Breastfeeding/Pumping Check-In 5/15/17

[dancerspose]

So sorry I missed last week. Work was a little crazy, and I wasn't online much...

Welcome to the breastfeeding and pumping check-in. Please tag dancerspose to join the check-in, change your info, and for general updates.

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: How was your mother's day?!?

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

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: Wean down to about 2/day

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

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: 1 year
Congrats on 6 months!!

peaseblossom55
E born 10/25
Combo feeding, pumping
Goal: Made it to 6 months, now month to month

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: KOKO until 6 months

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, nursing & supplementing

[peaseblossom55]

Success- my pumping output has been pretty even and good, despite my low supply
Challenges- I am so tired of pumping.
Goals- I'm making it through May but I am probably going to start weaning pumping in June. It feels a bit sad, but I feel like life will be better afterwards.

QOTW: Mother's Day was simple nothing too exciting.

[megrae12]

Hey all! We are down to once per day. I think he is mostly nursing for comfort as I'mnot sure if I'm still producing. We've made it 14.5 months. I will keep going unroll he stops, so who knows how long we have.

QOTW: mother's day was good. Superman made me a card and H cleaned and cooked!

[nikiswimr]

Hi ladies, thanks for the check-in dancerspose!

peaseblossom55, you have definitely given it your all and pumping is tough. It sounds like you're making the best decision for you but I can see how that would be sad.

megrae12 yeah we were pretty much doing comfort nursing with minimal (no?) milk the last couple of weeks

bostongirl617 I'm glad night weaning is working!

AFM, same old. Mainly nursing am/pm although did more this past weekend. Interestingly my supply which had pretty much gone to zero with PIO has bounced back (FET didn't work) so we're back temporarily to regular nursing. Plan from here is up in the air but for now we're still BF.

QOTW: I was flying solo with the baby and initially it seemed like MH had forgotten, but he did redeem himself by taking me to lunch after he met us at the airport.

[peaseblossom55]

nikiswimr, thanks I think I would be sad to end this part of my parenting journey at any point whether I hit my one year goal or not.

[turquoisequeen]

Same old here. DD is 12 weeks. She's doing a good long stretch most nights.

I left to have some me time for Mother's Day and it took an hour for her to take a bottle from DH. It was like she didn't know how to suck on it properly. He tried a million things and finally she took it 😕 it was stressing me out and making me feel awful. She hasn't taken a bottle in about 2 months so maybe we need to do it more often so whenever I'm gone at a nursing time it's not a big problem.

Qotw: pretty simple (minus the bottle issue). Had lunch with my mom and some time without the kids.

[westiemom]

Hi ladies!

We haven't nursed before bed the past two nights. We are now down to once a day. I am feeling pretty awful about it today but my cycles are just so funky that I feel like I need to drop down to try to regulate. I am torn on whether or not I will drop the morning session. She hasn't ever asked for milk outside of normal nursing times but randomly asked today. I distracted her away from it but am just so torn. Part of me wants to say screw it and let's just let the cards fall where they may TFAS and just nurse her and enjoy it and part of me wants to wean so I can fully give TFAS my best efforts. I just don't know. Sorry for the word vomit.

[disneykate]

Hi all!

Emma and I will hit 10 months breastfeeding on Friday. Mostly just KOKO at this point. I did have a few issues with getting her to eat from both sides this weekend. Usually I only have an issue with that if she is still tired when I wake her up for daycare. So not sure what is going on, but she did take the other side eventually.

I am just planning on maintaining the status quo for now and then start the weaning process after we hit one year.

QOTW: I had a nice day. We were out of town staying at my in-laws because it was my nephew's baptism day (my SIL didn't realize it was Mother's Day when she scheduled it haha). Emma made me a flower at daycare and DH got me a personalized photo frame with a nice picture of Emma and I from our recent cruise.

[rainbowbridge14]

peaseblossom55 You have done an amazing job getting to this point pumping! Everyone I hear talk about weaning notes the sadness or bittersweet moments so you are no alone in feeling sad about it ending even if you can also be proud about what you have accomplished and happy for the time you will gain.

bostongirl617 I am in a similar boat with having no idea how I'll ever wean this kid. I've been working on limiting some sessions and telling her she can't always nurse as long as she wants and it is tough.

nikiswimr Did you limit her during any part of the FET process? That is also interesting about the supply bounceback!

turquoisequeen M got like that with bittle a bit at various points. Hopefully more practice lets her remember how things worked.

westiemom Just offering more hugs friend! I have no good advice but I can imagine how hard it is to be torn emotionally on this.

disneykate I know M's nursing slowed down as she got older so she might just be wanting less milk, especially if she has picked with eating solids. It felt crazy to see her reduce her nursing when I fought so hard to make sure she got enough but it is pretty normal.


M is 17 months and change and all is good here. Her new thing is asking for a blanket to cudfle with during our bedtime nursing session. It's cute but I have no idea why it suddenly became a thing.

**TW**

I am going back to the RE and they are testing my prolactin before I go in. Nervous it won't be low enough for my RE to let us cycle but also curious to see what it is now that I no longer pump and only nurse a few times a day.

QOTW: H and I made the decision not to celebrate Mother's or Father's Day. We do however go to a powwow on Mother's Day weekend every year and this year my brother and sister-in-law were also there. It was nice to catch up with them and other old friends and enjoy the event.

[karabear4409]

Hi ladies! We have made it 8 months BF! DS2 is teething and/or in a growth spurt, and I feel like my nipples are going to fall off. He has nursed every 1-2 hours since midnight. He's killing me.

He's eating more solids, and taking less in the bottle he gets at bedtime. So, I have been able to replenish my freezer stash a bit. That was giving me a lot of anxiety, so I'm relieved.

QOTW: I had a great Mother's Day! DH got me a necklace with the boys' initials and birthstones. We went out to a nice lunch and dinner. I also went to a Mother's Day tea at DS1s school. He gave me a rose, a gift and a card. It was so sweet.

[rainbowbridge14]

May 15, 2017 15:17:21 GMT -5 bostongirl617 said:

rainbowbridge14 FX on your prolactin levels to be within the range needed to move forward! I know it is hard. I have gotten much better at saying no to extra sessions, but it is not easy. I have no idea how you limit duration of the nursing session. If I tell him we are all done he says "other side, other side" over and over again. He is persistent!

I always give her both sides but she will switch back and forth two or three times and keep wanting to nurse so I mostly just stop her after she has had each side and tell her all done. I also stop her if she is super fidgety and not really sucking. She would stay latched forever if I let her.

[aves0708]

peaseblossom55 You've been through so much with your breastfeeding journey. Your dedication has been amazing and I think many in your shoes wouldn't have made it as long as you have. Good luck with the next few weeks and your decision to start weaning from the pump.

bostongirl617 yay for night weaning! I hope he keeps up sleeping good for you!

westiemom hugs friend. I hate that you are having to deal with this decision because of IF.❤️

disneykate I agree with rainbowbridge that this is the time when nursing starts to slow. I would offer her both sides if that's what you normally do but if she refuses then I wouldn't stress about it.

rainbowbridge14. Good luck with your prolactin draw! I hope it's within range te RE is looking for!

K will be 19 months this week! We are still nursing but she is losing interest. I don't know if it's pregnancy related or she's just naturally starting to wean. She still nurses forever in the morning and she usually will nurse good at least one more time during the day, so we are at least still doing twice a day. I always offer after her nap but she usually tells me no. It's strange to have my little boob obsessed baby turn down nursing. I'm still hoping we can make it until 2 but we'll see. Especially with our trip coming up.

QOTW: my Mother's Day was nice. My mom and MIL were both visiting and us this weekend so it was nice to see them both. We all went out to breakfast and then later DH went and picked me up food of my request to enjoy while he put K to bed.

[katelm]

Not much here, just KOKO. We are almost at 10 months bf. I would say my daughter is drinking just as milk as always right now even with the addition of solids. She's boob obsessed and I love nursing her so I anticipate we will definitely go beyond a year!

[dancerspose]

peaseblossom55 you're a rock star for each day you make it! EPing can be so difficult since it doesn't necessarily equate to that extra time with your LO.

bostongirl617 good luck weaning!

nikiswimr so sorry about your FET, but glad your supply rebounded.

turquoisequeen hope things get easier with the bottle.

rainbowbridge14 good luck at the RE!

karabear4409 hope your nipples get some relief!

. I'm really sorry your BFing journey ended sooner than planned, but definitely be proud of yourself for what you did accomplish!

AFM - We're just KOKO. Z will be 4 months on Saturday, and the life of an EPer is going as well as could be expected. My supply is holding pretty steady with 4 pumps a day, and I'm getting a little better at pumping on the go. I will say that for me, personally, while I am thrilled to know that I'm giving my child her sustenance, I don't really have an emotional connection to the process since my relationship is with a machine. So I do think about weaning after 6 months. I feel badly thinking it, but I'd really like my body back, and I can't help but think about what I could be doing with the extra time I'd get from not pumping (especially in the morning since that would be ideal workout time). We'll see, though, I'm really conflicted about it. I guess I'll see how I feel in another two months. Luckily, at this point, once I wean I still have about another month's worth of milk stashed, and I'm still able to freeze about 6oz a day.

[karabear4409]

. you did a great job giving your LO as much BM as you did! I'm sure it's bittersweet, but be proud of yourself!

[karabear4409]

dancerspose EPers are my heroes. I only made it three months with Ds1. You and @peaseblossom 55 are doing such a great job!

[peaseblossom55]

dancerspose, EP is so hard, it is hard when I think of the time I spend with a machine versus my daughter. Whatever you decide you have done a great job.

[mg0202]

., I am sorry your experience did not work out the way you wanted, but you did a great job!. FWIW I had a terrible time BF #1 and BF#2 started out rough, but then got much easier and we are still going. Each baby is different.

peaseblossom55, dancerspose, I loathed EP, you ladies are amazing.

nikiswimr, sorry about the failed FET

Little man is teething and I wasn't sure what to expect, but so far it has been ok. He is up in MTTN again, but I was more worried about biting and pain which haven't happened. 2 bottom teeth are coming in. I will miss the gummy grins, I love the toothless smiles!

QOTW: The kids had swim class in the morning and DH made brunch reservations for right after so we had to get all dressed up in the locker room which was interesting, but we made brunch on time and stuffed ourselves.

[turquoisequeen]

dancerspose don't feel bad about needing to wean. You have to do what's right for you. Kudos to EPing. I know that has to be hard. Can you pump in the car on the way to work instead of at home?

[dancerspose]

Thank you mg0202, peaseblossom55!

Thank turquoisequeen - I could, but Z usually wakes up between 5 and 6 anyway so it's just easier to get up then and pump while DH feeds her, or, when he's working, pump while I feed her.