Breastfeeding and Storing breastmilk

Breastfeeding

I intend to let baby be on total breastfeed for at least 6 months (well, I'm on maternity and unpaid leave, no excuse). My mom will also be giving me a small fridge to store the EBM. I will latch on as many times as possible during the day. At night when I sleep, the confinement lady is to cup feed the EBM, not bottle feed and to play soothing music at the background while feeding.

This is so to prevent nipple confusion and sore nipples. I also don't have to worry about weaning the baby off from the bottle later on.

A lactation consultant demonstrates how to feed a newborn baby using a cup rather than a bottle. Click on the link to view the video. There are lots more videos on youtube on cup feeding infants.

I'm going to look for this Medela Disposable Cup Feeder or the Softcup Advanced Cup Feeder to feed baby.

There is more information on cup feeding here.



Quote "Yes, even newborns can drink milk from a cup. They don't gulp it down like grown-ups. Instead they lap it up like kittens. Infants who are given supplements in a cup are less likely to get nipple confused and more likely to go on to successfully breastfeed. Some nurseries have used cup-feeding in infants with gestational ages as young as thirty weeks. Research has shown that not only is it possible for preemies to drink from a cup, but they also maintain a more stable blood-oxygen level during cup-feeding than during bottle-feeding. " Unquote.

There is also a good breastfeeding log for download via this link. Print out extra copies if necc.

Storing breastmilk

# In a fridge (at four degrees C or colder) for up to five days.
# In a fridge’s freezer compartment for two weeks.
# In a home freezer (at -18 degrees C or lower) for up to six months.

How you store your breastmilk depends on how soon you want to use it. If you plan to use it within a few days, refrigerating is better than freezing.

Breast milk that will be frozen should have at least one inch between the milk and the container lid.  Frozen milk expands as it freezes. 

Whether you choose to refrigerate or freeze your milk, you should:

* Use sterilised containers. The best choices are plastic bottles, or plastic breastmilk bags.
* Label and date your bottles and bags, and use the oldest ones first.
* Keep your breast pump clean. Wash the parts in hot, soapy water and rinse them thoroughly before sterilising.
* Wash your hands before expressing. Keeping everything as clean as possible.

If your milk has been stored for some time, you may notice that it separates. This is normal. Just give it a gentle shake.

Frozen breastmilk should be defrosted in the fridge, and can be stored there for up to 24 hours. Once it has defrosted, though, it mustn’t be refrozen.

Containers for storing breastmilk

I also need to find out if baby bottle warmer can warm these milk bottles to the right temperature so that baby can be cup-fed.


I just bought online MEDELA Soft Cup Feeder and MY BREST FRIEND Deluxe Wearable Pillow (total SG$151.50) from http://www.babytown.com.sg :))

Some useful reads/resources on breastfeeding here.

Constant nightmares

I'm back to work today. Lots of things to do and catch up. But I think I am managing my work well. I can even remind my colleagues some of the things to follow up and to take note of.

Last night I had a nightmare. In fact, lately, I have been having nightmares. Not sure whether it's because of the tension between me and Hubby. We seemed to bickle more often nowadays. But Hubby would never fail to listen and talk to baby when I am lying on the bed. Anyway, about my nightmare - I dreamt that I was being kidnapped.

But the person didn't want a ransom. It's a she. She wanted me dead. I pleaded her to let me go because I have a baby. And she said she wants the baby dead too. And she asked me to choose what kind of death I want; and she gave me some options (push me down the building, suffocate me, bury me alive, drink dettol, drown to death etc). I couldn't choose any and she randomly picked for me. I was so scared and so shocked that I woke up.

I had another nightmare, not long ago. That my head is being pressed against the wall until I can hear my skull crack. It was so painful; somehow I really literally felt the pain. But in the dream, I was more concerned about my baby. I felt my hands sayang my tummy but I couldn't wake up. When I finally managed to open my eyes, I was panting in tears and I could feel baby kickly fearfully inside me. I repeatedly apologized to baby for having such a nightmare and for scaring him so badly.

Lately, I kept on dreaming that someone wants to take my baby away from me.

Confinement Lady

Hubby did the first round of confinement ladies calling (about 4 of them) but couldn't secure any; all of them are not available and fully booked already. My mom did the second round of calling (about 8) and we secured Auntie Meiling (46 years old). I got the recommendation from online moms forum. My mom also drilled her lots of questions and she is able to 'satisfy' my mom. This Saturday, I will have to pay the deposit of $300. I don't want an old (more than 55 years old) confinement lady coz most probably old people are stubborn and insists on their way and have that attitude that you don't know better than them. That's the reason why I always ask of their age (which is one of my criteria) first.

I am pro breastfeeding. So any confinement lady who is pro-formula milk or anti-breastfeeding, I won't choose. I need her to teach me how to latch and how to express BM rather than 'Aiya, baby don't like it, just feed FM' kinda attitude. I would also need her to know what to cook so that my BM can increase.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Hubby will be fasting for the first time ever. He told me that he was so hungry and then today we aren't suppose to take meat. Hubby prayed for baby to be well and me to be good.

Then tonight, we will celebrate Hubby's birthday in advance (before my parents go for their vacation) at Melben Crab Place. After the hospital stay, I seemed to get tired every 3 hours and want to nap. I worry that I will not have enough rest at work next week. I sleep and sleep like a pig nowadays. But my weight has not gone up much. I grew 1 kg+ so far (now at 45.5 kg). 

Mothercare Sale

Shufen told me that there's a Mothercare sale at Harbourfront Center and I went to check it out on Sunday evening with Hubby (after going Turf City to check out cars).

When we first enter, I was already quite overwhelmed by so many things. We don't know where to start looking. Then we went straight to the stroller section. There are too many to choose from and we don't know anything. The staff were also busy with customers. For a moment, we looked as if we don't belong there.

Hubby was very 'hardworking'. He brought those strollers up and down the rack, open and close them, discover the mechanics and tried to push around. Then when it started to get crowded, we went to the baby carrier section to try out the carrier ourselves. We also looked at baby car seats but there was nobody to attend to us. We kept going to these 3 sections round and round.

Eventually, we bought a Baby Bjorn Carrier at $169 (original price was $250), a steam sterilizer at $39 (original price was $79) and a Quinny Buzz stroller at $838 (original price was $1189).

I'm glad that Hubby is so generous when it comes to buying things for the baby. It's a $800+ stroller but he still decided to get it. There were other economical brands like Combi and Capella but we didn't even look at them at all.

We were so engrossed in shopping that we forgot about dinner until I suddenly felt soooo hungry. Must be the baby reminding me to have some food. So we went to the food court and had our quick dinner before heading home.

I had some brown spotting last night. I guess it must be from the massive walking the entire day. I need to take more rest today.

14th week

Last night we went to see Doc Poon. It's a scheduled appointment. I told him that I went to see Dr Christopher Chen and he went through with us the radiology scans. He asked me to stop taking Valium and he has that puzzled and yet stern look and he just repeated again 'Don't take that anymore'.

Doctor did a scan and this time, baby is facing down and kneeling. I can even see the hands clasp together. Can you? I concluded that baby is praying for mama to be well, for the bleeding to stop and that mama will not be worried but happy happy de. Towards the end of the video, baby must be wondering what's that thing that's pressing against him (disturbing his prayer time) and he looked back. Can you see can you see?

And earlier on, I felt a sharp pain at the corner of my tummy. It must be baby's feet poking at the ends of the placenta. Coz he is kneeling down. My baby is so adorable.

Hubby says that I think too much. But somehow I really believe I am right. I want to believe so. It makes me very touched and happy. I have been praying everyday for baby's well-being and also sending positive energy and love to my tummy and talking to baby and singing to baby.

I also had a flu jab to prevent myself from having flu (recommended by Doc). The next appointment with Doc Poon will be 25 March. Though I have an appointment with Doc Chen today at 5.30 pm for review.

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Reached Dr Chen's center at 5 pm but I only got to see him at 7.40 pm. He said that I have vaginal infection and inserted some tablets underneath. He said not to worry, the infection will not affect the baby. He also asked the nurse to take 2 tubes of my blood for the 16th week scan (Triple Test) and he said that I'm 15 weeks+ already.

First time i saw him, I paid $448. Second time, $855. Ok enough. No more seeing this doctor (though he is good and detailed and professional) He specialises in fertility cases, IVF, complicated treatment and his fees are just too high-end for me. I'm back to Doc Poon.

I'll be back at work on 14 March, Monday. During this period, I will be checking emails from home as there are some hiccups at the workplace.