Imtiaz's Breastmilk Factory

i love having the experience of being pregnant, then giving birth, then breastfeeding, nurturing and taking care of my own offsprings...these experiences differ from one child to another...and i learnt from the previous experiences to handle similar situations in the future...

being Imtiaz's Breastmilk Factory from his day 1 of life was not an easy experience....i had a painful experience to breastfeed him for the first 2-3 weeks...i had similar problems with Jihan as well...at that time i didn't quite sure how to make sure proper lactching to the breast...

with Imtiaz, i invested on buying a comfy, practical nursing pillow, My Brest Friend..it was expensive but i got a 15% discount at Robinson's during Year End Sale...it helped in proper latching, ease my back pain and holding Imtiaz comfortably...but the problem was, although Imtiaz did latch on properly, he had a strong and hard sucking action...that made my nipples sore and cracked!!

the first few days i still feel that the pain was bearable...it was like being stung when he first sucked then after a while when the sucking action regulated, the pain subsided....however, the pain on my right nipple was getting worst...i had to keep on pumping the right breast and not letting Imtiaz to nurse on that breast for a week so that the cracked and sore nipple will heal...i did try on Madela Purelan; it helped a bit, and i tried on Medela nipple shield but Imtiaz didn't like it....so, i left me with no choice...i kept on praying that it would heal fast so that i can nurse Imtiaz on both side of the breasts...

on the 3rd week, i had engorge and blocked duct of the right breast...it was an acute mastitis...i had to undergo a painful massage for over an hour to relieve the blocked duct and to ensure proper breastmilk flow...

i also had breastmilk abundance and i am very grateful with that, alhamdulillah...but what can i do with it..? it was just too much....i had to empty my breast both sides after feeding Imtiaz, if not it would become too engorge and painful....i didn't want to stock up frozen breastmilk too early, it would fill my entire freezer...so, my masseur told me to water the plants with the excess breastmilk and not to throw away the milk into the drain...insya Allah, the breastmilk supply will continue and the plants will grow taller....

and now, i've been Imtiaz's Breastmilk Factory for almost 2 months and i enjoy being one...i hope to continue nurse him until he is 2 years of age...i have started storing frozen breastmilk for him and continue making refrigerated stocks as well...he is currently 5.2kg (he was just 2.96kg at birth) and people always said he is big for a 2 month old...