Yes, I have officially bid farewell to breastfeeding. My little girl had her last feed of breast milk mixed with formula milk when she is 11 months and 2 weeks.
Why did I stop pumping? It was after a series of sickness - flu (due to the flu jab), then a big dose of headache and body aches (due to lack of rest) and then a ulcer that appeared suddenly. The ulcer was what made me dropped even the very last pump I had for the day. 3 days after the ulcer appeared, it became bigger and super painful when I ate, desperate I used the cream in the fridge. The cream had steroids so I decided to just not pump. Since the cream was applied in my mouth, I would have ingested some. Won't want to risk passing some of that to the little one.
So what made me give up on breastfeeding? The major reason is that I was mentally beaten. My little girl rejected EBM for 5 days in a row. I actually threw away 200ml of my EBM during those days. Yes, you could say I was heartbroken. I felt unappreciated and that my effort was all in vain. The little action of using the steroid cream for my ulcer just made way for me to stop breastfeeding. It was a bitter-sweet decision.
However, having breastfed for so long, I did see a lot of advantages. It was not only monetary (I saved a lot on formula milk after seeing how fast my little girl depletes the milk powder now). I did see benefits in terms of her health. It's something that I am proud of and never regretted doing for the last 11 and 1/2 months.
Goodbye to all the breastfeeding acessories (like breast pump, nursing bras, breast milk storage bottles and bags) for now! Till my next child will we meet again (hopefully next round I can feed direct instead...)! Live goes on... And I am looking foward to wearing those strapless underwired bras! *Yippie!*
4 comments:
yes, a year is more than good enough :p CONGRATS! Especially for working mums like yourself, it's awesome aldy that u made it this far.
I'm the first to admit that had I been working, I don't think I would've made it that long pumping etc. My kdis just plain lucky I'm a housewife can latch direct. lol.
Hi Sam,
Thanks. Pumping is hard work. If I ever have another, I will blardy hell make sure the baby latches man. I dun wan to be friends with the pump for 1 full year again.
I keep telling my hb I stop shy of 2 weeks (to her birthday)... Then my hb said enuf lar, she's 48 weeks already (12 mths *4 weeks). LOL. ^-^
Snowger,
So happy for u as u hv accomplished ur 1 yr bf plan. It was definitely not an easy task to have whole year of exclusive breastfeeding and pumping. U r such a great mum. Yes, we're the only person who know when shd we stop breastfeeding. U hv handled this so well too.
Yes, I agreed bb latching is better than don't latch but when bb got teeth then bb might bite and laugh u know haha.
Hey June,
Jia you ok? U started working and you're still pumping. So you're also one GREAT mum! Give yourself two pats on the back! :) JIA YOU!
Haha, the pros and cons of latching lar. I missed a lot of bonding time with my ger as I was bonding with the breast pump most of the time...
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