The weaning process took around 3 months. I went back to work when Aelig was about 3 months old. I intended to continue breastfeeding as long as I could, but it was too tiresome to have to wake up early in the morning to pump and handling the storage in the fridge. I provided milk to the sitter but it only lasted for one month then my milk supply dwiddled. Since then, I breastfed every morning and evening.
Here is the electric breast pump set I used. I rented the machine from the Pharmacy and I paid 0 for it. The French government paid for the rental which costed around 12 euros per week. :-) Thanks S & A for lending me the equipment & accessories, I was braver to try out the electric pump since I had these handy, and the manual one didn't work on me.
It took me so long to wean as emotionally I was not ready to let go the precious moments I had with Aelig, then she refused to drink from a bottle during the evening. She expected me to breastfeed her. Thing took a turn when my coworker introduced me to one type of bottles with the teat imitating the teat from a breast. Gradually, she get used to drinking from a bottle at home. Since then, I only fed her to put her to sleep, and now she could go to sleep without breastfeeding.
What a journey! I was afraid I won't have enough milk at the beginning but I did. Expressing using an electric device + storing were totally foreign to me, but little by little I got familiarized with it. The first time I pumped, I got the pitiful 10oz. With perseverance my inflow doubled. I thought I would never be able to go through the weaning process, but mentally I was ready and so did Aelig. I'm elated with the result. The only big inconvenience I encountered was when I had to be away: I still remembered having engorgement when I was watching the Moulin Rouge show in Paris. I had to press my breasts from time to time to release the pain. Here was the result when you do not breastfeed for one day: 6oz of milk expressed in one go for the first time!
No comments:
Post a Comment