My Vow to Breastfeeding

For one year and nine months since August of 2010, my pledge to breastfeed Carly carries on. My reasons for keeping my promise to breastfeed are quite simple: so I can boost my child’s immunity, provide her the best nutrition and to keep our mom and baby bond. 

Apart from being a wife and mother of two, I also have a career in public relations. I didn’t live a glamorous life just like what the tagged photos in my facebook account shows. The cocktail parties, campaign launches and other events I take part in are all for business purposes. Images of late night partying, drinking, etc, are far from what really happens in the parties I attend to. I’m usually there to meet people who can be possible business partners, catch up with media friends and often times assist in other publicity tasks for post photo releases.  

After I gave birth to Carly and resumed to work, a typical day for me would entail waking up at 7 in the morning (hubby’s an ‘earlier’ riser, he wakes up at 5a.m.), pump breast milk, prepare breakfast, shower and leave for work. Before 7, I get home, eat dinner and nurse the baby. I am so so glad hubby is a hands-on dad with my pre-schooler Eve especially or else I’ll go mad! 

For a parent with a corporate career like mine, I CAN excuse myself from breastfeeding my baby. But I DIDN’T. I refused the idea of setting aside my first priority (family) for a handful of tasks that awaited me in the corporate world. I also CAN give up my day job to be a full-time breastfeeding mom yet I didn’t. I knew in my heart, I also need this career not only to help sustain the family finances but for my personal growth, too.  

I may sound complicated but I believe life is some sort of a big puzzle, you just have to find the right pieces to solve the picture. 

So here’s what I did. 

As soon as I knew I was pregnant, I researched for the tools/equipment/things that will aid me in breastfeeding ‘from a distance’. By ‘from a distance’, I mean if I’m out for work, events, seminars, meetings, etc. I’ll be forever thankful to my breastfriends including my trusty Avent Isis BPA-Free Manual Breast Pump, Pigeon breast pads, my dark Pashmina (which I cover myself with when pumping) Avent and Tommee Tippee milk containers and bottles (all BPA-Free) and my reliable Fridge-To-Go for keeping my precious milk cold. They were with me for almost a year and yes, I can still use it if we plan to have another baby. 

Second thing I considered is asking for permission at work. At the office, I requested for my immediate head (our asst. mall manager) and HR to allow me for some quick 10-minute breaks so I can pump milk. I am fortunate enough that I work for a company with a strong advocacy for breastfeeding. 

Everyday, I pump every 3 hours and store it in our office fridge. I usually yield 4-8 ounces each pumping session and bring home a total of 16 to 24 ounces of breastmilk for Carly’s consumption the next day. When I get home, I pump for extra milk to be stored in the freezer for back-up. My baby had more than enough milk so I also donated at once to our local orphanage to benefit the babies there. 

One dilemma that I faced was the out-of-office work I take part in like Tree Planting activities, court hearings, event launches and meetings. I thought that if I have the right and complete breastfeeding aids, I would be able to do outdoor milk extraction. I was wrong! By wrong, I mean I should boost my confidence first and whisk all hesitations away. I used to think pumping in public is too embarrassing but while I was on a bus on my way home, my breasts were so engorged and is aching already, I badly needed to express milk! “What the heck. These people won’t even care if my child gets hungry so I better pump now,” I thought to myself. With my pashmina on for coverage, I got my breastpump out of the Fridge-To-Go, unbuttoned my blouse and drained one breast after another. My colleague, Kuya Marc was beside me and even cheered “Go pumping Momma!” I can say it was one of my most unforgettable moments in my vow to exclusive breastfeeding. 

As soon as Carly turned 1, I decided to mix feed her with formula milk during daytime and breastmilk at night. I thank God for the wonderful experience of breastfeeding and the opportunity to be an instrument in nurturing a baby, the natural way. Being able to nurse your child is not a lifetime and permanent undertaking. Rather, it is a temporary mission given to mothers to experience the most unconditional and miraculous way of loving their precious young ones.