The Dairy Queen

Little Bambi is now three weeks old, and growing so very fast.

One of the most important things for me, which I have been prepping for the past 4-5 months before the birth of Little Bambi, was that I wanted to breastfeed my baby. Women in my side of the family somehow do not breastfeed, saying that they have hardly any milk. My mum did not breastfeed me either, choosing formula instead. Some friends warned me, saying that breastfeeding is extremely difficult and if it does not happen, I should not be so hard on myself. It works so easy for some, but not for others. Our last antenatal class was about breastfeeding, and they explained to us about what oxytocin (love hormone) and prolactin (stimulates breast milk) was. We were taught how to latch the baby on properly, how they need to have their mouths wide open... I never knew this. I always thought breastfeeding was as simple as put the baby on the breast and they start sucking.. VOILA! Haha I was wrong. 

Part of my preparations during the pregnancy was drinking boiled green papaya soup with fish (a recipe from my cousin in Hong Kong). It was quite gross, Grumpy used to boil this for me once a week. I would just force it down my throat. UGH! 

Anyway, fast forward to now, when Little Bambi was born, by day two in the hospital, my nipples were already very sore and bruised as she probably was not latching on correctly, and to make matters worst, Little Bambi was jaundiced on day three. Still at the hospital, Grumpy brought in my electric Medela Swing pump, and I tried to stimulate my boobs by using the pump. Only colostrum was coming out, but that was a good enough sign for me. Due to jaundice, we had to quickly put Little Bambi on formula, to ensure she has enough milk. I really am grateful that I had such amazing team of midwives caring for me at the hospital (two of them were men, and they were incredibly passionate people). They wanted to preserve all my efforts on breastfeeding, that they recommended that we feed Little Bambi formula using a little cup, instead of a bottle. Giving Little Bambi a bottle very early will only confuse her and she may refuse the breast completely after that. This is true - one of my friends has already experienced this. Despite that, feeding a newborn via a cup was quite stressful at the same time. 

When we got home from the hospital, we continued feeding Little Bambi with formula from a cup, I would occasionally let her latch on to my breast still, bearing the pain from my damaged nipples. I was given some Marcalan cream by the hospital for the nipples. Yet, I was determined that my milk will eventually come in. They say that milk comes in on day three. But in my case, not so lucky, I think it only came in on day six!

We had a midwife visit us at home each day, for three days in a row, and also a maternal child and health nurse. I was given a plan, which I had to write down the time of each feed, how long she would suck on each breast, if I had topped up her intake with EBM (express breast milk) or formula, and if she made a wet or a dirty nappy. Now on my third week, I am still noting them down. 

We also found a solution on day five to substitute the feeding with a cup. Grumpy found this Medela Calma teat in my Medela Swing pump box. This was a life saver!! We could now feed her with a bottle, but with this teat, Little Bambi still needs to work her jaw and suck, as if she was feeding from a breast.

At the moment, I can happily say my milk is in..! I am able to breastfeed my Little Bambi! Breastfeeding is still hard though, it requires a lot of patience, half the time she falls asleep while still latched on to my boob. It is very time consuming, and of course, there is only one person that can feed her, and that person is me! The 2-3am feeds, and the 6am feeds are not much fun at all (especially during winter)... Occasionally, if I am tired and sleepy, I will store some EBM in the fridge, and that way, Grumpy or my mum can help feed Little Bambi using the Medela Calma bottle. Having said that, little babies are very smart, Little Bambi will feed on the bottle, and after that, she will still scream for her mama, the Dairy Queen!