Pumping Business

Where was I? Yes, my new relationship with the breast pump. It started out as a way to ease my engorged breasts on the 5th day. Seeing the yummy goodness full of milk and colostrum (the color was yellowish milk almost like jagung soya drink   :P  ), I felt it would be a waste to just throw it away. So what else...? I gave the expressed milk in a bottle. Shiya drank it up with joy. Being a new mummy there's nothing else that warms your heart quite as much as seeing your child happy and contented... even if it is just a bottle of milky that wasn't even 2 ounces :P

At this point, as a result of improper latching, I had cracked nips and being the ever pampered me... decided that I should express my milk while I heal...hmmm.... bad idea actually... especially if your child is still not latching or suckling properly yet... 5th day is waaaayyy too early to start them on a bottle. I was oblivious though... or maybe chose to be oblivious as it seemed to make sense to express... my baby was happy and isn't that all that matters?

Another note to self... if you're breast feeding and the supply seem to be low after a couple of days... keep some supplements (formula) ready... tsk tsk... 6th night proved a trial when Shiya woke up at night for some milk... and there just wasn't enough! I tried to direct feed... didn't help as she was hungry and frustrated at getting nothing not to mention just trying to latch was already a major effort on her part... I practically spent the whole night trying to express any milk and what I got just wasn't enough. Shops were closed of course. By 6 am I felt super frustrated and sad for my baby who was still hungry. She eventually settled down when we were able to provide her with some formula milk... and me? Well since then I have been busy pumping away trying to make sure that there's always a healthy supply for my baby.

Alhamdulillah... after a couple of days, the supply jumped up and I was able to express from 2 ounces to 4 ounces and eventually 6-7 ounces per session. I have even started storing my milky in the fridge and freezer. The problem with storing milk though is that you're never really sure how fresh they are and even if you're confident that it's good... you'll start to wonder if the nutrients are still there after you've warmed it up. Reading books only helps so much as they talk about 2 things... direct breast feeding or bottle feeding with formula.... they never really expand on bottle feeding with breast milk. Sigh... the life of a mummy definitely includes infinite worries for her little one. So far I have noticed that Shiya is contented, dirtying her diapers well and looks chubbier... so I can safely say that she seems to be growing well...I guess the milky is good then? I certainly hope so... :)

There are some who has pressured me to direct feed as the longer Shiya uses the bottle, the more she'll reject the idea of direct feeding... and so I have been trying... though I must admit that it's half hearted on my part... Partly due  to the battle that we have to go through to get a proper latching... she seems so happy with the arrangement now. After all... a lot of babies are bottle fed and they seem to be growing well and happy. Hmm... the jury is still out on this one. The most important part is that I don't want to be stressed out as I find that my milk supply seems to depend on my moods... it gets lower when I'm stressed out or too tired. So for now, I am just happy expressing and providing milky milky for my sweet Shiya. Don't get me wrong... I am trying still for direct feeding... :)

Well... that's all for now on this pumping business... *yawn* gotta get some rest before Shiya wakes up for her next meal... hopefully she'll drink her milky and falls right back to lala land... nite nite!  :)