Assalamualaikum and Hello!
I saw an article by PaMa on "Makanan untuk Rahim Sihat" then immediately reminded me of my confinement experience. I am currently pregnant with my second baby so I figure this is a good time to jot everything down as well for my reference when my baby pops out hehe :P
In terms of confinement food, I would say I had no problem with them since my mom a bit on the modern side so basically I was on healthy and balance diet :D Nasi putih, sup sawi, sup bayam, ikan tenggiri masak something like kuah laksam like that (my fav!!), once in a week I can have sup ayam or daging masak black pepper but not so much black pepper since I was breastfeeding my baby. So the point is, it was not all the way ikan bilis or ikan kering like some people practice. And....definitely lots and lotsssss of water!! Plain water and horlicks for me. Butttt the part I am not going to look forward to my next confinement is having to drink 3 things, 1 teguk of halia, 1 teguk of kunyit hidup and 1 teguk of manjakani! Luckily my mom tak sampai hati looking at my expression, she did not prepare it everyday. I think alternate days. Fuhh~
On the second week of my confinement, I started on my urut-urut. My urut lady was Kak Nurul from Puchong. I even booked her for my second :) Yeah that early because she's really in demand! She came at around 8am, prepare air mandi herba, and also my air herba for tangas and panaskn her batu tungku. 1st, tangas. Air herba panas put under a chair then you seat or if tak tahan panas you simply stand on the bekas air. You need to wear kain batik so the kain batik will keep the heat inside. I can't remember for how long but I think it was around 20minutes-40minutes? We need to have our breakfast 1st especially drink before doing this to make sure we won't get dehydrated because you will really sweat! After tangas, was urut and tungku. I like Kak Nurul because she is breastfeeding friendly. When my baby needed to nurse, she simply stopped and let me do my thing 1st. Oh and she knows how to urut to lancarkn susu badan. After urut, mandi herba. Mandi myself la with the air herba she prepared. Then after mandi, she will put my bengkung for me. My bengkung sangat panjang. My aunty jahit for me. Nasib baik Kak Nurul knows how to lilit the bengkung. Dah habis apa lagi bayar lah! RM100 per day. But now naik harga RM110 per day. She came for 7 days. Supposedly another 3 days at the end of my confinement but something came up so I did not get that 3 days treatment.
Ok what's next....hm the misery I went through during confinement. Demam, gigil2 rasa nak mati! Seriously I thought I was going to die! Orang tua kata bentan. On my 3rd week kot, I had mastitis actually. Breast bengkak or bengkak susu. My breast was so hard, red and itchy! I had fever and the fever keep coming back after 3 to 4 hours after taking panadol. Fever jenis shivering and cannot control. My husband or my mom had to bring my daughter to me to nurse. Lemah sangat to even duduk. Tulang pun rs sakit2. I went to my gynae Dr Suhaiza and she prescribed me with antibiotic to avoid pus. And I need to massage my breast and really clear the blocked ducts in my breast. It was painful. Rela beranak lagi dr lalu sakit ni lg sekali. But dugaan, I went through it at the end of my confinement and another 2 times during my breastfeeding journey. Seriously nk hapus dosa ni T_T Insyaallah for my next baby, I know what to do to avoid going through this nightmare again. *Pray*
Ok I think that's it kot on pantang. What elseeee hmmm..Whatever it is biasa la during confinement period mmg struggle especially for 1st time mom. Dgn breastfeeding nye, baby pun still trying to get used of this world, baby still xtau pagi or malam so malam ada yang tak dapat tidur, ada yg dugaan baby kena jaundice sampai masuk hospital balik (Alhamdulillah my daughter tak kena. Ada nampak sikit la dekat mata but then hilang) and not forgetting the pressure from other people. I know I know paling tak best "Baby nangis-nangis ni x cukup susu ni. Susu ko sikit". Heh kalao baby tak nangis, baby tu nak cakap "Ibu I need your huggggg!" ke?? Ok read my post on breastfeeding k. It's important to stay with someone that's on the same page with you during confinement. Macam my mom she breastfed all her children so I got a good support from her. Thank you Mama :') If you think your mom or the person who is going to take care of you not in the same page bawak dia pergi class. Breastfeeding class and antenatal class. Bgtau awal-awal what you want for your baby. Full breastfeed ke or no bottle ke or no pacifier ke or no buai ke..Apa-apa la because in the end you are the mother, you decide what you want for your baby.
So..how was your confinement?? :)
That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breastfeeding. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Lipase Problem in Breast Milk
Assalamualaikum and Hello!
When my baby turned around 3 month old, she started to reject my frozen breast milk. She was OK with chilled fresh breast milk but not the ones that have been frozen. I tried everything and she accepted some and some she rejected. I ended up giving her what I pumped the day earlier (kais hari ni utk mkn esok :P ). Even when I had to leave her for 2 days, it was not a problem since chilled breast milk can still be used. I started to have headache when I had to leave her for 1 week. Then only I started to read on possibility of why this is happening.
For my case, I believe it is lipase problem. After I thawed my breast milk, I noticed it has some kind of smell. Like sour metallic smell. Lipase is an enzyme that aids in the digestion of fats. When your breast milk contains high content / excess of lipase, it begins to break down the fat in stored breast milk. The fat contributes to the smell and taste which some babies may not like. Some babies are not so choosy and won't mind.
But as what I understood from my research, lipase is actually something beneficial as it helps infant to digest the fat. This allows a good digestion system (I agree as my baby don't really have digestion problem!). The problem is just for us moms who need to express and store our breast milk.
There is a method breastfeeding mommies have suggested to overcome this problem. SCALDING. Scalding is to bring your expressed breast milk to heat just up to it gets bubble a bit around the pan then quickly turn your stove off and let it cool before you freeze it.
For those who already have frozen breast milk that did not go through scalding because you just found out of the problem, you may want to try mixing the frozen breast milk with fresh expressed breast milk / chilled breast milk. Try 10% frozen + 90% chilled/fresh at 1st and try to increase the amount of frozen breast milk on every attempt. See on which percentage can your baby accept. And this can be your way forward. At least you can still use your frozen breast milk. If this still cannot work, you can always give your baby milk bath spa!
I hope this info can be beneficial for those mommies in the same situation like I was. I hope to overcome this as well for my next baby. Hopefully my next baby won't be so choosy like my 1st :P
That 'I & 'Me',
Hayfa
When my baby turned around 3 month old, she started to reject my frozen breast milk. She was OK with chilled fresh breast milk but not the ones that have been frozen. I tried everything and she accepted some and some she rejected. I ended up giving her what I pumped the day earlier (kais hari ni utk mkn esok :P ). Even when I had to leave her for 2 days, it was not a problem since chilled breast milk can still be used. I started to have headache when I had to leave her for 1 week. Then only I started to read on possibility of why this is happening.
For my case, I believe it is lipase problem. After I thawed my breast milk, I noticed it has some kind of smell. Like sour metallic smell. Lipase is an enzyme that aids in the digestion of fats. When your breast milk contains high content / excess of lipase, it begins to break down the fat in stored breast milk. The fat contributes to the smell and taste which some babies may not like. Some babies are not so choosy and won't mind.
But as what I understood from my research, lipase is actually something beneficial as it helps infant to digest the fat. This allows a good digestion system (I agree as my baby don't really have digestion problem!). The problem is just for us moms who need to express and store our breast milk.
There is a method breastfeeding mommies have suggested to overcome this problem. SCALDING. Scalding is to bring your expressed breast milk to heat just up to it gets bubble a bit around the pan then quickly turn your stove off and let it cool before you freeze it.
For those who already have frozen breast milk that did not go through scalding because you just found out of the problem, you may want to try mixing the frozen breast milk with fresh expressed breast milk / chilled breast milk. Try 10% frozen + 90% chilled/fresh at 1st and try to increase the amount of frozen breast milk on every attempt. See on which percentage can your baby accept. And this can be your way forward. At least you can still use your frozen breast milk. If this still cannot work, you can always give your baby milk bath spa!
I hope this info can be beneficial for those mommies in the same situation like I was. I hope to overcome this as well for my next baby. Hopefully my next baby won't be so choosy like my 1st :P
That 'I & 'Me',
Hayfa
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Breastfeeding Random Points
Assalamualaikum and Hello!
Breastfeeding is a topic that can have so many questions!especially to new moms. I believe even if you succeeded to breastfeed your child, you may not know 100% about breastfeeding (I am still breastfeeding my 1 year old daughter but I still have a lot to learn!Even my mom who breastfed her 5 children still learning!). If you have a smooth breastfeeding journey, then you may not know the challenges others faced and how to overcome it. That is why you can see famous breastfeeding consultants like Gina (founder of The Breastfeeding Advocates Network FB group) & Suraya (Founder of Lunatots) have had so many challenges in their personal breastfeeding journeys.
What I would like to share in this post are random points on breastfeeding according to what I can think of right now. Hopefully I can edit this post as I learn.
1. Choose a breastfeeding friendly hospital! Make sure the hospital has a policy like they can only give your baby other than breast milk with your signed consent! If no agreement, they should not give your baby anything! Hospital that allows baby to room in with you is the best. Only when you are tired, you can ask them to bring to their nursery.
2. No matter normal delivery or c-section, you would want to hold your baby to your skin and nurse as soon as possible after birth. This can allow your baby to have immediate reflex to suck. I have visited 3 babies who was born through c-section and only brought to their mother after few hours to nurse. It is very hard to teach the babies to suck! Tell your doctor your wish to breastfeed during your last weeks of pregnancy.
3. Do not worry if you cannot see any milk coming out from your breast after delivery because of these points:
a. babies can actually live without any milk for the first 2 to 3 days after they were born. They have storage from what they consume in the womb. Butttt yes, your baby can get jaundice because of this. Just keep direct latch (DL) breastfeed.
b. the first few days are actually colostrum which is drops of yellow thick liquid. Since it is only drops, you may not be able too see it since your baby has sucked it in!hehehe.
c. babies stomach on delivery is just as big as a cherry. They only need little by little to push that storage they had from the womb by pee and poopoo (black color).
4. You may have breast milk and your baby pee and poopoo alright but still has jaundice. Do not stop to breastfeed!! The problem is not your milk! Stop or reduce the herbs (ginger etc) or any alcohol (for non-muslim) you are taking during confinement. Some babies do have prolong jaundice. Just keep breastfeeding. Remember: "susu ibu adalah yang terbaik!" even the formula milk companies have to stress this!
5. Newborn babies like to sleep for long hours especially on their 2nd and 3rd day. Wake them up every 2-3 hours and nurse/feed them. You must do this if you do not want to go back to the hospital for their jaundice! I know you need the rest too but trust me, if you need to go to the hospital, it will be less rest! Try your best to wake your baby up. Tickle them, put cold hands on them, loosen up their clothes/blanket etc.
6. Andddd after the long hours of sleeping period endssss, then come the period of wants to suck only. It is normal! You breastfeed for 40minutes, baby let go, you try putting your baby in the cot or on the mattress, baby cries, baby wants to suck some more. Yup normal! They are not used of our world. They want to be hugged all the time, suck for comfort all the time. Patience is the key, it will get easier ;)
7. Your breast feel hard and feel there is a lump? You feel pain? You see redness on your breast? This is breast engorgement or worse it can become mastitis. If your breast start to feel hard, massage with hot water bag and continue to DL baby. After finish DL, massage to empty your breast. If too painful to do on your own, call your husband, ask him to massage like trying to make the milk comes out. If still doesn't work, and you keep getting fever on and off, go to see doctor! You may need to take antibiotics to avoid pus (nanah) in your gland. But this antibiotic won't help to decrease the lump, you need to continue DL and massage. I don't dare to give advice by putting cabbage because there are cases where their milk supply decreases after putting cabbage.
8. If your nipple cracked or feel so painful, you may apply your breast milk to the nipple everytime after DL. You may also apply nipple cream. There is also like a gel breast pad you can try to ease the pain. But do not stop to breastfeed on that particular breast. Your baby's saliva and his action of sucking is the best way to sooth your breast. Your breast needs time to adjust and to be soft for baby to suck. Be strong ya ;)
9. You can still breastfeed even if you have fever or not feeling well. Wear a mask, wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading the germs. It is even better to breastfeed because the antibodies your body is producing/activating to fight your illness will be shared with your baby. Your baby will have antibodies of these illness although they have not experience them. My daughter had her first fever when she was 9 month old and second one on her 1st birthday. Alhamdulillah.
10. When to start pumping? This depends on your need. If you are stay at home mom, I don't see any reason to rush into pumping. Unless you have breast engorgement and would like to pump the milk out. If you intend to store some frozen breast milk (FBM) for future use when you get back to work, you may start as early as 2 weeks after birth. But I think the best is to let your baby create the natural supply and demand in the first month (DL only). This is also good so that you don't feel tired in DL and pumping as well. After 1 month when you get your energy back, then you may start pumping.
11. How to start pumping? This is based on my experience. Few ways. If your baby has sessions where she/he will sleep more than 2 hours, you may take that opportunity to pump, for start. If your baby consistently DL every hour or every 2 hours even at night, you may want to pump after she/he DL. Do not worry if there is no milk coming out after DL, just pump, you will see the result after 1 week. Another way is to choose 1 session in a day to do power pumping. See next point.
12. Power pumping??Power pumping is choosing 1 session in a day (the best is early morning) and pump for 3 cycles. Pump for 10 minutes, rest for 5 or 10 minutes (while resting, drink, eat), pump again for 10 minutes, rest for 5 or 10 minutes (while resting, drink, eat), pump again for 10 minutes. Even if you pump and there is no milk coming out, just pump. Insyaallah you will see the result in 1-2 weeks. This is actually creating extra demand so that your body will produce extra supply.
Erm I can actually continue on pumping, storing breast milk etc. but I think it is best to separate that in different post or else this post will get so long! Let's just keep this purely on breastfeeding. Let me know if there are other points to add in! I am hoping to use this as my guideline for my next baby as well (insyaAllah).
Till next update!
That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa
Breastfeeding is a topic that can have so many questions!especially to new moms. I believe even if you succeeded to breastfeed your child, you may not know 100% about breastfeeding (I am still breastfeeding my 1 year old daughter but I still have a lot to learn!Even my mom who breastfed her 5 children still learning!). If you have a smooth breastfeeding journey, then you may not know the challenges others faced and how to overcome it. That is why you can see famous breastfeeding consultants like Gina (founder of The Breastfeeding Advocates Network FB group) & Suraya (Founder of Lunatots) have had so many challenges in their personal breastfeeding journeys.
What I would like to share in this post are random points on breastfeeding according to what I can think of right now. Hopefully I can edit this post as I learn.
1. Choose a breastfeeding friendly hospital! Make sure the hospital has a policy like they can only give your baby other than breast milk with your signed consent! If no agreement, they should not give your baby anything! Hospital that allows baby to room in with you is the best. Only when you are tired, you can ask them to bring to their nursery.
2. No matter normal delivery or c-section, you would want to hold your baby to your skin and nurse as soon as possible after birth. This can allow your baby to have immediate reflex to suck. I have visited 3 babies who was born through c-section and only brought to their mother after few hours to nurse. It is very hard to teach the babies to suck! Tell your doctor your wish to breastfeed during your last weeks of pregnancy.
3. Do not worry if you cannot see any milk coming out from your breast after delivery because of these points:
a. babies can actually live without any milk for the first 2 to 3 days after they were born. They have storage from what they consume in the womb. Butttt yes, your baby can get jaundice because of this. Just keep direct latch (DL) breastfeed.
b. the first few days are actually colostrum which is drops of yellow thick liquid. Since it is only drops, you may not be able too see it since your baby has sucked it in!hehehe.
c. babies stomach on delivery is just as big as a cherry. They only need little by little to push that storage they had from the womb by pee and poopoo (black color).
4. You may have breast milk and your baby pee and poopoo alright but still has jaundice. Do not stop to breastfeed!! The problem is not your milk! Stop or reduce the herbs (ginger etc) or any alcohol (for non-muslim) you are taking during confinement. Some babies do have prolong jaundice. Just keep breastfeeding. Remember: "susu ibu adalah yang terbaik!" even the formula milk companies have to stress this!
5. Newborn babies like to sleep for long hours especially on their 2nd and 3rd day. Wake them up every 2-3 hours and nurse/feed them. You must do this if you do not want to go back to the hospital for their jaundice! I know you need the rest too but trust me, if you need to go to the hospital, it will be less rest! Try your best to wake your baby up. Tickle them, put cold hands on them, loosen up their clothes/blanket etc.
6. Andddd after the long hours of sleeping period endssss, then come the period of wants to suck only. It is normal! You breastfeed for 40minutes, baby let go, you try putting your baby in the cot or on the mattress, baby cries, baby wants to suck some more. Yup normal! They are not used of our world. They want to be hugged all the time, suck for comfort all the time. Patience is the key, it will get easier ;)
7. Your breast feel hard and feel there is a lump? You feel pain? You see redness on your breast? This is breast engorgement or worse it can become mastitis. If your breast start to feel hard, massage with hot water bag and continue to DL baby. After finish DL, massage to empty your breast. If too painful to do on your own, call your husband, ask him to massage like trying to make the milk comes out. If still doesn't work, and you keep getting fever on and off, go to see doctor! You may need to take antibiotics to avoid pus (nanah) in your gland. But this antibiotic won't help to decrease the lump, you need to continue DL and massage. I don't dare to give advice by putting cabbage because there are cases where their milk supply decreases after putting cabbage.
8. If your nipple cracked or feel so painful, you may apply your breast milk to the nipple everytime after DL. You may also apply nipple cream. There is also like a gel breast pad you can try to ease the pain. But do not stop to breastfeed on that particular breast. Your baby's saliva and his action of sucking is the best way to sooth your breast. Your breast needs time to adjust and to be soft for baby to suck. Be strong ya ;)
9. You can still breastfeed even if you have fever or not feeling well. Wear a mask, wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading the germs. It is even better to breastfeed because the antibodies your body is producing/activating to fight your illness will be shared with your baby. Your baby will have antibodies of these illness although they have not experience them. My daughter had her first fever when she was 9 month old and second one on her 1st birthday. Alhamdulillah.
10. When to start pumping? This depends on your need. If you are stay at home mom, I don't see any reason to rush into pumping. Unless you have breast engorgement and would like to pump the milk out. If you intend to store some frozen breast milk (FBM) for future use when you get back to work, you may start as early as 2 weeks after birth. But I think the best is to let your baby create the natural supply and demand in the first month (DL only). This is also good so that you don't feel tired in DL and pumping as well. After 1 month when you get your energy back, then you may start pumping.
11. How to start pumping? This is based on my experience. Few ways. If your baby has sessions where she/he will sleep more than 2 hours, you may take that opportunity to pump, for start. If your baby consistently DL every hour or every 2 hours even at night, you may want to pump after she/he DL. Do not worry if there is no milk coming out after DL, just pump, you will see the result after 1 week. Another way is to choose 1 session in a day to do power pumping. See next point.
12. Power pumping??Power pumping is choosing 1 session in a day (the best is early morning) and pump for 3 cycles. Pump for 10 minutes, rest for 5 or 10 minutes (while resting, drink, eat), pump again for 10 minutes, rest for 5 or 10 minutes (while resting, drink, eat), pump again for 10 minutes. Even if you pump and there is no milk coming out, just pump. Insyaallah you will see the result in 1-2 weeks. This is actually creating extra demand so that your body will produce extra supply.
Erm I can actually continue on pumping, storing breast milk etc. but I think it is best to separate that in different post or else this post will get so long! Let's just keep this purely on breastfeeding. Let me know if there are other points to add in! I am hoping to use this as my guideline for my next baby as well (insyaAllah).
Till next update!
That 'I' & 'Me',
Hayfa
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