Exclusive Pumpers Tribe - Page 85

[ell]

just realized this was here! my daughter is just over 2 months old and i've been pumping almost that enitre time. In the hospital, either she had a rotten latch or she wasn't eating properly, because she was starving by day 3 and lost 14%. We gave her formula and i started pumping because once she had the bottle and its nice fast flow, she refused to latch. As in, she would scream and freak out whenever the boob was in her face. it was hell on both her and me, so i decided to EP, at least for a while. I had an LC here and we did the weigh - feed - weigh thing, and it turned out he wasn't eating anything at the boob. Sigh.

I am lucky that i have an abundant supply. Pumping is very inconvenient but it's not the end of the world, and I'd rather face the annoyance than FF - breast was very important to me.

So, hi.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by ell

just realized this was here! my daughter is just over 2 months old and i've been pumping almost that enitre time. In the hospital, either she had a rotten latch or she wasn't eating properly, because she was starving by day 3 and lost 14%. We gave her formula and i started pumping because once she had the bottle and its nice fast flow, she refused to latch. As in, she would scream and freak out whenever the boob was in her face. it was hell on both her and me, so i decided to EP, at least for a while. I had an LC here and we did the weigh - feed - weigh thing, and it turned out he wasn't eating anything at the boob. Sigh.

I am lucky that i have an abundant supply. Pumping is very inconvenient but it's not the end of the world, and I'd rather face the annoyance than FF - breast was very important to me.

So, hi.

Welcome! You are awesome for deciding to pump. Most ff when things don't work out.

[blmother]

What do you use on your nipples when pumping?

no help!!!!!!!

[April Dawn]

nm.

Edited by April Dawn - 7/5/11 at 7:14pm

[anj_rn]

DS weaned himself at 7 mos, so I EPed for the next 3 months, then gave up because it was too much work. DD was an awesome breast feeder for the first four months. She suffered an anoxic brain injury at 4 months, and now has to be tube fed. I have been EPing for 14 weeks. I definitely waon't give up until she is a year, but I am hoping to not give up at all.

[April Dawn]

Originally Posted by anj_rn

DS weaned himself at 7 mos, so I EPed for the next 3 months, then gave up because it was too much work. DD was an awesome breast feeder for the first four months. She suffered an anoxic brain injury at 4 months, and now has to be tube fed. I have been EPing for 14 weeks. I definitely waon't give up until she is a year, but I am hoping to not give up at all.

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter. How great that you're able to provide breastmilk for her. I hope she does well going forward from here.

Edited by April Dawn - 7/5/11 at 7:14pm

[April Dawn]

Bumping this thread up - any other EPer's out there?

[GooeyRN]

still here.

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by BakerALM

Not true! You know your child and you know what she needs,

She LOVES your milk like not many babies do and with that you followed her lead and provided it for her. You are doing a great job listening to your daughter no matter how hard it is for you on a daily basis. So I say Congrats again, she is really lucky to have you as a mom!:

And I was glad to see this thread get a bump today so I could send a special Thanksgiving wish to all the EPers out there. EPing was not something I expected (I had hoped to directly bf), but I am so thankful to be able to pump and provide my DD with breastmilk. :-)

[PurpleMonkey]

I need you all to know something. In Dec. 2007 I gave birth to twin girls at 34 weeks gestation. With all the will and strength I'd EVER sufficed in my entire life for ANYTHING I tried my best to breastfeed them. I'm a multi-marathon runner and tend to "stay the distance" with most any task in my life. Anyway, they never latched well and it sent me into a very deep depression. I pumped until 14 months for them where they ONLY got breastmilk exclusively. I am very proud of this, but also was sad for not being able to nurse the way I'd wanted to. It was devastating. I of course blamed myself.

Now I have an almost 3-month-old who was born term and latched on perfectly. I had NEVER experienced anything like this with my twins, and it was such validation. I secretly hoped this would happen all throughout my pregnancy with her but I also didn't want to assume too much and jinx myself, but it turns out it really WASN'T my fault like I had always imagined it to be for my twins.

I am simply saying this to you all because I am someone who has BEEN there and done it (the pumping, nobody really understands unless they've been through it) that it is *NOT* your fault no matter who tells you. If someone like me told me this I would have believed them more. I couldn't accept the message from lactation consultants because they hadn't had to pump exclusively for their own children, you know what I mean? I mean, I thought all along they were just telling it wasn't my fault to make me feel better or something

[anj_rn]

I have been EPing for 4 months now (following 3 months of EBFing, and 1 month BF/Pumping). I had a horrible experience with our gastro doc (Telling me I would need to stop and coun not keep doing this). But our dietician was fabulous and reassured me we were on the right track. We had a new home health nurse who came in to orient this week, and she was so surprised I was still pumping and really made me feel good about it.

So, I am passing the praise along. EPing mamas are awesome, and every time you pump, you deserve a standing ovation.

[April Dawn]

Originally Posted by PurpleMonkey

I need you all to know something. In Dec. 2007 I gave birth to twin girls at 34 weeks gestation. With all the will and strength I'd EVER sufficed in my entire life for ANYTHING I tried my best to breastfeed them. I'm a multi-marathon runner and tend to "stay the distance" with most any task in my life. Anyway, they never latched well and it sent me into a very deep depression. I pumped until 14 months for them where they ONLY got breastmilk exclusively. I am very proud of this, but also was sad for not being able to nurse the way I'd wanted to. It was devastating. I of course blamed myself.

Now I have an almost 3-month-old who was born term and latched on perfectly. I had NEVER experienced anything like this with my twins, and it was such validation. I secretly hoped this would happen all throughout my pregnancy with her but I also didn't want to assume too much and jinx myself, but it turns out it really WASN'T my fault like I had always imagined it to be for my twins.

I am simply saying this to you all because I am someone who has BEEN there and done it (the pumping, nobody really understands unless they've been through it) that it is *NOT* your fault no matter who tells you. If someone like me told me this I would have believed them more. I couldn't accept the message from lactation consultants because they hadn't had to pump exclusively for their own children, you know what I mean? I mean, I thought all along they were just telling it wasn't my fault to make me feel better or something

I'm so glad your new baby is having an easier time nursing than your twins did! And thank you for sharing that... I am really, really hoping that if I have a second baby, I can experience actually nursing a baby and not being hooked up to a pump all the time!

[anj_rn]

Anyone else have drops in their supply during their menstral cycle? Any suggestions? My supply drops in half a few days before and the first few days of my cycle. I have frozen to cover right now, but it will probably run out next month.

[April Dawn]

Originally Posted by anj_rn

Anyone else have drops in their supply during their menstral cycle? Any suggestions? My supply drops in half a few days before and the first few days of my cycle. I have frozen to cover right now, but it will probably run out next month.

Would it work for you to take fenugreek/blessed thistle just those few days of the month? Sorry I don't have more help, that's my only idea!

Edited by April Dawn - 7/5/11 at 7:15pm

[kjenkins55]

Hi All

Hi everyone My daughter was born August 4th and I've been EP-ing since about the 2nd week. I've got really really inverted nipples and she struggled/along with bad Jaundice I got started pumping to give her extra milk, and it was history from there. I still occasionally nurse her at night but I know it's a bad latch and its more for comfort than anything. I have to use a nipple shield to even do that. I hope that if we have more children, maybe I'll be more successful with bfing. But, in the mean time, I'm just thankful that she's getting bm instead of formula. Its getting to be where its really a drag to have to pump every 4 hours, but I need to do that in order to get enough. I got mastitis 3x and my supply really suffered, so Im on dom and am just now getting about 32 oz a day. This keeps up with her, but barely. I'm hoping it was continue to improve. I'm totally committed to keeping this up as long as I can, it was crushing to accept pumping instead of nursing her directly..and to stop would be devastating. But I guess I'm just getting a little bummed out..lugging my hospital grade rental around to work/friends houses/family get togethers..and constantly worrying about what time it is and when I next need to pump..is getting old. I'm really encouraged to read of you mamas who ep for a year or more..wow. Y'all deserve a medal Anyway..was there ever a point in time where you were able to pump less and still get the same amount of milk?

[tessa_s212]

Been basically EPing for about a month now. Everytime I try to go back to the breast, I'm in tears, get depressed, and DS screams and screams for hours he's so upset.

A lot of people just constantly remind and tell me that I'm not producing enough and will have to formula feed. I'm only producing 17 oz a day, even though I'm pumping every 1-3 hours, and getting up once in the night. I'm also taking herbs (fenugreek, blessed thistle and alfalfa). Nothing is helping to increase my milk supply. I'm VERY VERY stuck on the idea of breastfeeding.. to have to resort to formula, to me, I've failed as a mother. I couldn't give birth naturally (c-section), and now I can't breastfeed.

[kjenkins55]

Just wanted to let you know that you're absolutely not a failure in any of this, you're a fantastic mama! We tend to be way too hard on ourselves..you're trying to do the best thing for your baby, even when it's super hard for you! And don't listen to people who say you can't do it! I've been ep-ing for 4 1/2 months now, and several times I got down to producing like 10 oz or less in a day ( recurrent mastitis)..I got that too from people ' you should just stop' or ' how long are you going to keep doing this?'. Argh! A couple of times I had to supplement with formula when I was sick, and does that make me a bad mom? Nope. There are those who end up supplementing long term and does that make them bad moms? Nope. EP-ing is hard work, and every little bit of BM is a gift

On another note..have you heard of domperidone? If you're trying herbs, drinking water, pumping regularly, and still not needing your lo's needs...its worth a shot. I tried it after my supply took three big hits from mastitis, and its helped me gradually build up to being able to meet my baby's needs, and even freeze a little extra. inhousepharmacy has been the best for me in terms or price and quickest delivery. Also, I was intially pumping with a pump in style by medela, and its good but I've found for lots of regular pumping, their hospital grade models work better. I rent one from a local pharmacy for 30 bucks a month and I get a lot more milk from it-plus its easier on my nipples.

Have you seen a lactation consultant? Meeting with one might help you with whatever problems you're having- at least maybe she could give suggestions. If not though..please dont beat yourself up, mama. Your little one is lucky to have a mommy who cares so much and is willing to work so hard to give him/her the best!

[April Dawn]

You are doing awesome even without a full supply. Your baby is still getting the benefits of breast milk! He may need some extra calories from formula to grow, but supplementing with formula is NOT the same thing as exclusively formula feeding - your baby is still getting the extra health boost from breastmilk! Good work!

Edited by April Dawn - 7/5/11 at 7:15pm

[Mama2Katie&Owen]

Hi! I just found this thread and wanted to jump in even though I am nearing the end of my EPing journey. DS turned 1 on November 21 so I made it to my original goal of his birthday-now I'm just pumping until after Christmas to try to keep him as healthy as possible through the holidays. I was able to EBF my DD until she was 14m-only weaned because I was 7m pregnant with DS and the milk was gone-and as soon as she weaned she was sick off & on for a few months after never being sick while BFing. I'm down to only pumping 2x/day (about 12-13oz total) and using the freezer stash until it's gone. After Christmas I plan to slowly drop the morning pumping because the night one is easier after the kids have gone to bed. I will see how long I can keep going at just once/day. I never thought I would make it this far in the beginning.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

joining