(2006/01) Jan 2006 MTBs

cookie,
Kacia is so pretty! You have very good looking kids.
happy.gif


Belinda,
Don't be too hard on yourself. Just take this as a learning experience, I'm sure next time you'll be extra careful.

May,
Good to hear that you want to try BF for #2! I 100% BF Isaac for 15 months with 2 Avent ISIS manual pumps. One on each breast. For the first 2 months while still on maternity leave, I only have 1 Avent manual pump cos I wasn't sure if I could BF successfully and didn't want to spend too much money on electric pumps if BF is a failure. But I managed to get the hang of BF and liked the Avent manual pump so much that I decided to try using 2 manual pumps when I'm back at work. It was easy to handle 2 manual pumps, just a matter of coordinating the motions. I could usually finish pumping within 20 mins at work.
Sometimes though, my hands get tired from having to do the pumping motion manually but that's usually because, I have problem getting letdown and it takes extra long to achieve the letdown. Most of the times, it's ok, especially when the milk suppply is established and letdown comes very quickly.
For my #2, I did contemplate getting an electric pump for the speed and convenience, but I think I will stick to using 2 manual pumps since I have done it successfully for #1.

If you ask me, I think BM pump choice is quite personal. I would say Medela PIS and Avent ISIS Duo electric pumps, while pricey, are very effective pumps and so many swear by it. But I also have friends who cannot express using electric pumps at all. They use either manual pumps or even their own hands. So if you are uncertain, start with one manual pump for the initial 1 or 2 months so that you can control the pressure and pumping motion that is most comfortable and effective.
What's most important is to get the technique of breastfeeding right at the get-go, meaning the latching technique etc. Cos the most powerful pump in the world is your baby's sucking motion. Once you have the latching technique right and your body is establishing the milk supply, pumping is just a mode of expressing milk away from your baby and then you can decide if manual pump is working for you or you should invest in electric pumps.

But that said, there are mummies who also did not manage to latch their babies successfully but can still BF by doing 100% expressing. Then I would say, the types of pumps are more important consideration cos you'll need to consider the time and effort needed to pump at least 5 to 6 times a day. Then you'll need to find a pump that you are comfortable with and make expressing milk easy and fast for you. Again, it need not be expensive electric pumps, but considering the effort needed to provide BF round the clock only by pumping, an electric pump may still be a good investment.

Re. affectionate boys
My Isaac is not exactly very affectionate though, but he's quite free with his hugs. Kisses, I always have to ask for them. And he is very cheeky! He only wants to kiss mummy and not daddy. Hahah!

Re. blodd gorup types
I always thought children follow either the mum or dad's blood type or a combination of both. I didn't know that it's possible to get totally different blood group, like baby is O+ but parents are A or B blood type! This is interesting news!
 


may,
congrats on having another girl! so envious, i want 1 only also don't have... sigh... ignore what ur mil say... she's outdated already! haha! even my mum tell me nowadays pple want girl more than boys.

cookie,
kacia looks so pretty! agree all ur 3Ks look different but all so good looking!

sleepingdeer, congrats!!! love her name! i shortlisted that name when i was preg with tyler but sigh... no chance to use it
sad.gif


belinda,
don't feel bad, like what mashy said we can't safeguard them all the time. as long as not seriously hurt. maybe next time just make sure u stand infront or them when going down or behind them when going up. that's what i do coz edgar refuse to let me hold him so he gets on/off the escalator himself.
 
cookie
k3 is so lovely!

re: blood group
both my kids have the same blood group. AB.

may
i am using medela PIS. it's really a great pump and works well for me. but like what CL mentioned, PIS doesn't work for all. I lent my PIS to a friend, and she told me it's painful in expressing, end up, avent manual and ameda worked very well for her.

belinda
the blood group should be stated in the health book leh.
 
Thanks mummies for the contribution!
Wow.. really not easy to bf leh. So guilty, 2nd time mummy already still so clueless. Really salute u all can bf for so long. I will try my best to bf as long as I can this time. Will discuss with hb for the investment. hehe.
 
Mamachan
You are so right about the long name. Charmaine is so fed up now so she says in school she will write down Yu En. Her Chinese name. So easier. Ha ha.

After her complaint, we took note and give Aden just 4 alpha ha ha
 
sunny
my and me is also 1 A and 1 B.. end up.. we have A, O and AB..hahaha...

Thanks all mummies for your compliments.
This K3 is one chilly buddy..when she cry and cry very hard to pacify.
My MIL somehow just cannot handle this K3, cannot calm her down. I hope K3 gets better before I return to work.
and MIL always complain K3 is naughtiest, most fierce.. but I think we just forgot about how terrible our bb were when they were like 1 month!
I vaguely remember K1 and K2 has their fair share as fussy baby during some evenings...
and it's all coming back again.. now evening we have to due with a cranky and fussy baby..haizz
 
Queen/Sunny
It's possible for the child to be "O" or even all "AB" while both Parents are either A or B...it depends on the genes that they carry, if it's dominant or recessive. Once you have the concept, it's possible to derive the permutations of the blood type.

So for myself, my children can only be either AB, B or possibly A but can never be O type. So far, my boy is B+. My hb is B+ while I'm AB+

Belinda
When I delivered my boy at KKH, his blood type was not tested for, but I found out via a friend who worked in the cord blood bank as I donated his cord blood. It was a favour to me that she let me know lah. If not, got additional charges I think.
 
re bloodgroup
till now i still dunno what is JH's and Jx's blood group. now KKH does testing but somehow they din send me JX's blood group result.

re affection
JH is affectionate. he always says things like I love you or I like u. he is affectionate towards JX too. this morn he woke up and saw Jx lying on mattress with me. asked me to move away and then he went to lie with her. and was so cuddly towards her. he leaned very close to her (almost kissing her) and said i love u mei mei. really warms my heart.

re pump
for me i swear by PIS but i know not everyone can use it. in fact this time round, i cannot pump well at times cos i think my breasts too used to latching.

May
one thing to note when buying from first few years. when i went to service my pump, as it is not from authorised distributor, it cost me double the servicing fee (excl replacement parts).
 
Hi mummies,

Haven't log in for a long time.

Re: Lasik
I have been thinking about it too but still have some worries. I definitely won't mind joining if there are gp discounts...

Re: Pump
I used both the PIS and Avent manual pumps - no issues with both. I like the PIS during work cos faster - saves time when working and the manual pumps when rock hard.

Re: Blood test
I don't think I know Charmaine's blood gp too.
 
mashy
I suppose that's about right. Unless you opt to do blood group testing. For me, I "pulled" some strings to find out lah =P I don't think it's compulsory to know the children's blood group....I only know mine when I was 12 when making I/C in school. hehehe I was guessing what D's blood type was...only 3 possibilities. ha!

May
I only had the Avent Manual Pump and it served me well during my 7-8 months of breastfeeding D. It served its purpose by helping to relieve painful engorgments, excess milk as well as when I went back to work and still needed to express milk. By then when we're back at work, expressing would be quite fast. I was done in 20min with both sides emptied and was a substantial amount.

Like what queen mentioned, it's a personal preference as like BF is a personal choice...if you really want to BF, have to persevere past the 2 weeks...it's not an easy journey and can be painful and even tiring, more so if you have c-section, but once past the 2 weeks or even 1 month mark, it should be easier. I personally believe that most woman (actually all) are created to be able to BF their children...I'm sure our grannies all did it as they were too poor back then to buy milk powder (in fact back then rarely got milk powder). I guess for us now, there's always a "back-door" option of formula.

Just don't give up! I know of ladies who were able to BF successfully the 2nd time round.
 
Hi mommies

thanks for the advice re: HFMD
my kids are much better now. Thankfully!

Wenyl
Implantable contact lens don't cause discomfort or dryness like CL or LASIK. Its more like a mini cataract surgery.

RE: lasik..
Economy crisis coming and the competition is so stiff now... you might really be able to get a group discount in private. I know some of my private colleagues have a lot of flexibility on how they charge and can give a very competitive price. But just be careful cos each eye is different and each procedure should be individualised. Halos occur if the ablated area is smaller than the pupil size. You can't get rid of halos. It doesn't bother the average person but if you like to drive at night than it can be a bother



I have a friend who went for the LASIK by a very good and experienced surgeon but still had problems. So there is a risk to the procedure.

Cookie,
your baby K3 is so cute!
 
hi mummies..
ON the topic of BF...
Any good tips other then drink Milo... to get fast let down?
I have problem getting let down during pumping.. even after 20mins...aaggrrhhh...

Belinda
the blood test report is usually together with the Thyroid test result I think..
try searching.

Re: blood test
I'm just curious why KKH dun do blood test for bb? SOmetimes Jaundice are caused by diff blood gp with bb and mum, and if we know the blood gp will give a good indication on the cause of jaundice...
 
Hi tabb
nice having u back.. any pic to post for didi? long time never "see" him
happy.gif


Re: mum using Avent manuel pump
Hi mummies can share tips on what is the best way to effectively use this pump to milk the most of it?
After reading your contribution ( thanks to May's qeries) I also find medela dual pump not effective and take long time...
I did try Avent pump, it's good extracting but it's take me long time.. thats why I revert back to double pump.
Pls share (if any) the technique using Avent manual pump to effectively empty the breast.
Thanks a million!

This afternoon I'm gng to try Avent again see how..Previously perhaps I was holding on for too long when let down comes.. thats why my nipple is painful after that?
 
tabb
My nipple is sore from pumping le.. I cannot pinch it.. touch also a bit painful. Tho this time round it's much better than last time.
 
Good morning!

Mamachan,
Thanks for the info on blood types. Now I understand.

cookie,
For me, I find that taking several deep and slow breaths, while pumping at the same time, to relax myself works in getting letdown. Initially when I first started pumping, I had to do this at the start of every pump session. After a week or so, I didn't have to do this anymore... letdown will come within 10 to 15 seconds automatically.
Are you latching on Kacia? Or just pumping 100%?

Re. blood test
I cannot remember if TMC did a blood test on baby but I thought so and the blood group is written somewhere but not sure. Anyway, when Isaac was discharged from KKH for jaundice, the MO explained the blood test results and said that my blood and Isaac's blood is incompatible (i'm O+, he's A+), which makes Isaac more predisposed to jaundice.
 
Queen
Ya that was what my pd says. Mummy with O+ baby more prone to have jaundice ha ha. So my hb says it is my fault. Aiyo sun tanning is so nice why not and I get 2 days off. ha ha


Tabbiesus
Ha ha now got group interest so more courage. In Today, just saw ad by Eye Centre that it is $945 per eye before GSt ha ha.
 
queen
I'm exclusively pumping.
Btw.. you are one of the very successfully use Avent pump mummy...any tips for me how to effective use the pump extract in the shortest time ?

Previosuly when I use.. I spend 30 mins on each side that make 1 hrs.. and sometimes Its really tough to spend so much time wth 3 kids crying outside or fussing...
 
CL
true le.. K2 is O and he has very bad jaundice as compared to K1 and K3...My PD also said O suffer ususally more likely.
 
cookie,
The key to pumping is to achieve letdown as quickly as possible cos you'll never be able to pump much without achieving letdown. You did achieve letdown before right? There's a slight tingling / ticklish sensation in the breasts and you can feel the milk 'pooling' at your nipples. Then milk will shoot out fast in several jets. When using the Avent manual pump, position the funnel firmly (but not hard) on your breast to get a good suction, lean forward just a little. Your breast should be well cupped by the funnel with the silicone covering. When you press the handle down, you should feel good suction (but not painful). To achieve letdown, press and release the handle in quick short pumps. There's no need to press down the pump handle fully in the beginning while stimulating letdown. Just keep the press down the handle enough to feel good suction, but short and quick.
At the same time, take slow and deep breaths to relax yourself.
You might want to try pressing a warm towel on your breast for a few minutes before pumping or look at Kacia while pumping. It may help to bring abour letdown faster.

And make sure you have assembled the pump properly. There should not be any air leakages between the silicone and hard plastic parts and ensure that the milk bottle is screwed on tight.

Oh yah, and good pumping should not be painful at all! Don't press the handle down for too long and certainly don't press too far down or hard if you feel pain in your nipples. As long as you feel good suction, that's good enough. Usually, I only press the handle harder or further towards the end of the pump session to extract the last few ml of milk. In the beginning, pump motion is short and quick, after letdown is achieved, can slow down and increase pump pressure and press handle down longer for better extraction.
 
CL
oh is it? I thought it's as long as it's different blood group and 1 is O the jaundice is high. Cos I'm A and K2 is O and he suffer bad jaundice le.
 
breast pumps
I've also started off using a manual pump during my first few weeks of breastfeeding as I was told that was the most cost effective and best way to express milk. However, I found that on top of my already sore nipples, manual pump made me more sore and even with a let down, I was unable to empty my breasts, not to mention tired hand from pressing the pump, so I bought myself the medela dual electric instead. The medela dual electric was slightly better since it could pump 2 sides at the same time, however, if I were to pump after feeding Ariene, I failed to get a let down and the frustrations cycle started again.

I also had difficulties getting a let down esp when I'm engorged when using the dual electric also cuz the pumping is just too slow to stimulate a letdown when my ducts are blocked. Gotta keep massaging the breasts and doing the U and C hard on the aerola area to unblock the ducts before pumping no matter how sore ur nipples are else u're just wasting time and making ur nipples more sore from the prolonged pumping. Massage ur breasts horizontally and vertically until u don't feel anymore hard lumps in ur breasts before pumping. If the lump is really hard, try using a hot towel on the hard lump and massage that area and press hard on the lump while pressing the aerola to let out the "stuck" milk. You may need ur husband to assist u in this. If by doing this u still cant get rid of the hard lumps, u'll need to visit the LC (TMC or KK better) to help u get rid of the engorged lumps. If u leave them for too long untouched, you'll either end up with mastasis or a drastic drop in milk supply.

Anyway, after a few months of frustrations, my husband bought me the PIS-advanced which solved all problems cuz he was also taking the grunt of my frustrations. Imagine you're tired and not enough of sleep, feeling like ur chest is gonna explode, the stupid pump going on and on for 45min and still cant get a let down and your husband is there sleeping and snoring away happily in dreamland. Couldn't control my emotions then.. hee! Anyway, I still continued to use my manual pump then to express milk when I'm outside (shopping, etc) cuz its convenient and lightweight and alittle pumping is better than none at all when u're engorged.

cookie
If you're exclusively pumping, y don't u borrow a PIS from one of the mummies here and try it out. Its year end now and there's christmas sale everywhere so if u like the PIS, why not make use of the year end sale and buy yourself a PIS to save time and frustrations. I personally find pumping with the PIS very comfortable and fast, well worth the $600 I paid for it. There're also alot of 2nd hand ones out there u can buy too if u look around. Unfortunately, I've loaned mine out to my sister else I could have lent u mine. Afterall, I think $600 is still far cheaper than all the milk powder u'll need to buy if u BF for more than 6 months if you think abt it economically.
 
belinda - that's scary. thank GOD he is alright. must be careful on the escalator esp if they are wearing crocs which my 2 boys loves to wear. i always make sure i carry or hold on to them.

may - how abt megan/mandy? i agree that the name melissa sounds nice and sweet

CL - haha.. i can also understand the pain of writing long name esp during O levels with our hanyu pinyin and dialect. so for my boys, i told hb..max is 5 characters only and no dialect. haha....

mamchan - ya when C was delivered in TMC, they told us his blood type. But when J is delivered in KKH, they say they do not do blood test. till now i don;t even know J's blood grp. Hb always joke asking if J is his son as he looks different from C and abit ang mo with his brown hair and big eyes. haha...

zhimin - yeah u are right. Dr Lee Hung Ming used to be the head of TTSH and has since gone private under parkway shenton.
 
Hi queen/ slinky
thanks for your advise..
I will try the pointers and also consider your suggestion.
I always wonder why some Oct thread mum can pump just 15 mins and yeild lotsa milk.. so breast pump does make a difference..
But let try out the cheaper option first as I'm not sure if I still can pump when back to office.
with this 4 mths ML, bosses are expecting a lot from me when I return.. so am not so sure yet but will see how.
Thanks amillion!
 
cookie
Like what queen said, I will lean forward abit letting the boobs hang a little and into the suction funnel. The squeezing of the handle part would be quick like 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 and hold on 7 for about 10 seconds and then try that again. instead of touching the nipples, press against the areola (dark parts) with the U and C method, that should help stimulate the flow. Also, what I did was sometimes rotate the hand holding the pump slightly so your pump is like at an angle ... hmmm, the pump handle is usually beneath our boobs right while pumping, what you can do is rotate the pump so that the handle is at a slight angle (bottom right of your boobs and bottom left). Hope you get what I mean. That should help too.
 
mummies
anyone been to maldives before? I'm thinking of a short trip with hb.. ant recommendations for good travel agency / promo / resort to recommend, pls?
 
cookie,
i have the medela PIS advanced if you want to borrow to try it out. i even have the bigger breastshields (medela has a few sizes of breastshields)if you want to try. considering u are quite well endowed, maybe u will feel more comfortable using the bigger ones.

Krissie,
I stayed at Laguna the last time. You can book through www.universalresorts.com
I have some pics of the place in my blog http://www.aileenhiangboon.blogspot.com/
Gee you make me look back my photos and realise i aged so much! well, those were the carefree days...
 
thanks queen and mamachan
I tried Avent again just now and it extracted 30ml more than my medela dual. How encouraging.. but I lost track of the time..
The only prob is.. the suction is there for 1st let down, then after that the suction is not strong anymore I have to remove my breast and put in again then let down come again.. wow got to in and out 5-6 times..till my let down no more.
I wonder if there is any problem with my pump.
 
Hi AIleen
thanks for offering...I also bought the bigger breastshield and it does work better than the standard size. Let me try out the Avent Pump again.. if I need to loan, you will be first on my list! But I'm really half hearted.. if I should spend another hundreds of $$ on pump again..
 
cookie,
Do you mean you can achieve 5 or 6 letdowns by putting on and removing the pump a few times? Wow! That's very good! I can only get max 2 letdowns within a 15 to 20 mins pump. Will usually get the 1st letdown within 10 to 15 seconds (really a burst of milk shooting out very quickly, at least 5 jets at the same time), subsequently, it will be about 10 mins of steady flow of milk with each pump, not as fast as during letdown, and the no. of jets will reduce towards the 10-15 mins mark. Then a 2nd letdown will come (but this letdown does not last as long as the 1st) and after the burst of milk, the flow decrease quite a bit and I could perhaps continue to pump only another 5 mins or so. Breast is almost empty by that time liao.

Also I remember that in the beginning, I have t his problem with Avent. Some milk will accumulate between the silicone flower covering and the funnel and the suction is weakened. I had to stop mid-pump every now and then to remove the silicone and let the milk flow back into the funnel and bottle. I also suspected that my pump was faulty... but in the end, I realised it's the positioning of the pump and technique. I think I wasn't holding the pump on my breast properly to create a proper 'seal'.
Do you have this problem?
 
Mummies,

Long time since I been on the forum. Need some quick information. Do you know if HFMD always come with a temperature?

They just called me to tell me that there isolated JW coz he has ulcer in his mouth. And they just informed that they had a confirmed case a few days back that's why they isolated him. How come they never informed us earlier. Then when I asked if it is someone from his class (coz I just wanna find out chance of him getting it), they tell me confidential cannot say!
 
SH
long time no hear from you. pm me so I can forward you HFMD information I received from Charmaine's ex cc.

Previously her school will update via sms each time there is a case. So it is up to you if you want to bring. Details of the student name and class is also known. Because I feel if the kid always play together in the class, share food etc in class, they could easily contracted it.
 
CL,

Ya...i feel it is unfair that they never informed us and on top of it refused to give me information if the confirmed case is in his class
 
SH

Frankly, if my child in this kind of school, I'll withdraw. What confidentiality? HFMD is very highly contagious and parents should have the option of whether to let the child stay at home or not if there's a case in school. They need not tell you the exact identity of the child but they should at least let u know if the child is from the same class or not.

But from the looks of it, it could be someone in the class.
 
mashy,

Precisely. I forced another teacher to tell me and they insist cannot reveal. After i persisted, she said in the younger age group. which means 50% chance it is in his class coz they only have 2 class of young children

Very pissed with them now. I am not even asking for identity of the child. but they say need to prevent panic so they don't want to reveal!
 
SH

They had to reveal it to the MOE anyway right? Does that mean that they prefer to cover up? (Behaving like China so horrible) Do they report this case to the authorities? As u know, they'll have mandatory closing if they reach a certain no.

I feel u should at least threaten withdrawal with them. If they still refuse, i think it's good that u leave too.
 
SH
Agree. They have to report. Last time I receive sms till i panic because there is so many, then we have constant email exchange and they would ask for opinion to do voluntary closure.

Even in Charmaine K2 at Maris stella, there is note from which class not mentioning the name. But Charmaine will come back and tell me so and so who and who got.

Email you liao.
 
SH
They have to report and to inform the parents to be on the lookout! That time when my boy before he has a case of HFMD himself, there was an outbreak weeks before, the school sent out a circular to the parents. So when D has high fever and we started to see ulcer in the mouth, I stopped him from going to school and called up his school to inform as they need to submit the numbers to Ministry of Health/MOE. I was informed that another boy from his same class had HFMD too. I mean we need not know which exact child got HFMD, but it helps to know from which group. Covering up is not going to help.

It will also help us to be responsible parents and not send our children back to school and spread to the rest of the kids.

Cookie
What I did when I used to express was, one hand hold and squeeze the boobs slightly while pumping with the other hand. Takes some practice as sometimes by squeezing the boob too much must cause the pump to lose suction over the breast. You can try...I find it help me to express faster with or without let-down... the hand that holds the boob while expressing, I will use the thumb of that hand and firmly press donwards towards the nipple/pump. So it's like massaging while expressing. It helped to unclog ducts that "threatens" to get clogged up. I'm most afraid of blocked ducts!!!
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Took JW to the doc liao. Certified not HFMD. But going to keep him off school for a few days anyway.

Ya dun like the way the childcare handled the case. I can't think of any reason why they would want to withhold which class the HFMD case is from.
 
SH
Think you can complain to MCYS/MOH? Ger's sch told me tt if there are cases of HFMD, they sch is supposed to inform the parents of the whole centre.. Personally, think tt their treatment is wrong.
 


aileen
thanks much.. the pics are lovely.. make me v kian leh.. hopefully can go.. coz we can constrained by only a few dates. how many nites did u all stay?
 
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