This blog entry is dedicated to all mothers out there. *Waves hello!
How has becoming a mother changed your life? There are tough times I’m sure but there are more happy things to talk about right? It’s not easy but it’s not very tough either! Also, there’s no right or wrong ways on how to take care a baby. To certain extend yes there are some steps you can follow. I personally feel you should trust your newly adopted mother-instinct! Because mothers always know best haha!
If you have children already, this might remind you when you had your first child and for new mommies out there, congratulations! Welcome to motherhood! Today let’s talk about my pregnancy and breastfeeding journey.
Baby Jacob in 2013.
When I was pregnant with Jacob, everything about motherhood was like alien to me. I grew up with older and younger siblings in my family so I thought I knew everything about taking care a baby. Little did I know… When you have your own baby, things are very different. I was very excited of course! Shopping for baby stuff was my favorite thing to do. I couldn’t resist all the cute shoes, onesies and etc.
Fast-forward to after giving birth, I had a tough time with breastfeeding. Plus I was a new mom, I never knew about being consistent with latching and many other things. And I didn’t have much milk supply to begin with. I vividly remember the first few latches, nothing much was produced and I was so sad 🙁 They said breastmilk is the best for babies but I had almost nothing! Drinking soups, chinese traditinoal methods… You name it, I’ve done it. I was left with no choice but to start formula early.
Very very little. I’ve also tried to be more consistent with the latching and pumping, nothing. I was devastated. Discouraged. I was very pressured by advises given by many that breastmilk is the best… must only drink breastmilk… this and that. How to not be sad?
But this happy pill of mine, Jacob, seems to have to ability to make everything easier.
He is such a kind kid. Not picky about things at all. His motto – happy go lucky. So I somehow got over the whole difficult breastfeed times.
In April 2016, Sophie was born! If you think I should be able to handle all newborn stuff already then you might be wrong. When it was close to labor I was feeling jittery because I felt clueless. But throughout my pregnancy with Sophie I did spend more time on reading, learning and gaining new tips especially about breastfeeding in hopes to be able to increase the supply this time.
My first few batches turned out to be more than my first pregnancy! The photo above is just an example. (I let Sophie latch as soon as she was born, more onto this later) I honestly cannot explain to you why but I was surprised too! Your first milk is the richest and more vitamins in it therefore it tends to be more yellowish in color. (I wasn’t sure if I was going into so detailed but I thought I should share it with you guys haha) It will provide your baby with all the nourishment she needs.
The earlier you start breastfeeding, the sooner you get comfortable with breastfeeding. Also finding out if your newborn is able to latch properly or not. Most importantly, keeping the milk supply strong!! I also kept a habit of letting Sophie latch, even if it’s not her feed. Take it as ‘pacifier latch’ because it will ‘activate’ more supply of milk. Apparently it’s a hormonal thingy that I don’t know how to explain. Latching and pumping might cause a slight difference in supply too! Some mommies experience this but I have heard some mommies saying it’s the same. Haha I think it’s very subjective!
Now comes to the unhappy part. Blockage. I had fever due to clogged milk ducts once. That is why I urge all mommies out there to be hardworking with breastfeeding timetable. Due to breastfeeding I didn’t want to have any medicine so it was quite suffering. What I did was to constantly massage my breast to relieve the swelling. It can be slightly uncomfortable or even painful. The key is to… latch. Pacifier latch time!
Slowly I was getting more supply! But there are some of the things I’ve personally tried and it worked for me.
Traditional Massage
It definitely helped me with clogged milk ducts. It can be tiring to massage on your own so you can seek for professional help!
Drink plenty of water
Not sure when we shouldn’t drink plenty of water. Haha. But make sure you drink more water! It helps keep your body hydrated and restore whatever lost when you gave birth. Especially the glow on your face!
Soups
There are so many recipes out there I’ve lost count. My family will prepare soups for me and most of the times I had chicken soup. It helps with milk supply I heard. (Not sure scientically proven or not haha)
Mama Tea
If you’re a fan of Jay Chou’s wife Hannah aka Kun Ling, you definitely know what I’m talking about.
This tea provides you the nutrients needed to gain more milk supply. It contains black sugar, red dates, longan, ginger and few more ingredients that I’m not very sure what its called in English (haha sorry!) Most importantly, it contains only natural ingredients, no preservatives and made concentrated!
There are two ways to can consume the drink. It comes in sachet form and recommended to drink 2 times daily, 1 sachet each time. New mommy can start drinking 1 – 2 weeks after natural delivery; 2 – 4 weeks for mommies who did C-Section.
The easiest way is to pour out the drink from the sachet, add in 100c.c hot water. Give it a good stir and drink!
Or you can put the sachet into hot water to heat it up and drink after. I put it in right after the water starts boiling, with the heat off of course. I prefer hot drinks rather than warm (maybe that’s why). And I highly recommend this way!
Taste wise, it wasn’t like any other traditional drinks. It was sweet like drinking Chinese red dates soup. I liked it! Best to drink it 30 minutes before breastfeeding. You’ll see a difference in your supply!
Tea anyone?
There’s also this Black Bean tea you can try if you feel you have sore lowerback. Or you’re seeking for some restorative drinks afterbirth.
It contains black beans, licorice, eucommia (杜仲) and few other ingredients that your body need. Eucommia is the main ingredient that helps soothe a sore lower back. While black beans provide most of the protein, helps in increasing milk supply and get rid of water retention.
You can drink it like the 2 methods I’ve shown above. But according to the pack, you’re supposed to lie down and rest for 30minutes after consuming to rest your body especially lowerback. Not only it is safe for mommies, working adults or people who have backache problems can consume too!
For me it did help a little especially when I lie down to rest, I feel relaxed and slowly I gained some strength on lowerback. (Mummies, make sure you’re always at your most comfortable position when breastfeeding and taking care of baby! Do not carry heavy stuff for a short period after giving birth too!)
However, this is slightly bitter to my taste but bearable. Maybe I compared it to the MamaTea which is sweet and I liked it. Haha. I let Vincent try it, he seems okay with it too!
If you’re interested you can get it here!
Website: http://www.careermon.com.tw/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/yuantsuei
So now you’ve read my breastfeeding journey. As I mentioned above, there is not right or wrong way doing it, do what you believe in and just keep yourself relax and enjoy the journey. There’s no point having a stressful motherhood because it should be your most amazing experience in life! (To me especially)
Now, it’s all worth it isn’t it? 🙂
