I froze my first packet of milk

Before the baby even arrived, I had a boob infection. And breastfeeding was seemingly impossibly tough. By the third day post-partum, I was pretty sure I am going to give up on breastfeeding. By a twist of fate (probably due to power pumping and the rights boosters - will write more on them in a separate post), I became an over-supply mother in 2nd month of post partum.

Being an over-supply mother means I need to learn how to freeze the milk. I found this summary which I thought was very useful. Previously, I also never used any milk storage bags. Youtube was very helpful in that aspect. 

What I am doing is to maximise each bag by freezing alternate day feedings. Having said that, most of the time, I still feed the excess to my #1 because he takes it and there is less work.) Apart from the labelling, I would wrap each bag with a kitchen tissue so that they are better separated (not stated in the youtube videos)

What I realise was some breastmilk packets are more premium than the rest with more functions. The best so far is Marcus & Marcus ($19.90 for 50 pieces). For the thawing of breastmilk, you can either move it down from the freezer and let it slowly thaw or use the warmer for quick thawing. Should you be comfortable with the latter, the temperature sensing function on the Marcus & Marcus Breastmilk Storage Bags would be very useful. 

One thing to note, you should also let your little one have a taste of the thawed frozen milk to make sure they are not fussy about the taste early. Otherwise you will be freezing in vain. Ending the post with a photo of the tools I used for my first packet of frozen milk T_T. Can't believe I have come so far.

Yummy lactation goodies ft. Baking Mama

Call me a sua-ku, but I honestly didn't know that there was so many variety when it comes to lactation goodies. If you have been following my breastfeeding journey, you would know that I have been using lactation goodies to boost my supply. 

We came across Baking Mama recently and was impressed by the variety. In their lactation menu (they have a normal menu by the way), you can find cookies, grandola, brownies, mushi-pan and even teas. We had the luxury to try a few of each and decided to jot a review here for other Mummies who are keen to try them out. 

Day 1 Breakfast

We started with a bottle of Mulberry Rose (3 for $25) which I had it warm. This is my first time having this drink combination and you can taste the spiciness. Baking Mama is very generous with their ingredients. The Blueberry Maple Mumffin (4 for $20) was stuffed with so many blueberries, it is probably the most I have ever seen in a muffin. The double coco mushi-pan was absolutely delicious, in fact their chocolate products are all really good!

Snack-time

If you are a breastfeeding mum, you would know how hungry we get after every session. These little classic chocolate chip cookies ($25) are my go to in-between meals. Honestly, it was really hard to stop eating these goodies. I had to stop myself every time. The good thing about Baking Mama is that she has a non-lactation series, so even after the breastfeeding journey, we can still continue snacking on her goodies. 

Day 2 Breakfast

I had Mulberry Rose cold this time round and I find that it definitely taste much better. For breakfast, I had Banana Walnut Mumffin (4 for $20) and 200% Lactation Brownies (4 for $25). For the Mumffins, you can really taste the oats being used. If you are not used to such textures, you can choose their other goodies. The brownies is my 2nd most favourite item. I eat it without heating it up. But if you are not lazy like me, you should heat it up. The chocolate within it will melt and it will probably taste a lot like a molten lava cake. 

Subsequent breakfast ($25)

Somehow I ended up saving the best for the last. Although many places serve granola, Baking Mama's was the best. It has a nice mixture of nuts and fruits and has a nice savoury taste. It was very different from all the granolas I have ever tasted. I love it and it is the first time I ever had problems to stop eating granola! I would really recommend this if you love granola. If you are wondering of the effectiveness, generally Baking Mama helped me to maintain my supply during this stressful period. For lactating Mummies living on the East side, do give them a try!

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No longer a low supply mummy (Feat. Milk for Bubs)

 I decided to pen this post because I wanted to give hope to other mummies out there. If you have been following my grouses and journey, you would know I started as a low supply (supplementing about 25% to 50% of formula milk). After my confinement, I fell sick and my supply dipped. By the the 3rd month, I am proud to share that our little one is fully on breastmilk. 

My supply is "just-nice", which means that if I slack off too many pumps, I would probably still have to rely on formula milk. So far, we are still doing well because I try to take boosters such as lactation cookies. I have also stopped pumping on a 3-hour basis for the night and only pump after baby has his night feeding (he is not sleep-trained by the way.)

Not all boosters work very well for me, but the cookies from Milk for Bubs ($19 each packet) was particularly yummy and effective. I truly had problems to stop eating to the extent I actually grew obviously rounder...oops. Milk for Bubs is quite generous in the ingredients and the cookies were a good mouth-size and not crumbly. You can just pop it into your mouth as a midnight snack. :D

Personally, I preferred the taste of the chocolate oats cookies but weirdly the white chocolate almonds cookies were very addictive, I had more problems stopping when I was eating the white chocolate almonds cookies. Maybe it is because these cookies are made from top quality ingredients like grass fed butter and fortified flour. Low GI brown sugar is used for the bakes so that is less sinful. 

Milk for Bubs also sell granolas ($15 each packet). I eat it as a cereal, however it is not as effective for me although there is increase in milk (probably because I drink a lot of fresh milk along with me). These granola are a healthier version. It does not contain any refined sugars and is made with 100% all natural processed ingredients. For those who are curious, the lactation ingredients added for the goodies at Milk for Bubs includes natural and organic ingredient such as coconut oil, brewers yeast (100% halal sourced and certified), flaxseed and wheat germ!

If boosters doesn't work for you (my other boosters are milk, sashimi and fish soup), you can always try supplements such as fernugreek. I have checked with my gynae and it works for most women. If all these fails, you can always get your gynae to prescribe motilium for you. One thing I realise about mummies is that sometimes we don't speak to medical professionals enough. Personally, I find it very useful to consume when the period threatens to come and end your breastfeeding journey prematurely. 

Hope this post helps all other low-supply breastfeeding mummies out there. :D 

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Follow "Breastfeeding Journey" tags for tips to make the breastfeeding experience bearable!

Breastfeeding Journey: Why am I still pumping?

I wish more people had share their breastfeeding reflection. No, I am not talking about influencers who paint a rosy picture, but true, real stories on how difficult it is. I am a Mummy that can't fully supply my baby with breastmilk. And after going through the process, let me tell you why I think this is so.

• My little one is huge. He was such a good size that the nurses told me in the hospital, don't sweat it feed him formula milk if you have to. 
• I did not know latching was the key to increasing milk supply. After I left the hospital. I immediately went on exclusive pumping cos it felt so much more comfortable on the nipples. 
• My pump was not hospital-grade. For a good long time, I was just pumping for an hour and still not clearing my boobs. Sigh. I wish I had listen to the other mothers earlier.
• I didn't have much support from the extended family. Our parent's generation didn't really have the concept of breastfeeding so their first instinct was always to get the baby formula when he cries. I barely had any opportunity to latch him during the first month. :'(

What people never told us was how difficult latching actually was. When I tried to re-latch the baby back at home, my mother had to help me position my child. My boobs were also perpectually sore. My body was literally aching everywhere. I barely had strength to carry my little one and my body had problems recovering because of the lack of rest (I had to wake up every 3 hours to pump). In the end, I fell sick with fever for 5 days and my supply dipped. 

At that point, I really truly wanted to give up on breastfeeding. I miss the taste of alcohol even though I am not a hardcore drinker and I wanted my freedom back. I no longer wanted to be restricted by the 3 hours. But then, my baby was very constipated with formula milk and I have to admit that breastmilk did provide him with very good antibodies from me to counter the flu bug spreading around the house and the germs from his sick mama. 

Coincidentally, at that period I received some Boobkies and Boob Juice from Gooberr for review. And so I thought let's give it one last shot. If my milk supply still continued to drop, then it is a sign to stop breastfeeding. As you you may know, lactation cookies don't work for everybody. My body was growing immune to rolled oats, so I was praying that the brewer's yeast (halal compliant by the way) would do some magic.

At the same time, I was also drinking the ginger fennel lactation tea and fenugreek bergamot lactation tea (S$18 each). I tried to squeeze every value out of it, so I would use each sachet for 1 day worth of refill. There were 12 sachets in each packet, so with this I could last 24 days :D And fortunately for me, my milk supply went back to its original amount. Although my supply didn't increase anymore from there, I was happy that the amount was no longer as little as when I was sick.

For tea time, I would always have 8 boobkies. By right, it was recommended to eat 8 eof them before very pump, but I just recovered from my fever so I was abit cautious about over-doing it. Between the white chocolate matcha and white chocolate earl grey, my favourite was the latter. I love that you could actually taste the strong earl grey flavour, I guess I am a true tea lover. :P Each packet retails at S$19.90 which I thought was pretty reasonably priced. 

Overall, I would think that the boobkies and boob juice was quite a hit for me. I am just thankful my breastfeeding journey wasn't forced to end early because of my fever. To all other Mummies out there, I just want to say don't give up, try all boosters if you really want to continue breastfeeding. Some will be hits, and others will be misses. But if you never try, you would never know! :D

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My First Booster: Cookies from Milk Making Mummy

The battle to increase breastmilk supply is real. Sigh. Before becoming a Mum myself, I never knew the obession with the concept of every drop counts and why on earth are these women "crying over spilt milk". And you know what, I am actually guilty of both. Every pump, you will see me trying to squeeze out every drop from my pump to the storage and there were days I was so exhausted, I spilt milk over myself. I didn't cry...but some cuss words may have been muttered. 

My miserly milk supply was getting stagnant so I decided to give boosters a go. And the first booster I tried was lactation cookies. According to many lactation consultants and my gynae, these cookies won't make much difference. But, I had a sweet tooth and decided that there was no harm trying. Cos at least they are yummy!

These are from Milk Making Mummy. I tried their 2 more popular flavours - Chocolate Chip with Almond ($20) and Chocolate Chip with macadamia and chia seed (S$25). To deliver to your house, you would have to have an additional $10. First of all, you would have noticed these cookies ain't cheap! That's because apart from being sinful, it is packed with a lot of nutritious goodness that a Mum would need to produce more milk. The question is always - Is this your booster?

Between the 2 flavours, I actually prefer the chocolate chip with almond because you can taste the chocolate more. The other cookie tasted a lot healthier and chia seed as we know is a superfood and helps to reduce water retention. I have to say the cookies from Milk Making Mummy came in whole sized and they were generous with their ingredients. I even had scraps of almonds and macadamia falling to the bottom of my packets. Yum. 

Did these cookies work for me? I have to say somewhat. My supply used to be at a miserable 20ml and it increased to a 50ml. Even after I stopped taking the booster, it managed to remain at the level. For info, the cookies from Milk Making Mummy is halal and the main milk-producing ingredient is flaxseed. There is no brewer's yeast.

Would I eat it again? I think so. When I am desperate to increase my milk supply. The thing is I am very, very torn between going totally formula milk because this breastfeeding journey is so disappointing and tiring. I just wish someday someone will say formula milk is better and our nipples can be saved from the agony and deformity :(

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Follow "Breastfeeding Journey" tags for tips to make the breastfeeding experience bearable!