Breastfeeding

I have been a breastfeeding advocate ever since i got pregnant the first time. I breastfed Tyler for 2+ months which is practically his entire lifetime. With Troy, i was able to breastfeed him for a year and 8 months. Dawn is now 6 months old and I'm planning to breastfeed her for at least 2 years.

A lot of moms have said that they had to stop breastfeeding because they went back to work. That shouldn't be the case.  It takes a lot of commitment to be able to breastfeed exclusively but the benefits far outweigh all the sleepless nights. 

When Troy was 4 months old, i had to fly to New York for a business trip. I was determined not to let him try any formula milk so i diligently expressed milk in the office and in between his nightly feedings. I was in New York only a few days because I had to fly to Singapore the week after for another business trip. That was followed a another business trip to Australia a month after.

In between my trips, I had to restock the frozen milk supply in time for the next trip out. It was tiring but i wouldn't have it any other way.

With Dawn, I am a bit wiser. I started stocking milk as soon as we came home from the hospital. It didn't matter that i didn't have any pending business trips yet, I wanted to make sure she will get enough in case i had to fly out. We already have a stock full of milk now and I have also been helping some friends by donating milk to them. I will have some trips scheduled in the next few months but I am not as concerned anymore.

Bottom line is that it's possible to go back to the corporate world and still be exclusively breastfeeding. You can even take numerous business trips so long as you'd be diligent in expressing and stocking your milk supply.

Here are what worked for me:

• Remember supply and demand. The more you express milk or feed your baby, the more your body will produce milk.
• Drink lots of liquid. It doesn't even have to be soup as most people say. Just carry around a big bottle of water and drink whenever you can.
• Eat well. You need the energy to produce milk. Don't worry! Expressing milk is like doing cardio exercises.
• Relax when you're feeding your baby or expressing milk. Stress inhibits milk letdown and would make you assume you don't have milk anymore.
• Pray! Pray! Pray! God is our source!

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"