My Exclusive Pumping Journey....so far...

Hola peeps! Today I wanna share my experience being an exclusive pumping mom. In short, EP moms are those moms who express their breast milk as they cannot directly breastfeed their babies for whatever reasons. My excuse reason? My baby is lazy to latch and is more comfortable with the bottles =__=' 

 

I've eventually stopped trying to directly feed him *my bad* but fighting with him every single time is tiring.huhu

Minmin is hitting 3 months soon *wipe tears* which means I've been pumping since then.I'm not proud to say that my baby was given formula milk few times but it was the best option I had. I was down with food poisoning, was under a lot of stress at some point which led to low milk supply. I couldnt starve him, could I?

I'm trying to stick to the routine of pumping every 3 hours - 8 times per day. The success rate depends largely on how Minmin behaves that day.hahaha and if I dont go out. Each pumping session I could get around 5-6 ounce. So 5oz x 8 times = 40oz. Minmin drinks about 35-38oz per day.Yea he has big appetite.haha

It's not easy being an EP mom. Support from the people around you is very crucial because without it, you are likely to give up. I've had many moments where 'It's okay, at least Min has tasted the milk' or 'Formula milk isnt bad, I'm the product of it too'. I had these too many times and it usually appeared when I was super tired. Luckily, I have a husband who would any day put on those cheerleader uniform complete with pompom, never tired of cheering and encouraging me to keep trying whenever the production got so low. He never blames me when we had to feed Minmin FM coz he said it's a form of rezeki too. He even reads Al Hujurat for me when I couldnt or remind me to read them after solat... tskk...I love you hubby.

People give you look when you breastfeed your baby. What more when they heard you express the milk and feed your baby. I had this even with the doctors. shesshhh. I've heard many discouraging comments about expressing the milk. For examples:

Your milk wont last long....it's not natural... 

Pumping your breast will make them unnaturally big and sagged. =___=

Buat apa susah kan diri...bagi je susu tin...

Eh cukup ke pam je?banyak ke susu?mesti tak banyak

macam-macam lagi la. At some points, I almost believed what they said but again, it's the husband who keeps me going. =)

Gambar tiada kaitan. Ayah, the poop cleaner.haha Minmin always chose the right time to poop - when Ayah was around.haha

I will try the very best to give Minmin the best as long as possible. InsyaAllah.

For all EP mom out there, dont give up. Stay positive, eat right and drink lotsa water.