We are at an age where there are literally no boundaries and viruses travel far and wide.

And we are currently in the midst of a storm of Influenze A (H1N1). Much has been said about the whys and the hows and the howtos. I cringed reading about the escalating death tolls, here in Malaysia and we’re not talking some occasional numbers here, we’re talking about 6 to 3 deaths per day.

And everytime it’s always someone from the high risk groups and babies and pregnant mothers come on top.

It’s best to take extra precaution at the moment if you are breastfeeding or have a small baby. I’m not a big fan of wearing masks, especially when this particular strain of virus is typically spread from droplets of bodily fluid of an infected person. Not entirely airborne. So, I prefer to sanitise my hands more and avoid touching my face, eyes or mouth that much.

Wear a mask if you’re sick, but more importantly practise excessive hygiene in this trying times.

A friend came to me crying about his husband demanding that she stops breastfeeding their 2.5yr old baby girl. Both ends of breastfeeding aren’t ready but the hubby is just not comfortable with the mother breastfeeding a toddler.

I hugged her and I comforted her. In Islam, a wife must obey her husband. But in this case, I advised her to seek some leeway, maybe give her about 3 months to gradually wean her off.

After all, the toddler has never had formula before and breastmilk has been her primary nutrition. And another crucial factor, the time. This is when whatever precaution you can take, to boost your immune system, you have to do. What is best for your body to be able to fend off the infection.

And taking the toddler off breastmilk is not the wisest decision. The toddler will suffer immesureable stress of being weaned abruptly, and worse, her immune system sill drop to a low because the nutristiona nd the enzymes that kept her strong all this while is suddenly been cut short.

And I thought that is the primary reason why she should let her gradually wean her off for at least 3 months.

I feel rather sad for her, but more proud that she stood her ground and she recognised what breastfeeding was to her and the baby. It’s too bad that the father had to come in between, but we all have challenges.

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One of my favourite reasons why Hand Expression Technique is preferred over any breast pumps is because it’s just so mobile.

You can do it almost anywhere and anytime because there isn’t much equipment to lug about.

Clean hands.  Check!

Wide-mouthed milk bottles.  Check!

That’s it.

That’s all the basic stuff you need. I’ve hand-express in many places and even in clean toilets too, although that’s not entirely preferable.

When I started to hand-express my 2nd daughter about 9 years ago, we have a praying room at the office.  So during peak hours at the praying room, I would be doing my 2nd session of expressing for the day.

It never failed to amuse my colleagues when they saw me expressing.  And most of their comments were how easy it was to hand-express.  They were also shocked to see that how much more milk I was able to express in that way.

Although most people are a little shy to be expressing in public, when you do hand express, it literally enriches those around you.  People suddenly are aware that you can do this and how much better this is.

Since I started this 9 years ago, I’ve had a number of friends who were already breastfeeding and expressing their breastmilk  using breast pumps, switched to hand-express and have never looked back.

I’ve taught a number of people and demonstrated how it was done and it was always very humbling to hear them say that they never thought it could work.

I’ve also had friends who have babies and regretting that they did not breastfeed their older children because they thought they could not.  And while they saw me expressing, the sound of milk spurting against the wall of the bottle, they became inspired and finally found out that they COULD breastfeed.

That only shows that it’s all in your mind.

So, just give this a try.  You’ll be suprised at how well you could do this.  If I could do it, there’re not a lot of people who could not.  Seriously.

Having understood how long EBM can last either at room temperature, refrigerator or freezer, you must also devise a plan on how best to maximise the usage of the EBM.

Over 4 kids, this is my GRAND PLAN.  *snigger*

It’s pretty simple actually.  During my 2 months confinement period, everytime I nurse, I always express from the other breast.  Need to build stock before I start work.

Once work begins, how I store the EBM depends on that day of the week.

For Mondays to Thursdays, EBM is always stored in the refrigerator.  Because it will be the baby’s feeds for the next working day.  Freezing preserves the live of EBM but it does kill certain enzymes and it’s best to have the EBM as alive as possible.

Fridays, I would immediately freeze the EBM.  This is because, the Fridays’ stock will be used on Mondays and because the EBM would not survive  a whole weekend, I need to freeze it.

Sunday nights, I would bring Mondays’ stock down from the freezer to the refrigerator for a gradual thaw.

And this begins again weekly.

There would be days when you are forced to work late or overnight trips.  And since if you’re home, there’s no way to express as the baby may as well grows out of your hips, I always make it a point to wake a little early around 5:00am, when the baby is normally fast asleep, completely sated from her marathon nursing and express.

That is how I managed to cart 28 bottles of 10oz each of EBM to my mother’s place who was to watch my baby while I attend a meeting in Bangkok.  And true enough, when I came home 3 days later, my son Ariz was on his last bottle.  Timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

So there.  Not impossible my friends.  Just worth every sweat.  Seriously!