Breastfeeding positions

as you all know.. (or yg belum tahu) ada byk BF positions.

ada cradle hold..
ada football hold
ada nyusu sambil baring

and many more.

masa sofeya baru lahir.. aku biasa nyusu cara cradle hold.. tu jer yg nampak senang (tapi may be payah klu tak biasa mula2). so it was cradle hold all the way for first few mths.. then atas kelenguhan yang amat, and tak cukup tidur (sbb kena bangun duduk nyusu during night), i learned to do the lie down thingy..

mula2 amat ler tak pandai.. takut terhempap baby.. but as they say practice makes perfect.. so after a while i find that baring is the most-est comfortable position for both me and baby.

paling best sbb mlm2 tak payah bangun. baby nangis.. sumbat nenen.. and tidoo...:P

however... now.. i think BF club/organization/watever kena update their knowledge base.. sbb BF position bertambah..well.. how shall i say it... KREATIF? as the baby grows lah of course..

take my koala bear for example..

lying down is still the most preferred position.. however.. dia suka 'mempelbagaikan' position ikut sesedap rasa.. example kalau nak tgk tv, she will sit on my lap, tolak2 badan aku supaya menghala 90 degree kat TV, so sambil nenen she can turn her face and boleh tgk tv...

kalau penat duduk, dia suruh aku baring terlentang and she will lie on top of me, nenen sambil tgk tv again.. and this can last for 1/2 hour.. sampai habis satu episode cartoon la..

camner la aku nak buat keje kat rumah kan?

like my maid said "haihhh..kalau mama ada dirumah mcm tu la.. asyik mengopekkk jer.."

hehehe..

Sketsa hari ni

Tahukah anda...

Bila kita baru deliver baby, susu yang keluar terhasil dlm bentuk kolostrum. Kolostrum ni, bukanlah byk mcm susu yg kita dok pump hari2 tuh, ber oz-oz, memancut2.

But, kolostrum ni adalah susu awal, yg amat sedikit in kuantiti and pekat.

Like really sikit u know.. i read somewhere klu picit kuar, dlm 1 teaspoon jer dpt. 1 teaspoon tu pun dah mampu mengenyangkan baby for hours. (some say for days.. wallahualam). Coz u know, perut baby masa baru lahir only sebesar kacang. (i think la.. i read somewhere, correct me if i'm wrong, well, maybe beso sket from kacang, coz kacang mcm kecik sgt plak, but i know its really small la the tummy)

So how can such small tummy accomodate large amount of milk?

Allah punya kejadian tu mmg sgt indah. Susu awal2 tu mmg dlm jumlah yg sikit, BUT SANGAT TINGGI khasiat.. sgt sgt tinggi.. susu yg sikit but sgt berkhasiat sesuai utk baby yg masih kecik and sgt fragile..

Kolostrum ni, or some people may think that "susu tak der" or "susu sikit" normally ada for the first few days of delivery..
hence, some ppl (most ppl actually) thinks that susu mula ada only after few days of delivery.. hence, they tend to give formula milk to their babies during that time..
hence, bila no demand, supply pun menurun lah kan?
hence, ppl will think/justify that "ohh.. susu tak byk... kena top up dgn formula"
hence, bye bye breastfeeding!

So, mcm mana nak remedy the situation?

Stimulation is the best remedy.. we may think tak de susu, but believe me (yourself), there WILL BE susu IF baby continuously direct feed from the breast. So the best thing is direct feed as frequent/soon as possible after delivery!

So... sketsa hari ini..

Lebih kurang 2.5 bulan lepas, Mrs Tulip (bukan nama sebenar) yg tgh sarat ngandung bertanya kepada Mrs Korny yg sibuk basuh her pumping gadgets kat pantry..

MT : eh you breastfeed eh? dah berapa bulan your baby?
MK : (sambil senyum2 gatal) dah 9 mths dah..
MT : wahh..good lah u... i pun nak bf my baby nanti.. dah pinjam pump medela fr my fren!

(and she continuously tanya MK dia pump mcm mana.. pump kat mana.. yada yada)

MK pun syok la... sbb alhamdulillah.. makin ramai org interested in bf. Makin sihat la penduduk2 dunia ni kan?

Itu cerita few mths ago...

Pagi ni.. bila Mrs Korny masuk lif, nampak Mrs Tulip masuk lif jugak.. ahhh. dah balik maternity la kot... tapi, dlm hati Mrs Korny tertanya2.. apsal minah ni sempoi jer bwk handbag dtg ofis? dia ni ha jenuh ngangkut beg besau gabak bwk pump & bottles... takkan tak pump kot? hehhh.. tak per.. Mrs Korny tak mau bersangka buruk.. mebbe minah ni tinggal pump kat ofis kot.. maleh nak ngangkut pi ngangkut mai..

So Mrs Korny pun bertanya..

MK : how is your son?
MT : ok lah... tapi i tak byk susu lah.... i pump morning b4 work and after balik fr office... susu i pun keluar after 4th / 5th day.. so dah bagi formula..

aikk.. dia ni mcm tau jer Mrs Korny ni pk apa kan.. elok2 dok tanya pasal anak dia.. pi bukak citer susu plak.. isk isk isk.. kat muka Mrs Korny ni tampal penyokong kuat susu ibu kot kes kes kes...

Mendengar alasan tu.. Mr Korny pun meyabarkan diri agar tidak membuka ceramah pasal kolostrum etc seperti di atas... dia senyum kambing jer sepanjang2 lif tu... ye la.. siapalah Mrs Korny ni kan... sibuk2 nak paksa2 org bf plak...

So question for the day..

Should Mrs Korny sibuk2 ajar org the right thing abt bf or just diam jer? Coz, u know.. tak semua org suka klu org sibuk2 ni kan... kang cop aku eh.. Mrs Korny ni jaga tepi kain org plak.

tapi aku rasa Mrs Korny ni diam jer la kot eh? klu org tanya then jawab la...

gitu ke?

It’s been 4 days…

I noticed that my milk production dah sampai zaman gawat skang. And I’m pretty sure the reason is tak lain tak bukan sebab aku stress (read my other blog). Even aku direct feed jer last weekend, but I noticed that sometimes Sofeya cam tak puas menyusu, and most obvious reason is the breast jarang sgt bengkak.

Pumping? Still continued as usual, Cuma bila pump, nowadays Cuma dpt avg dlm 2oz jer per session.. :( mmg sedih.. tapi aku buat bodo jer la.. apa nak buat kan..

That is how bad stress can affect your milk production.

Yang menambahkan teruk lagi, pasal not only pump dpt sikit, direct feed pun kdg2 aku rasa Sofeya tak puas.. sometimes sampai aku rasa breast kering kontang.. I even tot of panaskan my frozen stok utk bagi dia minum mlm2.. huhhu sampai mcm tu skali.. but alhamdulillah belum sampai ke situ lagi la..

Tapi tak per.. let’s put my problem aside..

I mentioned in my previous post pasal not shaking the EBM kan? By shaking i mean mcm goncang botol susu tu.. like whenever we prepare the formula milk, mix the tepung and the water, then shake. haa.. like that kindda shake.

Normally, chilled EBM ni akan divided into 2 layer, top one is the fat, lower is the water. The fat layer, of course, has the richest nutrients. So naturally, bila nak serve the EBM, we wud wanna make sure that all the fat layers (especially yg melekat kat dinding botol) are mixed with the water. And the result, of course lah shaking the bottle kan?

Well i did that lah dulu2.. until i read in susuibu.com, that you CANNOT DO THAT!

Why? because it will destroy all the nutrient in the milk. Reason? eermm.. well i wudn't know how to explain scientifically in detail, tapi from my understanding, is that breast milk punya nutrient are very fragile, that when you shake them, they will become loose, and destroyed.

So alternatively, when u wanna mix the 2 layers (actually bila panaskan, they will eventually mixed), just GENTLY SWIRL the bottle.

Jgn shake2 eh? Rugi jer khasiat susu ibu.

p/s nak dekat posa nieh.. i better kerja keras nak stock up the milk!

Cough cough..

Sofeya is coughing pretty bad lately.. just went to Dr Khairul (her paed) last week (i think) for her jab and masa tu she had mild cough.. so this time around i decided tak yah la gi clinic again.. coz i'm pretty sure Dr will prescribe the same medicine again, or maybe will add antibiotics.

Kat rumah (baru) pun dah penuh peti ais (baru) aku dgn ubat2. u name it.. all i have.. ubat demam, selsema, cair kahak, ventolin, batuk, sembelit, angin yada yada...

Anyway Dr Khairul said its prob. during this pindah rumah period that she started to cough, due to the habuk.. and with the current haze problem, lagilah tak membantu the coughing..

She even had fever (after 11 mths, ni lah 1st time demam..) last sunday.. like really hot.. and moody all the time.. luckily i was on leave on monday.. so boleh la ensure dia baik btul b4 balik kerja..

Everyone is saying that budak ni demam pasal nak pandai.. which i think maybe true.. pasal later that nite she kindda mengigau cakap "DADDY".. hahahha

And she can respond when you ask her questions like

"Mcm mana bunyi motor daddy?" she will do like "brruummmmm"
"Mcm mana bunyi ayam?" she will say "kokokokokokok"

heheh so comel i tell u...

she can call mama (dah lama.. lupa nak apdate).. and she can call "qishhhhh " when she wants kak balqis to entertain her..

and best thing is now at 11 mths dia dah tumbuh GIGI!! eheh.. sgt comel!

have i mentioned dia sgt comel? :)

but.. but.. somehow dia makin kurang tembam... compared to when she was 5/6 mths.. now mcm dah kurus sket.. i guess she is getting more and more active.. and lately kurang makan sket, i think due to her coughing ni la.. tak per la asalkan susu minum byk kan?

So apa la kena mengena topic budak comel ni dgn susu ibu? heheh panjang btul intro aku...

I just wanted to share.. the routine / my way of giving EBM to her..

Normally, I will give 1 frozen EBM + other chilled EBM to Sofeya in a day, to make sure the frozen stocks are utilized elok2.. u know.. tak de yg expired.. the extra chilled EBM yg tak minum will be frozen, buat tambah stok.

But now.. since the little girl tak sihat, I will make sure to bagi all chilled EBM only (during my absence lah.. klu aku ader direct susu cap gantung la apa lagi), and no frozen. Well, frozen only if chilled EBM tak cukup.

Reason is.. if korang belum tahu :

- susu fresh from nenen is ultimately the BEST!
- chilled EBM is at second place, kurang sket khasiat and antibodi compared to fresh milk from nenen.
- frozen EBM kat 3rd place... paling kurang khasiat and antibodi compared to the previous 2.

that's why.. kena minimize frozen EBM klu buleh, and lebihkan fresh / chilled EBM.

BUT!

having said the above, even frozen EBM have far far far more nutrient and antibodi than formula milk.

so.. imagine la mcm mana berkhasiatnya susu ibu ni kan?

8 oz!!!

Yesterday I did not pump at all coz.. alehh.. Sunday kan? Sofeya was with me whole day.. so no need to pump…

However, malam tadi.. felt my breast a bit heavier than usual.. Sofeya pulak menyusu sikit2, main2.. I dunno if any of you ever encounter this..

When the breast is full.. and the baby cam nyusu sikit2.. thus initiating the ‘let down’ phase… then elok2 tengah let down.. she stopped nyusu-ing.. and there you go.. susu keluar mencurah2 non stop…

Aiyohhh.. rugi wooooo susu.. rasa cam nak tadah and simpan jer…

Anyway ni side story jer.. bukan main story for the day…

Since semlm breast a bit heavier.. Sofeya pun dah tidur.. so LOGICALLY what is shud do is PUMP.

TETAPI..

Disclaimer.. jgn ikut perangai malas aku!

Angin MALAS KUS KUS sudah dtg.. so aku pun belasah tidur kepenatan

Few time si woke up in the middle of the nite sbb breast sakit and bengkak, still.. aku malas nak pump.. ish ish ishhhh

So finally I just wait till morning and pump time 7.30 am (normal pumping time, luckily breast still full!).. and hasilnya.. LAPAN OZ! wutttttt!!!

I think last time I dpt 8 oz was masa dlm pantang… lepas2 tu paling byk pun 5 oz la..

So apa point aku eh? Ehhe.. panjang sgt la mukadimah..

Since morning I’ve been wondering what da heck I’ve been eating / doing yang menyebabkan susu aku byk..

Bfast – MIL’s nasi lemak (sodap I tell u)
Lunch – 2 x nasik kenduri (dua kali tuuuuuu)
Dinner – Cucur bawang + ikan bilis

There... i think la kan.. nasik contributes the most to my susu..
So… how la want to kurus?

Tempoh penyimpanan susu

Nak share about my practice in handling my EBM (frozen and also chilled).

Meh kita tengok the definition dulu.

EBM = Expressed Breast Milk.
Fresh EBM = Susu yg baru diperah
Chilled EBM = Susu dah perah, masuk dlm fridge bhgn sejuk (bukan beku)
Frozen EBM = Susu yg simpan dlm tempat beku.

Below are the general guidelines (and my own way) on storing and handling the above types of EBM :

Disclaimer : Cara yg aku buat might not be suitable to others.. ikut ketahanan perut baby masing2..

Fresh EBM
Room temperature = 4 hours
Air conditioned room = 8 hours
My way = Jarang la aku simpan EBM kat bilik lama2.. lepas pam aku masuk fridge terus…

Note: some people say you have to keep the milk at least dlm 30mins kat room temperature b4 masuk fridge, sbb susu baru perah mcm suam2 sket.. Aku tak ikut sgt, pasal pernah terlupa & end up susu basi.. rugi woooo.. and so far susu aku alhamdulillah ok..

Chilled EBM
Some say tahan dlm 2-3 days (48 hours – 72 hours)
Some say tahan dlm 4-5 hari
Some say it depends on tahap kesejukan fridge nkorang.
Lagi elok klu simpan susu tu kat bahagian paling belakang (paling sejuk)

My way : Not more than 48 hours.. kiranya play safe lah ni.. klu agak2 dah dekat 48 jam..(from time aku perah), aku transfer susu tu masuk freezer plak)

Note : Chilled EBM ni normally akan terbahagi kepada lapisan2.. normally mcm ada 2 lapisan… atas dia bhgn lemak, bwh dia air.. this is perfectly normal, jgn pulak nkorang ingat susu tu basi and buang plak. Wat u need to do, is masa panaskan susu tu, GENTLY SWIRL the bottle to mix the lapisan. (another post on this later.. why we kenot shake EBM)

Frozen EBM
Ini a bit tricky… sebab depends on what type of fridge you have.

Fridge 1 pintu : tahan up to 1 mth
Fridge 2 pintu : tahan up to 3 mths
Deep freezer : tahan up to 6 mths

My way : aku guna fridge 2 pintu, and stok aku pun x de la sampai melimpah ruah sgt, so all my stocks tak pernah lagi exceed 3 mths punya turnover period..

Klu agak2 stok susu byk.. invest la in deep freezer…

There you go..

p/s since now ntah mcm mana ofis aku dah ada access utk update blog, hopefully aku bleh update more frequently lah now :)

My pumping routine

Aku ni tak der la rajin norr nak pump... like some mothers, especially yg exclusively pumping (ni kes baby reject direct bfeed). I know some of them religiously pump at least 8 times daily, i.e. every 3 hours.

Tgh2 mlm pun diorang bangun pump kak oiiiii..

Tabik spring lah!!!

As for me... dulu2 rajin ler aku bangun tgh mlm... but now.. hmmm... angin M.A.L.A.S tu ader gak sket2.. so tgh mlm mmg ilek!

So basically my WAJIB pumping session (on weekdays) are :

7.30 am
10.30 am
1.30 pm
4.30 pm

susu kuar ke, tak kuar ke, sikit ke, banyak ke.. aku pump jugak..

agak2 mcm stok dah kurang.. aku pump lagik during tgh2 mlm..

on days that I am with Sofeya, mmg botol dilarang sama sekali.. dia akan direct feed dgn aku jer. If i hv to go out without her.. aku akan bajet2 la baper lama nak kuar.. if more than 3 hours.. mmg aku angkut pump sekali..

Leceh? idok ler... tak pernah nyer la aku rasa leceh... dah jadi mcm normal routine.. i lap my medela FS!!

U see.. most mothers would go thru 100x this trouble as long as the child gets the best thing in the world.. Sadly.. some mothers don't..

I know some mothers yg adopt the child, tak pernah beranak sendiri pun berusaha nak menyusukan anak.. (yes.. its possible!). however, some mothers yg melahirkan anak sendiri pun ada yg refuse nak menyusukan anak dia..

Nak kata tak pandai.. ilmu ada depan mata.. mcm mana lah boleh tergamak nak menarik hak anak kita? Ini bukan kes tak boleh.. ini kes tak mau...

Ntah la i am lost for words.. klu kes tak boleh, kita boleh ajar.. bagi ilmu.. tapi klu kes tak mau.. buat la apa pun, dia still tak mau jugak..

I pray to God semoga dilembutkan hati para ibu2 utk menyusukan anak sendiri..