My Latest Discovery: Techni Ice Reusable Dry Ice Pack

As I have said, I have been traveling for these past few months and my first dilemma then was how to continue breastfeeding when I am not with my baby. There are actually two options on this. First is to Pump and Dump which I have made on my first travel. You see, it really broke my heart to waste those precious breastmilk. But it was the best that I can do especially when I was lacking time then and I was not yet prepared (physically and emotionally) to be away from my baby.


Now the next and better option to continue pumping is to be prepared for it. Prior to my second travel to Cebu, I was lucky enough to score a great discovery which is Techni Ice! My friend from Singapore sent me this and it was a heaven sent for working and pumping moms like me. Google Techni Ice and you will see that it is quite popular to pumping moms in Singapore and Malaysia. I haven’t seen it here in the Philippines. So what is Techni Ice or the so-called “next generation ice and heat pack”?





Here are some highlights according to the website (www.techniice.com):

TECHNI ICE from Australia is a superior alternative to ordinary ice and common ice packs available to keep contents in your cooler box really cold, for days not hours.

Techni Ice™ stays frozen 6 times longer than regular ice and can be frozen to negative –80 Degrees Celsius, as cold as dry ice gets.

Techni Ice reusable dry ice packs / gel packs can be used hot, cold or frozen can not only keep your food and drinks icy cold for days on end in the cooler but is also very effective at reducing battery consumption when placed in 12 volt fridge/freezers due to its eutectic qualities, which minimise thermostat activity.

Techni Ice reusable dry ice packs / gel packs start as a flat sheet and absorbs water through a special perforation technology in the surface of the product.This is achieved by scrunching the sheets between your hands whilst immersed in warm water for a few minutes until the air bubbles have escaped.The hydration process will now begin and the cells will swell ready for the products to be used both cold or hot.
The water enters through the surface and activates the polymer, which then swells the sheet into 24 individually sealed cells Which enables the product to be flexible when frozen and cut to size.

For pumping moms, here are some additional information:

For working moms on the go, keep your expressed milk fresh even if you do not have a fridge available for you use.
- Use it with a regular cooler bag to be able to keep your expressed breastmilk cold for up to 12 hours*!
- Use it with your fridge to go and you have your reliable mini-refrigerator*!
Guide:
- If you use it to transport your expressed breastmilk from your office refrigerator, then even 1/2 sheet of techni-ice can be used.
- If you use your cooler bag as refrigerator substitute, then 1 to 1/2 sheet or even 2 sheets are recommended.
NOTE: With Techni-Ice, the longer you freeze your sheet in the freezer plus the colder the freezer setting, then the longer period of retention and the longer that your precious breastmilk will stay fresh.
*may vary depending on outside temperature. It is recommended that the cooler bag to be placed inside airconditioned areas to ensure retention of coldness.

Good news! You can get your techni-ice here.

In my next post, I will put a my own procedure of traveling and pumping for the working mom.

Back to Blogging

I have been missing in action in this blog for several months and I hate it. I was too occupied with my work that I haven't really found time to post here. So what were the noteworthy work and pump happenings during the recent months? I am proud to say that I have been lucky to continue with my breastfeeding despite my frequent travels to cebu and davao. My little AJ is 9 months now and I haven't thought I will get this far in breastfeeding. This was not made possible without my breastfeeding gears which i will be sharing in my next post.

For the meantime, here are my angels:

Breastfeeding While Travelling

Another dilemma for the working-pumping mom is when you have to leave your baby for a business trip. And I am unlucky to be in such a dilemma now. *sigh*

I work as marketing and sales for this aviation company so it is expected that there would be some business meetings here and there. When I came back from my maternity leave, I tried my best to defer some long travels. Back then, my mindset was only to breastfeed my baby for the first 6 months. And I was quite successful in my delaying tactics. In the past 4 months, I just had several client meetings in Clark and within Manila which is bearable for me in terms of distance. On these times, the harder part was how to excuse myself from my (foreigner) boss when I needed to pump.

But now, my mindset was changed and I have decided to extend this breastfeeding routine up to a year or more. And today is that dreaded day when I confirmed that we will have the sales meeting in Davao. It is two-days from today and I am not prepared for it on so many ways – I need to finalize my presentation, need to arrange all errands at home and for my little AJ and need to condition my clingy little Ichi. And most importantly, how about my pumping? How do I transport my expressed BM when there is a 100ml liquid restriction when going onboard? I think it would be better if it would only me who will be traveling. But I am with my boss. And the idea that the check-in/check-out will be somehow delayed (explaining about my breastmilk to the airline officers etc.) is kind of awkward for me. I think I will have to just pump and dump whatever I express. But then on the second thought, why should I waste my precious liquid gold?

Oh well this is another challenge for the working and pumping mom. Let us see how we can deal with it.

My Pumping Gears in Action

As requested, here are some pictures to best describe my pumping gears at work.

This is my 11oz. storage bottle. I use the breastflow bottles for my little AJ and it is a nice storage bottle as well. Once the bottle is full, I then use the lansinoh bottles that comes with pump as additional storage bottle.

It may not be very visible on this picture but this is the flange assembly. This is one good thing about Lansinoh - lesser part for easy set-up. I put the flange assembly inside a gallon-sized zipper bag.

These are the ice pack that I am using. They are called hot or cold pack and available at Mercury Drug. Since my travel time is usually less than an hour, this works for me. The blue ice can also be used but they are too heavy for me.

This is my Lock & Lock Cooler bag. I bought it at SM at around Php 500. It has two compartments which is the main reason why I bought it. It also has a mesh pocket in front. It is where I put my business card for identification purposes. One side story: A male officemate also owns the same cooler bag so I really had to put identification on mine. My colleagues were asking me, what if I went home and just found out that we have mistakenly switched our bags? OH mY!!!!! I do not want that to happen. So that is the purpose of my business card there.

On the bottom part of the cooler bag is where I put the folded ref tote, paper towel and then the ice pack. Next would be the flange assembly and then the storage bottle. The arrangement would be different when i am going home since I have the pumped milk already. My travel is only for 40 minutes but I see to it that one ice pack will be wrapped around or put beside the storage bottle for more effective cooling.


On the top compartment of the cooler bag is where I put the pump motor and the tubing. I also keep the nursing cover, and extras (breastmilk bag and spare batteries) underneath.

This is my pumping set-up while I am at the office. On the upper left is my Lock & Lock Cooler Bag from SM. On the Upper Right is my "ref tote." This is where I put my flange assembly (in ziplock) and my pumped milk and then I put it inside our office refrigerator. This picture was taken inside one of our classrooms. I was lucky to be employed in a training company so we have classrooms available where I can do my pumping session.

I am most happy when we do not have lots of classes which means I can reserve one classroom as my "pumping room." This also means that I can keep the classroom key and I can just leave my pump set-up inside the classroom for the whole day. I just cover my pump set-up with my nursing cover.

These are my bags when I am going for work. There are days that i am commuting to and from my workplace so I always see to it that i bring only the essentials to lessen my hand baggage. I hate it most when it's raining so hard - I have to carry my 2 bags plus an umbrella. It is really a lot of sacrifice for the working mom, but all for the sake of our little ones.

The pumped milk that I got for the whole day will be for the next day's feeding. If I am staying at home for the whole weekend, the pumped milk on Friday, will be for the next Monday's consumption. I put my pumped milk inside the feeding bottles (I use Breastflow bottles) then I put it inside a quart sized zipper bag so that it will not get the smell of other items inside the fridge.

This is my freezer stash. I dedicated one compartment for my breastmilk alone. The breastmilk bags are inside a bigger ziplock again to be sure that it will not get the smell of chicken or pork or whatever is stored in the freezer.

Hope this helps you!

My Pumping Gears

Thanks to following paraphernalia, I am able to give the best milk for my little AJ. I am very much budget-conscious so I included here my personal recommendations and helpful tips as well.

BREAST PUMP

If you are working, I strongly suggest buying yourself a double-electric breast pump. This will save you a lot of time and you will find that it is easy to maintain working and pumping at the same time because you only need to be out for around 15 to 30 minutes. Skip on the manual pump or the single-electric pump as this will either be very tiring or will be very time consuming. In the end, you will only choose to stop pumping at all because you’re having a hard-time on it already. If you are conscious about the cost of the double-electric pump, just make a cost-analysis versus the amount of money you will spend on formula. I hope I can write a sample analysis in the future.

Additionally, you should be careful on picking on the brand of the pump since this pump will be your life-line on your working days. You need a pump that is durable and very reliable. And consider the price as well.

There are many types of breast pump out in the market. They are pretty high-priced if you buy at the malls (read: up to 32,000pesos for a pump! OMG!!) Lots of it you can buy or order online to save up some money. When I researched about pumps early 2009, I was choosing between Lansinoh and Medela. Medela was the number 1 brand when it comes to breast pumps but being a cheapskate that I am, I was too skimp on spending almost Php 20,000 for a breast pump. Then I found about Lansinoh. Lansinoh has great reviews locally and abroad so it was my final choice. Later on, I will write, and brag about my Lansinoh.

COOLER BAG

The Cooler Bag a.k.a. Insulated bag is needed to keep your pumped breastmilk cold while at work so it will not spoil immediately. Cooler bags prices range from around Php 300 up to as much Php 3,000 or even more.

There are two things to consider before getting your self a cooler bag:

1. Do you have access to a nearby refrigerator while at work?

- If you answered yes, then you just need your cooler bag while you transport your breastmilk from the workplace to your home refrigerator. Proceed to Item No. 2.

- If you answered no, then I suggest you buy those special cooler bags that can keep your breastmilk cold for up to 12 hours. One trusted brand is Fridge To Go which starts at around Php 1,500 and up.

2. How long is your travel time from work to home?

- If your travel time is more than an 90 minutes, then it is good to invest on a Fridge To Go as well. It is a good investment anyway especially if you plan to breastfeed for 6 months or more. Another plus is that even after breastfeeding you can still use the cooler bag as a lunch box.

In my case, I have an easy access to a fridge at work, and our house is not that far away. Being the cheapskate that I am, I just improvised my own cooler bag and accessories.

I just bought a Lock & Lock cooler bag from SM priced at around Php 499.95. This is perfect for my Lansinoh since it has two compartments. On the top compartment, I put my nursing cover, extra breastmilk bags, the pump itself and the tubing.

On the lower compartment, this is cooler part. Here, I put my flange assembly and my storage bottles together with my ice packs.

ICE PACK/BLUE ICE

So what is the use of the Ice Pack? This is to serve as cooling element inside you cooler bag again in order to keep your breastmilk cold. There are many options available in the market. You can buy some blue ice from the department store (around Php 200). But personally, I find these blue ice packs very heavy. So I settled for an ice pack as substitute. And they are cheaper too! Hot and cold packs are available from Php99 and up depending on the brand. I have 2 ice packs inside my bag. One is at the bottom while the other one beside the bottles with pumped milk.

STORAGE BOTTLES

I use the Breastflow Bottles from The First Years for my baby. The starter kit includes a bottle cover which makes the bottle a perfect storage bottle as well.

BREASTMILK BAGS

For my frozen breastmilk, I use Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags which are available online. They are affordable and durable. I was also able to use Nanny BM Storage bags as well which is around Php 250 for 25 bags at SM. Although I still find lansinoh BM bag easier to use.

ZIPPER BAGS (Gallon Size and Quart Size)

The zipper bag comes very handy when you are breastfeeding and working. Th is where I put my flange assembly when not in use while at work. Since pumped breastmilk can be kept inside the refrigerator for a few days. Why not for the pump parts? Others are cleaning their pump parts every after use. But as for me, this is not very possible since i am working so we just do the cleaning at night time time when I am at home. Others might not agree to this but I am okay with it and my little AJ is fine with my milk.

Going back, I just put the ziploc bag inside my "ref tote" together with my pumped milk and put them inside the fridge.

As for the brand, I use Reynolds for the quart size and Glad for the gallon size. The Ziploc brand is okay, it was the first one that I used but it’s pricier than the other two – around Php 150 for the gallon wherein Glad brand is only Php 120. I find the quality of Glad better than Ziploc and Reynolds.

BREASTFEEDING COVER

This is one is not really necessary depending on your circumstances. I have the Nursing Mom Nursing Cover and it was the best. What I like most about it is that it has a sturdy neckline where I can peep on my “inside” and the side pockets where I can put my breast pads. But I really haven’t used it for direct breastfeeding in public. I used it as my cover while pumping at work. There are times when I do not have a room reserved for me, I would just look for an empty cubicle and pump there while using my cover. Even on those lazy days when I just want to pump right on my table while surfing the net – I am only able to do this when the big boss is out.

So, for my next entry I will share my pumping gears in action.

Top Tips in Successful Breastfeeding while Working

"How did you manage to breastfeed successfully while working?"

This is the question that i have always been asked every time people learn that I have breastfeeding my little AJ who is going 6 months in two weeks. (yey!) You see, nobody from my circle of friends, neighbors, and relatives ever did this. Working full-time and managing to continue breastfeeding. So imagine how proud I am because of this achievement. And with this blog, I will share to you

I tell you it is not very easy. So here are some personal tips on how you can breastfeed successfully even if you are working:

• Arm yourself with a lot of information about breastfeeding. Ignorance is the number one hindrance why most women do not succeed in breastfeeding. Well, I myself have been attacked by this "ignoramus istupidus" bug when I gave birth to my first-born. I only have little knowledge - that breastfeeding is the best for babies. Other than that, nada.. So I was only able to breastfeed my ate Ichi for less than a month. Things were a lot different on my second pregnancy. Well, I am much wiser (I hope) and Internet was my best friend. So during the course of my pregnancy I have researched already on the many benefits of breastfeeding which made me more revved up to breastfeed my son. I also read on what I need to know and what I need to have to breastfeed successfully. Visit http://kellymom.com/ for a very nice and helpful website about breastfeeding.

• Hoard all the perseverance that you can get. If there are any "bottled perseverance" for sale, then hoard a truck-full, or maybe some more. You need all the perseverance that you can get to strive this challenge. Breastfeeding is not so very easy especially for the first few months. But when you get to manage those first months, well, you will feel like you're a master on your own right. (like me.. LOL)

• Get a support person/group. It always best when there is somebody who will supply you the good words and the best motivation that you can get to continue on your breastfeeding goal. It maybe your husband, your mom or your friends. But it is better if your support person or group have been on the same boat as you are so that aside from giving motivations, they have answers to your dilemmas. I am proud to be part of this breastfeeding moms online community from Girltalk which is actually a big part of my 6-month breastfeeding and working success.

• Set a little goal at a time. This worked very well for me. It is always easy to hit a smaller goal vs. a big time goal. When I was pregnant, my goal was just to be able to breastfeed my son exclusively while I am on my maternity leave. When I returned back to work, I told myself that I will be pumping until my little AJ turns six months. Today, barely 2 weeks for my 6-month goal, I still couldn't think of weaning my little AJ from my breast. I am still happy (and sometimes ranting) about my pumping and breastfeeding. So for now, I extended my goal indefinitely. Maybe 3 more months, or maybe on my little AJ's first year... I don't know. We will see.

• Accept it, you may or you may not breastfeed exclusively. In my case, I was able to breastfeed my son exclusively for the first 1.5 months, and I am proud of that. As I was going back to work, I learned that I couldn't pump enough milk that would match the milk requirements of my little takaw err little AJ. I was pumping around 9 oz and yet he consumes 12oz. Even today at 5.3 months, I am able to pump 15 to 17oz but he drinks 18 to 21oz. So I accepted that I had to supplement with formula. At first, I was so keen on getting more milk for him but then I tend to get less. Yes, stress is one of the many factors that could affect your milk production. From then on, I told myself that I will not pressure myself to produce more milk. The fact that I am trying my very best to provide him breast milk is enough for me. Until now, my little AJ is taking around 80 to 85% breast milk on work days and 100% breast milk whenever I am home. Isn't it a great?!

And the most important tip of all, if you are a cheapskate like me:

• GET YOURSELF AN EXPENSIVE BREASTPUMP! I am a self-confessed kuripot and my dear hubby is the master of all kuripots! LOL! So imagine his reaction when I told him that I will buy a 9,000pesos worth of breastpump! Yes, i heard all the negative words.. "It's a waste of money..." "What if you don't have any milk?" etc. I gave him the cost analysis but still he was not 100% supportive. I understand his reactions since this is a new thing to him and to all of us. But you see I was very determined and I just told him to just wait and see until we reap the benefits of this investment. I had my way and I asked my officemate to buy for me a Lansinoh in the US plus some breastfeeding accessories. After I gave birth, I was determined to breastfeed. There is always this reminder in my mind that I should not fail or else, lagot ako kay hubby. And now, I can say that if not for my lansinoh, then I will not be able to succeed breastfeeding and working during the course of my little AJ's 6 months. Right now, I am contemplating on buying a more expensive breast pump in order that I continue to breastfeed up to 2 years! Haha!