Breastfeeding/Pumping Check-In 4/5

[bluefairy5]

Sorry it's late this week!

Welcome to the breastfeeding and pumping check-in. Please tag bluefairy5 to join the check-in, change your info, and for general updates. If you don't update for 4 weeks in a row I'll assume you're done with the check-in and remove you, but you're always welcome to join in again.

IF YOU'RE NEW PLEASE TELL US:
- Are you EBF, EPing, combo feeding?
- Birthday of your child(ren)?
- If this is your second, etc. go around, let us know!

And for everyone...
- Successes?
- Challenges?
- New goals? Tips? Questions?

QOTW: Passover and Easter are coming up. Are you doing anything special?


lilyharper
Little Man born early October
BF once/day

bostongirl617
Baby BostonBoy born 10/17
BF
Goal: Night wean soon...please!

aves0708
DD born 10-20-15
BF
Goal: Make it to two.

bluefairy5
Wee Fairy born 10/26/15
NOD at home

rainbowbridge14
M born 12/2/15
NOD
Goal: KOKO

kaf7
Ds2 born December 2015.
BF once/day
Goal: KOKO until trip in May

nikiswimr
Little E was born 1/26/16.
NOD
Goal: KOKO as long as she wants

megrae12
Superman was born at 35 weeks on Feb 24th
BF
Goal: Drop comfort nursing

daydreamsam
Baby born Mar 21
BF
Goal: drop from 5 to 4 sessions during the day this week and cut out 1 night feed

westiemom
Baby O born 4/20/16
BF, occasional pumped bottle
Goal: A year definitely, maybe longer

wanderlust
LO born 5/31/16
NOD at home, pumping at work
Goal: Breast feed up to a year

katelm
LO born 7/18
BF, pumping at work
Goal: a year, depending on FET

disneykate
Emma was born 7/19
NOD at home, pumping at work
Goal: a year

tikoberry99
M born July 2016
BF
Goal: wean by 18 months for FET

bocaburger
Twins were born 8/10
Primarily BF with purees 3x/day and 1 bottle formula before bed

remylove1011
DD born 8/25
BF, pumping at work
Goal: a year

karabear4409
DS2 born 9/12
NOD, bottle before bed
Goal: a year

mg0202
DS born 10/6
BF, pumping at work, a little formula
Goal: 6 months

peaseblossom55
E born 10/25
Combo feeding, pumping
Goal: Get to the end of May pumping then go from there.

emilie
DD born December 2016
Combo feeding
Goals: Make it to 6 months, and continue to increase the amount from the breast if possible!

dancerspose
Baby girl Z was born 1/20
EP
Goal: Short-term, KOKO 'til back to work in April

turquoisequeen
DD born on 2/15
EBF and pumping once a day right now to try to also build a small stash
Goal: a year

.
LO born 3/23
Pumping & supplementing

[kaf7]

Thanks for the check in.
We are still at once a day. I came close to stopping this week but then he stopped biting and it is still too special for me. I am feeling really sad typing this today.

We celebrate easter but I am on call that weekend....so I will be at work. I do 7 of the next 12 nights. I want to barf thinking about it. This might result in the final wean.

[peaseblossom55]

I began work today, I was so anxious leading up to it but it wasn't so bad. I survived. Pumping at work is fine. I am curious to see if going back to work changes my supply in anyway.

I plan to go through the end of May and see where my supply is and go from there. My real goal is to get to a year but if I split it up into smaller chunks it is way easier to me.

QOTW: We spend morning and early afternoon with my family for easter at brunch, then go to H's family for dinner.

[kaf7]

Congrats on surviving your first day back to work peaseblossom55! With both kids the anticipation was worse than the reality.

[peaseblossom55]

Apr 5, 2017 20:29:39 GMT -5 kaf7 said:

Congrats on surviving your first day back to work peaseblossom55 ! With both kids the anticipation was worse than the reality.

Definitely the anxiety was worse than actually going back.

[bocaburger]

Thanks for the check-in bluefairy5! Please update my info to combo feeding. Goal: continue to provide at least some breastmilk through 1 year. Continue at least the morning nursing session as long as possible.

BF is not going great over here. My supply is still way down and although it is slightly better than it was at its worst, I don't expect I'll ever be back to EBF. I still nurse in the morning when they wake up, and offer the boob on demand all day long, but at this point they often don't want it. I pump every night before bed but don't quite get enough for a full bottle for each of them. Most of their sustenance comes from formula at this point. I'm very proud of how long I was able to EBF with twins, but I still feel very sad about the idea of it ending.

We are going to the pediatrician tomorrow for a weight check and I am very nervous. If they are still not gaining enough despite practically switching over to formula I am going to be really stressed out. And if they are gaining enough I will know that I wasn't meeting their needs before. :-(

QOTW: We will be seeing both our families over Passover and most importantly, meeting my brand new nephew!!!

[rainbowbridge14]

kaf7 Hugs for your feels. Contemplating weaning is so emotional!

peaseblossom55 congrats on surviving the return to work!

bocaburger I am sorry you are struggling (((hugs))). On a practical note, how long has it been since you were sick? I know my supply bounce back seemed to take forever. Also I know weight checks and feeding can get in your head and make you feel like you failed but you are not failing no matter the outcome! You are feeding your babies, taking them to get cgecked, and doing all you can to help them grow! No matter the outcome of the weight check you are an amazing Mom!

[rainbowbridge14]

I feel like I don't have much that is new. M is still very much into nursing and I'm finr with avoiding all the emotions that go with weaning for now.

My H has done a few solo bedtimes in the past few weeks which I guess is both a success and a challenge. He can get her down alone but she threw a huge tantrum this last time because she wanted to nurse and I wasn't there. Luckily I'm not gone often and I enjoy our bedtime session.

QOTW: We don't celebrate either. We are going to a local powwow that weekend.

[dancerspose]

Thanks for the checkin bluefairy5!

kaf7 enjoy your time together!

peaseblossom55 so glad your first day back at work wasn't too bad. I go back two weeks from Monday and I'm getting nervous. I'm also breaking my goals up into smaller chunks too. My LC was actually all in favor of that. She was all about making sure to celebrate and recognize every bit of time you're able to provide.

bocaburger I'm sorry about your supply, but you are seriously a rockstar for making it this long. Good luck at the weight check, and don't stress too much!

rainbowbridge14 sorry for the bedtime tantrum, but nice it know how much she appreciates your time together, right?

AFM, mostly just KOKO with EPing here. My output has been fluctuating a little bit, but nothing too drastic. I want to try just one day of doing only 4 pumps is like in terms of output, but I'm nervous to try. I was able to drop to 5 really easily, but I do want to try 4 before I go back to work. We'll see.

turquoisequeen did you get that new bra you ordered? If so, I'm curious how it's working.

QOTW - We'll be going to Albany for my family's seder for the second night on Tuesday. It'll be our first trip with Z...wish us luck!

[mg0202]

He is 6 months today! Made it through another goal!

He also has started sleeping through the night which has been awesome. I am waiting for my body to adjust though. Been waking up sore and engorged. Hopefully I will adjust soon.

New goal: I have always been nervous about making long term goals with our rough start, but things have been going well so I am going to say 1 year.

QOTW: not really. The easter bunny will hide eggs and baskets in our house. That's about it.

[megrae12]

Hi all! We are KOKO over here. Superman is trying to walk so that has dropped a couple of nursing sessions since he is more interested in moving. We are down to about 3 or 4 a day, which is HUGE considereing where we were a month ago. He still has to nurse to sleep unless we are in the car. He can go to sleep without it, but it's a long, drawn out process and involves a lot of tears. I would love to wean down to about twice per day and I have a feeling that will happen naturally since he is getting more mobile.

QOTW: We will go to church then hunt Easter eggs and spen time together as a family.

[westiemom]

-Successes: we have had 2 nights this week that she slept through the night again. Maybe working our way back to that?!

-Challenges: I just need to decide when I want to wean. Taking it day by day now.

-New goals: I'm out of goals! It's crazy. DD is 1 in 2.5 weeks. I did it.

QOTW: church and yummy food!

[aves0708]

K is 17.5 months and we are still going. She loves nursing and would nurse once an hour if I let her. I am still dealing with nipple pain so her nursing alllll day long was killing me. I finally set some limits with her and we're nursing 4, occasionally 5, times a day at most and it's so, so, so nice. I'm enjoying nursing again, despite still having the pain. And actually setting limits went much better than I expected which was a pleasant surprise.

QOTW: We don't really celebrate Easter but we'll do a basket for K and possibly color some eggs with her.

[bocaburger]

The weight check went well. G is 15lb 7oz and stable at 16%. M is 16lb 2oz which is 7%, up from 5% last month. The pediatrician was very happy with it. She was really reaffirming and told me that I did amazing with the breastfeeding but that we are doing the right thing by supplementing now. I her.

[disneykate]

Emma and I are KOKO at 8.5 months. She still breastfeeds 4-5 times a day. I am still pumping an 1-3 ounces less than what she takes in on most days but my freezer stash is still decent.

We expanded her solid food repertoire, adding in pancakes and mashed potatoes. She will open her mouth for the pancakes (and also for puffs) and gum and swallow them, but she still won't put food in her mouth by herself. Of course she'll put her toys, books, etc in her mouth but not actual food items- babies are weird!

QOTW: I am working Easter Weekend, but we will still go to church on Sunday morning before I have to go in. I got Emma a personalized basket this year and I want to dye Easter eggs with her.

[daydreamsam]

Thanks for the check in bluefairy5!

We are doing the same ol same ol here. Slowly working our way towards no boob. There are times when it makes me so sad, C already seems to prefer her dad over me, it's the only thing I have with her that's just ours.

QOTW: My sister and her family will be coming as they usually do and we will do an egg hunt and big ham dinner

bocaburger Glad the weight check went well!
aves0708, Glad setting limits helped! When C gets boob needy my nipples ache too, it's the worst!
peaseblossom55, Glad to hear the transition back to work went well

[lilyharper]

Hi ladies!

Little Man is 18 months old. Still bfing once a day in the am. Kind of shocked we're still going. He's 34 inches tall and a little over 27 1/2 pounds.

kaf7, 100% get where you are coming from.
peaseblossom55, it's hard to go back! congrats on doing it. =)
bocaburger, good growth! I'm in awe of you ebfing twins for any length of time. I never managed to ebf just the one.
rainbowbridge14, I miss the nighttime feed. Was my fave. But it's nice to had the hubby get to do some of the nighttime stuff. She feeling better?
mg0202, congrats on the 6 months! It's the best when they start to sttn...aside from re boobs.
megrae12, yay for almost walking!
aves0708, sorry about the pain.
disneykate, hahah, so she's baby birding it?
daydreamsam, same here with the dad being the coo!est.
bluefairy5, how ya doing?

QOtw:no plans as of yet.

[kaf7]

Can I just comment on how wonderful I think it is that we have a group of women doing "extended bf". What a wealth of knowledge for anyone new to BF. Go SAIF!

[rainbowbridge14]

bocaburger so glad the weight check went well and was affirming for you!

daydreamsam hugs! We had strong daddy preference here too but around 14 months it switched and she is currently all about me. Phases ate weird.

lilyharper she is feeling better. We still have the drops for two more days but her eye is all clear. I think for us she may drop her morning feed before her night one. The morning one seems to be getting shorter for sure.

[katelm]

Just KOKO over here. C will be 9 months in 1.5 weeks ackkkkk and we are still going strong. She's still nursing a few times each night & EBF except for a little bit of solids each day. I'm letting her get more interested in solids in her own time but it seems like daycare is really trying to push it which is annoying. Im like just let her be a baby. Who cares if all she does is mash banana in her hand and throw it on the floor. She will eventually get it. They are really pushing me to give her more solids, especially table food.

[turquoisequeen]

I'm late to the party this week.

We're just KOKO at 7 weeks and not much is new. DD has been consistently nursing 7 times a day (unless growth spurt) which is great and is starting to fall into a little bit of a loose schedule of napping and such. We are following the EASY schedule from baby whisperer.

She is such a sweet baby.

QOTW: we did an egg hunt today with DS. He loved it but wasn't a fan of the Easter bunny that was also there. We will do a low key family dinner next weekend. I think I'll skip the Easter basket thing again this year since neither kid (both under 2) know what's going on and start that when they're older.

[turquoisequeen]

dancerspose I did! I like it. I'm glad I did not size down and the nude color is a pretty pinkish nude. The only negative about it I would say is I won't be able to wear it without nursing pads inside it bc otherwise nips show. Not a big deal bc the pads don't bother me and maybe this wont be the case for everyone wearing it but I can wear my bravado without the pads no problems. It definitely seems supportive enough for working out but I haven't actually worked out in it (or worked out at all pp yet haha).

[kaf7]

., I think your pedi likely just assumes you are aiming to not supplement at all. If you want to be supplementing just call and tell them that. Then they may not want to see you back so soon. That said, if you are aiming to have your supply regulate to her needs you do want to aim to just give her BM. continuing with both is fine but it may mean that at times you give more formula if your supply isn't in sync with what she demands on a given day.

[nikiswimr]

kaf7 I totally get all the feelings about weaning.

peaseblossom55 I'm glad the first day back wasn't as bad as anticipated. Some days I'm so happy to get some adult time and feel professionally stimulated, some days I just want my baby. The life of a working mom...

I lost most of my post so will be back to check in with everyone else.

E is 14.5 months and no big changes. It's the weekend so we've been nursing a lot but we're mainly 2-3 x a day. I still seem to be making milk despite all the estrogen. I am feeling tired and craving doughnuts however, sigh.

QOTW: we'll do church then brunch. I got E a cute Easter dress and basket and we'll probably "hide" eggs.

[emilie]

bocaburger you have done an amazing job so far, especially with twins! nothing wrong with having to supplement a little.

DD is 16 weeks and we are still combo feeding, probably will be through the year. She is eating like a monster and growing like crazy. We nurse 5-6 times a day and she is taking less than half of her diet in formula now, which makes me happy that my boobs are getting the memo, even if just a little bit.

QOTW: Going to a Seder tonight. I am making the deserts - let me tell you, baking solo while taking care of an infant takes hours longer than you think it will