Hard work

It has been a week since I returned to work, and I am almost near to throwing the white flag out of the window..

No, it's not my colleagues; neither is it the work.. (not yet, I think) But it is the travelling to work that I dread, and my 'expression' sessions that is tiring me out. The direct bus that takes me to work is a freaking 1.5hrs journey!! There is of course, another faster way to get to my office; via the MRT. I have to alight at Lavender station, and walk a huge distance.. of approximately 15mins. All in all, I will reach office in an hour's time if I go on the train.

On a 'prompt' day, Rianne will wake at 5-ish; not later than 6am; and I will breastfeed her in my room (She now sleeps with my mum at night). I would then start my preparation for work, and leave home at 7.20 in order to catch the 7.30 bus. By 9am, I would reach my office in Beach Road; and my breasts would be so so full.. Yesterday, I was so engorged and I needed to express milk once I got to work. Never did I expect myself, or rather my breasts, to be leaking so much until my breast pads were completely drenched. The milk flow was so plentiful, and it actually dripped onto my dress as I express. Damn! I was in such a mess, but the amount of milk I got out of the expression made me less angry. I had 240ml of milk, WOW!

The damp breast pads made me uncomfortable as the day goes, and I was beginning to feel itchy around my boobies. Very soon, I was scratching and tucking at my bra. I had used the last pair of disposable breast pads I kept in my cooler bag, so I simply had to endure the discomfort til I get home. Bad news hit me, as I checked and found no more disaposable breast pads at home! I felt like I was going to die of itch, and my poor tits were already red from all that scratching..

I didn't want to put on the same washable breast pads again, so I had to take the day off and went to buy the disposable types which are thiner (but super absorbent!), and very contour-friendly. They follow the shape of our assets, and get nicely chucked underneath the bra. *Tip : Remove the breast pad from your bra when you breastfeed your baby. Let the breast that your baby feeds on, be free of the coverage and have some breathing time.

Sometimes you ponder, is breastfeeding really the smarter way to feed? From the financial point of view, yes, it is. 2 boxes of breast pads ($8.90 x 2) to a tin of formula milk ($39.50), and apparently, it may be 2 tins or more when each feed is on formula.

No doubt breastfeeding and expressing milk is tedious, but when you know that your baby is getting the best nutrition that no formula could match up; you'd tell yourself that all the hard work is definitely worthwhile!