments on breastfeeding my baby and how i took care of her. Yeah, some things seems to be imposibble to be made, but i will try, all my best, to be a breastfeeding working mother!! Wish me luck!!!

Elzahraa Zahrein

Look at me...hey.. i need attention

The plump me

I went back to kl on the 4th day right after being discharge. Most people told me.."What??? you're travelling this soon??" But alhamdulillah, I survived...Well...now, the honey moon is really over. I still felt tired from delivery and the travel, but the baby wants feeding almost all the time, and she takes 1 hour or more each time. She wants to be cuddled all the time, refuse to stay in the baby cot. So she sleeps with us, in betwwen the mom and the dad..a total barrier.. hahaha.This 1st week was busy with feeding, berurut and tungku, and visit from the nurses to checkout on the baby and me. My stiches hurts as I get up frequently to pick up and feed the baby. We went to the childrens' clinic for the first time, as Zahraa had a little jaundice.The blood test however turn out to be alright, its just a slight one. This week is also the beginning of goodbye to my good night sleep. My husband is not used to staying up late, so i'm the one mending the baby, who wakes up at almost every 45-60 minutes. The end of the week was a total grief for me as i had to say goodbye to my husband who is going back to penang.We have never been separated since our marriage (exp for his holiday to perhentian). I try not to cry (errr.. malu la, ada mertua..) but i was so sad... after he'd gone.... i cried all day holding our baby in my arms... now i have to handle this baby alone, in a home i am not used to.But i'm glad our baby is healthy..so there's not much trouble during this 1st week.

Being a mom wasnt easy.. everyone knows that, especially a working mom like most of the women nowadays.. Without any help or lead, its even harder.. I am lucky to have friends that has been at my place before.. Well, at least they were all great at sharing experiences and knowledge..My husband and i had planned to breastfeed our baby, but the challenges seems to be great, as i am working. However, luckily there are such thing as EBF (expressed breast milk according to mye :D ) and breast milk storage.

I have been discussing with Mye on breastmilk storing, and whatever related to it.. she's been storing them for her baby. There are so many things a mom to need to know, but the most important is how to. Well, as for reference to all moms-to-be hope this will help us all..

How to store breast milk?

You can freeze and/or refrigerate your pumped (or expressed) breast milk. It's important, though, to store it in clean and sterile bottles with screw caps, hard plastic cups that have tight caps, or nursing bags (pre-sterilized bags meant for breast milk). Also make sure to put a label on each indicating when the milk was pumped.

How long, exactly, can breast milk be stored?

The National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and  Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM), offers these guidelines for storing breast milk:

• At room temperature - not warmer than 77 degrees F/25 degrees C - 4 - 8 hours

• In a coldbox with refreezable ice packs for up to 24 hours

• In a refrigerator with a temperature of 39 degrees F/4 degrees C or colder for three to five days

• In an older model single-door refrigerator with freezer compartment inside for two weeks.

You can store milk in a freezer for various lengths of time depending on the kind you have. Always keep the milk in the back of the freezer away from the door, because items stored towards the front are more susceptible to changing temperatures when you open the freezer.

You can store milk:

• In a fridge freezer with a separate door for each, for three months

• In a freezer with a temperature of -20°C, that doesn't have a defrost cycle, for six to 12 months.

In addition to these guidelines from Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM), , it's useful to know that:

• You may combine milk you collected that day with frozen milk as long as it's chilled for at least an hour first, and the amount that you are freezing is less than half of the frozen amount. Fresh milk retains more of its protective properties than frozen milk, so whenever possible, use refrigerated rather than frozen milk for feeding your baby. But note that frozen breast milk still has more health benefits than formula milk.

• If you are going to freeze breastmilk, do so within 24 hours

• Milk that has been moved into the refrigerator from the freezer can be stored there for up to 24 hours

Remember, when you are expressing, to wash your hands and keep breast pump parts thoroughly washed, rinsed and sterilised in order to prevent any bacteria from developing in the milk.

Well... hope i can cope with all this... Mye.. anything else to add....did i miss anything??? Err...the schedule version is better isn't it??? (tak reti nak buat kat sini...heheheh)