Wednesday 9 September 2015

How I manage my expressed breast milk for my caretaker to feed my baby

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As a new mom before going back to workforce, I have progressively trained my body to pump during working hours and breastfeed during the hours where I expect myself to be at home with baby.

Since my baby is the first grandchild ever in my father-in-law's family tree, you can imagine that they could not bear to hear the slightest cry from my baby. Certainly, they would like to ensure that my baby can be fed right away once she is awake.

In order to demonstrate to my family that feeding breast milk is easier, faster and more convenient, I have put some thoughts into how my mother-in-law can prepare the breast milk and feed my baby as soon as possible. Here is the practice I am currently adopting:

Items required

  1. Storage bottles (Bumblebee standard size)
  2. Teats (Hito silicone slow flow standard teat - breastlike)
  3. Electric hot water dispenser
  4. Timer


Preparation the night before

  • My storage bottles are my baby's feeding bottles. 
  • I will ensure that each storage bottle is filled with 3 - 4 oz of breast milk. This is my baby's intake per feed. 
  • Since I will be away from home for 12 hours, I will prepare 5 storage bottles (4 feeds + 1 stand by feed) in the fridge. 
  • I bought extra teats and prepared the teats in advance. Since I have quite a number of storage bottles, I took out some of the bottle caps and fixed the teats into the ring. I will leave the teats with ring in the sterilizer. 

When my baby is up for feeding time, what my mother-in-law will do is:

  1. Take out the readily available breast milk in the storage bottle.
  2. Fill some hot water into a cup using the electric hot water dispenser.
  3. Warm the milk by placing the storage bottle into the cup filled with hot water.
  4. Set timer for 5 minutes [We have timed earlier that milk is warmed in 5 minutes using 98 degrees hot water].
  5. Once time is up, take out the bottle cap and replace with teat. 
  6. Feed baby.

How do I find this method?
  • When my mother-in-law set the timer for 5 minutes, she can still hold and play with my baby while waiting for times up. At least she doesn't need to rush to mix milk powder into warm water at the right quantity and test the milk temperature, while my baby gets cranky and cry out loud. :-)
  • Since the storage bottles are the feeding bottles, it means my mother-in-law doesn't need to transfer the milk into special feeding bottles. This will save time in milk preparation, avoid unwanted spills, and save the time spent in washing feeding bottles. :-)
  • Of course, I will need to invest a little more time every night to make sure that all the items are well prepared. 


How do you prepare your breast milk for your caretaker to feed your child?


- underweight mom

Sunday 6 September 2015

Confession of an underweight mom

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So my baby has finally turned 6 months old. I've waited so long to blog about this.

How do I feel like being a mom?
I feel like I'm running on a threadmill non stop, racing against the time. I feel so exhausted all the time. I feel like I'm being tortured by baby for not allowing me to sleep from 2am to 5am during midnight recently for 1 week since she doesn't want to sleep after milk.

What challenges do I face as a new mom?
Just like any other new mom, breastfeeding is a challenge to me. To be more precise, it is a different set of challenges to an underweight mom like me since people tend to have the perception that I will not have sufficient breast milk for my baby.

It is a challenge to me because my confinement lady was not exactly pro breastfeeding. She kept commenting that I am so skinny (my pre pregnancy weight was 38kg) and I don't have enough supply for my baby. I am pretty sure anyone who looked at me would have doubts that I can actually breastfeed.

The whole confinement month really drove me nuts because I just couldn't understand:

  1. Why is it that I feel so engorged and people tell me its not enough. 
  2. Why is it that I keep feeling the milk let down reflects but people tell me that is not enough.
  3. Why is it that my milk keep leaking but I only get to feed her 3 times a day. 
  4. Why is it that my milk is leaking and I'm staring at my baby being fed formula. 
  5. Why is it that the course I attended strongly encouraged us to feed our baby during midnight to help continuously sending signals to our body to produce more but the old folks disagreed and strongly believe that I need to rest and sleep through the night. 
  6. Why can't they understand that I want to feed my baby during midnight hence I want to sleep with my baby but my baby slept with my confinement lady and it gave me and baby a hard time to adjust when the confinement lady left. 
  7. Why can't they understand that I just want to give the best to my baby and I didn't even mind about hard work and sacrifices of a breastfeeding mom? 
  8. Why can't they just trust that I can breastfeed like any other mom? Just because I'm skinny and I used to work late even during pregnancy it doesn't mean that I can't fully breastfeed like other mom! 
  9. Why do they have to compare me to another new mom who has abundant of milk (who can pump 7oz from 1 side and another 7oz one and half hour later?) 
  10. Why do they have to say to me that I can get breast milk from her if I don't have enough supply? 
  11. Why is it that I can't try my way in breastfeeding, based on all the research I have done and courses I have attended, but instead should listen to you that its not enough and its useless to see doctor? 


I feel so challenged when I have to go against all odds. And I felt like my brain is tearing apart as I just don't understand why is it that those that I learned on my own contradicts what the experienced old folks told me. Until a point of time I don't know who to believe and trust.

In the end, when I brought my baby for 1 month old check up, she referred me to another paed who is also a certified lactation consultant to help me in breastfeeding. The lactation consultant checked on me and told me that there's nothing wrong with me and I can just go ahead with exclusive breastfeeding and pump twice a day for storage. So I decided to trust the lactation consultant and did exactly what she advised. And true enough, things worked out well and now I'm still fully breastfeeding my 6 months old baby :-)

To be honest, I never felt not being trusted so much in my life and the prejudice that was being thrown straight to my face. Just because I'm skinny. That's the biggest challenge I face in breastfeeding as a new underweight mom.

How about you?

- the underweight mom




Friday 26 June 2015

Friday 19 June 2015

Breastpump Review Ep3 - Medela PISA vs Spectra S1

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Medela PISA vs Spectra S1

What's your take? 

Honestly, it is not comparable. Its like comparing orange and apple. S1 is a hospital grade pump but not for PISA.

Let me point out a few significant differences as below for your references:
  • S1 is hospital grade pump, PISA is not
  • S1 weighted 1.2kg, PISA is 3.2kg
  • S1 inbuilt rechargeable battery, PISA 8 AAA battery
  • S1 and PISA both have 2 phase expression
  • S1 close system (not for sharing), PISA open system (can share)


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Medela PISA Vs Spectra S1

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pnsa pump(2)
This is sharing from a singapore mummy, Audrey Yeo which I obtained from a FB group administrated by her. I learn a lot from this group and thus would like to share the review as follows. You may also join her FB group to get more updates and notifications. 

Features 

S1 is a hospital grade pump.
It has a very unique suction where it vibrates ur nipple during suction, triggering your letdown to come faster and also helps to stimulate milk production unlike other pumps which will just pull and release.
It allows you to customize your pumping experience. You can set the suction power and suction duration separately. It is Close System, has a timer(auto off at 30mins) and night light(under handle) to make it easier to pump at night. Has a massage button to help achieve a letdown faster. In-built rechargeable battery which can last around 3 hours of pumping
PISA  is medela’s best normal range pump with the strongest suction. It is an Open System.
It starts off with 2mins of fast suction before it changes to slower longer suction automatically. It comes with a detachable battery pack which requires 8-10AA batteries.
PISA  Cycle: 48-74, stimulation at 117 (12Levels)
S1 Cycle: 38-54, stimulation at 70 (12 Levels)
Experiment made on PISA Level 8 Vs S1 Level 6 (based on the same suction strength and cycle) for 6 sessions each pump.
PISA Cycle: 48, Stimulation 117
S1 Cycle: 46, Stimulation 70
Time taken: 20mins
End results: S1 have an average of 30ml of extra yield as compared to PISA.
Comparison:
S1 weighs 1.12kg and PISA is 1.95kg(1.6kg without batt).
S1 is much quieter than PISA
S1 have separate individual setting for suction strength and duration, PISA has a JOINT suction strength n duration setting.
PISA with eneloop rechargeable battery can last more than 15pumping sessions, S1 last around 3hours of pumping session.
S1 is much bulkier than PISA.

Verdict

S1 is more suitable for people whose concern is more about increasing yield and also to have a more comfortable pumping experience as u can control the suction strength n duration individually. It is also suitable for mummies co-sleeping with their babies as it is a very silent pump. Recommended for Home use, in the Car, and Office use. S1 is also suitable for people who are more concern about budget as it is around 50% cheaper than PISA.
PISA is more suitable for pumping on the go, or for traveling as u will not need to worry about not having enough battery charge as it is very convenient to get AA batteries in convenience store. It is also suitable for people who are more brand conscious as Medela has been a trusted brand and it has a service centre in Toh Guan.


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Friday 12 June 2015

FTWM BF Journey Ep1 Pumping Schedule

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WORRIED THAT BOSS MAY NOT LIKE IT THAT I TOOK UP A LOT OF TIME PUMPING.
Thats what most of the mummy worried about... Started work and finally I settled with my awesome pump schedule :)
Always committed with my midnight pump because it helps to maintain my milk supply and hopefully do some wonder by increasing it.
  • 2am (30mins)
  • 5am (15mins)
  • 9am (10mins)
  • 12nn (20mins)
  • 4pm (15mins)
  • 7pm (20mins)
  • 10pm (20mins)
As you can see, I will need to pump 3 times in my office at least if I do not work overtime, Therefore, I will settle back with about 10 to 12oz . Each pump time I will take about 10-20mins depending on work schedule.
Sometimes if i am too busy I will move the 9am to 10am then continue with 2pm then 6pm. These days I will pump only 6 times per day.
Have a nice day!

Friday 5 June 2015

Confinement Story Ep1 My BF friendly CL

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MY BF Friendly Confinement LADY
Soon as I know I am pregnant, I have started looking for “MY” confinement lady. Phobia of tradition confinement that I faced last round, I decided to hunt for a confinement lady that fit “MY Style”. She have to be a breastfeeding friendly and knowledgeable person and DO NOT start nagging me on all the pantang-ish things to do and not to do.
Finally I found “HER” :)
During my first confinement, I am not allowed to shower (Chinese believe that if you come in touch with water during the this period, you will have Rheumatism in future), stand or sit up for long (saying that it will weaken our bone or “expand” it causing a bigger hips) and only certain foods are allowed.
With my confinement lady help, she help me to overcome all the totally absolutely rubbish hardship.

Food.

She allowed me to take balanced diet. Which means, vegetables and fruits allowed on my plate (Yes, it is awesome!). I ate vegetables and fruits – which all these are the forbidden food as what mentioned by my first confinement lady. Well, in fact, my confinement lady admit that it is true that some of the vegetables are not good as they are too “cooling” for postpartum. However, there are certain type of vegetable and fruits that I can eat.
  1. Broccoli (White and Green)
  2. Spinach (Green and Red)
  3. Carrot
  4. Capsicum
  5. Long bean
  6. Mushroom (All types)
Also there is only one type of fruit allowed.
  1. Apple
My confinement aunty also make some delicious milk boosting dessert for me.
  1. Red bea (Only red!)
  2. Pumpkin soup
  3. Fungus lotus soup
  4. Papaya fungus soup
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 Baby Routine & Breast feeding.

A good well knowledge confinement lady does an awesome job not only on food but also help me a lot on my breastfeeding journey. Get it right on the first time, I would say you have conquer a successful breastfeeding journey – at least half of it.
How she do it?
She help me make a good routine for my baby. From my first and third week only direct latch – no pumping. As I am still weak due to postpartum, she encourage co sleep and dream feed baby so that I can rest while feeding. Fourth week is the week that I pump and feed via bottle at night. From then on, my baby will sleep with her. She advise this routine because my baby will sleep in a separate room when I goes back to work. Therefore, she help me train my baby in this way.
At first, my baby will scream out of her lung when bottle feed but things get better as days goes by. Trust me :)
She taught me how to bottle feed.
  • Ask your partner / baby caretaker feed for you so that you can have some rest time, also to train your baby to accept soothing from others
  • Change teat and bottles that your baby prefer – I used Avent and my baby is fine with it
  • Feed small portion but more frequently
  • When feeding via bottle make sure the flow is not too fast – can try medela calma teat for start

Postpartum daily routine.

Shower is allowed but with condition.
  1. Washing hair only allowed on 10th day. Then after every 3 days.
  2. Shower can be done every alternate day.
  3. Only shower with herbs.
  4. Hair must be dry up immediately.
Her rationing with shower is this. Olden day people do not shower because the weather is cold in China. They do not sweat. Since we are staying in Malaysia, despite we are Chinese shouldn’t we look at how the Malay do their confinement? I actually learned a lot from her.
Technically, for the first 6 weeks, I have been direct latching and pumping non stop. So other than makan, minum, tidur urut and feeding, I does nothing else.
You can read more about my post natal care – urut review here.

My Verdict?

Pro: as mentioned above.
Con: She do not help out with house work nor take care of my elder (she said so when I interview her).
I personally like her. For sure, I will engage her for my #3 child, if I have one.



Love, Hot MaMa

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Friday 29 May 2015

Post pregnancy Story Ep4 Post Natal Hair Loss

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Postpartum Hair Loss 

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This is what happen every single time I combed my hair. I was so scare that I stop combing my hair and to the extend I dread of washing my hair! I feel like I am under going chemo looking at the rate my hair is falling!
My first baby was not this bad and people tell me normally second baby hair loss will be worse. But really? This bad?
Well, let go about why this happen? It is said that during our pregnancy, we do not lose hair or so called our hair was “freezed” therefore, our “freezed” hair fall out post pregnancy (which is supposed to fall during our pregnancy?).
I tried all mean of ways to keep myself from being bald – still trying hard now :(
What I do:
  • Let you hair go loose
I no longer tie my hair now as I notice my hair falls more when I untie them. Thus, I just let them go loose.
  • Cut your hair short
Longer hair = more weight = prone to lose more hair. I cut my hair short after my confinement (my hair is in fact longer during my confinement – funny kan?)
  • Hair care product
You won’t believe how many type of shampoo I tried.
IMG_6056
This is not all. I have tried I think almost 10 different brands. So far Nioxin is the best. I prevent my hair from falling that much. Pantene is MYR12.90, BC is MYR35, Avalon is MYR 28, Nioxin is MYR100. Well, if you compute according to MYR/ml vs value for money, I would say Nioxin. Nioxin give me almost immediate result where I can visibly see less hair fall out. Also, the smell is much better than others. It give a faint mint smell which is quite good actually.
IMG_6057
I also tried this. MYR 60. It helps so far. This is my first try for hair toner.
  • Maintain good diet
I tried USANA multivitamin and still taking them. They consist Iron which apparently helps to prevent hair loss.
Still having bad hair fall experience now so I plan to try out a few more other brand that have good reviews. Keep in view these few products.
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IMG_6042

Verdict:

My personal experience is to take folic acid and multi vitamin. Also, so far Nioxin and the Optimax hair toner helps me a lot. If you have good tips do share with me :)
You can purchase shampoo from iHerbs too

Love, Hot MaMa

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Post Pregnancy Story Ep3 Post Natal Supplement Pregnant or Lactating Mum

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Supplement for Post Natal Mummy

Eat healthy and feed healthy

The kiasu-ness me,

always survey, google and ask around before deciding.
My first pregnancy, I was with Dr Delaila, who was a very very nice, chirp and patient gynae. She prescribed the essential supplement to me which is required for every pregnant woman. I was taking calcium, fish oil and multivit till i deliver.
For my whole 8 months of breast feeding (6 months of exclusive pump), I did not take any supplement as my gynae said that so long i maintaing a good diet then it should be fine.
Then come my second pregnancy, I was with Dr Tang Boon Nee as Dr Delaila was no longer practicing. Dr Tang is very much different from Dr Delaila. She encourage very much on taking necessary supplements.

How i started,

come in touch with different supplement is from my group of friends.
Don’t be surprise when you hear numerous brand pops up which I even know until I start asking!
Nutrilite, Herbalife Nu Skin, USANA, Shaklee One-a-day, GNC, centrum, E-Excel, Nature Made and all the way to Blackmore.
Most of the them introduced me to E-excel, GNC and Nutrilite. Then after my friend, mei kee who is taking USANA supplement since her early pregnancy strongly “promote” USANA (she was then already a member). All right. Me being a skeptical person always have this thing with MLM products (all the products mention above are MLM). But no harm trying, I was thinking.
Focusing the supplement I need that I blogged, I would share my review as follows :)

First, Calcium!!

Image Image Image
From left to right, Nutrilite USANA & GNC
Each tablet of Nutrilite consist of:
    • Calcium: 200 mg
    • Magnesium: 66.7mg
    • Vit D: 200IU
    • Zinc: 5mg
Each tablet of USANA consist of:
    • Calcium: 200 mg
    • Magnesium: 100mg
    • Vit D: 100IU
Each tablet of GNC consist of:
    • Calcium: 600 mg
    • Magnesium: 300mg
    • Vit D: 400IU
My earlier post shared about the required daily intake as follows:
    • Calcium: 1000mg
    • Magnesium: 350mg
    • Vit D: 200 IU
    • Zinc 11mg
My thought?
I spoke to each sales consultant and understand that
    • the best ratio of calcium absorption is to take with magnesium with the ration of 2:1 or 3:1
    • calcium chelate is better than calcium citrate as it can be easily absorb and cause little or no gastrointestinal
    • calcium carbonate is the worst! sadly, most of the supplement do use this as the ingredient
Looking at this, USANA is better as
    • it has the best calcium, magnesium ratio compared to GNC and Nutrilite
    • i won’t overdose myself with the magnesium and Vit D if i take USANA 5 tablets or 1000mg of calcium compared to  GNC 2 tablets or 1200mg of calcium (bear in mind we need only 1000mg) where USANA 1000mg of calcium equal to 500mg of mag and 500IU of Vit D but GNC 1000mg of calcium equal to 700mg of mag and 800IU of Vit D!!
The only con about taking USANA is, it is super expensive as compared to other GNC and Nutrilite. Per tablet USANA cost RM0.60, GNC cost RM0.40 while Nutrilite cost RM0.30 (all price from Amazon.com). Not to mention USANA need to consume 5 tablets which is RM3.50/day, Nurilite also 5 tablets but only RM1.50/day,  GNC only 2 tablets at RM0.80/day to obtain the necessary calcium dosage.
What’s your verdict?
Well, i can say if you are USANA member then it is worth taking it or else, GNC is a much economical choice.

Second, Vit D!!

 Well, since calcium already contain the necessary Vit D, it should be fine it is.

Third, Fish Oil!!

Screen shot 2014-06-27 at 4.08.42 PMScreen shot 2014-06-27 at 4.00.18 PM









For fish oil, the ingredient mainly are EPA and DHA
Each tablet of Nutrilite consist of:
    • EPA: 1200mg
    • DHA: 600mg
Each tablet of USANA consist of:
    • Fish Oil: 1000mg
    • EPA: 290mg
    • DHA: 235mg
Each tablet of GNC consist of:
    • Fish Oil:1500mg
    • EPA: 540mg
    • DHA: 360mg
There are nothing much to compare about fish oil in terms of ingredient as there is no overdose clinically proven result. So it is the more you take the better it is?
No.
I research and found out that fish oil are NOT all the same, read here.
Thus, how to choose the best? Purity is the criteria. Tips? Put your fish oil in the freezer and see whether it will be frozen. If it is not, then higher the purity is.
Tried a few different brand and notice Nutrilite and GNC do become frozen (not fully) and USANA is NOT frozen.
What’s your verdict?
My thought? USANA it is, despite it is more expensive!
Nutrilite RM1.50/capsule, USANA RM1.60/capsule, GNC RM1.20/capsule

 Sharing of my result,


I do see different between my breast milk for taking supplement and without, read it at my blog!
* All the ingredients are obtained from the respective website as at 26 July 2014 and all above is solely my own sharing and research. It does not represent any of the companies or do not constitute ads or whatsoever.