A day after delivering my boy, the lactation consultant came to my room to teach me how to express colostrum. With her help, I managed to express colostrum and she fed it to my boy with a syringe and learnt how to let my boy latch. On discharge day, the lactation consultant dropped by again to guide me on how to breastfeed again. This time round, she showed me the football position.
4 days post-partum, my milk supply kicked in with the help of motilium prescribed by my doctor. I first noticed it when I was wiping myself down. The first time I pumped, I managed to yield 15ml after pumping both sides for 15 minutes each. I was elated as it was yet another milestone and I could feed my boy with breastmilk! I remember a day before that, my boobs felt heavy and hard even though I had no milk.
4 days post-partum: 15 ml8 days post-partum: 30ml15 days post-partum: 50ml
I'm still in between 30-50ml yield after each pump session 26 days post-partum.
Initially, I latched my boy direct and it caused my nipples to crack and it hurt so much! Then, when the Medela nipple shields recommended by my lactation consultant which I ordered from Amazon arrived, I used it when I latch my boy and it was so much better.
Medela Nipple Shields
Tip: Apply nipple cream after each pump or latch session to avoid cracked nipples. I'm using Essential Nipple Cream.
Spectra S1+ & Hegen Manual Breast Pump
During the 1st 3 weeks, I find that the Hegen manual pump allows me to express more milk in a shorter span of time. Eg. If I were to pump for 30minutes, I would get 20ml from the Spectra S1+ and 30ml from Hegen manual pump. I remember the first time when we tried out the Spectra S1+, both the hub and I were figuring how to use it and we watched YouTube videos only to realised that it is not hands-free. After asking around, it turned out that you had to get a pumping bra (see video below) and voila, say hi to hands-free pumping!
Currently, if I were to pump 30mins using Spectra S1+ and 15mins using Hegen manual pump, I get 40ml-50ml each time. I will review the Spectra S1+ and Hegen manual pump separately in another post and share the pros and cons of each.
How to deal with blocked milk ducts
1) Hot compress
Wet towel with warm water before applying it over your breasts. Focus on areas that have hard lumps and slowly massage it out.
2) Comb massage
If the lumps are stubborn and hard to remove, use the back of a comb and push it towards your nipple. Focus on the area that has hard lumps.
3) Pump regularly
For me, if I were to pump every 2-3 hours then I will be safe from lumps. If I were to sleep in a bit longer say 5 hours and miss a pump session, then I will wake up with hard lumps.
One thing I realised is that you really need to relax yourself while breastfeeding or else your supply will be lower than usual. Usually, I will use my phone while pumping to divert my attention so I won't be fixated on watching the numbers on the bottle. Also, hydrating yourself with plenty of fluid is very important to increase milk supply. On days that I drank lesser water, I found that my supply dipped.
Now, excuse me while I go off for yet another breast pumping session. I will be sharing more tips on breastfeeding in Part 2 of my breastfeeding journey as well as my birth story so stay tuned!
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