Breastfeeding Journey

 

As the title shown, Breasfeeding Journey....

 

Mine was a hard one....

 

I had a caesarean op when i was week 38 due to high blood pressure.

 

My reading was like 150-160 and Dr Wan went like "no way..u  gotta go man~"

 

 

 So there I was, wheeled in and ready to be cut...

 

Baby came out like 2.65kg, an ok weight for a baby girl.

 

 

 

(Baby Sam's detail)

Before I was shown to my baby. I was asked whether I want to breastfeed my baby a not..

 

Automatically, I said why not?! Breastfeed is A mother nature act, it should not be hard...

 

To my dismay, I got no milk yet when Baby Sam was taken out from me. A drop also tak ada!

 

So scary and she was crying like non-stop till the nurses offer me another alternatives. which is formula milk.

 

The whole situation backfired. I thought I will have my milk kicked in immediately after labour so naturally I did not prepare any FM as backup. My baby bag only consist of diapers, change of clothes, milk bottles, towels, wipes and some toiletries for the babies that I grabbed from baby hampers. So sadly I told the nurse, I didn't bring. HOW?!

 

Lucky for me, MMC is sponsored by Anmum. So they gave Anmum FM to her first for her first 3 days on earth.

 

Yea...3 days only. Cuz after that, my milk kicks in. Hoooray!!! u know how do I feel when it first kicks in? I was like on top of the hills when I wet my bed!!! (yes, it came when I was sleeping)

 

Ok, so I latch and latch and begins to feel like I gotta stock up all these gold drips in case suddenly no supplies.. (kiasu lady) So I uses my first set of pump from Pigeon.

 

 

(Got these all from their Breastfeeding talk at Marvelux)

 

 

Did  I mentioned that I actually rushes for the breasfeeding talk that Pigeon organized at Marvelux Hotel before my next day of delivery?! Oh yes I did.... and I got myself a pump of their brand to extract my golds..

 

But to my dismay, this Pigeon Single Breastpump is not good enough.. Got not enough horsepower to pump out all my BM...This pump costs me like RM299, bought it at Parkson.

 

The best I can get is like only 4 oz from both sides..which is like after 30 minutes! Membrane of this pump is bad. Whenever I took the pump away from me, it will fell out along or stuck at my breast no matter how I put it. It felt very plastic and I don't feel safe using it as it feels like it might tear apart if I were to have a slight drop.

 

Lucky for me, I was having my confinement with a helper beside me to care for the baby and me. So I can slowly pump at will and carefully or else....this pump will end up in the bin

 

 





 

 



 

(Pigeon Breastpump)

At the meantime to increase my yield, I was introduced by my cousins to take this particular brand of Fenugreek. I got this from GNC at the price of RM68. And lucky for me, GNC was having this BUY 2 FREE 1 bottle program! Damn super lucky right?!


Without further a do, I started wacking these pills like 8 capsules a day. Two capsules at a time to increase my yield.

(Fenugreek From GNC)

 

 

After 2 weeks of using the Pigeon Portable Single pump and direct latching, my nipples are not that sensitive anymore. Plus I was starting to be pekcek with that pump liao and it too sorta gave up on me or should I said my nipples gave up on it. It doesn't stimulate my breast anymore with its massage mode.

 

So I have to search for another pump...

 

 

I was then introduced by Yong Fong; a renowed babyshop in Melaka that sells all babies stuff , an  Avent Single Eletronic Pump.

 

It was heaven sent as this has more horsepower!



(Avent Single Eletronic Pump)

 

This brand not only has enough power for suction, the membrane is very soft enough to cup your breast. Unlike the Pigeon ones, the membrane feels more solid and not easily drop out. And best of all, it has a cover to cover my membrane! Hygienic right?! 



 

 

 

(My yield of 10 mins)

 

 

I uses this pump till I started working which then i come to realise....i got not enough time to pump...I was devastated as it was a single pump not double pump. meaning I have to wait for 10 mins of pumping on a side then change to another side for another 10 mins to pump again. Such waste of time!

 

 

So I began to search for double pumps online and got myself AGAIN lucky when someone was putting their Medela Freestyle on sale!!!!!

 

 

At the price of RM950, i got myself a good secondhand double branded pump! HOOORRAY!!!!!!

 



 

(My medela FS)

(Medela FS when it is on)

 

 

It is really god sent.

 

The horsepower the everything was nothing like the two pumps before.

 

It was a great pump but I will not buy it first hand as it comes at the price of RM1899! Hefty price which includes all the essential breastfeeding materials.

 

(10 mins of pumping of both sides)

 

I usually pump for 10 mins as my nipples sores easily. Unlike other mothers, they can withstand a pump of 30 mins each sides...I simply cannot lo as I too am a low-supply mum who mix feed my Baby Sam with FM. (check out my post of FM that i used on mixed feedings)

 

 

To BF mums out there, do train your babies to take bottles early. I know u guys want to latch as much as possible, trust me guys....u gotta give the bottle a go else your breast will be solely own by your baby only lo.

 

 

Wait you go work liao after confinement, baby don't wan bottle how?! Then your MIL or your Mother will be like, "His/her mother la! act clever, hisap tetek saja! tak mau bagi susu formula.kasi buat hidup saya susah!"

 

 

So to avoid this kinda situation happened, I gave milk bottle as soon I half latched Baby Sam with formula milk. Many asked me why i didn't give all BM, my reasons are.. im a low supply mum. second i was pain near my pelvic area, so my helper gave FM when i was resting. third, the reason I gave earlier..to avoid unwanted scenes n arguments..

 

 

(Avent Glass Bottle)

My choice of bottle was Avent. A glass ones as I think glass one are better than the plastic ones when we reheat BM. I mean we are gonna reheat it a gazillion times right? plastic wait melt how??! I know got BBA and etc, still....worry pots like me...cannot accept the fact of reheating with a plastic materials lo!

Plus, these glass bottles can be used over and over again. Unlike plastic bottles that needs to be change every 3-6 months! I know u guys will ask what bout the teats and the covers. Also made of plastic mer...

Teats, I will change every 2 months as I think 3 months is too long and this one is direct contact to your mouth one...then the cover and the white ring hor can be recycled! Avent sometimes will have those recycled event to trade in the old bottles and buy the bottles at half price one..and I have those small plastic Avent bottle ones that I got it as presents. What I did was I changed the older ones to the new plastic ones and trade it in to get a new ring and cover! Wahla! Smart kan?!

Anyway, I also got buy plastic ones.. I kinda use it when I go traveling. Much lighter lo, else my Papa bag super heavy~

 

The cons of having this bottle are only two.
 

1.) will break - but to tell u the truth, I dropped it almost everytime when I washed. still it looks fine. maybe cuz of the thick quality of the glass.

2.) heavy than the plastic ones. so if you want to try your baby to hold her own bottle, this might be an offset for you.

 

(The holder for the bottle to keep warm n avoid breakage)

 

 

To reheat my BM, hubby bought a Avent Bottle Warmer to make my life easier. However the offset for this warmer is there are no timer or temperature to show.

Meaning you gotta guess and estimate by your own as there is no display of it. It is an overall quite simple warmer to use. Just put some water in and then turn the heat up according to the level of milk you have put. BECAUSE of this SIMPLICITY, it is the BIGGEST OFFSET point!

 

(Avent bottle Warmer)

 

So, pls pls pls do not let your ignorance helper use it as it will destroy your BM!

 

I have this experience once, my helper went and reheat the milk then proceed doing her chores.

 

With no timer or  temperature shows, my helper actually put it more than the time needed. The BM actually turns out to be too hot and the whole milk bottle was really hot to be hold which i proceeded to throw away the BM as i m afraid that the entities inside has been destroy or not safe for consumptions.

 

So, Avent...pls do take this into consideration. Develop a new one with a timer and temperature display ok! our BM is too precious to be thrown away lo!!! Your brand is supposed to help us in our BF journey, not helping to destroy my BM!

 



Merries Diaper Review

 

Ok, This is the most expensive diapers I ever bought after numerous brands.

 

I bought it at the price of RM 56.90 for a bag of 64 pcs (M sze) at Aeon Jusco Bandaraya. (only there, fellow Malaccans can get)

 

 

 

And it was on a promotion, meaning if u buy two bags u can get a Merries Bunny which I had diligently placed it with Baby Sam below.

 



(Baby Sam with Merries Bunny) 

Before offer, it was sold at the price of RM63.90. SIAO! Lao Niang will never buy it if it is not on promo!

I mean a pcs for like a ringgit plus?! My money is earn with sweat and blood! Butt red boh red , my account will turn red first!!!!

Anyway, lets review it.

The material was damn good I tell u! As good as I wish it is my sanitary pad lo! (I know Kao got sanitary pad but this got better corak than the adults one)

And the bunnies were damn cute to see, I mean after changing gazillions of diapers hor ..this has to be an essential point lo! Mums need to be entertained as well ma!

The absorbency was great, even soft poo can disappears!  And Baby Sam didn't even shrieked or cried whenever she pooed or pee! Amazing right?! Till, we carried her and smelt it (ok, not cool~!)

 Baby  Sam was a happy baby whenever she wore Merries, with its thin material unlike Mamypoko. She is able to move her legs easily! No bulky sign between her V ! and I can put on her pretty clothes without hassles! No tightness around her butt and no worries on the printing of the diapers show on her clothings (sometimes damn sien one when we wore light colours of pants for her then can c the diapers corak from our naked eyes...ruined the baju)

Also, Merries diapers have urine indicators for all sizes!!!!!unlike Mamypoko only has it till size S. After that, u need to peekaboo by opening their diapers tape to c inside...

 

(C the w, not bulky right. Until Sam's leg can kempit it tightly)

So being a stockist of diapers, (actually I seldom go shopping one and if I saw a promo ongoing I will grab a dozen then let my Mother in law uses at will) I ternampak Lazada.com.my having promo on RM150 then RM50 voucher on their apps! Good deal right?! and that time Merries was like only RM189 for 3 bags!!!!!! so after plus and minus, it comes to almost the same price of Mamypoko plus FOC deliveries !!!Not only that, we can opt for cash on deliveries! F*cking cheap, senang, and trustable right!!!!

As picture shown ~! Bought 2 sets of it and stock it at home liao~

 

 

Therefore, do stay tune with Lazada app for more great discounts! Merries is really great! And I really recommend to those who really keen on this brand to purchase it from them as it is really cheap if compared with the mall. (so far I know only Aeon big n Aeon having this on their racks nia..do update me if u have seen it elsewhere)



Huggies Dry Diapers Review

After discharged from Mahkota Medical Centre, I was given several samples brands of diapers to try and as the typical busy-blur mum.. I totally forgotten all about the gift pack till Baby Sam runs out of diapers. Yes, ran out like not a single pcs left and I was stuck at home for confinement (but prison break after like 2 weeks?)

(Threw away the sample wrappers so gotta google this out)

 

So, I ransacked the goodies bag and found 2 pcs of Huggies Diapers hidden inside (which then I called up my mother to buy another bag of diapers, that time my mum randomly took a deliciously cheap diapers called "Hey Baby" which is on sale like RM26.90 for 80pcs of S size at Tesco)


The material was good to touch and the bands can be resealed on and off (which is quite important for newborns because u need to check whether she/he pooed or urinated a not whenever she cries)

(Baby Sam at 3 weeks old with Huggies size S)

I can't really comment much on this brand of diapers as I only uses like a bag of size S after my stock of "Hey Baby" finished. Cuz Baby Sam was still a newborn that time and she uses like a tons of diapers a day. Cry also change, no cry also change type..

Another reason of not using it was that time FB was on viral of Huggies having some chemical leaks, so hubby went like NO, WE MUST BAN HUGGIES TILL FURTHER NOTICE.

But during Huggies time, Baby Sam did not developed any rashes and the price was on sale when I bought it. It was like around RM30.90 for a bag, almost same price as Drypers and PetPet that time which made me like y not?

Parents can give it a try but beware of leakage, poos can leak out from the size as the gutters at the side doesn't fits well. Abit too loose and unlike Mamypoko's, the rubber gutters of its side is abit rigid for a skinny thigh baby.

Mamypoko Extra Dry Diaper and wipes Reivew

 

Like the previous post that I mentioned,

 

 

This time i was being smart, I actually request for a sample to try on before I actually purchased the entire bag

 

jeng jeng jeng

 

this came through a pos...FOC items that I requested from the net



 

(Sample of a newborn size, Baby Sam was only  3.5 Kg when she was 2 months old. So it still fits her well. And the newborn size and size S urine indicator while Size M onwards no more)

 



 

 And without any explanations, I think u can see Baby Sam was a happy baby for this brand! The absorbency is so good that Sam doesn't knew she pooed! She was rash-free even after 6 hours of wearing! No need to sapu sudocream pun boleh! YIppe for her!

But there is one thing I do not like about this brand. It is the bulkiness between the legs. Sam's beautiful clothings will not fit her butt when I worn this diaper for her. (can fit la, just bit tight around her butt area)

Other than that, I m very ok with this brand. As for price wise, it is a big jump compared to Drypers.

(a bit pricy but during promotion at AEON, we can get RM83 for two. Don't forget the GST)

 

 

But have no fear, if it is the rashes we are concerened of. I think this price is ok as it can last for 12 hours without changing. However, do not try your luck for 12 hours without changing la. My god, so gross leh....12 hours no change...very geli u know. try wearing a sanitary pad for 12 hours and come n tell me how you feel. So pls change as frequent u can, maybe a 4-5 hours gap ?

As for the Mamypoko wipes, I actually saw it having promotion when I was doing my shopping. RM9 for 2 packs of 100 pcs...

(AEON BANDARAYA)

Quite a good deal actually...cuz usually we get like RM9.90 for 80 pcs of two and bla...

So I tried one pack with frangrance one (picture is with Baby Sam and diaper)

 Very nice smell and the sheets were big enough to wipe all the dirts (poo) away. Baby Sam's butt stinks big time when she pooed but with this frangrance wipes, her butt was refreshed immediately.

Imagine you are in a diaper room changing a messy diaper and your baby's poo is smelly, damn paisei u know! But with a few wipes of Mamypoko wipes, the entire room freshens up everything! Bye bye poo smell!

I know most of the parents will say no good using wipes la must use clear water and cotton to wipe, use water to wash and etc~ else will developed rashes and bla bla

Aiyo my goodness, what era we are...2015 d man.....where to find water when u are travelling in the car? why make yourself so difficult to fetch a pail of water during midnight change? why buy cotton clean your baby's butt like you are treating a wound?!

So pls stop and go back to your stoneage era and let me be MUM ON THE GO..

People who invented wipes must had thought all of it liao de....the only thing you need to be precautious is which brand and which ingredients trigger the rashes only lo! Correct boh?

Drypers Diaper Review

As you can see this brand of diaper leaked.

 

Totally CANNOT "jiak sai" (eat shit in hokkien)  at all

 





 

(Can you see the shit overflowed?My baby was only 2 months old that time, how much a 2 months old can shit lo?! Photo taken by hubby when I was away and he was "on duty")

 

 

 

From lots of good reviews for this particular brand, I went and bought like a carton of these from a sales.. RM28 from a place called "Tong Hup" , a renowned cash and carry place in Melaka. (Normal price goes from RM30.90-35.90)

 



 

(this was in my office, and I got like 2 bags of S size at home)



I was a little angry and sad as I thought it was a famous brand that everyone seems to be promoting it to me due to its comfortness and what rash-free diapers they are.

Apparently, it is a no go on Baby Sam.

Baby Sam always get her diapers change every 3 hourly and still she gets rashes.

Baby Sam's butt was covered with redness and I thought it was supposed to be like this after a long day of not seeing her till evening, my mum went like "AIYO! Weeping, why is her butt so red one! Your mother in law tortured her is it!!!!!" Then only I realised (I'm also known as busy blur woman)

Wonder what happened to the stocks I stocked up? I sold them away and get another set of diapers in. This time, im being very smart.

So watch up the next post. Another diapers review again

5D Ultrasounds

So sorry for not posting any updates after my delivery of 5 months (yes, my baby Sam is 5 MONTHS now).

I was caught up with work even during my delivery date 3/5/15, I was still answering phone calls from parents about how are their children in school when the nurses came in to tell it is time to wheel in.  Being the principal of a kindergarden is not easy even it may sounds. It may looks like a feminine job but trust me, it is very busy until u want to deliver baby also no time!

Ok, back to my post. 5D scans.

Dr Wan's clinic was having a demo of 5D when it was my turn to do my rountines with her. With a fees of RM60 (more pricy than the 3D), my hubby and I agreed to have a glimpse of my baby two months ahead (I was like 7 months ahead)

(To those who wishes to have her contacts, above is her card)

The result was great! With Dr Wan's photography skill and baby's cooperation, we managed to get a look on her. Below was the result of 5D scan! 

 

 

 
 

(5D Scan Photo)

Isn't it amazing?!!! I mean like we get to see our baby first and then say hi to her! To my dismay, everyone say my baby looks like my hubby more which makes me 2 months of sadness cuz I really wanted her to look like me lo~!

Below is a photo of 3D scan, which looks like a play dough lo~ big difference of 5D n 3D scan right? This scan is the normal ones that we get from all around clinics, and it cant really see much of the baby's face as everything is so blur. Unlike 5D we can actually view everything, (including the private part)

(3D Scan Photo)



 

 

Recently when I went for my Par Smear, I found out that Dr Wan has bought the 5D machine as she really loves the effect and the exciting faces of the parents! So do check out with her for 5D as I heard in Melaka, only she has this machine!

Sick at week 22

Been down with flu and cough for awhile...

Met Dr Wan for monthly check-up and was given the prescription below (as pic)

I was worried sick that my baby will get the flu from me but the dr re-assured me that this will not affect my bump.

Oh ya, did I mentioned that my dr has 5D scans? she has the like the most advanced US machine in town..

Back to the topic, I was coughing badly and nothing seems to work. I tried the natural remedies like manuka honey with hot water, then ginger slice with again hot water... oilments and bla...ntg comes to the picture till the "official prescription" from Dr wan's clinic.

So preggie ladies out there, learn your lessons....if you're down with a cold, please seek a dr's advice than trying out the natural remedies. Cuz its really Xingu (suffering) and I was coughing my ribs out. Ya, I had a bad ache on the ribs due to bad cough and almost a reflux cuz I couldn't keep the food down after coughing~