Breastmates: December 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Breastfeeding Video

I dont know if i ever did post about the breastfeeding video that I made. I spoke about making the breastfeeding video in an old blog post: http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/10/breastfeeding-video.html

Here is a embedded feeding video that I made, and host on Youtube.

Its that noisy suckling feeding baby!

I have more ideas in the pipeline too!

Enjoy this breastfeeding video, its not a breastfeeding tutorial video, just a self recorded moment.

Return to our breastfeeding blog here: http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Here is a list of all the places that I have breastfed my baby Lochie.

in hospital
at home
at the inlaws
on a plane
on the snow in Queenstown
on the snow at The Remarkables Ski Field
at my friends houses, Anna, Erina, Kylie, Mark & Bridget
at the zoo
at cafes
at the hair dressers (! bit hairy!)
in the library
during the Santa Parade
at a funeral (afterwards)
at the park on a bench
on a swing
on the decking outside
in the office while working
in bed
in a changing room at a clothes shop
in a mothering room at the shopping mall
in the car

Click here to return to my main breastfeeding blog http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/

Or click here to view my shopping website for sexy maternity lingerie and breastfeeding maternity stuff online http://www.breastmates.co.nz/

Breastfeeding Wrap

Breastfeeding ponchos are a great addition to any pregnant mothers wardrobe. Versatile for wearing throughout pregnancy, fabulous to wear when you have a new baby so that you can discretly and easily feed baby under the poncho. And great to wear afterwards too!

These are 100% merino wool poncho, made in New Zealand. The Mumcho Poncho is a great garment to wear for breastfeeding in public, its a breastfeeding wrap that is stylish and just lovely to wear. And its a different choice to having to buy specific nursing clothes and breastfeeding tops.

You can order your Mumcho Poncho directly on our webstore here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/breastfeeding_ponchos.html

Return to our main breastfeeding blog

Engorged Breasts

The other day a lady came to see me, she had very large sore engorged breasts. She came to my studio shop in Auckland as she had heard about my breastfeeding website Breastmates.

One breast was heavy, and full of milk. Sore. Painful breast.

One breast was fine, normal, no pain.

You can see in the photo above, how the breast on the left is full and is very round. its sitting higher than the empty breast on the right hand side.

The treatment we suggested was a hot shower and massage just to ease out a little of the milk from the engorged breast. Then she tried some heat packs.

If the pain had been unbearable for her, then we would have expressed some milk out with a breast pump. But this would have meant that her breasts would have made more milk ready for a few hours time, which just would have repeated the problem later in the day. Using a breast pump to relieve engorged breasts should really be a last case resort.

Copyright photo with permission

Return to our main breastfeeding blog

Breast Changes during Pregnancy

Here are a few observations of mine, how breasts can change while you are the reproduction phase of your life.

1. Getting pregnant. The first few weeks, like before you might take the pregnancy test, you may have sore and tender breasts.

See our related post for when to fit a maternity bra: http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/11/when-to-fit-for-maternity-bra.html

2. Around 14 weeks pregnancy, or so, breasts seem fuller. This size continues throughout your pregnancy. Some people go up a size, most dont.

3. During pregnancy, still experiencing fuller breasts.

4. Towards the end of baby gestation, around 30 weeks + you might notice your breasts seem to have a lot of veins, alot more visible veins. Milk ducts.

5. Labour. Nothing changes really. Birth, and initial breastfeeding. Feed baby the colostrum. Might be sore nipples getting latching correct. Strange that there is colostrum there and ready for baby to drink.

6. A few days after giving birth, you may have the WHOA effect! Breast engorgement when your breasts seem to feel HUGE. They will be full, heavy, very sore! Your nipple may feel tiny compared to this huge swollen breast. This is when your milk comes in, and you now have to get baby to drink it. Argh the relief when baby latches, drinks, and empties the breast.

7. A week or so after birth, after the milk supply settles, breasts will be back at the pregnancy size. Fuller than pre-pregnancy.

8. After you have been breastfeeding for a few months, your breasts will usually return to the pre-pregnancy size even though you are still feeding. You will nolonger feel like you have full breasts, and many mothers worry that they dont have enough milk, as they nolonger have the full feeling. This is just because your body is used to it, and your baby's needs.

9. Unfortuantely, when you stop breastfeeding, your breasts may seem a lot smaller. Less perky. More sagging. You should try to find pushup moulded cup bras, chicken fillet bra inserts, and a correctly fitting bra.

10. boob job. :-)

Return to our main breastfeeding blog

See also: When to fit a maternity bra, Maternity Bra Fitting, Sexy Maternity Lingerie

Breastfeeding Notes

A summary of breastfeeding blog entries that we wrote in August 2008

Your Rights as a Breastfeeding Mother
WAHM and Home Business
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Breast Milk Storage - freeze defrost heat - some T...
Sexy Pregnancy Lingerie Shocked NZ
Competition for the new face of Philips Avent
Nursing Covers for Discrete Breastfeeding in Publi...
Breastfeeding and Expressing: Choosing the Right B...
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Bras - Fitting
A Little background about my WAHM business
Marketing of breastfeeding
Breast Feeding After C-Section
Breastfeeding Discretely in Public
Breastfeeding & How to Latch Your Baby
How to Preserve and Store Breast Milk
How To Express Breast Milk
Lactation Boosting Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip & Flaxs...
How to Spot Mastitis
What to Pack in a Hospital Bag for Labour....?
Tigers Milk Recipe to Boost Milk Supply
Essential Purchases for New Born Baby
I've started

Return to our main breastfeeding blog

Shopping Online & Christmas Hours

We will be open and checking orders during the Christmas holiday season (except Christmas Boxing and New Years days).

Orders will be dispatched on working days.

For some items that may not be available for packing in our studio, the items will be sent during the first week of January. But we will email you after we receive your payment to let you know the status of your order, and expected delivery.

We will be a bit slower to respond to emails, as we will be having some family time too. Allow 24 hours for a reply.

Visiting hours may be different to normal operating hours, it will really depend on whether we are home or having some fun with our kids.

This is me and my boys photographed on Christmas Day. Santa and the reindeer had put up the swing set on Christmas eve! The reindeer even left foot prints on the deck while they ate the carrots. The swings have been a big hit!

Return to our Breastfeeding Blog

Saturday, December 27, 2008

How to Heat Baby Milk?

Using baby formula?

Ever wondered, precisely, how much volume of boiling hot water combined with how much volume of chilled cold water, will mix to give you 37 Degrees Celcius of warm water/formula mixture ready for baby to drink?

Well, thanks to some high school maths here is the answer.

Make x = mLs of 100 degree water

make y = mLs of cold water

make z = final mixture volume then:

x + y = z (volumes)
100x + 4y = 37z (temperatures)

we know z = 200 mL bottle required for baby feed
so x + y = 200
y = 200 - x
Therefore
100x + 4y = 7400
100x + 4(200-x) = 7400
100x + 800 - 4x = 7400
96x = 6600
x = 68.7 mLs of 100 degrees boiling water water
y = 131.3mLs of 4 degrees cold water

Combine these to get 200 mLs of warm water ready to drink. Add your powder and viola!

This is the first time that I have found a simultaneous equation to have a real life application.

I will also be calculating, if you have a bottle of chilled breast milk, how long do you have to leave it resting inside a jug of hotwater, for it to warm to 37 Degrees. This is very complex, and actually requires a differential equation (computer model) to simulate it. ... coming soon!

For information on formula doses for baby age view here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/how_much_milk_babies_drink.html

Thanks Minty

Return to our Breastfeeding Blog

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

HOTmilk Wins Awards

The HOTmilk SEXY lingerie style has been voted no 1 in the UK!

UK magazine Pregnancy and Birth have recently announced the winner of their readers test with HOTmilk taking out the top prize with a 10/10!

HOTmilk is now the most sexy and desirable brand, but have also proven the products have outstanding comfort and support!

In the "Bloom Awards" HOTmilk won the ‘Best for lingerie’ award. With the quote ‘ Comfortable, luxurious and very very sexy - this maternity lingerie is too good to be kept under wraps!’

The Silhouette of a Secret style was reviewed and the comments were "These were my absolute favourite - comfortable and sexy. Perfect underwear for pregnant women. My husband loved them too" 10/10

This just goes to show how popular HOTmilk lingerie is with mothers all over the world, HOTmilk is now The Sexy Brand!

To browse HOTmilk products visit the Breastmates online store....

Return to our Breastfeeding Blog

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Bottle Feeding Tip #3

A tip if you are trying to get baby to drink from a bottle.....Tip #3:

It's best to do this over a few weeks, so that your breasts can adjust to the change in demand and then not produce as much milk. If you rush this and do it too quickly, you may get very large engorged breasts, very sore. And the risk of developing mastitis.

Heat packs!!!

Baby Slings online

I have just uploaded some new images on my website, for the Nature's Sway Baby Slings that we sell. I love these new images, they are very Kiwiana with the bush background etc. This picture is my favourite:

I see a lot of baby slings and baby carriers advertised over the place, most of these have mums wearing the baby. This is a nice photo of a dad wearing his baby in the baby sling.

That's the beauty of the Natures Sway sling that we stock, it is adjustable so can be worn by mum or dad.

For more information on these baby slings, have a look at our website here:http://www.breastmates.co.nz/baby_sling_natures_sway.html

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Bottle Feeding Tip #2

A tip if you are trying to get baby to drink from a bottle.....Tip #2:

Keep calm.

A good way to keep yourself calm is to sing. Personally I like singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I keep calm over the crying. Baby is not happy at the sight of the bottle. Even though its yummy.....

Breast Pump Size - Breast Shield

I recently received this email from a worried customer:

"I had my baby 4 weeks ago and tried expressing for the first time 2 days ago. I'm not sure if I have the wrong size breast shield or what I'm doing wrong, but it seemed very hard to get a flow going (and my breasts were full) It flows out for a couple of pumps then nothing. Then occasionally there's some continuous flow, but for no obvious reason - as in can't see what I'm doing differently. Also for a while after pumping my nipples are quite sore."

I replied to her:

"It is quite common for women to find it difficult to express, and it is quite a "mind set" to overcome to get the letdown coming. But based on the sporadic nature of the milk coming out, that you described, I would first assume that you are not getting a very good suction seal around your breast. (and therefore a 21mm breast shield for pump would probably be better) I would suggest you try the smaller breast shield, you can order this directly from me with your credit card. "

Knowing what size breast shield to get is one of the hardest things that i ever have to consult on.

That communication was back in August, but today I received another email from the same lady who wrote:

"I don't know if I ever emailed you back after buying the smaller medela breast shield to say that it has been just right for me. I've been able to express milk fine since using this one - so the medium must have been a little big and not sealed properly. So thanks for your helpful advice with this. Baby is now 4.5 months old and is happy and healthy. Breastfeeding and sleeping is all going well. "

I'm so pleased that I was able to help!

(this advice is copy righted to me. Ok.)

Bigger Bust Size - Maternity Bras

A common question I get asked in regards to the Hotmilk Lingerie range of sexy nursing bras:

Question: I just wondered how supportive the larger size maternity bras (F/G cup) of the hot milk bras actually are? I'd hate to buy them just to find out they don't provide much support for the bigger bust.

My Answer: This is the third collection of Hot Milk bras that have been manufactured, and the design and construction has vast improved from the previous two collections. The fuller figure bras have been designed and “engineered” to be suitable for fuller figures, and more supportive fabrics have been used in the construction. The straps are wider, the back band is wider and has 3 rows of hooks, and the larger size bras have an “A” shape that supports the breast when the cup is open for feeding.

The two links below are the styles that are more suitable for larger bust size bra, from the current sexy lingerie range.

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hot_milk_lingerie_confidence_radiance.html

http://www.breastmates.co.nz/hot_milk_lingerie_age_allure.html

These go up to G cup.

To view all the styles available use this link: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/lingerie.htm

Cleaning Breast Pump

A common question in regards to breast pumps:

Question: In regards to cleaning the breast pump....what is the best way to do this? I have a microwave sterilizer for the bottles I have; can this be used for the parts of the breast pump that need cleaned too?

Answer: everything that comes into contact with breast milk must be cleaned. Wash first using hot soapy water and a brush. Then sterilize.

Medela don’t manufacture their own brand of sterilizer, but they do have microwave sterization bags which work the same was as a sterilizer would anyway. Alot of mothers use other brands of microwave sterilisers and dont seem to have a problem. You could also sterilize by using a saucepan, all the items need to be submerged in boiling water for 5 minutes. You could also sterilize using Cold Sterilisation tablets, such as Miltons.

Question: Also how much milk should I be expressing/reheating at one time for one feed?
Baby age of about 3 weeks, you should offer about 100mLs for a feed. Baby might not drink it all, but offer 100mL and see how they go. For more volume-age guidelines use this link:
http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-much-does-baby-drink.html

There is a lot of different tips and topics that I have written about. You can access via this page:
http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Articles_Breastfeeding_Nursing.html

You can buy all the medela products at our webstore http://www.breastmates.co.nz

Christmas Picks

Ages ago, when I was a teenager (no that wasnt ages ago surely... bad start to a paragraph). I used to think how cool it would be to have a summer job doing Christmas Gift Wrapping at the mall. I love wrapping presents! Well now I have my dream job! I have been wrapping gifts and sending them directly.

The top pick's for Christmas gifts have been the Hotmilk Sleepwear. I think it is easier for guys to buy the sleepwear items, as it is easier for them to purchase the right size. They just need to secretly look at the size clothing their partner is wearing, like S, M, L, XL on her tshirt and then they can get the right size maternity sleepwear on our website.

Above: Maternity Breastfeeding PJ

Above: Pregnancy and Breastfeeding PJ

Above: Maternity and Breastfeeding Night gown
Some guys have been purchasing sexy lingerie. So they either know their partners size, (or have looked in her knicker drawer), or perhaps the women told her partner what size to get.

Anyway, only there are only a few more days left to purchase in time for Christmas. If you purchase before or on Friday, that is the last day we can guarantee that the gifts will arrive in time.

Now, what can I tell my husband I would like..... a voucher for a massage would be nice hon. I go to About Face in Mt Eden......

Bottle Feeding Tip #1

A tip if you are trying to get baby to drink from a bottle.....

Tip #1: Give them a drink of water in the bottle first. They will get to try the teat and have a bit of a play. They might even drink some water.

Its better for them to practise on water, rather than wasting a whole bottle of expressed breast milk, formula, etc!!!

Maternity Knickers

Today I'm going to talk about knickers, panties, briefs, undies, whatever you call them. Maternity Underwear.

All of the hotmilk nursing bras or feeding bras that we stock at our store, they all have matching maternity underwear. Its really sexy maternity underwear too! The styles of knickers vary from bikini, french, g-string, or boyleg styles just depending on what bra you are buying to match.

These maternity underwear are all suitable for pregnancy, as they sit under your bump and are not high riding. And of course they are all suitable for after the baby is born. Though I dont really suggest that you wear them immediately after the birth - for that time you might want to buy some cheap big black Nana undies...... but just think of the gorgeous knickers you'll be wearing when v-jay-jay is back to normal!!

Having a set of gorgeous maternity bra and knickers as your pregnancy underwear set, will make you feel fabulous during your pregnancy. And they are so functional and practical too, for you to use after baby is born. Its a good value investment. The quality of these garments means that you'll be able to wear them for future pregnancies and nursing baby's too!

Here is the selection of Hotmilk Knickers that we have at the moment. I have just put the images below for one knicker from each style, though all the bra styles do have 2 different knicker choices. A new collection is also arriving in 2009.

These knickers all have matching bra's of course. But today's blog chat was meant to just be about knickers.

Click on the picture to link to the website

Gstring

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Breastmilk Ice Cream

I read an article in the latest Oh Baby Magazine that Lucretia sent me. (Thanks hon).

Extract from Oh Baby Issue 4 , page 10.

"Would you eat ice cream made from human breastmilk? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) want peole to do just that, sending a letter to the founders of US Ice Cream giants Ben & Jerry's urging them to swtich from cows' milk to breastmilk in their products.

The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesnt make sense, says PET Executive Vice President.

Apparently PETA got the idea from a Swiss restaurant owner who will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituing breast milk for 75% of the cows milk in food he serves.....

extract.

Now I wonder how much breastmilk would cost per litre.

I wonder if goodie goodie gumdrops would taste the same. Maybe this is something I could take up with Tip Top!!

oooh, another idea. Maybe my baby would like breastmilk iceblocks or breastmilk icecream during this hot summer weather rather than me warming a bottle of expressed milk for him......! might try that!

100% breastmilk icecream made by me!!

Customer from Italy

You know the other day I wrote a blog post, about all the orders that I was getting from Canada, and that I should just hand deliver them.... http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2008/12/hotmilk-lingerie-canada.html

Well today, one of my customers who lives in Italy, where I usually send her parcels to, she came HERE! It was cool to actually meet her in person, and her two spunky boys who are about the same age as my boys. Shame Angus was at preschool though, he would have liked to play with the older boy and could have told him all about Bob the Builder.

Meeting with this lady today, and chatting while she looked at some of the products that I have here at my Studio, it was like chatting with an old friend.

Coming from Italy, she would have to be my customer that has travelled the furtherest to see me!!

She told me that Italy has a great maternity leave scheme. 80% of your pay for about 4 months, then 30% pay for a year. They have to hold your job for 8 years. And when you are working, you get an hour off for breastfeeding. How'bout that!!!

Breast Pads

Breast pads are unfortunately the un-glamourous part of breastfeeding. Leaky boob pads.

I started my business after I developed wool breast pads, and then hemp breast pads. Both of these are reusable types that you can wash and reuse. Its flattering to think that these are being used by so many people around NZ and the world. Yay! I like using them because they save money, ecofriendly, good for absorbancy etc. You can read some feedback from customers on this page here: http://www.breastmates.co.nz/feedback.html

I also sell Disposable Breast Pads at my online store. I've tried all of them - that's the advantage of having a baby now so that I can test more stuff. The ones I sell on the website are the Medela Disposables. So I'm going to do a quick review of these now, my own words. I can do a technical one with absorption comparisons etc later.

They are very trim and slim, not bulky like some other disposable breast pads. They are already in a moulded shape, so this helps with the fit and means that they dont show through clothing. They fit really nicely into my Hotmilk Nursing Bra that I am wearing. Absorbency is good for me, they contain leaks.

The disposable breast pads are individually packaged. That annoys me a little bit, I dont understand why they would pack 1 pad at a time. I'm always going to change 2 pads, and wear 2 pads. Seems more hygienic to me to change 2 at the same time? I would prefer if they were packaged into pairs. The packaging is a good idea (although a little wasteful) because then I can put them in my handbag, nappy bag etc.

The breast pads also have a sticky adhesive bit, so that it can stick to your bra. But I dont know why they do this. All brands of disposable breast pads that I have seen, also have this feature. Do other people find that breast pads move around, shuffle around in their feeding bra? Mine don't. My nursing bra fits me correctly, and my breast pads just slot in.

Maybe people like their breast pads to stick to their bra, for when they open their nursing bra to feed baby. But again, that's a little bit weird for me. I always just remove breast pad (and hide it under my leg where I am sitting), then open up the nursing clip, then feed baby.

But yeah, thats my chat about breast pads.

Hotmilk 2009

Here is a sneak peak of the new Hotmilk Lingerie styles that will be available for 2009. Make sure you join up to the Breastmates Newsletter to be notified when the new stock is available. You can sign up here http://www.breastmates.co.nz/join_newsletter.html

Nursing Bra sizes include 8A to 20G (but not in all the styles) and maternity underwear sizes 10 to 18.

These are lovely styles of Hotmilk maternity lingerie! Yes we can ship worldwide. You will be able to order these maternity items online, or come over to our shop in Auckland. You can trust Breastmates for all your Hotmilk maternity lingerie!!

Breastmates is a Top 10 website for lingerie and underwear maternity garments, so do make sure that you add us to your favourites.

These styles are coming soon. Our existing Hotmilk Lingerie is available NOW and is just as delicious!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Extended Breastfeeding Already

So I was at the doctor today...... He just flipped a random question in "and are you still doing any feeds for baby". I replied that yes I was still breastfeeding him, and that he was not having any formula yet.

The doctor was very surprised by this. ?!!?!??!?? He said like "oh really, oh goodness, well, indeed, that is very good, well done". My baby is only 8 months.

I thought I was normal, most people breastfeed their baby this long don't they. I felt like he considered me an extended breastfeeder. But my baby is only 8 months? I just don't get the doctor. In my definition, extended breastfeeding is anything passed about 18 months really.

The doctor went on to say, that babies "really only need breastmilk for the first few months, the first 3 months are the most important. Most mothers stop at around 6 months. You don't see many babies breastfed after 1 year."

I can't quite remember everything else that he said. But basically, he thought I had already fed my baby long enough. And i certainly don't think he was endorsing breastfeeding for any longer.

He is usually such a great family-doctor-guy but his comments really surprised me.

It seems when you have a newborn baby, everyone wants you to breastfeed, and there is a lot of pressure on mums to do this. But once the baby gets a bit older (but is definitely still a baby) then there is pressure to hurry up and stop feeding! Talk about mixed messages.

Hotmilk Lingerie + Canada

I received this email from a customer that had ordered some Hotmilk Lingerie and breastfeeding products from me last week, she lives in Alberta Canada. I wish I could hand deliver some of these international orders!!

QUOTE:
"Thank you, I will let as many of my friends as possible know about your site. Interestingly enough, it's actually cheaper with the shipping for me to order from new zealand than to go shop for most of this stuff here. Also, it's different than everything here.. nice to have a change.Have a great day and looking forward to getting my x-mas gifts!! "

END QUOTE

Death Flowers

When my sister-in-law Allison passed away on 26th November, my husband and I got sent lots of flowers.

I took some photos of them, because they looked pretty but then they died quickly. And that kind of reminded me of death. ick.

I also had to borrow some vases from my neighbour Mrs Joy.

Whenever I order flowers to send to someone, I never know what $ value to order. I never really know how much money will buy a nice bunch, or if it will look to cheap. And I obviously never see the flowers, as I'm sending them to the person. So just incase the people that sent us these flowers are reading this blog - they will be able to see what their $ brought. THANKS!

So here are the flowers that we got sent. My parents-inlaws got about 15 bunches so you can imagine what their house looked like.

Above: From Hubby's work.

Above: From Hubby's ex-work collegue Alyane

Above: From my wonderful girlfriends Oct Mums

Above: From Uncle Bill & Jean

Above: From Kate and her family

Above: From Lisa & Mike.

Above: okay so this wasn't flowers but can you imagine my joy at having 2 big boxes filled with posh chocolate biscuits!!

We also got sent lots of cards. Some people have waited to send the card, just to let us know that they are still thinking about us, a few weeks after. Thats a nice way to do it, so that we didnt get bombarded in the first day or two. A few weeks after is nice.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Monday, December 15, 2008

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