Exclusive Pumpers Tribe - Page 76

[daisy0306]

Originally Posted by katheek77

"Hmmm....interesting. Yet you readily drink milk pumped from a cow's breasts, right?"

Sorry, I'm feeling a bit snarky.

We're about to hit 25 months. DD has no interest in my nursing her, although all her dolls and animals and trains (!) are freakishly interesting in nursing on both of us

Originally Posted by RootSnort

I've been at it for 2 years, 4 months. When someone asks, I just assume they are asking because they don't know, not because hey are judging me. And so I educate them - there are benefits up to age 7, because the immune system isn't finished until then.

7 years! : pretty sure I won't make it that long.

[oregonmama79]

I made a bad choice and now I want to go back!

So about a month ago I was so depressed with pumping. It hurt and I felt miserable about it. So I thought I would start to supplement formula and scale back pumping. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? Now I am only pumping about 5-7 ozs a day when I use to get around 30. I feel so terrible that I made this selfish decision. Since starting the formula DS has more gas, tons more spit up and his generally a little crabbier (at least IMO) So now I want to go back! Can I get myself to start producing higher volumes again? How do I do it?? In the midst of all of this, I think something happened to my pump. Even on max it doesn't feel like it is pulling that hard. I don't have the receipt and don't know where to take it to get fixed/looked at. I feel a mess. I just wish I had kept pumping like I had envisioned all along. I feel so bad for DS that he had to drink formula while I had the ability this whole time to keep producing. Ugh. Anyway...can I get my supply back up? Do I just pump like crazy until it comes back up? What if it doesn't??
thanks for listening to my sob story. any advice is welcome.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by oregonmama79

So about a month ago I was so depressed with pumping. It hurt and I felt miserable about it. So I thought I would start to supplement formula and scale back pumping. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? Now I am only pumping about 5-7 ozs a day when I use to get around 30. I feel so terrible that I made this selfish decision. Since starting the formula DS has more gas, tons more spit up and his generally a little crabbier (at least IMO) So now I want to go back! Can I get myself to start producing higher volumes again? How do I do it?? In the midst of all of this, I think something happened to my pump. Even on max it doesn't feel like it is pulling that hard. I don't have the receipt and don't know where to take it to get fixed/looked at. I feel a mess. I just wish I had kept pumping like I had envisioned all along. I feel so bad for DS that he had to drink formula while I had the ability this whole time to keep producing. Ugh. Anyway...can I get my supply back up? Do I just pump like crazy until it comes back up? What if it doesn't??
thanks for listening to my sob story. any advice is welcome.

Be gentle with yourself. Any mama milk is good. If you aren't happy with what you are producing, you can try to increase your supply. Pump as much as you can handle. Power pump at least 3 times a day in addition to your regular pump sessions.. That mimics a growth spurt. (pump your normal amount of time, rest 10 minutes, pump 10 minutes, rest 10 minutes, pump 10 minutes, rest 10 minutes pump 10 minutes) Do that for at least 3 days. Eat tons of oatmeal and drink water until you feel like you are going to float away. Try changing the little white membranes in your pump. Drink a DARK beer each evening.

You can get your supply back some, but it probably won't be as high as it was unless you take herbs for awhile. I don't know if you want to go that route, that is a personal decision. Fenugreek, Shatavi, Goats Rue, Marshmallow Root, and Blessed Milk Thistle are herbs that can increase milk supply. Research each before taking them, some should not be taken if you have certain medical issues, and they can not all be taken together. Domperidone is a medication you can take, but you would have to get it from overseas most likely. Your Dr. can write you a script for Reglan, but that causes depression many times.

[indignantgirl]

Anybody EP for somebody else's baby?

My situation is: I'm nursing an almost 2yo right now (been nursing for almost 8 years straight) and my niece asked if I'd be willing to pump for maybe the first week or so for the adopted baby who will be born this weekend. His mother smoked during pregnancy, and the ultrasounds show that he's smaller than he's "supposed" to be, so it would be very important that he get as much breast milk as possible. I'm determined to get him a week of exclusive bm, plus as long exclusive as I can. If she has to supplement formula, she's okay with that, so there's really no pressure. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to help a new baby get a healthy start in life. :

I don't have long to get my supply built back up (my toddler recently slowed way down on nursing) so I'm getting some fenugreek, I've got my raw oat granola, and I'm prepared for pumping to become my life for the next few weeks. Anybody think it'll work? I've never pumped before these last few days, so I was unprepared how *little* milk comes out. But I've already seen a significant increase in the last 24 hours (but that's not saying much, starting from nothing).

How often should I be pumping? How much (in general) will a newborn baby be eating at a sitting? I'm planning to put small amounts in the bm storage bags at first, to minimize waste, so...4 oz? Any pumping "tricks of the trade" to help move the process along faster?

[oregonmama79]

Thanks GooeyRN. I was feeling pretty bad last night. I am feeling a little more positive this morning. I am just going to try my best and pump like crazy. Thanks for your advice and support.

[GISDiva]

Shayla, that's awesome that you're doing such a wonderful thing for that baby! I've always heard that a newborn's stomach is the size of a marble, or perhaps their fist, so they won't eat more than an ounce at first. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, it may even be less than that.) They can ramp up fairly quickly, they sure do grow fast!

Keep pumping as often as you can, every two hours is usually most people's goal. If you're already seeing an increase, that's great!

[GISDiva]

Hugs to you Liz, we all do what we can and we have to be sane mammas too. Good luck to you!

[oregonmama79]

Originally Posted by GISDiva

Hugs to you Liz, we all do what we can and we have to be sane mammas too. Good luck to you!

Thank you!

[daisy0306]

wu-hoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! Check out my siggy!! :

[GooeyRN]

Congratulations, Daisy!!!!! I remember what a wonderful feeling that was. : It was like this HUGE weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I knew at that point I could stop if I couldn't take it anymore, and not need to use formula. I am so happy for you and your little one. Buy yourself a gift for making it this long. You deserve it. My dh bought me a 1 karot (sp?) (7 marquis stones) diamond ring to celebrate hitting my goal. Get yourself something special that you will have forever to remember what your did for your little one. I am so proud of you!!! It was no easy task for you to make it this long. I am so proud of you!!!!!

Are you going to continue pumping, and if so, how long?

[indignantgirl]

I have a quick question: how do I know what breast shield size to use? My PIS Advanced has the 24, the 27, and then the SoftFit in 24. I've been using the SoftFit because they seem like they'd be more comfortable, but can the size of shield make that much of a difference? I guess I just don't know how much of my nipple/areola should be sucked into the tube.

Any of you moms in the know care to share? Is this even the right place to ask this question?

[oregonmama79]

Originally Posted by daisy0306

wu-hoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! Check out my siggy!! :

CONGRATS!!!!!!

[daisy0306]

Originally Posted by GooeyRN

Congratulations, Daisy!!!!! I remember what a wonderful feeling that was. : It was like this HUGE weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I knew at that point I could stop if I couldn't take it anymore, and not need to use formula. I am so happy for you and your little one. Buy yourself a gift for making it this long. You deserve it. My dh bought me a 1 karot (sp?) (7 marquis stones) diamond ring to celebrate hitting my goal. Get yourself something special that you will have forever to remember what your did for your little one. I am so proud of you!!! It was no easy task for you to make it this long. I am so proud of you!!!!!

Are you going to continue pumping, and if so, how long?

Originally Posted by oregonmama79

CONGRATS!!!!!!

Thank you so much! I'm very excited. I'm not sure how much longer I can go, AF is starting to take a toll on my supply and I'm having a hard time keeping up with DD. I don't want to do any drugs, I'd rather just let what happens happen. I'm going to keep going for a little while longer, until she's a bit more into solids. I want to stop but I feel so guilty even thinking about it. I talked to DF about it last night and he told me that he's proud of me and supports whatever I want to do. If I stopped right now we would have to go to formula as I'm not comfortable switching DD over to cow's milk, she still eats quite a bit of BM.

Hmm....diamonds, eh? Your rings sounds beautiful! I need some earrings

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by daisy0306

Thank you so much! I'm very excited. I'm not sure how much longer I can go, AF is starting to take a toll on my supply and I'm having a hard time keeping up with DD. I don't want to do any drugs, I'd rather just let what happens happen. I'm going to keep going for a little while longer, until she's a bit more into solids. I want to stop but I feel so guilty even thinking about it. I talked to DF about it last night and he told me that he's proud of me and supports whatever I want to do. If I stopped right now we would have to go to formula as I'm not comfortable switching DD over to cow's milk, she still eats quite a bit of BM.

Hmm....diamonds, eh? Your rings sounds beautiful! I need some earrings

You deserve some new earrings! I, too planned on stopping for dd when she turned 1. Like yours, she wasn't doing solids yet. That ruined my plan. She recently began eating, at 2.5 years old. She still isn't reliable eating, though. sigh.

[GooeyRN]

I am curious, what is everyone's MAIN reason for EPing? Is it for fear of allergies, later health problems, can't tolerate formula for whatever reason, the immunological benefits, hate the idea if formula, peer pressure, etc? What keeps you pumping?

I did b/c of better brain development, after a year my reason was so I didn't have to buy formula (she didnt do solids) b/c I am stubborn, and now it is mainly for the immunological benefits. My kid is never sick.

[GISDiva]

Originally Posted by GooeyRN

I am curious, what is everyone's MAIN reason for EPing? Is it for fear of allergies, later health problems, can't tolerate formula for whatever reason, the immunological benefits, hate the idea if formula, peer pressure, etc? What keeps you pumping?

I did b/c of better brain development, after a year my reason was so I didn't have to buy formula (she didnt do solids) b/c I am stubborn, and now it is mainly for the immunological benefits. My kid is never sick.

Well, we still have to give formula, so I guess that's not it. I do it for the immunological benefits, like you said.

[GISDiva]

Shayla, as far as the fit of the shields go, I want to say there's a picture somewhere on Medela's website showing what your nipple is supposed to look like, however I've never been able to tell for sure if I had the right size or not still. Then I switched to an Avent pump and they don't have any options, so luckily they seem to work OK. I think you could post your question on the Breastfeeding board and get plenty of answers from people much smarter than me.

[GISDiva]

Oh, and way to go Daisy!!!

[ScoobySnacks]

Originally Posted by GooeyRN

I am curious, what is everyone's MAIN reason for EPing? Is it for fear of allergies, later health problems, can't tolerate formula for whatever reason, the immunological benefits, hate the idea if formula, peer pressure, etc? What keeps you pumping?

I pump because my plan was always to BF for 2 years or so, and since BFing hasn't really worked out so well, I want her to have the milk she should have had. I think BM is far superior to formula. Unfortunately, my baby has had to have formula, and at 3 months out, still does. At least most of what she eats is BM, but it kills me because I hate formula and never wanted her to have it at all.

[letniaLynne]

Gave birth Friday Night!

Hey girls! I have been thinking about you all ALOT this week with the new arrival to my family!: I just wanted to send a out to everyone here still EPing for there little beans. You are doing the best for them no matter how hard it is!