Breastfeeding (BF) week

In view of breastfeeding week, I decided to blog about my breastfeeding journey so far.


Breastfeeding has been the number one topic that was stressing me during my pregnancy as I know nuts about it. I didn't knew the existence of breastfeeding support group on facebook etc during pregnancy. On hindsight, I should have found out more information and joined such groups so that I am more aware of the issues and could prepare myself better for the journey.


Before I was pregnant, I recalled seeing mothers breastfeeding in public and never understood how they are so open to nurse in public and some mothers don't even bother to cover up and as a result of that, expose their nipples. It made me felt extremely uncomfortable and I remembered I made a note to myself that I will NEVER breastfeed in public.


Even as I was pregnant, I have repeatedly told my friends that I will never breastfeed in public as I felt uncomfortable and shy about it. My friend who delivered a month earlier shared with me that she had been breastfeeding in public (with a nursing shawl/cover of course!) and that I will do so with a wailing hungry baby. I did not believe her at that point in time, I still insisted that I will not nurse in public and I will bring a bottle out with me. My bf journey has not started out smooth as my supply was slow to arrive. From the moment Javier was born, the nurses let me bf him almost immediately so as to build the bond. I am lucky that Javier, this tiny little new born was very good at latching. I requested for total breastfeeding during my hospital stay as I was told by a friend that if I do not insist, they will feed the baby formula milk. I had a strong mind about total breastfeeding and nothing could stop me from achieving what I set out to do. My friends have also been encouraging (this is extremely impt!) and I was told numerous times that supply will come with demand and never to give up under pressure. The older folks will without fail, pass remarks such that "is your breastmilk enough?" "you don't even know how much the baby is drinking", " I m sure your breastmilk is not enough, hence your baby keeps crying" etc etc etc. Learn to ignore these negative comments as they might not be aware and educated about breastfeeding.


One thing I learnt is that hubby's support is extremely important in bf journey. It is also critical to get a confinement lady who is pro-bf. Mine was half supportive and kept asking us to buy formula milk. When I arrived home and my little one kept wailing at times, my confinement lady insist that baby was hungry. On hindsight, I learnt that baby was not always hungry and that he needed to be burped, cuddled etc. Being a new mum, one is afraid and not sure and will tend to seek advice from the 'older','experienced' folks. Hence, after being stressed out numerous times by my confinement lady, we caved in and bought a can of Nan formula milk which we only gave less than 10 times to Javier. I remembered my CL giving formula feed at night without asking me and I got so furious with her. From that day on, she always asked me and I always insist NO,NO and NO!


Knowing that my supply was slow to arrive, I asked the doctor for medication. He prescribed me one which boosted my supply but caused the baby to have liquid, loose poop. So I decided to stop it even though it was extremely effective.


I switched to purchasing Fenugreek from iherbs.com and a tea from iherbs.com and it worked very well for me. I also drank mother's milk tea and it indeed helped my supply to grow.

For more information on iherbs.com, you may refer to my following entry:


My purchase from iherbs

http://mygrowingbelly.blogspot.sg/2014/04/iherbcom-httpwwwiherbcomrcodeshf069.html

It was an extremely tiring 2-3 months of bf to build supply. During growth spurt season, Javier requires nursing almost every hour, practically leaving me with no time to do anything! If I remember correctly, this happened during weeks 4,6,8 & 10. Like my gynae said, I am a 'cow'.  I think it was only till around 2.5mths that my supply became more established and stable. I am so thankful for the support given by my friends to allow me to stay on this journey. Javier is a tiny baby at birth but has caught up and grown to ~6kg in 3 months. I believe in the goodness of breastmilk and I hope to be able to continue providing for at least a year. Not sure if I am able to last that long but at least I tried and am already into 3++ months of nursing him.



Bf has changed many aspects of our life. Basically, we have to surround our activities around his feeding time. If we need to get out of the house, the time bomb starts from the time I feed him at home. Then there will be 1.5hr to 2hrs timeframe for us to do what we want, before we need to either locate a nursing room but find a place for me to nurse him. We also checked out the various nursing rooms/diaper changing rooms before we head to the malls. When I have time, I will update on the various nursing/diaper changing rooms just to share with mums who prefer to nurse in the nursing room like myself. :) Bf has also changed the way I dress. I had to find bf-friendly clothes which may not be my original style.

Just to share, I think that nursing cover is very important. Initially, I was using the freebies given during pregnancy to nurse in public and it was very stressful for myself and hubby as I needed help to ensure that I am not exposed. I discovered this nursing cover which has a bone-structure at the neckline so that you can see the baby from the top hands free and hence your hands are freed up to carry the baby and adjust the shawl to prevent exposing yourself. I purchased it from Qoo10. It is worth buying, it cost less than $20 and the quality is excellent.

Nursing @ Food for Thought @ Botanic Garden

I would like to encourage all new mums out there to persevere and provide the best for your babies. It is indeed a tough journey but it is a fulfilling one. Of course, if it really does not work out for you, at least you did try your best and don't stress yourself over this :)