Exclusive Pumpers Tribe - Page 80

[GISDiva]

Hooray Kathee! You give me and others hope that we continue on another day, another month...

[shoes]

oh man... we are dropping like flies around here. I'm out too!!! That makes 4 of us in like a week... I've pumped 17.5 months and still pumping a couple of times a day for probably 2 weeks just so I can say I made it to 18 months. part of me is so excited to be done and the other part is so sad. I've cried so much about it it's just crazy.
When I started pumping my goal was one year... I did that! Then it was 2 years.... then I had the crazy goal of the cold/flu season after her 3rd open heart surgery. That would put me into 2011! Then I thought I would stop after she stopped vomiting. (for those of you that don't know my dd has been vomiting anywhere from 2-15+times a day since birth. She's seen multiple specialist, had multiple tests done, tried multiple medications, and even surgery that *should* have stopped the vomiting with no sucess. She's been tube fed all of her life through a g-button) Well, about 3 weeks ago she just. stopped. vomiting. : Nearly 17 months of it and one day, it was gone! So I reached 2 of my goals, and I feel pretty good about that.
I'm really sad about stopping right before the winter season though.... If she gets really sick I know that's going to make me feel so bad about stopping!!

[kayleesmom]

wow 17.5 months way to go mama. i only made it 9 months Exclusively pumping.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by shoes

oh man... we are dropping like flies around here. I'm out too!!! That makes 4 of us in like a week... I've pumped 17.5 months and still pumping a couple of times a day for probably 2 weeks just so I can say I made it to 18 months. part of me is so excited to be done and the other part is so sad. I've cried so much about it it's just crazy.
When I started pumping my goal was one year... I did that! Then it was 2 years.... then I had the crazy goal of the cold/flu season after her 3rd open heart surgery. That would put me into 2011! Then I thought I would stop after she stopped vomiting. (for those of you that don't know my dd has been vomiting anywhere from 2-15+times a day since birth. She's seen multiple specialist, had multiple tests done, tried multiple medications, and even surgery that *should* have stopped the vomiting with no sucess. She's been tube fed all of her life through a g-button) Well, about 3 weeks ago she just. stopped. vomiting. : Nearly 17 months of it and one day, it was gone! So I reached 2 of my goals, and I feel pretty good about that.
I'm really sad about stopping right before the winter season though.... If she gets really sick I know that's going to make me feel so bad about stopping!!

You are AWESOME!!!!! I am so happy she stopped vomiting. That is so wonderful! You are so wonderful for pumping all this time for her. What would her belly have been like if it was all formula she ate. Ya know? I am sure all that good mama milk really helped her. Are you feeling a little weepy as you wind down the pumping?

I am cutting WAY back on pumping now, too. Will be 3 years on the 23rd. My first goal was 1 year, then 18 mo's, then 2 years, then 3 years. I will not totally stop at 3 years, since it is cold and flu season and I have a baby here, too. That makes me really nervous. I am going to try to produce about 4 oz a day for her. I heard it only takes 4 oz to get the immunological benefits. But come spring, I think I am done.

[daisy0306]

Originally Posted by katheek77

I am down to twice a day, once for 15 mins, once for 10 minutes. I am weaning, slowly but surely. I'm down to less than 2oz/day. I am HUTH.

It has been 27 months, and I have pumped every. single. day. Multiple times per day. I woke up in the middle of the night, even when Katie was sleeeping through to pump. I had nipples so painful I sometimes cried when I first put the horns on each session. I took everything under the sun to increase supply. I love to say I smelled like the IHOP on Sunday mornings for months. I altered my social life, racing home every two hours to pump, trying to figure out if I had enough time to go to both the grocery store AND the library without having to go home to pump. I carried a pump with me on vacation, I stored pumped milk in hotel sinks filled with ice. Bags of "emergency" milk fell out of our freezer. I sobbed hysterically on the phone to my best friend over "starving" my daughter the first few days when I didn't realize I literally did not have enough milk (tubular breasts, for those who don't know). I tried for months to "woo" my daughter back to my breast (she's no dummy - much easier to take Mama-milk from the bottle, and I didn't know about SNSs and all that jazz back then). I cried over spilled milk, literally.

And, I found untold support. I found it in the likeliest places - from MDC - especially from you guys, who understand that sometimes, it's NOT the easiest thing in the world to breastfeed and that NOT everyone can do it completely problem-free. From my best friend -who easily breastfed her three kids, and COMPLETELY supported me, even when I had to supp. with formula. She even dealt with my hysterical phone call at seven in the morning on a Saturday with compassion. I found it from my mother, who breastfed me for a week or so, and quit, but always understood when I visited that I'd have to "get back home to pump". I found it from my grandmother, whose response to my tentative admission that we weren't getting Katie the MMR vax was, "Well, you're still breastfeeding, right? She'll be fine."

I found it in the unlikeliest places, too. From my daughter's optometrist (who, God love him, supports non-vax and extended breastfeeding). From my employers - who told me to take whatever time I needed to pump, even AFTER Katie was a year old. One memorable night, I found support for pumping for my nearly 2 year old from my husband's male, childless, unmarried Army buddies (didn't see that one coming).

And most of all, from my husband and my Katie-bird. My *husband* has had to deal with the pumping for these 27 months as well. The rushing to get home. The planning vacations and driving and all that around when I'd need to pump. Taking the baby while I pumped. Understanding that if we went to a party, I'd need to be home at a certain time. Understanding that he'd have to move some bottles of milk out of the sink to shave at the military ball. Washing pump parts, and carefully handling the milk. The "Don't touch me there! I just pumped half an hour ago - they hurt!" And my Katie, who is absolutely the best support in the world for me doing this. She is healthy, intelligent, funny, and probably more self-sufficient than most 27month olds, just due to the fact that "Mama has to pump now" is a stock phrase in the house. Heck, she can assemble and disassemble a pump on her own, probably blindfolded if necessary. She is beautiful, in every sense, and I like to think that my milk helped to make her that way.

It has been a long, hard 27 months. There are times when I absolutely resented it. I absolutely wanted to quit. If you had told me two years ago, I'd still have this pump on my table, I would have laughed hysterically. But, it's time. I think it's so hard for me to quit, because for 27mos, I've known that this is a "noble" thing to do for my daughter, and I could take pride in it. I knew my milk helped to keep her healthy, and strong, and helped her grow. And, now, I won't have that "sure-fire" good stuff. I'll need to find other ways to help keep her healthy and strong, and that's kind of scary. I know it isn't that logical, but, in many ways, I think pumping has become a bit of a crutch for me, and *I* need to find new ways to grow, if that makes sense. But I will always be able to say with pride that, despite obstacles, I breastfed my daughter for over 27 months. : : :

Kathee I cried for you when I read this. You are an amazing person and an amazing mom to have EPed for so long. I cannot even find the words. Bless you, and enjoy your pump free life :

[GISDiva]

Hurray Shoes, great job!

[nina08]

new compared to a lot of you...

I have been expressing for 3 months now, which is not a long time compared to many of you.
I would love for my daughter to be in any way happy with my breasts, but the fact is she is not, which makes me sad.
I am so happy I found this website and these pumpers!! I am not alone...
I would like to know how other moms make it through the night, do you express every 4-6 hours or do you go longer and how does it affect production?
Sometimes I feel my milk dwindle and so I immediately go for my "special" tea (mothers milk) which I bought from gnc, and I m good for a while...I tend to freak out when I am pumping and I only get a few ounces.
I was using the playtex embrace double elect. for about 6 weeks till it died, now I have been using the medela double elect. which is amazingly faster..I get in ten minutes what used to take me a half hour with the playtex, I paid alot more but time is money in my eyes.

[bright-midnight]

Hey mama's I need some help here.

I'm on day two of my period and my supply has TANKED. I normally pump 15-17 ounces a day, but right now i'm only getting about 8-9oz. I'm pumping 4x a day and started back on fenugreek and More Milk Plus (special blend) and my body is not responding to it at all, and neither is pumping more In fact my body has never responded to more frequent pumpings since I was about 12 months PP (I'm at 23 months now). Also, i'm currently taking 30mg of Reglan a day, I had been taking 45mg a day, but it was actually starting to lower my supply until I cut it back.

Is there anything else I can take or do? Domperidone is not an option as I have no way of getting it and my husband is not comfortable with me taking something not FDA approved, which I do understand to a degree.

DD currently consumes 15oz of EBM a day and will not take cow's milk. She'll barely drink juice and she isn't too interested in drinking water, though I am able to get about 7 or 8oz. in her a day.

Thanks in advance!

[beewhisperer]

I am so glad to have found this thread. A kind friend on other forums linked it for me. I read and cried (and then went off to pump....)

I have now been pumping for 16 weeks. I tried for the first 3-5 to get my sweet baby girl to latch and failed miserably and after that - and throwing the breastfeeding book at the wardrobes and spending a weekend reading a revelation about myself - threw money at a good breast pump (currently using Medela PIS Advanced) and got on with the job. After reading Kathees farewell post I went ahead and registered here. I don't even know you, and Lady, I salute you. You are an inspiration.

Right now I just want to make it to 6 months (after that we’ll see at the moment) and my DH and family are being very supportive. My supply is holding steady as long as I stay hydrated. I also drink mothers milk tea when I can remember. I do 5 times a day, daytime only. I am supplementing with one formula feed a day to buy me enough time. I have fatigue issues in my underlying health and therefore do not get up at night to pump (last pump just before 11 @ night - going to do it in a sec, first pump about 6 am or so before the baby wakes) as when I was doing that I got pretty sick. I have pumped through two bouts of mastitis and a UTI (all before she was 6 weeks, I felt foul!!) but am much healthier and happier now. The Medela cost us a lot of ££ but has bought me sanity in a greater degree.

I do not know anyone else doing this and am desperate for support. I plan on asking my health visitor (who is also a lactation consultant and medela agent as well as being generally awesome) whether she has other pumping mamas around here because it is a lonely job sometimes. Apparently I believe in breastmilk more than I thought I did! But I'm glad I'm doing this when I see her taking milk and putting on weight and being happy. If I have a bad day and she needs more formula i try not to get on myself about it.

I'm so relieved I'm not the only one. You know you can't be, but it's nice to know for sure.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by beewhisperer

I am so glad to have found this thread. A kind friend on other forums linked it for me. I read and cried (and then went off to pump....)

I have now been pumping for 16 weeks. I tried for the first 3-5 to get my sweet baby girl to latch and failed miserably and after that - and throwing the breastfeeding book at the wardrobes and spending a weekend reading a revelation about myself - threw money at a good breast pump (currently using Medela PIS Advanced) and got on with the job. After reading Kathees farewell post I went ahead and registered here. I don't even know you, and Lady, I salute you. You are an inspiration.

Right now I just want to make it to 6 months (after that we’ll see at the moment) and my DH and family are being very supportive. My supply is holding steady as long as I stay hydrated. I also drink mothers milk tea when I can remember. I do 5 times a day, daytime only. I am supplementing with one formula feed a day to buy me enough time. I have fatigue issues in my underlying health and therefore do not get up at night to pump (last pump just before 11 @ night - going to do it in a sec, first pump about 6 am or so before the baby wakes) as when I was doing that I got pretty sick. I have pumped through two bouts of mastitis and a UTI (all before she was 6 weeks, I felt foul!!) but am much healthier and happier now. The Medela cost us a lot of ££ but has bought me sanity in a greater degree.

I do not know anyone else doing this and am desperate for support. I plan on asking my health visitor (who is also a lactation consultant and medela agent as well as being generally awesome) whether she has other pumping mamas around here because it is a lonely job sometimes. Apparently I believe in breastmilk more than I thought I did! But I'm glad I'm doing this when I see her taking milk and putting on weight and being happy. If I have a bad day and she needs more formula i try not to get on myself about it.

I'm so relieved I'm not the only one. You know you can't be, but it's nice to know for sure.

to our tribe!!!

[GooeyRN]

HUTH is not going so great here. I am EPing for the 3 year old and nursing the 10 month old. I usually pump after each time the babe eats. I tried to go 8 hours between pumps. I ended up with Mastitis. This is the 4th time in 3 years. Yuck. I am feeling better now. The good thing about the Mastitis, is that it killed my supply so it will be easier to HUTH. I am so sad about HUTHing, but after 3 years (it will be 3 years on the 23rd!!!) I am just done. Instead of going 8 hour blocks, I am now just dropping one session a day. I thought the baby nursing would be enough to prevent the Mastitis, WRONG!!! So, I will take it very slow this time. I learned my lesson.

[funfunkyfantastic]

I might start exclusively pumping. Right now i'm doing it half the time. My baby keeps popping off over and over again. She didn't do this in the beginning but started doing it a week ago. She's about 4 weeks old now. Breastfeeding is just stressing me out, not to mention painful. She started pulling back and twisting her head while feeding. I don't know why she does it... but it really hurts! I'm even making sure to keep my hands away from the back of her head so I won't cause her to feel the need to pull back. Between the popping off and the pulling, my nipples are getting all sorts of abuse. Pumping doesn't hurt me. I'm finding myself breastfeeding her less and less and feeding her from the bottle with pumped milk more. The only unfortunate thing is that I can't afford a good pump. Right now I only have a single electric meant for occasional use. I still can't help but feel guilty. How did all of you overcome the guilt?

[GooeyRN]

The popping off may be b/c he is frustrated. He may like the fast flow of a bottle. Try not doing any bottles at all for a few days. It may get better. I would hate to see you stuck pumping instead of bfing. Especially without a good pump.

[ScoobySnacks]

Question about pumps

Well ladies, my little girl will be 6 months soon, and due to some geographical changes, I'm going to be turning in my hospital grade pump (Medela Symphony). These past few weeks I've begun pumping less often, maybe 6 times a day, (my sanity and social calendar simply couldn't do the every 2-3 hour thing) and soon my babe will be eating more solids.

I am going to be buying a non-hospital grade pump. My first thought was to get a Medela Freestyle, but it seems like there are mixed reviews about it. Would anyone mind sharing what pump they use and the pros and cons for using it? I am low supply from the beginning so I want to get a good pump.

Does anyone know if the Freestyle uses only 1 size of breast shields? I started out using the generic sized but since I moved to the 30mm my nipples are less sore than they used to be. Can you get larger shield sizes w/ the Freestyle?

Anyhoo - I'd like to pump until my little girl is 1 year. It's been such a long frustrating road already, but it's gotten easier since I stopped stressing out and killing myself over pumping constantly.

[radiowave]

Can I be part of this tribe if I am still trying to breastfeed occasionally...basically comfort nursing once a day...and trying to use the lact aid?

[caro113]

I currently am using the evenflo double electric and its rather decent. I hve suction issues when usng both pumps at the same time but other than that, no complaints. My LO is an exceptionally hard sucker and bf was just too frustrating for us both bc it hurt so badly. I have tried to do pump and bf but it only worksfor a day before it starts to hurt too much. This pump doesnt hurt much so I would recommend it (-:

Good luck!

[MandMplus2]

I am not an EPer...my daughter nurses most of the time. But I do use my pump every day (to stockpile extra milk). I use the Medela PIS and had to purchase the extra large 30 mm shields. I hate that the Medelas only come with the one size 24mm shields. Anyway I have been really satisfied with the pump, especially now that I actually have shields that fit me. I do have a question for all you pumpers. Does anyone have a baby around 6 or 7 months old that has started on solids? I'm just curious as to how much pumped milk other babies drink at a time. I'm killing myself to try to pump enough for DD to take an occasional bottle, which is usually 5 oz. She has started solids recently but still nurses 4-5 times daily. I know she doesn't get 5 oz when she nurses from me so I'm wondering if I could get away with feeding her less from a bottle. Could some of you post your baby's eating schedule-I'm just wanting to be sure I'm doing things right and she's getting enough milk.

[Alice27]

Originally Posted by funfunkyfantastic

I might start exclusively pumping. Right now i'm doing it half the time. My baby keeps popping off over and over again. She didn't do this in the beginning but started doing it a week ago.

It sounds like she is getting frustrated about the flow. The milk flow from a bottle has a consistent speed, whereas the milk from the breast varies. The baby has to suck for a few seconds before getting anything at all, gets a fast let down, the milk slows down, then you switch sides or get a second let down.

The baby has to work for the milk at the breast and some babies have trouble regulating a too fast flow, or might get frustrated by a too slow flow (especially if you are using bottles).

Have you thought about using a supplementary feeder (Lact-Aid or Medela SNS)? You could phase out the bottles entirely - eliminate the confusion - and the extra time spent feeding at the breast would also help increase your supply/make pumping easier.

I think most mums would be unanimous here that breastfeeding is much easier than pumping, although it might take a bit/lot of extra work in the beginning.

Good luck,

Alice

[Lucysmama]

Originally Posted by funfunkyfantastic

I might start exclusively pumping. Right now i'm doing it half the time. My baby keeps popping off over and over again. She didn't do this in the beginning but started doing it a week ago. She's about 4 weeks old now. Breastfeeding is just stressing me out, not to mention painful. She started pulling back and twisting her head while feeding. I don't know why she does it... but it really hurts! I'm even making sure to keep my hands away from the back of her head so I won't cause her to feel the need to pull back. Between the popping off and the pulling, my nipples are getting all sorts of abuse. Pumping doesn't hurt me. I'm finding myself breastfeeding her less and less and feeding her from the bottle with pumped milk more. The only unfortunate thing is that I can't afford a good pump. Right now I only have a single electric meant for occasional use. I still can't help but feel guilty. How did all of you overcome the guilt?

I would really urge you to ditch all bottles for a week or so, and just nurse. The only way you're going to teach her to nurse properly is just to do it! Believe me, I know the nipple pain - I used to cry every time my ds latched on and nursed for a few weeks. We hung in there and ended up nursing for 2.5 years. I would hate to see you ditch the nursing in favor of pumping. I've pumped for 3 babies and nursed one, and believe me - it's SO worth working on. EP'ing is incredibly difficult! I would call a LLL leader or hospital LC asap and work on it. JMO! Don't shoot!

ETA...I see your baby is only a month old - your nursing issues are SO common at 4-6 weeks! Hang in there another few weeks, don't give up on it! Ditch the bottles and get professional lactation help!

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by Alice27

It sounds like she is getting frustrated about the flow. The milk flow from a bottle has a consistent speed, whereas the milk from the breast varies. The baby has to suck for a few seconds before getting anything at all, gets a fast let down, the milk slows down, then you switch sides or get a second let down.

The baby has to work for the milk at the breast and some babies have trouble regulating a too fast flow, or might get frustrated by a too slow flow (especially if you are using bottles).

Have you thought about using a supplementary feeder (Lact-Aid or Medela SNS)? You could phase out the bottles entirely - eliminate the confusion - and the extra time spent feeding at the breast would also help increase your supply/make pumping easier.

I think most mums would be unanimous here that breastfeeding is much easier than pumping, although it might take a bit/lot of extra work in the beginning.

Good luck,

Alice

This is really good advice! I am bfing one child and EPing for the other. EPing is easier in the early days. But after the first few months, bfing is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier. Get yourself an SNS so the baby can have a constant flow of milk and ditch the bottles. You can slowly wean from the SNS. I had to do that with my ds and he is a nursing champ now.