Greetings! I'm a February 15 mama (originally a March 15 mom but my little guy was just too excited to meet us to wait any longer). My boy was born premature and had a severe tongue tie which meant he just could not latch at all. That but a major cramp in my plans because I wanted to EBF. I was pretty bummed and thought I'd have to do formula but then a LC told me about pumping. She told me to pump every 2-3 hours for 15 minutes and my milk would come in. Then I could bottle feed my breast milk. Lo and behold, my milk flowed and I've been able to feed the boy without having to use formula! I write this now with my boobs strapped in my double-pump bra.
I have some questions for you all. Right now I don't mind pumping in the middle of the night since I'm on maternity leave but when I go back to work I'm worried it will drain and exhaust me. How do you cope with EP and getting enough rest? I'm not worried about pumping at work since I'll have plenty of privacy (summers are slow and I have my own office - plus my boss is very pro-breast milk). But this nighttime routine will not be sustainable with my job.
I look forward to getting to know y'all and hearing your experiences!
This might be why I don't have a stash set aside now that I'm back at work but my LO is STTN so I pump at 11 then get up at 5:30. That seems to work for us, although, like I said, I am making just enough for her and nothing extra. So, if you are comfortable with that, I would say try not to stress because eventually you won't have to do the MOTN pump unless you absolutely want to. I've been back at work going on a month now and haven't had to get up at all since I went back. I pump at 5:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., sometime at lunch, 4 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and again at 11.
Post by Shoe Crazy Me on Mar 2, 2015 14:59:48 GMT -5
Ideally, as long as LO is waking at night for feedings you will want to pump during the night. Once my LO stated sleeping longer stretches over night I gradually dropped pumps by going from 3 to 4 hours to once overnight to none.
I didn't wake up in the middle of the night to pump for DD or pump when she woke up in the middle of the night after I returned to work. But I did wake up to pump before getting ready for work at 4am and then pumped again at work by 7am. As long as you get enough pumping in the early morning when prolactin is the highest and consistently pump throughout the day you should be fine, although it may take your body a little time to adapt.
Thanks everyone! It's reassuring to know I don't have to pump all night long for the same results. Right now I am pumping 2-3 times at night (when DS wakes to eat) and its tiring but you do what you have to do. I heard your supply is established at 12 weeks. I do have a decent freezer stash going since I produced 20-30 oz a day when DS only ate 10-15 oz but his intake is increasing. I think I'm going to hang on to my hospital pump, at least until my leave is over. I tried my PISA today but I only got half of what I normally get from my hospital pump it's worth $50 a month to avoid $300 a month in formula!
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