Reviews on My Brestfriend pillow

My Brestfriend Pillow

I used My Brestfriend Pillow to help to support the baby while breastfeeding in the hospital and at home for the first two weeks.

Pros
1) Allows newborn to lie down comfortably on a flat sturdy surface for baby to lie and breastfeed.

2) Position baby at the ideal height for breastfeeding. Mummy will have less tendancy to slouch and bend down to breastfeed the baby as the baby would be at the correct height afforded by the pillow.

3) Useful for newborns when their necks are still weak and FTM who can't hold newborn properly. With the support provided by the pillow, FTM can easily change from cross cradle when latching to cradle hold when breastfeeding.

4) Support weight and posture of baby, especially useful when nursing for long duration.

Cons
1)Very expensive

2) Very troublesome when I had to grab and clip on the pillow everytime. When she is crying for milk, every second is crucial! So I only used it for two weeks!

3) Difficult to tilt the pillow such that her head would be higher than her stomach to prevent reflux. The baby would be lying 180degrees when using my breastfriend pillow. I had to raise one of my legs ever so slightly to create a slope.

4) Require you to sit upright on a chair. I find it a struggle to use on the bed as I  have weak stomach muscle and can't really sit upright with legs straightened on the bed. Moreover, I had vaginal delivery so I had greater difficulty in sitting upright, as I had painful stitches at the vaginal area.

5) I needed to clip it on before I "scoop up" the baby. I find it difficult to bend down and "scoop up" my baby with a hard and bulging pillow at my waist. Usually, I needed the assistance of my husband or mother in law to help me "scoop up" the baby and placed her on My Brestfriend Pillow.

6) I usually cradle hold baby while breastfeeding and baby would fall asleep on My Brestfriend Pillow. I would then have to pull out my hand, unclip and place the pillow on the bed, carry my baby up again and place her into her co-sleeper cot. In the process, she sometimes would wake up.

Now I do not use any nursing pillow and I breastfeed on my bed. After she sleeps, I simply place her into co-sleeper cot and swaddle her. (I would be blogging on the Mini Arc Convertible Co-sleeper and how to breastfeed without nursing pillow).

Overall
I am still glad that I have bought the pillow. It is useful for newborns and first time mums.

But as I become more experienced in latching and baby's neck becoming stronger, I find it more convenient to sit on the bed to nurse without nursing pillow, without having to clip and unclip it, without having to sit in a upright position. Perhaps, I would use it again for the first few weeks if I have a second baby. But I would definitely use it when sitting on a comfortable sofa and have someone to help me unclip it so that I can easily transfer my baby into the co-sleeper cot.

Breastfeeding in Thomson Medical Centre including my views on rooming-in newborn

Episode 1: The First latch in the delivery room

The delivery nurse held the baby's head near my left breast while I held my left breast and used my nipple to tease baby's lower lips. Her mouth opened wide and the delivery nurse quickly helped me to latch her on. She then placed the baby on me and I cradled hold her. She started to suck and maybe in less than 5 minutes, she let go of my nipple or maybe my nipple slipped out of her mouth as I was not holding her properly). I told the nurse that I was done with the breastfeeding and the nurse placed the baby back into her "cot".

My reflections on my first latch

I was tired after the delivery and wanted to just let the baby had a feel of latching.

I guess I should have
1) Latched for a longer duration

2) Latched on both breasts

3) Allowed baby to rest on my body longer for more skin to skin contact

Before your milk comes in, you should latched both breasts, each side at least 15minutes. I only knew about this after the lactation consultant came on the next day.

Episode 2: Baby sleeping in nursery

My original plan was to get the baby to "room-in" with me in the ward as I read that co-sleeping would help the "milk to come faster". However, I wanted to have more rest and I was not confident enough to take care of the baby yet and so I decided to have the baby to sleep in the nursery. The nurses would push my baby to my ward every three hours or so for breastfeeding.

My views on baby "rooming-in"
vs leaving baby in nursery

For my second baby, I would want to let the baby "room-in" with me although it would mean

1) More tiring for me.

The "baby cot" comes with a clipboard which requires the nurse to note down the timing & duration of each breastfeeding session and the number of wet and soiled diapers. The nurses will also keep track of time and push baby in for breastfeeding every two three hours.

If rooming-in,  it means that I would have keep track of the time and  breastfeed at least every three hours. I would also have to check the diapers and change diapers. Most importantly, I would have to record these information on the clipboard.

2) Baby would have to be pushed back periodically for

bathe ? (I guess hospital do bathe the baby once daily?),

vaccinations and paediatricIan checkups
and maybe other things.

Well, I think for FTM, it is very stressful especially the monitoring of wet and soiled diapers and keeping track of time. However, for my second baby, I think it will be good to try. If I can't cope, then can always push the baby back to nursery? After all, tiredness and stress are milk killers!

I found this blog on room-in experience at Thomson. Do read up especially for first time mum!

Episode 3: Latching with the help of the nurses
       
Every two to three hours, the nurse would push in my baby to let me latch.

Some nurses were super nice. They offered to help me to latch and stayed for at least 10 minutes to help. They helped to wake my sleepy baby and came back 20 minutes later to check on us and push the baby back to nursery.

On the other hand, some nurses simply left immediately after baby latched on. Sometimes, the baby stopped latching and fell asleep the moment they left the room.

Some ways to wake a sleepy newborn
1) Unswaddle her

2) Dim the lights in the room (funny right but we tried and it works!)

3) If she latched on but not sucking, try to do breast compression

I found this link on waking up sleepy baby and some useful tips about breastfeeding newborns. FTM, do read up!

Episode 4: The Lactation Consultant visit

I gave birth at around 1pm on a Sunday. They did not have lactation consultants around on Sundays. So the lactation consultant came on Monday morning.

I told her that I was unsure my breasts were already producing colostrum and she told me to hand express to check. I wasn't sure how to do it so she hand-expressed my breast to check if I was producing colostrum.

I was so happy when the lactation consultant told me that my baby was latching well and I was producing colostrum for her.

How to do hand express

To hand express: simply place your thumb and two fingers on opposite ends of the areola (e.g. 12 o'clock and six o'clock) and PUSH IN, follow by "rolling forward" to squeeze the aerola.

I found this link on hand expressing breast milk very informative. 

By the way, note that hand express techniques is a life saver during engorgement! And if you plan to fully latch during the first few months, make sure you learn how to do hand express before your baby starts to sleep through the night (STTN).

My reflections on the lactation consultant visit

1) Glad that she show me how to do hand express. Although I read up on how to do hand express, the best learning is still hands on practical.

2) I did cradle hold to latch on the baby. She taught me to use cross cradle to latch and then change to cradle hold after latching. (See my blog on latching and breastfeeding newborn)

3) I did not bring my medela breastpump to the hospital. I did research on breast flange and I thought the flange was correct size. I regretted that I did not get the lactation consultant check to see if they were correct size. I actually upsized from 24mm (default size) to 27mm and finally to 30mm! (Had bruise nipples and spent so much money.)

Overall reflections

I enjoyed my breastfeeding experience at Thomson. At the hospital, I thought taking care of a newborn was easy as I simply latched & burped her and then "send her back to nursery" after I latched her. However, she could still be crying and asking for more milk when she was at the nursery. And this, I wouldn't know.

When I went home, I realised that baby continued crying after I latched her 15mins on each side and I had difficulty coaxing her to sleep. At that time, I didn't know she cried because she was still hungry. Perhaps, if I had latched her longer at the hospital and also asked for her to room-in with me, my milk supply would be more.

Also, I should have at least try to pump once or twice at the hospital and ask the lactation consultant if I was usong the right size of flange.

Before giving birth, I read that milk would definitely come by Day 4 and baby would have enough "storage" in her body to wait for the "milk to come" . And that to know whether you are producing sufficient milk, you can count the number of wet diapers and see if baby is swallowing. However, as a FTM, I didn't know how to see if baby was swallowing, how heavy was a wet diaper supposed to be and how to use a breastpump. By Day 4, my baby became dehydrated and I used the "undersized- flange" breastpump wrongly. My nipples was bleeding. Realizing my baby had been "sucking nothing" for hours,  I felt so guilty and almost went into post-natal depression.

Do look forward to my blog on what happened on Day 3 and Day 4 when we went home.

Latching and breastfeeding a newborn

I found a super good video on breastfeeding! Click on the link below before reading my blog. How I wish I had found this video before I gave birth!

Suggested Steps to Breastfeed a Newborn

To breastfeed a baby, it is easier to use the Cross-Cradle method to Latch the baby as our hand supports the baby's neck and push the head into our breast.
(You may wish to see this website for illustration of what is a cross-cradle (fig. 3). I find this website very informative.)

Follow step 1 to 6 to latch a baby on the LEFT breast.

1) Have your baby lying sideway on a pillow and her head near your LEFT breast and her body very close to you. (I used my brestfriend pillow for the first two weeks.)

2) Hold the baby's head & neck using your RIGHT hand.

3) Imagine your breast as a burger. When grabbing a burger, we usually pinch the burger with our four fingers on top and thumb below it. 

4) Similarly, using your LEFT hand, grab your LEFT breast like the way you grab a burger. But your thumb is to be on top and four fingers below. Make sure your fingers are away from aerola. 

5) Grab your breast to direct your nipple to tease her lower lips.

6) Wait till she opened her mouth big. Use your right hand to quickly PUSH her head to latch on the nipple.
(Move your baby's head so as to eat "Burger". Do not bend and feed your Burger to the baby as you will end up straining your neck or slouching for at least the next 15 minutes.)

Make sure it is a deep latch by checking if her mouth covered most of your aerola.

Follow step 7 (cradle hold) to breastfeed the baby.  (Fig 1 of the same website)

7) Once she latches on correctly, your left hand can then let go of your left breast. Then slide your left arm under her body such that her neck rests on your left elbow in a cradle hold position.

Why are there so many steps ?

Most people will use the cradle hold for breastfeeding a newborn. A cradle hold supports the baby's neck at your ELBOW. 

However, during latching, newborn has difficulty "aiming". Cradle hold is difficult to latch as you need to use your ELBOW to direct her to your nipple.

It is easier to support the baby's head and neck with your right PALM and push the baby's head to latch on left breast while your left hand holds your left breast . This is known as cross-cradle (steps 1 to 6).

After which, change your hands to cradle hold position by having your left hand letting go of your breast and sliding under baby's body such that your left elbow is supporting her neck. Changing to cradle hold is necessary as it is more comfortable for yourself and baby (step 7).

Most IMPORTANT Rule about breastfeeding

Make yourself comfortable! Have nursing pillow or normal pillows to help you.

Other Tips
1) Practice makes perfect. Use a doll to practice before giving birth.

2) Massage your breasts before latching.

3) Have a water bottle near u. (I have two, one on each side)

4) Have the remote control for air conditioner and fan beside you.

5) Wear clothing which are suitable for nursing. I wear shirts that comes with padding. I simply pull down one side to nurse.

6) Nothing beats having an experienced person to teach you how to latch and also to check on your latching. The nurses in Thomson Medical Centre were very helpful and a lactation consultant will check on your latching (first time free at Thomson).

Look out for my blog on my first breastfeeding experience at Thomson Medical Centre!

First time mum breastfeeding journey

3.30am in the morning. Feeling emotional yet blissful lying on the bed with my hubby sleeping soundly on my left and my little 68 days old princess making kittens sounds in her dreams sleeping on my right in the tiny co-sleeper cot.

I have just woke up half an hour ago. Was it due to discomfort of my engorged breasts or the sound of her super strong legs kicking the cot?

Now I am ready to go back to sleep with an emptied left breast (shiok ah but poor right breast has to wait for another 2 hours for her turn). I have completed my tasks of sneaking to the toilet for a quick pee, quenching my thirst (breastfeeding is a super thirsty job), changing my princess diaper (whew, she didn't pee in the cot during the process), breastfeeding her, placing her into her cot and swaddled her, all within 30minutes.

Well done, FTM (first time mum). I am ready to go back to sleep. But I feel so proud and full of happiness so can't sleep!

As I count my blessings, I also reflect and ask myself how my breastfeeding journey has evolved over the last 68 days.

- Day 1 Holding a beautiful princess in my arms as I first latched her in the delivery room at Thomson Medical Centre

- Day 4 A crying hungry baby, bleeding nipples and less than 5ml of super diluted grayish expressed transition milk

- Day 5 Having a pair of swollen eyes and totally worn out body after crying hysterically for 5 hours

- Day 6 Feeling full of guilt because my dehydrated jaundice baby was staying in hospital

- Day 8 to Day 28, Bottle feeding her with expressed breast milk and supplementing with formula, with occasional latching

- Day 29 onwards fully latched baby

This blog is to record and share my breastfeeding journey from Day 1 to Day 68.

I would also include
- steps on how to breastfeed a newborn,
- breastfeeding experience after delivering at Thomson Medical Centre
- breastfeeding easily without nursing pillows,
- reviews on My Brestfriend Pillow and mini convertible co-sleeper cot,
- Breastfeeding clothes suitable to wear at home or outside (less than $12)

Our Ideal House (Our theme and colours)

The feeling, the thoughts, the Experience, and the Enjoyment!!!

Renovation is full of excitement, fun and anticipation from the time when you begin to fantasize about it, and eventually the design becomes a drawing, and finally the actual product! Your Ideal House!

An ideal house is not the most beautiful house or the most classy house but it is the house that you really want.

Your house may look plain or impractical to other people, but as long as it is what you had always wanted, then it is your ideal house.

And of course it is tiring as you have to monitor the process, frustration when things are behind schedule, disappointment when things do not turn out as nice as you had wanted, and even anger when you see that your parquet flooring has been damaged by your carpenter.

Our theme

We didn't really have a theme initially. We know there were comtemporary, elegance, zen, oriental themes etc. But none of them really suit us. Well, hubby and I are not really sophisticated people and don't really wish to spend alot of money on the renovation. But yet, we wanted to have something special and unique about our house - something really makes the house feels like our love nest.

Pooh Bear looking so cute and happy!

We have a Winnie the Pooh Bear at home. It is cute and it always look so happy. Both of us love this Pooh bear very much. Overtime this Pooh has became part of our family. Meanwhile, Hubby found on facebook a 3D design of a living room with feature wall being Winnie the Pooh Head and the furniture colour theme of red and white. I find the idea very unique as most feature walls are usually rectangular in shape. So we started from this concept of having Winnie the pooh's head as our feature wall.

With Winnie the Pooh feature wall as the main focus of the living room, the rest of the furniture including colour of the wall must complement it. By using Floorplanner.com, I changed the feature wall to yellow and the rest of the furniture to red and white. Hubby then suggested green for the wall colour.

With these, my ID then drew out a 3D design of our living room.

Designs for the rest of the house

Our ID showed us some picture of the kitchen and we decided to take one of the "standard template" as our design for the kitchen.

The first design was supposed to be more modern. But I don't really like it. I prefer more cozy kind and I suggested purple.

The first design

My preferred design

Some of my friends and relatives said they also had the same purple colour scheme for their master bedroom. Perhaps it is the more cozy and romantic colour? I think I made the right choice.

1st Day: Getting the Keys!!! HDB BTO

On 18 June 2013,

We finally received the keys to our new house. Our "ceremony" was simply to say "House owners are here. Other things please go away!" We then entered the house.
(We should have brought pineapple to roll on the floor. We did so only on the day we "officially" moved in.)

I suggest to bring the following items on your first day:

1. Fan
2. A chair/ stool
3. Toilet rolls
4. Masking tapes
5. Measuring tapes
6. Phone charger or anything that you can use test if the power sockets are working
7. Marbles? (to test hollow tiles and floor evenness)
8. Photocopies of your floorplan (to indicate the actual measurements)
9. A Number Lock (Important!!! so that HDB contractor can access your house to rectify the defects)
10. A camera phone
11. water/ thinner/ tissue/ rags (to attempt to remove any stains on the floor. There were brownish stains everywhere on our living room tiles. We got the HDB contractor to do chemical cleaning for us.)

Making ourselves comfortable

First thing to do: Open the mailbox! The "key" to turn on the water supply is found in the mailbox.

We had a hard time trying to turn on the water supply even with the "key". Our ID helped us to borrow a screw driver to unscrew a cap and then use the "key". I have no idea how to on the water supply.

Next: Check for any defects.

HDB will issue you a document to report your defects (HDB defect list) and the HDB contractors will then rectify based on the HDB defect list. Note that you can subsequently submit additional HDB defect list if you find additional things to report. We created our own checklist so that we would not miss out anything. 

Page 1 of our own checklist

Page 2 of our own checklist

Place masking tapes near the defect so that the HDB contractor can easily identify them. If there are too many defects on the parquet floor, you may wish to talk to them and get them to repolish the whole room again. Rather than trying to put masking tape everywhere.

Take photos of where you have placed your masking tapes so that you can  compare after HDB contractors have rectified your defects. 

Masking tapes everywhere

After hours of checking and putting masking tapes, we tried to summarise and write down the defects we had on the HDB defect list and went down to the BSC (Building Service Centre) located at the void deck of our neighbouring block.
( BSC is a temporary (think 1 year) office set up by the HDB contractors.)

At BSC, we submitted the defect list and indicated the number of our number lock. (If you do not have a number lock, you may have to come down to open the door for the HDB contractors when they come down to rectify your defects). It happened that the supervisor was also around that day so we brought him up to our unit to explain our defects.

In our case, the HDB contractors were very efficient. They took less than 1 week to rectify all the defects.

Last step (if you still got energy): Take measurements of everything and indicate on your photocopied floorplan.

You will need this measurements so that

1) You can buy furniture of the correct size:

     - space for sofa

     - space for your bedframe including your bedside table
        (take note positioning of socket plugs near your bed may affect the positioning of your bedsize table/
         the size of your bed)

     - space for your dining table

     - space for bomb shelter shelves.

     - the window frames (length x height) in order to give the estimated measurements when you ask for
        quotation for curtains/ blinds

     - space for fridge (this depends on how big is the kerb that you are making for the fridge.)

     - space for your washing machine/dryer. In our case, the laundry hanging device when retracted does not 

        allow us to stack up the dryer on top of the washing machine.

measuring the height to place washing machine and dryer

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2) Compare the actual measurements with the quotation of the measurements given by your ID. Also compare the actual measurements with the final invoice given by your ID. The quotations by your ID are based on floorplan and will not be the same as the actual measurements. Any difference in measurements means a difference in the price you are paying. 

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3) You may also wish to indicate all the powerpoints and light points on your floorplan. Consider whether you need any additional powerpoints, or relocate any powerpoints. Your dining light is supposed to be directly on top of your dining table. Your living room light is supposed to be directly on top of your coffee table. 

In our case, I forgotten that we have a light point in our service yard and did not buy enough "hamburger" lights. We shifted the dining light point slightly but we did not shift the living room light although it was a little off position. 

In our case, there are 2 light points in each toilet. 1 is the usual ceiling light point to put your bulb or "hamburger" light. The other is hidden inside the "grille" used to hide your water pipes.

LED strips created "Hotel romance" in the toilet. 

Note that any fixing of light, additional light point, relocation of light point, relocation of power socket, TV point, eternet point will be added under electrical charges in your quotation. 

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Sourcing for Interior Designer and Ideas for Renovation

• RenoNation.sg: 
  
  Website offering free quotation of various Singapore ID companies. Note that most ID companies will prefer to meet up and have a discussion than simply emailing you their quotation. 

• Find IDs companies on  Facebook
  
  We got some of the ideas from the photos posted by the ID companies.

• Joining BTO Project Facebook Page
  
  One of our BTO residents set up a group page. Some of the flats have gotten their keys and they provided alot of insightful ideas, help and technical knowledge to us.

• Floorplanner.com
  
  I used this software and drew the floorplan so that I could imagine the wall colours and the positioning of the furniture. This software is able to give you the 3D image from the 2D floorplan you have drawn.