Pumping Is An Uphill Climb

"Aisyah habiskan 5 oz sekali minum. Hari ni dia minum dua botol!" said Ayah, as he beamed proudly at me as I picked up Aisyah and planting a big kiss on her forehead, as I always do the minute I got back from Uni. And Ayah was reporting me the developments that I have missed during the day.

This piece of news I received warmly. It had been a struggle to get Aisyah interested in drinking the amount of EBM that she was supposed to the last few months. Mainly because she flat-out refused Hubs' attempts at shoving the bottle down her throat. Or maybe she was lashing out at me for leaving her so long during the day. Or maybe she was too busy figuring out how to crawl. Or maybe she's adjusted to the routine of not seeing me during the day and is now okay with it. Or perhaps the fact that she can now hold the bottle by herself made her drink her EBM more willingly. Or she's just going thro a growth spurt now and needs more milk. Whatever it is, it's a good piece of news and hopefully it will show on her weigh-in session next week. I'm getting pretty tired of hearing the 'she's-a-little-small-for-her-age' talk from the health visitors.

Anyway, this means that I need to get more milk pumped during the day. Not something I look forward to, seeing that I am already low :( I never really thought that it could happened to me though, my supply was good and always over the top. I could stock the fridge from end to end. But that was five months ago, maybe. How can getting 4 oz per br3ast gets miserably down to 4 oz per pumping session? *SIGH*

I have a new found appreaciation for mothers who pump at work during the day after their baby is 6 months, and an even higher admiration for those who can continue to do so until the baby is two years old. Never mind that it takes much time, it is pretty much testing a mother's last straw. But still, it's okay, as long there's enough to go around.

I also noticed that the more I eat, the more I can get pumped. Now I understand why cows graze all the time *Duh* Anyway, I have unintentionally (but very, very gladly) lost some unwanted weights, I thank the walks and exercizes and tight daily routines I have to face each day and pushing almost 20 kilos of weight uphill (stroller + Aisyah + groceries) on our weekly grocery shopping. So having shed a few kilos, I feel a bit reluctant to start grazing again, although I know I'm allowed 500 calories more from my daily intake than an average non-breastfeeding women. Ah, dilema, dilema... what to do... what to do...

Also the fact that I still 'hutang posa tahun lps' means that I have to qadha' my fast mid-summer. Where the fast starts from 2.30 am till almost 9 pm. You bet your ass I'm also gonna lose weight from that. So how to increase milk supply woh?

Some suggested air longan, but where in the UK can I get that? I tried parsnips (lobak putih), loads of it, that my taste bud no longer detects its rasa yg supposedly pahit maung, anymore, it just tastes normal now, but no effect, it seems. Horlick? Not seeing much improvement either. But Oats, yes. That seems to be helping. I can handle having oats for breakfast every morning. It's not like I can just stop on the way to Uni and beli nasi lemak tepi jalan anyway. Huhu... I miss Nasi Lemak Bungkus... yang buat sendiri x sama... huhu...

Anyway, still staying very ceria and positive thinking here. I know a lot of Moms are in the same boat, just writing my piece of mind so that you guys know that we are in this together. Be strong, ladies. We can do it! Insya Allah ada rezeki utk anak2 kita, cuma kena teruskan bersabar... Ayuh lah berjuang!