how much i spent during my breastfeeding days...?

it's not meant to tell others that breastfeeding is expensive....breastfeeding is cheap, easily available with all the richness and goodness for yout little ones...but as a working mum, lots of preparations needs to be done before you go back to work just to ensure that your little ones have sufficient milk supply while you are out at work..

i decided and strongly adhered to my decision to fully breastfeed my child when i was in paediatrics posting during my medical student days...i got pregnant with my Jihan when i was still persuing my medical degree during my final year...so, lots of preparations were made at the courtesy of my parents...(thanx, mak n abah...)

i first bought a superb breastpump avent ISIS breastpump costs RM 219.90....the testimonials about it are very good....i started to produce real milk 2 days after delivery...during the first 2 days, my baby was just sucking out the colostrum...she was well, not hungry...(?) as she wasn't crying much....after 2 days, i started to pour out milk....avent ISIS breastpump came out very handy....after my baby breastfeed 1 side of my breast, i started pumping the other side...and i started to make expressed breastmilk(EBM) stocks....

then 2 weeks before starting work after my confinement, i decided that i need something more efficient to pump out more milk in a short time....i invested in something that is "expensive" a Medela Pump In Style Traveler costs RM 1680.00....it is really expensive for a breastpump, right..? but mind you, it's really worth it...it is using a double-pumping system where you pump both breasts at the same time....at fisrt i found it quite difficult to hold both pump at the same time...but with practice, at work, i managed to pump while eating and drinking and answering my pager/HP to the needs of my patients.....i took about 10 minutes for each session and i got about 7-10 oz of breastmilk per session....i usually pumped twice a day at work (during office hour) if i was oncall, then i wasn't able to directly breastfeed my baby at night, so i had to wake up at night to express my milk...(sometimes i didn't sleep at all when i was attending patients in labour ward)..i stored the milk in the ward fridge and all the staff nurses were aware that those cute bottles were my breastmilk....

at that time, i already gave away my avent ISIS to my cousin who had just delivered her baby with an intention to promote breastfeeding to her (she had never breastfed her children before)...unfortunately, she did not manage to breastfeed her newborn baby as well.....so, i bought another manual breastpump for my usage at home.... i bought a Medela Harmony manual breastpump costs RM 245.00....by then, i used to breastfeed my baby at one side and at the same time pump out milk from the other breast.....

besides breastpumps, i also bought good bottles and teats for my baby, so that ther wont' be any nipple confusion....i used avent sets of bottles and teats since she was a baby till now, and alhamdulillah, she did not have nipple confusion when she was small....

milk storage bottles are also important for you to keep your expressed breastmilk for your baby...i used avent storage systems, 2 sets of them (20 each)....but it is still not enough....my last resort, i used small containers that are used to sell dadih....very cheap and convenient...

at times i had low milk supply when i was stress due to oncalls, overwork and not enough sleep...i bought a tub of milkmaid tea to boost up my milk supply...it worked for me...at the same time i drink a lot of fruit juice or freshmilk and plain water everyday....at least 1L of freshmilk per day....

i also had a few nursing tops that helped me to breastfeed in public without people seeing my breast....it's a very creative invention for nursing mums....

those are my few precious stuffs during my breastfeeding days.....i still have them nicely kept for my future use...

it's a once in a lifetime investment for my children....i never regret spending my money on them...i only invest much for the first time and still can use the expensive breastpump many times more for my next children.....and i dont need to buy tins of formula milk when shopping to get my baby's stuff...only pampers....and i didn't have to pack a basket full of formula milk and bottles when travelling...just bring myself and my baby and she will never get hungry...it was wonderful experience for me and my grown baby, Jihan.....

P/S: a credit should be given to Rita http://www.momslittleones.com and Kamariah http://www.susuibu.com/product, for guiding me for a smooth journey of breastfeeding....