Breastfeeding – The Milk Memoirs

Reflections on my Breastfeeding journeys with Tommee Tippee

Posted on March 31, 2019 by MilkAdmin

Motherhood is quite a trip, eh? Its an amazing, awe-inspiring & incredibly humbling experience. It has you daydreaming one moment and then can bring you to your knees the next. Its fulfilling and beautiful, its soul stretching and possibly the hardest gosh darn thing you’ll ever do in your life as a woman. And if I think about it, nothing personifies this more so, than breastfeeding!

Now, as a full time working mom who breastfeeds, with a genetic predisposition for (milk) oversupply, it always leaves me so gobsmacked as to how married to my breastpump I am. We’re like freakin Siamese twins – we go nowhere without each other. In fact, there are times when it feels like Continue reading →

The Blur of Newborness

Posted on August 10, 2017 by mommabeartrax

Cloud nine, is where you put me, baby!

You know it’s coming, you know what you’re in for – especially if youre not a first timer. And even more so if this is your third time around. But you’re never truly really prepared and whenever you try to quantify it for someone else who has not quite walked this path yet, it becomes tricky to actually explain where all your time goes. How the clock has ticked over a solid 24 hours and you’re still in jammies, and not sure if you’ve even left the room other than for the bathroom yet. But that newborn blur is real.

And such is the life once you welcome that little babums into your world; Feeds bleed into one another, as Continue reading →

The Vital Role Fathers play in Successful Breasfeeding

Posted on August 19, 2016 by mommabeartrax

Tips on how dads can support breastfeeding mothers.

I don’t know about you, but my breastfeeding journeys did not go so well. Both of them. I blissfully thought that after my first one that I’d have it all waxed and knew all there was to know about breastfeeding issues now. Like a walking, talking, milk-squirting booby milk encyclopaedia. I mean, I basically had lived and breathed them all, right?

But I was wrong – as my second baby came along to prove. I had a myriad of challenges, most of which often left me in a crumbled tearful mess on some nights. But I had made up my mind about breastfeeding my kids, so I researched the crap out of it, and did all I could to get us back on track. Happily I managed to eventually breastfeed them both until they decided when they had enough.

Sure, it was all happy clappy in the end, with a lot of Continue reading →

Tips for successful pumping at work

Posted on March 22, 2016 by mommabeartrax

So you’ve decided to continue breastfeeding after going back to work. (Or maybe baby decided for you) 🙂 High five, mama! But let’s be straight here, whether you have a high pressured job or not, keeping this pumping business up does take some doing. Or at least that was my experience in it. And I suppose me saying that may be surprising to those who knew how set I was on breastfeeding until baby decided it was time. But, as always, I’m going to keep it real for you. And despite it all, it is still very, very doable!

As with any undertaking in life, it’s best to go in Continue reading →

The ONE Instructional Video EVERY Breastfeeding Mom Has To Watch!

Posted on March 14, 2016 by mommabeartrax

I’m not even kidding. You HAVE to watch it. Whether you’re slick and an ol’ nick at it, or if you’re new and struggling: watch it. If you’re not breastfeeding, but your daughter, friend, niece, cousin, sister, neighbour or whoever is – watch it. And then get them to watch it too. If you wanted to breastfeed but couldn’t (for whatever reason); If you’ve never breastfed yet, but really want to, then watch it. Whatever category you fall into: Just. Watch it.

Remember when I posted about the Continue reading →

Baby wearing: How to tie a baby wrap

Posted on February 9, 2016 by mommabeartrax

BUGG Wrap

Baby wrap 101: The basic tie.

This was actually a post that I wanted to publish right in the first few days I started blogging. Because, hells bells, this wrap saved my sanity. And there almost wasn’t much left to be saved. It was an absolute game-changer for me as a mother.
And I knew there’d be plenty of other moms out there who’d benefit from this little nugget of wisdom.

Sure, it’s not a newsflash, but so many moms out there are often either too overwhelmed by Continue reading →

The simple picture that put me back on the road to Breastfeeding Success!

Posted on January 12, 2016 by mommabeartrax

Photocred: Marysol Blomerus, A day in the life photoshoot.

Ever been to the lactation specialist while having latch issues, where she grabs your boob and smoothly & seamlessly sticks it into baby’s mouth with the perfect latch? Then there’s you, all awe-struck and stuff. Amazing, you think! So you ask her to do it again, ’cause you’ve been struggling your touche off all this time, so it must have been a fluke, right? Except, she does it again. Perfect score. And you’re like “Halluleha, all my troubles have passed, let’s pack it up, I got this breastfeeding thing in the baaaag. Sianara, Nurse Awesome!”. Only to come home, sans professional help, and you and baby are all like fumblia-supreme. Again. Reopening old nipple wounds, frustration levels creep up again. Confidence levels tumble down. And you’re like “but, but…ohhh, ffs!”. Yes? Happened to you? Yeah. Me too.

In fact, very much so with baby number two. Now, I’m not sure if I even had as hard a time with my first or if it was more just the reality slap in the face that I got from the false sense of security that the experience with my first one gave me. I mean, I had been through some tough stuff with her first, so I was like, whatever breastfeeding challenges you’re bringing life, I got this! Except I didn’t. Because feeding baby number two was not at all like Continue reading →

Mastitis: My personal slice of breastfeeding hell and how to remedy it

Posted on November 16, 2015 by mommabeartrax

Mastitis is one douchebag you certainly dont want to encounter on your breastfeeding journey. Like ever. She’s a cruel little wench that will pretty much have you ugly-crying up into the heavens for mercy…or possiby for a swift death. Whichever comes first.

In fact, it has often been the reason why many mothers out there call it quits completely on breastfeeding, despite how much they really wanted to. And, I for one, can tell you I DON’T blame them. Not one bit. If anything, I Continue reading →

Natural Relief for dry/itchy scalp: A breastfeeding woe.

Posted on October 20, 2015 by mommabeartrax

Hormones got me like, ” why so serious”

[UPDATE:Another link for some health tips for your scalp added towards the end.See below.]
Itchy scalp, is nobody’s friend. Whatever’s the cause: breastfeeding or not. The irritating and constant need to relieve the embarrassing itchiness with a quick scratch here and there. The unflattering flakiness that sprinkles it’s joy anytime you even just slightly touch your hair..urghhhh! Dry flaky scalp, with or without the itch is universally uncool in the highest factor. And for a long time, I suffered from it, thanks to the side effects of breastfeeding hormones.

I mean like, for my choices in nourishing my child, Mother Nature couldn’t be more rewarding, right?! (I have a few choice words for her about that- read that here.)

But such is life, and such is the human body. Particularly so for the female human body, who seems to endure so much throughout her entire life. Gotta love them hormones right? However, for every mud pie nature slings your way, there is also am equally opposing little ray of sunshine she has on offer too. So I’d like to share with you what natural methods Continue reading →

Some freakin’ amazing facts about our boobies!

Posted on September 29, 2015 by mommabeartrax

So from all these heavy breastfeeding posts on my blog, like here, here, here and here, whilst Im keeping it very very real, you may start to wonder whether I truly am pro- breastfeeding. I mean it all sounds so… so negative. So I decided to focus on some positivity today. Because gosh darnit, there’s so many positives about breastfeeding, it certainly needs the spotlight.

Now, before we get started, lets be clear on something, this post is not, in anyway trying to sideline formula feeding moms. ( #fedisbest ) It is instead to Continue reading →