Friday, December 4, 2009

Boobs can be trained!

They really can be trained! LOL.

Since mid October, I have stopped pumping at work because :-

a) Haye Li is 1 year old already (she was approaching 1 then and I still had some supply left in the freezer which lasted for a few weeks after that)
b) My supply is decreasing big time
c) It takes too long to pump to get the quantity I want
d) I think I have achieved a whole lot pumping for a year! The fact that I lasted a year; something I thought I couldn’t pull through initially. So this is a huge achievement for me. *a big pat on my shoulders!*

I’m still breastfeeding the girl but only at nights, through the nights, mornings and weekends. I don’t know for how long more will I be doing this and I think I would let it just be, as long as the girl wants.

Back to the story…..the first two days of not pumping at work was kind of a discomfort for me. By 3-4pm, my boobs were really engorged. I had to just deal with the discomfort. The first day itself, when I was driving home that evening – I was getting desperate on how can I ease the discomfort. And all I could think of was Haye Li. So the second I entered the house, I asked for Haye Li and when I saw her, I went “Mummy is so happy to see you, you want nen-nen?” and she nodded her head yes. So I happily gave it to her but she only drank like halfway of one side and didn’t want anymore so I was still at a discomfort on the other side till it was her bedtime.

On the second day, same thing but it wasn’t as bad as the day before. By the third day, it was bearable and the rest of the week till now is a breeze. :D

But I have to admit, since then, my supply has decreased big time and I don’t get engorgements anymore. I also need to give Haye Li some formula in between weekends now when I feel that I do not have enough for her but she doesn’t drink much of formula when I’m around.

So this is the end of my pumping sessions – I am so happy! But there were 2 occasions I had to pump as I had a business dinner with a client and another time, Haye Li was really ill and didn’t drink much so I had to pump some milk out. But still, I am so happy that I don't have to pump anymore at work. :D
*I've got some more posts I want to update like my one and only time of expressing milk overseas and also the time I was so ill that I could not breastfeed as I was on strong medications. When I have the time...till then, stay tuned! :)