As per Kathy’s and Litzie’s requests, Im writing more about my breastfeeding experience. Honestly, I’m a bit uncomfortable talking about something that I have failed to do. I’m exclusively pumping since Martha turned 7 months, and she is now only 90% breastfed (she takes one bottle of formula at night). But I guess, I can take pride in persevering to feed her my milk even if I’m working full time and pumping is such a pain in the a** now, LOL. Martha doesn’t want to take any formula milk when she is awake, so I’m forced to.

Piece of advice though: Subscribe to N@W (Newlyweds At Work). Then search their archives, there is a GEM to be found from all the e-mails of breastfeeding mommies there, from the mundane to the complex. They are also such a BIG supportive community.

Read up here: www.kellymom.com. And you are all set. Everything is there – from defining having low supply, to latching, to storage of milk, to nursing strikes and teething – EVERYTHING about breastfeeding.

What I do: Drink drink water (at least 2-3L, yep, that many!). Before I get my period (it came back), my supply really really dips low, so I gobble Natalac (malunggay tabs) 3x a day, and drink drink drink. Sometimes it helps for me to take a 10 minute shut eye before pumping. It helps me relax. I power pump during my low supply days (it comes often, so you better be vigilant, esp. if you are working – stress from work can do that!), 10 mins pump – rest – 10 mins pump. I do it three times a day aside from the regular pumping schedule.

And I don’t stress to much about giving my Martha a bottle of formula a night. At times, my supply catches up and Im able to supply her everything but when it doesnt I give her. Right now, a 900g can can last us 5 weeks, not bad na din. Of course, I still do not slack. I still pump.
Lastly, I need to be honest and say breastfeeding is hard. Ads may claim it is the most natural thing to do, but it isn’t. It takes a lot of learning, discipline, persevering, and rock hard determination. It just is so easy to succumb and give the bottle when your boobs are rock hard and hurt like crazy and your nipples are bleeding. And you might just say, “Oh, Ill take a rest for one day only.” But the implications of it snowball – you end up having nipple confusion, low supply, breast neglect, crying baby, fussy baby – hala, wala na – breastfeeding gone to waste. You need to adjust to a lot of things, sacrifice time alone since the baby will be glued to you all the time.

But everything will be worth it. The sense of accomplishment that your baby is depending on YOU alone to feed her, the pride you will feel when you see your child filling up nicely because of breastmilk alone, the easy way to bond with your babe, the love, the health benefits, everything, will be worth it.
One thing I regret most is that Martha doesnt want to feed directly from me. She sees me pumping and gets all excited and all, but she grabs the pump! LOL. Even up to now, I try to feed her from me, but she just licks (like a pup! HAHAHA!) and turns her head away or look at me weirdly, like, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING MOM, shoving your booby to my face?!” Hahahaha. Good thing though that I was able to exclusively breastfeed her for 6 months – according to books I’ve read, she now has a generous supply of my antibodies to grant her immunity to sickies galore everywhere. You see, Im not a very hovering, overprotective Mom. I let her crawl over the kitchen, go over the table, rummage through my dresser. Thrice, I caught her chewing on a piece of paper, half of it already eaten. Hindi naman sya nagkakasakit, besides, some germs are good for a baby’s immune system .

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