~ EBM Trouble! ~ Milk Booster To The Rescue

Help! My EBM production is at a very dangerous level at the moment! The fact that my hungry screaming little baby is not one to wait patiently at the breast that has very slow and low level of milk also is a factor for the low supply since she is already comfortable with the bottle that gives her steady flow of milk. I am now frantically searching and reading all kinds of information on the net to help increase my EBM production level. So far I have stumbled upon some remedies and ways to increase my BM.

From all my readings and tips from my friends, I have narrowed down things and methods for me to try out: 

1. Power Pumping

2. Drinking Nutri99

3. Eating RTC pills

4. Eating Motilium

5. Eating More Milk Plus 

6. Eating Fenugreek

7. Drinking Milk Maid Tea

Power Pumping

So far I have tried power pumping (you have to pump every 10 minutes for 1 hour). The result is not that encouraging. Maybe I am not pumping enough or my body is still underproducing EBM? I had tried this method several times over the past few weeks and the result is still the same. Still, I am going to keep doing this once in a while to stimulate the milk glands since my dear baby would not nurse except via the bottle.

Nutri99 Organic Soy Milk

I also had tried (and still am) drinking Nutri99 Organic Soy Milk (which you can get at only RM14.95 from Carrefour), but the result is still the same. It is basically a soy drink mix that supposedly can help boost the milk production. It was recommended to me by a friend. At first I only drank this drink a cup per day but my friend told me that I needed to try and drink 3 cups per day, so I have already started to try and do just that. So far I had been able to drink at least 2 cups per day confirmed, and sometimes 3 cups per day if I remember. I do have a problem in the memory area! ( >.< )

RTC Pills

I was told that RTC pills under Era Edar's Marketing can also help boost milk supply. Since it is a homeopathic remedy and is said not to have any side effects, I had no worries in trying it out. The instruction was to put the pill under the tongue and let it melt twice a day. So far I had not noticed any increase in my milk production though. But I will still keep going at it with hopes that it would help a little bit.

Motilium (Domperidone)

I have started to freak out by the mid of April and went to the pharmacy with my hubby to get myself anything that can help boost up my milk supply. The kind pharmacist told me to try Motilium. She gave me a few days' supply and I have started to take the pills 3 times a day after every meals (at least I am more consistent in taking this pill albeit missing a dosage here and then). It has only been a week since I've started to take Motilium. I did a pumping session after the second day I started on this medicine and got a little bit more milk than a few days back. The milk covered almost the bottom of both bottles rather than just a speck here and there and pooling at only one side of each bottle. I hope this works and I've already put in my order for More Milk Plus in hoping that it would help me as well.

Motherlove's More Milk Plus

Motherlove's More Milk Plus is an alcohol free liquid concentrate in vegetarian capsules. It is a safe and effective herbal formula designed to quickly increase breast milk for breastfeeding mothers. It contains fenugreek seed, blessed thistle herb, nettle herb, fennel seed, non-GMO soy lecithin, modified vegetable cellulose, coconut oil. All the herbs are certified organic. The capsules does not contain any milk, dairy, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, or gluten which is a plus for me since I am allergic to peanuts.

My order for More Milk Plus came in and I have started to take the More Milk Plus supplement for a few weeks now. I paired it with the Motilium pills I got from the pharmacy with high hopes that there would be a significant increase of milk. The instruction on the bottle is to take a capsule 4 times daily, avoiding more than 1-2 oz of liquid for 15 minutes before and after each dose. I did skip a few dosage here and then (again, I am blaming my memory!) but I still take at least a dosage or two each day. Even though, I had noticed some increase in my milk supply. A glimmer of hope is shinning it's little light in my little heart. ( ^_^ )

I did notice a drop of milk production when I skipped pumping for two days while I was in Melaka though. Now I have been pumping everyday since we got back and my milk production had somewhat gone back to normal (which is covering almost all of the base of each bottles).

Fenugreek

In my quest of obtaining information on how to boost milk supply, I have stumbled upon lots of forums and testimonials of mothers who claimed that Fenugreek seeds helped them got their milk production increased incredibly. There are two brands that is always mentioned which are Baby Snowdrop's Fenugreek and GNC's Fenugreek. I actually wanted to get the Baby Snowdrop's Fenugreek but there is a confusion of new packaging and the decrease of the dosage in the new packaged bottles. So, in the end I opted to try out GNC's capsules instead. I had not started to take these since I am still on the More Milk Plus capsules. I will update later once I had tried them.

Earth Angel Milkmaid Tea/Joy Angel Nursing Tea

I have not tried any nursing teas yet but I am thinking of trying either Earth Angel's Milkmaid Tea or Joy Angel's Nursing Tea. I am still contemplating this option because I am quite afraid that the tea would taste weird and I might end up not able to drink them. However, the Joy Angel Nursing Tea is said to taste just like plain water, so I might try that first. I will update if I do end up trying one of these nursing teas.

These are the things that I have tried to increase my milk production to date. Unfortunately for me, there is only a slight increase at the moment. I do hope gradually it will increase bit by bit until I can fully nurse/pump and feed my dear little baby instead of giving her formula. I am still not throwing in the towel just yet. ( ^_^ )

~ Pureen Warehouse Clearance Sale ~ It's A MAD House!!

I had been planning to go to Pureen's Warehouse Clearance Sale for sometime ever since I saw the ad for the sale in Shopping N Sales' website. My aim was to check out the sale since I've never been to a baby's product warehouse sale and I do use Pureen's bottle cleaner and the newborn outfits are very soft and of great quality. Plus, I was told that those newborn clothes are priced at a VERY low price. 

So, on the day of the sale, my dear husband took me and the baby to my mom's house in KL and we left our dear baby for a few hours under grandmama's care. I don't think bringing the baby to the sale would be a good idea and my mom would not allow it too.

We drove to Pureen's warehouse which was located in Seksyen 19, PJ. The traffic drawn to a slow crawl by Seksyen 14 indicating that entering the area would be a HUGE hassle and it WAS! We parked quite far away, in front of British American Tobbaco Warehouse and walked all the way to Pureen's Warehouse which was about 500 meters away. It was quite tiring and the weather was sunny and scorching hot.

Pureen's Warehouse Clearance Sale Banner

As we arrived at Pureen's Warehouse gate, we were quite surprised to see a mob of people standing in front of the gate waiting to be let in. We had to wait for 15 minutes before we were allowed to enter the compound. That's when all the madness started. People started to jostle and push their way in with no care for other people around them. The guard at the entrance advised the crowd for those with small children and babies would better not enter the place as it was jam packed with people and it was quite hard to move around. I saw that most of those people with babies just ignored the guard and still joined in the hustle. It was a bit suffocating and the place was not air conditioned.

 

Jam packed with people and slow moving traffic!

Loooong line of traffic!

We had to walk one slow step at a time until we arrive at the products displayed. There were bottles, toiletries, baby bottles cleansers, baby wipes, detergent, and other sorts of baby products. People were flocking everywhere and most of them were grabbing stuff like there was no tomorrow. It was even worse at the baby clothes section! Most of the carts were empty and lots of people were standing around those empty carts waiting. Whenever a staff came with a box full of baby clothes and started to pour out the contents of the box, those people fought like MAD vultures grabbing and snatching the baby clothes even before they could touch the table! And yes, among those frantic mob are parents with babies who did not seem to remember that they were carrying a delicate baby in their arms and also pregnant women forgetting that they were in a delicate condition. 

I was busy standing at a safe length from the crazy flock of people when I heard a very high shrill of a baby screaming at the top of her lungs. I guess the poor baby was a victim of those frantic adults fighting over the clothes and she got squished really hard in between. It was really heartbreaking! It really made me angry thinking of that incident alone! That poor little baby. She cried and cried.. I hope she's okay. Seriously, those people were like vultures! 

Most of the people there who had grabbed all the clothes that they could then would sit down at any corner of the place and then sort out their loot, choosing the ones that they intend to purchase and then discarding whatever they didn't want. Those discarded clothes are left on the floor just like that. People like my husband and I ended up looking through those discarded bags of clothes on the floor rather than on the display tables! 

After a loooooong time of choosing and picking up stuff that we needed, we threw in the towel and proceeded to the check out line. It was really long! We had to stand in line for about one and a half hour just to pay for those stuff we picked up! It was sheer torture for our poor feet. I wished I had brought along a portable stool with me so that I could sit down. Anyway, it a BIG relief after we had paid for all the stuff we picked and then we proceeded to the exit as fast as we could.

As a conclusion, I don't think this kind of sale is worth the hassle. I don't think I would never go to a sale like that again! I would rather go to a place where I could walk around freely and not get squished in between a bag and a pushy lady who does not seem to realize that the line is not moving but she still wants to walk forward! For me, it is not worth it to save a few bucks to face that kind of agonizing experience. It's better to just go to the store and pay retail price for the peace of mind.