pumping during a test

[beep]

I am 32 weeks pregnant with my first child and I don't have any breastfeeding expreience. I have to schedule an intensive, difficult 8-hour test for sometime a month to eight weeks after my baby will be born. They will give a 10-minute break each hour, with 40 minutes for lunch in the middle. My question is, will I be able to get through comfortably enough if I feed right before and after the test, and just pump at the lunch break?

[maddymama]

I think it depends upon your child............ With DD1, I would never have been able to make it that far... she nursed every hour until she was 3 months old. With DD2, who is a much calmer baby, I could have done that closer to the two month mark. Definitely not at one month... we still nursed every three hours.
Can you schedule one or two of your breaks for a pumping break, if you need it? (or at least run into the bathroom to hand express to relieve some pressure). If you are engorged, you might find it difficult to concentrate on the material/exam. Also, schedule it for later rather than earlier...... your baby will be able to wait a bit longer, which means your body will not get engorged so quickly.
~maddymama

[mambera]

Are you planning to study for this test with a newborn in the house? Is it one of the medical board steps or something similar? Is it absolutely necessary that you schedule it in this time slot?

Honestly I would put it off as long as possible. The first month with a new baby is not a good time to be doing ANYTHING else. I don't think I even checked my email once during the first month, never mind crack a book.

(Btw my LO is 5 months old and still eats every 2 hours.)

[dislocator3972]

My DD is 2 months now and I would still need to pump at least 3 times during that test.

I'm guessing that if you're taking such a big test you're likely planning to pump for work/school reasons later, so hopefully you have a good double electric pump. With that, you could pump on each 10 minute break and during the 40 minute break.

Pumping doesn't require a whole lot of thought but when I work, pump, then go back to working again I find myself a little drained. I hope the tension doesn't make pumping hard, or the pressure to pump make testing hard.

It might be worth asking someone if you could extend those 10 minute breaks by even just 5 minutes so you can take care of your (and your baby's) medical needs and still have just a few minutes to rest so you can more fully focus during the test.

Either way, good luck!

[katelove]

When I was working as a university lecturer students could apply for special consideration for assessments. This could be for a variety of reasons but included things like being given extra time if their writing was slow due to an injury, being allowed to get up and walk around whenever they needed to because of back pain etc. Usually they would do exams in a seperate room with a supervisor who was given the details of what their special consideration was.

Could you talk to the student services dept and find out whether this is an option? Apart from anything else I think you would be at a disadvantage if you were trying to do an exam while experiencing pain or discomfort from engorgement.

[lifeguard]

I would definitely look into seeing if you can get a special set up for the exam (maybe in a separate room with a little more time so you won't disturb anyone else when you need to take an extra break).

Any chance of having anyone bring the baby to you to bf at least once during the timeframe? It would make it easier for you & for your baby.

I left ds for 8 hours when he was about 8 weeks old. It went pretty well but I was VERY uncomfortable for the second half of the day (I didn't pump 'cause it was too awkward to arrange it).

[foreverinbluejeans]

You could express for comfort during the 10 minute breaks. There is something called breast shells you can wear in your bra that help prevent engorgement and catch leaking milk.