This entry was written way before the horrific news of a lactating mom made to expose her boob to unnerving immigration officers to prove she was indeed nursing when her breast pump was deemed suspicious. And clearly I am getting as much backlog as I can out of the way! Sorry if I'm rambling because...too little time and too much effort embedding the pictures!



I've not travelled out of Asia to test the security systems and so far, the officers have been very kind. Truth be told, I was seething when I read the article. And it turns out, there are many ill educated people on the topic of breast feedings.



Just thought I could just sum up what I've read in the responses, 

1) Breastfeeding moms pump to regularize the supply. How does being engorged for a full 10 hours feel when you're on long haul flight? Fill two plastic bags full of water, strap them on your chest and then turn on the lie detector machine too. It throbs, can hurt and in worst cases, cause migraines. 
2) Who ever says that you need to have devices attached to you all the time? If anything, its the shells that are used or breast pads to collect leaking milk.
3) It isn't always about "fresh milk". If breast milk always has to be consumed fresh, the almost common sense question to ask is - do you drink from the nipples of the cow?



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Before giving birth, I knew I had to make up for all the lost time spent being stuck without a holiday. And so I did with 3 trips planned once Speckie was born. What I did not take into account was - what if I were still breastfeeding?



Somehow, somewhere, somewhat...things will sort itself out.



I had plans to pump during the trip, freeze my milk and transport them back. Sounds good on writing? Here goes what went into bringing them back safe and hopefully sound. 



The pre-flight prep work



This sounds like a mammoth task already but the truth is, it is! Before my first trip I consulted my mommy group and forums how to tackle this task.

Daiso is godsent for cheap supplies and with every priced at $2 I did not feel the pinch bagging a styrofoam box, ice gels and a plastic container.



Declare at customs



I find declaring before scanning a useful tip, at least it saves me the trouble of being picked up by the scanner, unzipping and having the team examine the contents. With the exception of one particular officer who gave a disgusted face, the process has been smooth.



Pump on the plane



It was only after my first trip that I explored the idea of pumping at the airport rather than at home before the flight.



I would expect Changi Airport to have an abundance of nursing room considering how many children and parents traipse through it during holiday peak season. Turns out, it depends which Terminal you are at.



Terminal 1 has just 3 and 2 were occupied leaving me with 45 minutes before my flight and me hoping against all odds the last remaining nursing room would be available. I literally ran to it (coming from one who'd not usually run for a flight even) and was sorely disappointed with it. Granted all I needed was a space to pump but this was not very well maintained with a constant stream of stall owners and diners coming in to gargle their mouths after food or washing of utensils and even utilising the hot water dispenser for making of cup noodles. Some did not even have the decency to rinse the sink of their disposed cup noodle contents.



Pumping on the plane was a whole new challenging ball game on its own. Cathay Pacific flatly refused me when I requested for my Fridge To Go to be placed in the chiller citing policy as a reason. I did not bother trying with SQ. Picking a seat right at the back of the air craft saw a constant stream of people pacing up and down the toilets and after a while I pumped away under cover.



During the holiday



It was during my trips that I dragged my pump times, ended up with porn star cleavage, soaked through my breast pads and still ended up with higher supply. Vacations do wonders I must add, somehow being physically away helps with the milk supply though not necessarily with the mental state.



Storage



Believe it or not, not every international hotel chain's hotel room has a decent fridge. By means of decent means cold enough to chill milk (18 degrees). I shall not name names here but I ended up storing in their staff fridge before, made do with an ice bucket filled with ice to bring down the fridge's temperature and even panicked when the milk did not freeze properly.



Transport them home like a champ! 



Finally time came for the trip to end and the milk to be transported like delicate cargo.

My first attempt with a styrofoam box, enough duct tape to make a mummy and ice gel packs was not cold enough for all packets to remain frozen.



The second and third were alot better - so they say, practise does makes perfect! I used my cooler bags instead, padded them with ice gels, sealed my milk bags in a ziplog and further wrapped them with aluminium foil. Sounds like a hassle? But bringing them home still frozen is *fist pump* a very shiok feeling.



The only hurdle to cross is, what if I need to fly for more than 10 hours?