Post exclusive pumping

Just like when i started my journey as a pumper, i received many comments about my decision to stop pumping.

"Eh anak kau baru setaun kan? Kan afdholl sampai dua tahun?"

"Laa..susu ada lagi kan? Sayang nya nak berhenti...."

"Kalau ikut sunnah ko kena bagi susu anak sampai 2 taun bla bla bla..."

Those who has been with me through out the journey's responses...

"Takpela ..ko dah bersusah oayah buat yg terbaik selama ni.ok dah tu"

"Respek ngan ko.sebab EP mom ni m
mg susah.aku yg blh direct feeding ni pon bila nak pam buat stock hazabbbbedah rasa"

Well mix reactions I wud say. Though it hurts my feeling when people condemns it doesnt stop me of my decision. It is damn hurtful,as if I stop loving my baby by doing so.

Well again,there's a silver lining behind every dark cloud. A few days after I made my decision, i was down with coughing. A couple of nights ago a bad cough followed by asthma attack left me almost breathless and weak. Yesterday i went to see the doc again.

And this time i was prescribed with a higher dose of medication because the last dose has stopped working. The doctor said i cannot feed my baby the milk but to dump it.it's in her record that i breastfeed. Hee

I feel relieved. Hadnt i decided earlier i would have problem introducing formula to him. Alhamdulillah. Indeed what ever it is, this thing was written by the Almighty for me.

I just want to be healthy again so that Minmin can enjoy having a mom who is healthy physically and mentally. It sucks to be sick when you have to take care of a baby and the husband is thousands miles  away and there's no Doraemon pintu suka hati.

I just want to be me, again.

End of the journey

Hello!

I've thought longggg befor9e i want to post about this and finally made my decision to share it. Before that, to all obssessed breastmilk moms, please steer away from this page before you give yourself and bad day.

I have finally decided to stop my exclusive pumping journey. I was in doubt for a few weeks now but last night after a discussion with my husband (he did not tell me what to do) i have decided to end this love-hate relationship with my pumps. I want me all for myself. I want to drink coffee everyday. I want to eat anything that crosses my mind. I want to be me again.

Unlike breastfeeding mom, ep mom like me has no emotional attachment to the process. My struggle for a year is solely to give the best for my baby and i think i am done with this. For almost a year I struggled emotionally as an ep mom. I couldnt recall any other happy moments for all these time except my milk has done good for Muhaimin. I convinced myself that I love the journey but the truth it i dont like it. But i survived! I survived and Minmin got what he deserves.hehehhe

The decision to stop has not come easy to me. I've started to give Minmin formula since Ramdhan as the production dropped pretty bad. But I only gave him at night. Then after raya, came August which was the most strressful moment for this year. I was under stress at work, tired and emotionally not stable for some reasons. So i had to continue with FM again for night feeding only.

Until last week.

I was driving to school early in the morning. I was tired and extremely sleepy and was fighting to keep my eyes open. 30mins into the journey, i think i accidentally blacked out because when i came to my senses, i was driving 70km/h and the car in front of me was about 2meters away and was stopping at a traffic light. In shock, spontaneously i steered to the left lane and i was lucky there was no car coming that way and kept driving,panting and sweating.

Minmin could have lost his mom that morning.

In school, i was thinking the whole day. I am tired with school work and the pumping was taking a toll of me. I decided to stop. Minmin now needs me more than the milk. And that was not the first time i fell asleep but it was the worst one. I have to do something.

I still pumped 3-4 times a day since but my production was very low. So I had to feed him FM during the day too. Suprisingly, i feel okay. I didnt feel stress for giving him 'the poison' like some moms would say.

So here I am. Feeling contented and happy. I am still sleepy everyday but i dont have to wake up at midnight to pump and i can enjoy a cup of coffee before I drive to school. For 2 days now, i was sober while driving to and fro school. Hehehehe

I am proud of myself to be able to survive for a year as a pumper. My initial target was until confinement, then to 6 months and now a year. I have never thought i could go this far but i did it! I did it! I did it.

In this one year i bought 5 different breastpumps. One was broken, 1 sold to SIL, 1 manual bpump, one to be used at home and the other one at work.hahah funny that I spent so much on these gadgets.hihihi

I'm laughing now. And smiling. I feel free.

Dont worry. Minmin is super healthy. He is now almost 10kg.

I hope for my next baby, i will succeed to direct feed her and do not have to go through this journey again.

Exclusive Pumping

In 10 days, Abdul Muhaimin, the person i fall in love every second of my life is turning 1. It also means I have been a pumper that long. To be honest, it was not a sweet memory for me. All the stress, the cries, the frustration, the loneliness and all negative feelings i have endured for almost a year now, I wud never suggest anyone to be a pumper. Though it sounds bad, all the negative feelings are drown by one and only positive one: Love.

Not a mushy type but i think the love i have for Minmin has kept me going till this second. My plan was to survive for after confinement only. Then i target to stop when Minmim reach 6 months old. Now i'm still pumping.hehe it's love to give the best to my baby though.

But Minmin is no longer 100% given breast milk. During fasting month, my production was bad enough that I had to give him formula. Then minmin started to have a mind on his own. For his night feeding, he would throw tantrum and sulked if the milk came late to him.

I'm already super exhausted during the day i cannot lose my night rest as well. So for night feeding, formula is the solution. He's happy and mommy's happy.

He feeds around 7 times in 24 hours. His night feeding is once or twice only. So he's still getting milk mostly from mommy.hahaha

A roller coaster ride it has been since I first heard his cry in the operation theatre but he's definitely worth it.

Actually i cant wait to have my second baby! Hahaha but not too soon. Next year InsyaAllah

LACTE DUET Breastpump Review

This is a super overdue post but I still have to do it just because my life is boring so erego the long silence.hahaha

It's a review of the fifth breastpump - yea I know. Dah boleh bukak kedai.hahahaha

It started a few months ago i think in early May. I was taking my Spectra S1 out of the car for my usual pump routine in school. I had too many things in my hand and I accidentally slipped off  the bag and it dropped on the road. The sound broke my heart because I knew the damage was done. The impact of the fall made Spectra 'pengsan' coz it just wouldnt turn on.

And as an EP mom where my supply depends so much on the pump, I panic..All bad thoughts started coming in so 1 hour after the incident, I already purchased a new one, through online. I think EP Mom out there can relate to this because the pump is our savior. Without it, how our babies gonna get supply? huhu

So in the quick research for the best and cheap pump, I chose LACTE DUET. Double pump, reviews were good and cheap. But there's no built in battery and it depends on electricity. But i think this year the technology of breastpump has evolved so much that most pumps now are compatible to be used with power bank.hahah

So here is my honest review. As usual, cincai one ok. As long as you get the idea.

• Double pump. Can be used as single without having to pull out one tube. it has two motors that work for each side. Very suitable for heavy user.
• Suction: SUPERB. READ THIS, JUST SUPERB! It feels like it's not working but after every session, you'll get a bottle full of milk.
• Small, light weight, convenience
• Each session: 30 minutes then it will turn off automatically
• Worth the money as it costs me only RM450

So, in comparison with all the pumps that I have bought and used for sometimes, here I arrange it starting from the best to the least. Please be reminded that this is my personal opinions so please dont bash me if you disagree.

LACTE DUET ---> SPECTRA S1 ----> SPECTRA M1 ---> MEDELA FREESTYLE-->manual pump

After almost a year becoming an EP Mom, trying different kinds of pumps, the amount of milk you are producing doesnt depend on what type of pump you are using. It depends on your body. My SIL is using Medela FS and she could get 10oz after 10minutes of pumping. me? 40 mins with FS I could get around 4oz. hoho and also because my supply isnt that much la.hahaha

Ok, let's enjoy the photos

 

By the way, I bought this from my favourite only store: PumpOntheGo.

For RM450, it came with the free gifts: ziplock bag, cooler bag and ice packs. Totally worth it.

 

Inside the box. The white cable is the special cable that can be connected to any power bank. =)

 

 

The pump: Stimulation function, suction level and the button at the bottom is where you can control whether you want to have double pump or single pump. Very convenient if you are a fan of power pumping.

The power bank. Bought from FabulousMom. This power bank can tahan for 5-6 sessions. not bad huh?

As usual, any further question kindly leave a comment or better, shoot me an email so I can personally reply you flyawaycandle@yahoo.com

Tata!

Allah is great

After a heart broken incident where my milk supply dropped drastically, another thing happened. After we came back from Terengganu, Minmin was down with fever. Brought him to see a doctor and the doc spotted 2 ulcer in his mouth.

Because of that, Minmin refused to drink milk. Luckily he still accept food so I'm not that worried that he's hungry what.

Since we came back also i've worked hard to increase the supply. Still not producing as much as i did before but because of minmin's sickness, i managed to stock back and for now adequate for his daily needs.

I've stopped giving formula too but to avoid wastage, am gonna mix once in a while till he finishes the whole can. Susu tin mahal wooo Y.Y.

Anyhoo, my point is Allah is the greatest. I hope everything will go back to normal and Minmin will be free from ulcer.hehe

How I travel as an EP Mom

I have received a few emails regarding how I managed when travelling.hee

There's no easy way that I will have to stress upon you all mommies.

If you have just started to be a pumper, it could be quite stressful but after sometimes you will get use to it.

I think I've bought all the gadgets needed to travel.

Let's start, shall we?

1. First and foremost, the breastpump. The types of breastpump shall depend on the length of the journey, mode of transportation and conveniences. 

Situation 1: Long journey by plane: Manual pump

Reason: It's mobile, quiet (in case you are seated next to strangers), and small. I use Unimom Mezzo, a manual pump and it works wonders. You dont have to be worried about connecting the tube, or get strangled by them hahaha

 

Image courtesy of Google.

Situation 2: Long journey by car: Electric pump

Reason: more space, no strangers and yield more milk than manual.

Super bulky pump but I love it dearly=))

Situation 3: Short journey by car: Electric pump

I pump on the way to and back from school. It's easy. Who said we need a handsfree kit?? I do it like a pro without them. *mode bangga* hahahaha

Actually, It really depends on the situation

2. Cooler bag or cooler box

So far, I dont need any cooler box. I managed well with only Autumnz cooler bag and Autumn ice packs. I usually prepare 2 bottles with EBM and 8oz of EBM in a storage bag.Enough for 8 hours journey. Plus, I pump on the way to the destination and so far, I havent had any shortage moment. You just need to be careful with the ice packs. I used medela ice brick before but it could only hold up to 8 hours. But Autumnz ice packs are the bomb. 14 hours of journey? No problem!

That's my Autumnz cooler bag. The longest journey we went was the visit to Brunei last year, a day visit which lasted for almost 14hours. It's small but ok for me.hehe sayang cooler bag!

3. A good thermos and warmer

I would suggest  you to invest into a very good one since you will be needing it all the time. Thanks to my diligent research, I found Avent thermos which also works as a warmer. It's a bit pricy (got it for RM129 from Lelong) but I have no one to thank but myself for buying this. Before, we had a normal thermos and the problem came whenever we need to warm the milk. We had to bring along extra cup, or at one point we had to buy Maggi cup, dump the maggi just so we could use the cup to warm the milk.hehe That's why I did my research for this.hehe If you are not a fan of Avent, Tommee Tippee also has this product.



Avent thermos and a bottle of chilled EBM

This is how the thermos works. You dont have to be worried about hot water spilling all over you during bumpy ride because this was geniusly invented where  you can cover the top.teee heee

This is from Tommee Tippee. Photo courtesy of Google.

4. Storage bottle or bag

I used to travel with storage bottles but the amount of bottles that I need to handle - feeding and storage drove me crazy a lil bit. Plus they are not space friendly. After a few times, I started using storage bags instead because they dont take much space and light weight. But you have to consider the budget also la because storage bags aint cheap yo!.But..... If they can help to lift some of the stress while travelling, why not? =p

Ok, done with all the gadgets, now let's go to the tips.

1. Pump when you are on the way to your destination. It's quite a task to pump when you have actually arrived. YOU DONT HAVE to wash the parts everytime after you pump. What you can do is put them in a sealed plastic bag/ zipper bag (can get this at Daiso for RM5 for 10 sheets) and dump them in your cooler box/bag. Then, it can be used again for next session.

2. Work smart. My advise is to get a pump that is compatible to any storage bottles to make your life at peace. Why at peace?? To avoid spill. Yeap..been there done that a few moments when I tried to transfer EBM from the pump bottle to storage bottle when the car suddenly hit a bump and there goes.....2oz spilled all over my pants T____T. If you already bought one pump that isnt compatible, like yours truly here who is using Spectra S1, you can buy neck bottle adapter from Pumponthego for RM12 each.

If not, like me, I just transfer EBM into storage bags.haha wide opening and also save space to store more. =p. 

3. Dont worry about running out of hot water to warm your milk. So far, in my experience, I had no problem with this because I always topped it up when we stopped for a quick rest or meal. Usually, we buy a glass of plain water for 20cents right? But, when I showed my thermos to the shop owner, they all gave the hot water for free. Mungkin niat sedekah kot untuk baby.hehehe 

Just be smart ok mommies. Know when you should top up/get a new batch of hot water to warm the milk.

I hope I have answered some of your questions mommies. If not, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email =)

8 months

Never thought I'd go this far. Alhamdulillah ��