Our Breastfeeding Quest - Part 2

.... and so the jaundice incident managed to give me the confidence to exclusively breastfeed Ayyash. I just have to find ways to make this breastfeeding works for both of us. I started to realize that manual pump is not sufficient to keep us going so we finally decided to get ourself an electric pump to save our time and energy. I realized this whole things about breastfeeding issue has taken too much of my attention that I forgot to enjoy my newborn baby. I constantly keep on thinking whether I will manage to gather enough milk for his next feeding or not.

Of course there are various different brands of electric pump in the market. I was busy with the baby most of the time so Muhammad did the shopping. We finally settled on Medela Swing and bought it online for RM679. It took 4 days to reach us via courier. Alhamdulillah... pumping time was cut into half to get the similar amount when using manual pump. The Swing emptied the milk much more efficiently and I produced a lot more! I usually just get around 2oz per pumping session, but now it has increases to 4oz. It definitely encourages me to pump more often and of course will somehow improves my production. The manual pump finally took place in its box again...hehe!

My Medela Swing

We bought Bumble Bee Storage Bottle to keep the EBM as it is compatible with Medela Swing. So I could directly pump and store. It is also cheap, only RM38 for eight bottles. I should get some more when I start working soon. Then we also bought Tommee Tippee feeding bottle as the shape of its nipple close to the shape of the breast. We thought that would be easy for Ayyash to get train on direct feeding. Later we learn that it does not make any different for Ayyash. And we will definitely not buy Tommee Tippee bottle next time as the shape of its bottle is so awkward, there must be some milk trapped at its curves. Such a waste and of course every drop of precious EBM counts! And it is not cheap either, RM 28.90 for a 5oz bottle. Plus the EasiVent teat is also a bit pricey for us.

At first, we heat up chilled EBM using warm water but later thought it was too much hassle and so we bought the food warmer. Muhammad chose the one that can also be charged on the go, complete with a car charger. So, we save the worries of overheating or underheating the EBM as it has the pre set temperature and would regulate the temperature accordingly. We were thinking of getting a strilizer as well but our steamer will function just fine for that.


So, there we are, very much well equipped for our breastfeeding journey. All in all, it took us around RM900 for all these things. But I realized that this is definitely not a solution for my problem. The main problem here is Ayyash still cannot be directly feed!! I can't imagine myself packing my Swing, storage bottles, feeding bottle, cooler, EBM supplies, food warmer for each outing with my baby. Being a breastfeeding mum should mean less hassle when going out with baby as you have your milk supply with you, ready made, at the right temperature and can be consumed anywhere, anytime! But now it seems like I shall be in much more trouble compared to formula milk mummies!!! Help!

To be continued....