Airflown Breastmilk

I'd never have thought that I would go this far to still breastfeed Verity (no pun intended). When my boss asked if I wanted to go to Japan for a week-long study mission, she was also concerned cos she knew I was still breastfeeding Verity. Well, I said yes after thinking through. And since I was going there, I thought might as well extend my trip and have a hol. Clem couldn't take leave so I asked Brenda, my all-time travel kaki.

It was only after I started planning that I realised what a huge "project" it would be to still continue to breastfeed Verity. I thought of pumping and dumping while I was there but it suddenly it dawned upon me that Brenda was coming back 1st after one week. So I asked if she was willing to help transport BM back. She agreed. A great pal, she is.

So I started to read up on pumping, packing, transporting and customs regulation. Really got very stressed with all these. Got help and advice from Multiply's Breastfeeding Moms group. With all the info ready, I felt more prepared (although still stressed) about the "project".

Brought styrofoam cooler boxes, reusable dry ice, milk bags, sterilising tablets, rafia strings etc. Had to double the contents since we were sending them back in 2 batches. Even brought along an English-Jap dictionary in case I needed to do some explaining either at the airport or hotel.

During the flight, I pumped in the toilet while everyone was napping to avoid hogging the toilet. And dumped.

After 6.5 hours of flight, I felt full and had to endure another 2 hours of transfer. Brenda and Ruth waited for me for almost 3-4 hours at the airport as theirs was an earlier flight.

Upon reaching the hotel, I had to settle the "adminstration" first. Meaning, needed to check how to store and what resources were available.

I was so glad to see an ice pail in the fridge. This meant there was an ice dispenser somewhere and I went looking for it. It was just along the corridor. So convenient.

After pumping, I kept the milk bag in the pail of ice, washed and sterilised the equipment. I called the front desk to check how I could have access to the freezer. The fridge in the room wasn't cold enough. I found out that I only needed to bring the contents to the front desk and they would keep in the freezer for me.

With all these settled, I felt more at ease and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip.

So began my daily routine. Morning, woke up to express. Deposited the the night before's and morning's product to the front desk. Had to emphasise freezing and immediately. I was given a puzzled look initially but a couple of them recognised me days after.

Twice during the day, I would manually squeeze in public toilets. These would go down the toilet bowls.

With a doubt, this routine was insufficient compared to that I had back home, plus having Verity drain me out throughout the night. The volume had reduced by half by the time 6 days had passed. But definitely better than nothing.

Soon one week's passed and Brenda and Ruth were leaving. Brenda left a corner of her luggage empty just for the box. After packing in the dry ice and milk bags, I attached a note detailing instructions for Clem. I sealed the box carefully and prayed that all would be well. Clem would fetch Brenda from the airport to collect the BM. Haha, sounded like some kind of illegal transaction.

In the afternoon, I received an sms from Brenda. When she was checking in the luggage, the scanner detected dry ice and the officers requested her to open the luggage. Brenda had to explain it was milk for baby and had to claim it was hers. If she had mentioned that it belonged to someone else, they would have demanded she opened the box. So thankful for her smartness. In the end, they poked a few holes in my box.

That night at 3 am, received Brenda's sms that the collection was successful. Heard from Clem also that the milk was still frozen and undestroyed. Now, to wait a few more days for the next news: that Verity was still alright after drinking the milk which meant there was no contamination. I thanked God for the smooth operation.

For the rest of the week, performed the same routine. Had to sleep late and wake up very early (5+am, which was Singapore's 4+am) to express as the group would depart early for the visits to corporations. My supply was running terribly low. Had no choice but to manually express. By the end of 2 days, my breasts were bruised and the skin had come off due to the excessive rubbing and squeezing. But had to carry on. I couldn't just stop there!

Soon it was time to go back home and I collected all my products. To my horror, the staff mistakenly placed one of my milk in the fridge instead of the freezer! In the fridge, it would only be good for 8 days and 6 days had passed.

I showed my very pissed look and refused to leave the counter. The staff apologised profusely but it was not his fault. After I had satisfactorily registered my fury, I left but couldn't helping thinking how that staff had wasted all my efforts even it were 2 packs. Might need to dump those 2 packs if they had turned bad.

Thank God, check-in at airport was smooth. Everything went well all the way home. Felt so assured seeing my bags of milk in the freezer.

Hope I had not been too pre-occupied with BM. Clem said I was too stressed over breastfeeding Verity and encouraged me saying that everyday is considered a bonus so don't get too stressed.

I try not to, but I don't belong to the "New Zealand" species where these mothers get pails of milk with little effort (ok, I'm exaggerating). They run like taps. Me? More like a leaking tap. Only drip, drip, drip. So you can imagine how worse it had become during that 2 weeks.

Now that I'm back, the next mission is to restore my former glory - having more milk so as to fully BF Verity again.

With many prayers and fenugreek supplements.