A link for all moms-to-be

Don't be too obsessed with only giving your newborn breast milk. Just make sure they are fed.

Please read on:

https://fedisbest.org/2015/04/letter-to-doctors-and-parents-about-the-dangers-of-insufficient-exclusive-breastfeeding/

Last day at AST

A good breakfast before our "graduation ceremony".

I'll miss this awesomely spacious nursing room!

Foodie Friday

When I found out that I can now sync my Actxa Stride with my smart phone using the Healthy 365 app, I was ecstatic. Seriously, after clocking enough steps for vouchers from all three tiers, I stopped using the step-tracker-cum-watch because I was signed up as a non smart phone user. I couldn't download the app with my old phone and it was mega inconvenient to travel to other places solely to sync my step-tracker, on a weekly basis. It was the most frustrating when I had clocked 10000 steps but I didn't get to sync at any of the National Steps Challenge kiosk in 7 days, and my steps went unrecorded.

Time to get started!

So I synced my blue Actxa Stride with the app in my mobile for the first time this morning. Out of sheer curiosity, I also tried out the Diet Journal in the app.

Unfortunately, today is a super foodie Friday, and I kinda overate today...

Breakfast was kopi and one serving (a packet of 3 slices) of Julie's butter crackers.

Today I attended my cross-deployment course at the Academy for Singapore Teachers (AST). I wanted to buy some food at the canteen if I arrived to AST early so I ate lesser for breakfast today. I usually eat 2 packets of the Julie's butter crackers with kopi. However, I didn't buy anything from the canteen in the end. When lunch time arrived, my coursemate decided to drive us all out to ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre for a sumptuous lunch.

Lunch was this yummy vegetarian beehoon, a mug of sugar cane juice, and fried carrot cake!

Last week, a coursemate treated us to yummy freshly-made popiah and today, another coursemate treated us to sugar cane juice. Today I also treated my coursemates to a big plate of fried carrot cake (black), which we all shared. After returning to AST, I did a quick pump before rushing back to class. I diligently recorded everything I ate in the app, together with my morning refreshment of pandan cake and tea, provided in AST.

Muffin and coffee break at McCafe.

After class, a dear friend (who's also in the same course with me) and I went for coffee break at nearby ARC. Needless to say, I'm overeating by now.

How to resist this?!

And then there was dinner with my colleague. Nasi lemak! How much more sinful can this day's meals get?

(o__O)!!!

Is it cheating if I tell myself that it's okay, I'm a nursing mum and I need to eat more than a pregnant mum? XD

Love this so just to share~

This is found on the nursing room door in AST. I'll miss pumping in the spacious and comfy nursing room here when my course's over... pretty soon, come end of May.

Nursing room at ARC

Went to ARC for lunch with my coursemates when we were having our course at AST.

Went to use the nursing room at ARC.

The key to the nursing room has to be collected from the information counter and I took this guide too!

And we had lunch at Porn's.

Nursing room at Waterway Point

I visited Waterway Point today! Hubby treated me to Starbucks~ ^^v

It's the day of its opening and guess what? I immediately went to check out the nursing room!

At first glance I thought these are toilet cubicles... but not possible, as this is what I saw on my right...

I pushed the door of a vacant cubicle and this is what I saw.

Each cubicle has one armchair and one power socket.

This nursing room is on level two, near the indoor children's playground... which was of course very crowded on the opening day.

The weather wasn't exactly fine but I just wanted to share a pic of the view from the outdoor area of the mall... facing the Punggol waterway~

It was extremely crowded on the opening day, and the queue at Daiso was super long, so I gave up shopping. I'll be back though! And I'm happy to find some of the eateries I like, plus others that attracted my attention and I hope to try them out some day!

Slight engorgement

Yesterday I had this for breakfast... told hubby I wanted prata and he bought me three!

Then I had a mug of oat milk too. I don't know if it's the prata, the oat milk, or the combination of all the things that I tried over the past few days... or maybe just baby not latching well as she latches less outside and I've been latching on demand... suddenly I had an engorgement on one side and yesterday I had to go to two parties so I pumped upon reaching home and got this amount from one side, while latching on the other side.

While outside, baby was actually fussing a lot while latching and when she let go of the latch, the milk is squirting out everywhere. I guess that's why she's fussing, besides the fact that she's always distracted and difficult to latch under the nursing cover outside, unlike her sister.

This morning I felt slight engorgement too and after latching her I tried to empty out the rest. My breasts felt plump but I didn't manage to pump a lot. Still, it's better than nothing and I'm sending this yield into the freezer, to add to my batch of back up febm.

Relax, how to?

This morning, I ate one of the flaxseed cookies that I bought yesterday, and then I had one more just before I pumped. The yield didn't increase at all. Sigh... what else should i try? My supply hasn't dropped, but my girl's drinking more and more. And I'm starting to worry about not meeting her demand.

I love this poster in the cubicle that I'm using exclusively now in the nursing room.

Or maybe I should just relax and stop worrying?

Anyway I ate two more flaxseed cookies after pumping. Shall see if it'd affect the yield in the afternoon~ sigh, how to stop worrying?!

Added later: In the afternoon after work, I saw this promotion at NTUC Fairprice and quickly bought them! One free packet of oat cookies with purchase of two cartons of oat milk~ anything, just anything, that will give my supply a much needed boost!

I actually love the yummy oat milk very much!

However, my supply is actually going down instead... sadly. And I usually pump for ten minutes only... today I tried to pump longer. Maybe I should start pumping more often too.

Nooooo... why like that? :(

Need a boost

I had home-cooked green papaya and peanuts soup last night but the yield is kinda so-so... probably my girl has drank up all the milk in the middle of the night. She's been latching a lot in the night lately.

I'll definitely miss this awesome nursing room when I leave this school.

And especially will miss using a brand new fridge all by myself!

The other day I had prata for breakfast and I thought I managed to get more milk. Also, many mummy-friends are sharing about how having indian meals will help them get more milk as the spices used usually include fennel seeds and fenugreek.

So today I decided to have prata again, for lunch! I didn't really pump any excess though, but still, I should be happy that I could get slightly more than the usual meagre amount in the afternoons.

And I went shopping at Fairprice Finest and bought these~ A mummy-friend shared that the flaxseed cookies did wonders for her milk supply, so I gotta try it too!! ^^

Engorged on one side only

Yesterday I didn't manage to pump enough milk and today I'll be out the whole day. I panicked and I took 3 fenugreek pills and drank the milkmaid tea twice. Possibly because I wasn't quite well the night before and vomited twice... perhaps my body was just a little dehydrated and still recovering.

Then today...

(posted in a secret group that's for close mummy friends only)

And this morning suddenly one side got super engorged! Baby still wakes up several times to latch and I'll alternate sides (hopefully I remember the side correctly). However sometimes she latches longer while sometimes she latches for just a bit and then rolls away. Maybe she latched longer on the right and kept rolling away on the left. Or maybe I didn't remember the sides correctly in my sleep...

End mommy wars

It's really sad to see news on such tragedy - New mother falls to her death

The mother's mental health and overall well-being over breastfeeding please. Breastfeeding is very challenging to many, and it is okay to give baby formula milk if a mother can't give her baby enough breast milk. Don't be stressed over breastfeeding full time, especially in the beginning. I only established my milk supply after baby's full month... we supplemented with formula milk too. I feel that a good mother makes sure the baby's well fed and well taken care of. It doesn't matter if the baby's fed milk from mummy or some cows. I grew up on formula and I think my mum's the greatest mum ever. Not breastfeeding doesn't make anyone lesser of a good mother. Never stress anyone to give full breast milk... a new mum has a lot more to deal with than giving breast milk. It's too much to handle and too stressful for new mums. Post-natal depression is a real problem many new mums struggle with each day. Lend a listening ear and don't be a critic.

Saw this video being shared on Facebook and I feel it's very appropriate for all mommies. We may all grow up with different sets of values and different ideas of what the perfect mom should be like, but in the end we are all the same. We are mothers.

Watch this, and stop judging.

Click image for link to the webpage I got this YouTube clip from.

Quoting the webpage:

Wintsch's own research suggests mothers around the world feel burdened by unreasonable expectations. When she and her team interviewed 5,000 women in 17 countries, they were surprised at the emotion all of them had in common. It wasn't joy or love, though many reported feeling those. The universal experience was self-doubt.

Wintsch's theory is that the mommy wars won't end until mothers develop more confidence in their decision-making. 

"We're so mean to ourselves. We're so critical and question our every move," Wintsch says. "We are at war with ourselves, and we turn that war on other mothers."

All images are taken from the webpage that they are linked to.

DIY chai latte

My current fav combo - Earth Mama organic milkmaid tea and Lipton instant teh tarik.

I didn't fancy having the milkmaid tea on its own but this combo tastes like chai latte, and seems to be great for milk supply too. All my breastfeeding-mama-friends can try ^^v

Breastfeeding related

I'm such a photo-fanatic, I take photos even when packing up my chilled milk in the nursing room, before going home from work.

Came across these 2 breastfeeding-related links, so just to share! :D

6 Ways to Increase and Maintain Your Milk Supply

11 Tips to Help You Lose Weight while Breastfeeding

Milk supply 101

Being a 'veteran' breastfeeding mum (and it's only my second time now, probably my last... but breastfeeding is the kind of experience where one time is enough to turn you into a self-proclaimed guru XD), I never doubted my milk supply this time (I had lots of doubts the last time), although I usually only get 50ml to 120ml per side per pump... a great variation and very little compared to some of my friends who can get like, 200ml? Unlike them, I do not have a huge stash of frozen milk in a separate standalone freezer, but I pump just enough each day for my baby to drink on the next day.

A mummy-friend just shared this on Facebook and I find it quite an insightful read for nursing mothers: Low Milk Supply 101

Mine don't leak. My girl can latch the whole day, and I let her. I'm not worried, and thankfully I'm not wrong to skip worrying about my supply. Anyway, from the article: "You don’t need to wash and sterilize a pump every time you use it. Pop it in a plastic bag and put it back into the fridge between pumping sessions. 10 minutes is ample."

That's exactly what I do at work. =) I pump twice a day, 10 minutes each time, with my Medela Freestyle dual-pump. And I pop the whole box of pump parts into the fridge between the pumping sessions. Call me lazy, but I'll do whatever I can to save my time and my sanity, without sacrificing on my baby's health. It is legit okay to just leave them in the fridge. If your milk can stand in the fridge for a day and not turn bad, why not a pump stained with nothing more than your milk?

This was yesterday afternoon, pumping after work. My drink and my baby's drink.

And that's the box I use to carry my pump parts around and to keep them in the fridge.

Added later in the same day: Found this interesting comparison of human, cow and goat milk on the internet - Human Milk vs Animal Milk

Breastfeeding and calories

Chanced upon something very interesting. Especially if you're breastfeeding, a maths geek, or calorie-sensitive.

http://www.phdinparenting.com/blog/2008/11/25/the-calories-and-breastfeeding-rollercoaster.html

Nursing room at work

I am very fortunate this time round that my work place now has a very nice nursing room which provides a very comfortable environment for me to express my milk for my baby.

Let's have a virtual tour of my new favourite place at work!

You won't believe it but the door's facing the carpark, it's right behind the canteen.

It's hot on the outside...

...but the inside is really well equipped.

There are 4 cubicles, all with armchair and rack on wheels.

And of course, fridge is a requirement, and lots of motivational messages!

In fact, a new big fridge was brought in for the nursing mamas!

This is the cubicle that I use exclusively now. In fact I'm the only nursing mom here now, I always leave my bag of nursing stuff on the armchair before heading up to the staffroom. The room is always locked.

There's a place to hang my clothes and I brought a hanger too. Sometimes I wear dresses and end up pumping in my shoes and underwear.

Great environment gives great yield I guess. (^__^)

One of the other cubicles.

Washing area right next to the door.

This was actually taken after my very first pump in this nursing room. I'm so thankful! I wished I get to pump in such conducive environment the last time, but I shouldn't ask for much... I should be glad no one ever told me to pump in the staff toilet.

Yes, very thankful indeed, for the wonderful nursing room at work. Now I can always keep calm and pump on!

Forever hungry

Recently I've been eating and eating and eating... I'm soooo craving for food ALL the time! Well, not always hungry but always wanting to eat. It's like I'm never satisfied with food the food I eat, and kept wanting more even after I've eaten... it's worse than when I was pregnant!

It's been for a while, but let's start from last Saturday.

Mooncakes at our friends' place. So many different types! I just ate and ate.

Had a little indulgence too since the host offered. This was all that I drank.

We stayed for dinner and our friends cooked dinner for us.

Sis-in-law returned from Malaysia with these Hello Kitty mooncakes for me!

Sunday after beehoon for lunch, hubby and bubs were napping and I was hungry... I ate one whole avocado, pan-fried. (>__<)

Sunday dinner at my parents' place.

And of course lots of mooncakes for supper on the night of mid-autumn festival. *sugar overload*

Monday was atrocious... first I had overnight oats for breakfast at 7am. Then I had laksa at 11am, and then rice at 1pm. I guess the canteen stalls love me.

In the lovely nursing room at work. I shall write a post on it soon!

At 3:45pm, cake in the nursing room after pumping.

Was out running errands and ended up having double portion of fried radish cakes at 4:45pm. As I was eating, I was thinking "oh boy, I sure can eat!!"

Dinner was at 7pm... luckily it was healthy, but the portion was still humongous.

Yesterday afternoon at staff meeting... the beehoon was urrrgh, but I had like 5 slices of that rich and good chocolate swiss roll. I ate and ate and ate... it was soooooooooooooo gooooooooood!!

Home sweet home. Dinner yummy dinner.

Today I had beehoon for breakfast at 6:50am, laksa at 10am, pumped at 10:30am, half granola bar at 11am, rice at 12:30pm, and another half granola bar at 3pm.

I couldn't bear to cut the mooncake... sweetie Hello Kitty, I don't want to cut you!

So I ended up gobbling up another granola bar at 4ish, with a mug of Lipton teh tarik.

So, I did a search on food intake for breastfeeding moms and I found this...

"An exclusively breastfeeding mother, on average, needs to take in 300-500 calories per day above what was needed to maintain pre-pregnancy weight. Since the recommended added calories during the last two trimesters of pregnancy is 300 calories/day, an exclusively breastfeeding mother will typically need either the same amount of calories she was getting at the end of pregnancy, or up to 200 additional calories per day. That’s the equivalent of adding 1-2 healthy snacks per day."

Source - http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-calories-fluids

Errmmm, one to two healthy snacks per day?! OMG, I'm definitely overdoing it!!