Exclusive Pumpers Tribe - Page 12

[mamanurse]

Gooey, I totally know what you mean about the bad pump thing.

The hospital I'm at currently has an employee pumping lounge with a Medela Classic in it. It had started letting milk get backed up into the tubing 'cause the membranes weren't opening up with each suction. I told the head LC for the whole health system about it and she said it had to be my equipment. Nevermind that my equipment works just fine on the other Classic and Lactina in their LC rooms. Also, one of their other pumps has a lower suction than what I think it should have. She tested it and told me it was normal. However, I got a better letdown and milk yield from my PIS at home!

Grrrrr! Frustrating.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by mamanurse

Gooey, I totally know what you mean about the bad pump thing.

The hospital I'm at currently has an employee pumping lounge with a Medela Classic in it. It had started letting milk get backed up into the tubing 'cause the membranes weren't opening up with each suction. I told the head LC for the whole health system about it and she said it had to be my equipment. Nevermind that my equipment works just fine on the other Classic and Lactina in their LC rooms. Also, one of their other pumps has a lower suction than what I think it should have. She tested it and told me it was normal. However, I got a better letdown and milk yield from my PIS at home!

Grrrrr! Frustrating.

That would be very frustrating, to have that problem with only one pump, but be told its YOUR equipment. I guess that would make the LC's job easier, and more profitable for her to sell you a new kit.

[mama-a-llama]

I'm currently working on weaning down my 3 am pumping : by reducing 2 min every 2 days. Soooo. . . when I'm done that, which one should I drop next? I'll then be down to 8 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm, 8:30 pm, 10:30 pm, and I'm planning to drop both the 3 pm and 8:30 pm, and move the 6 back to 5ish. For some reason (major sleep deprivation? ) my brain isn't working well enough to figure out what would make things best spread out.

[mamanurse]

Right now, I'm trying to turn two pumpings into one as well. My current schedule is: 6:30, 9:30, 1:30, 5:30, 9:30. I'm trying to do 4-5 hours between daytime pumps now and make a 7:00 pumping instead of 5:30 and 9:30. I'm just getting my 5:30 pumping to be later and my 9:30 pumping to be less and am hoping to be done transitioning by November.

[Swirly]

My milk is disappearing. I am totally freaking out. Ever since Af returned two months ago, I lose 3 ounces with every cycle and it does not return. I am now at the point where some days I break even milk-wise, some days she eats more than I make. I get sick even thinking of supplementing after doing this for eight months.

I don't know what to do. I eat oatmeal til blue in the face. I take as much Fenugreek as I can afford (6-10 capsules per day). I drink water okay, not great. My membranes are new. My pump is an 8 months old PIS advanced. I don't know what to try to see if it is the pump or me, but I really need to know this ASAP.

I can't pump extra during the qweek really, as my child is very mobile and climbs all over me or cries when I pump. If I pump a lot this weekend, and get the supply up - won't it just go away when I have to return to pumping 5-6 times per day again?

My current pumping schedule is:

1. 8:30 am (30 minutes)
2, some time between 12:30 and 1:30 pm (whenever she will allow it) for between 20-30 minutes usually.
3. 4:30pm (10-20 minutes, depending upon her mood)
4. 7:30pm (25-30 min)
5. 10:15 pm (30 minutes)
6. 3:45 am (25 - 30 minutes)

Pumps # 3 and 4 sometimes get combined into one pumping at or around 6:00 pm - if she won't allow me to pump until my husband gets home from work.

[Phiababy]

if my milk has dried out can i get it back by pumping?

[mamamavis]

Swirly, I know how you feel. I have been pumping exclusively since August first, every three hours round the clock. Taking Fenugreek, alfalfa tea, oatmeal, everything. Then my milk started to disappear, like from 2 oz per session down to 2 tablespoons or so. (I only have developed milk ducts in one breast, so I have been pumping only the left side for three months now.)
I am freaking out because I was taking Reglan when my milk started to go away, ( 6 weeks ago) but it was making me very depressed and crazy, so for Lily's and my health I stopped taking it. Now, I have next to no milk and have been supplementing but I am so heartbroken about it. I really am committed to giving her the best possible start. She absolutely refused/s to latch on.
I feel for you. We won't make it to four months at this rate. Good for you for how far you have come! Be proud of yourself!

[Swirly]

Mamamavis, you sure are having a hard time. I think you did the right thing by stopping the reglan. Lily needs a mom who feels good. You are doing a good job as her mama. She is a lucky girl.

[Swirly]

Originally Posted by Phiababy

if my milk has dried out can i get it back by pumping?

Phia, I am not sure if pumping alone would do it (you are also nursing though, right?) I would make a separate post if I were you on re-lactating. Folks with experience with that can advise you better. You should also contact a lactation consultant or La Leche leader probably.

[mamamavis]

thanks, swirly! and i'm a lucky momma! it was hard to stop the reglan in some ways (quantity!!), but we decided as a family that happiness all around is as important to us as pumping/feeding etc...so here we go au natural and supplementing.

[GooeyRN]

Swirly,

My supply started dipping around 8 months, too. It has been a decline since. I loose about an ounce or 2 a week. I went from 75 oz now am at around 43. I had mastitis, which killed my supply initially. I think the problem now is pump resistance. Do you feel empty when you are done pumping? I sometimes still feel pretty full. I learned to hand express after I was done pumping, sometimes I get 3 more ounces out!!! What kind of pump are you using? Can you rent a hospital grade pump for awhile? I have been using one since the beginning (will be pumping for one year on monday, YAY!!!) so I don't have that option. Maybe it would help you to try one for a week or two? Pumping more frequently hasn't helped me. I say definatly try hand expressing when done pumping. 8 months is a common time to exerience pump resistance.

I totally understand about our little one not liking it when we pump. I try to time my pumping during her naps. Forget even trying if she is getting tired since she cries. I can't just let her cry, either. She is so high needs and she is starting to walk this pumping is getting so hard to deal with! She gets mad when I pump and pulls the tubing out! haha.

Gooey

[Chronic Chrissy]

I NEED PUMP SUGGESTIONS

I need help and you are the ladies to ask. I am exclusively BF except for when I have to go to work for a few hours a day, but not because I want to, because expressing is such a hassle for me, here's why. I am very tight when it comes to cash. When I was pregnant my SIL offed me her gerber pump from like 7 years ago, she didn't even get a chance to use it because apparently she dried up within days(please don't start). So I have this pump that worked great for like the first month. I stored up enough milk for about 8-9 feedings. When I went back to work I tried not to use this store and tried to pump for the next day so she had fresh milk but my breassts wouldn't pump anymore, the would shut off. I tried everything to get them to work with the pump with out success, even using DD to start, or pumping the other side, but my breasts are too smart. I turned to hand expression because it was the only thing I could think of, but even that only works for so long and I know there is more in there because DD can eats about 7oz per feeding and I can usually only get 4 before they stop. Anyways now that she is eating more I don't think I can keep up much longer. The emergency store is gone and there are times when I've expressed like mad and come up short, 24 hours and I couldn't get on feeding. I want to buy a pump but I don't want to waste my cash on another one that doesn't work. I need it to be portable so I can pump at work and I don't have much cash to spend. Please help, one day soon I'll come home and DH will tell me I didn't leave enough and he had to use the emergency formula that hasn't even been cracked yet.

[mamanurse]

CC- If it's that important to you to give your baby only bm, you might have to buy a quality pump. Also, your body is not used to letting down for the pump and that might be why it is difficult for you to get much milk. FWIW, I don't think that 4oz is all that bad a yield. You should set up a time of day that you ALWAYS pump. If your dc takes a morning nap, this might be a good time. That way your body is being told to make more milk at approximately the same time of day and will meet the demand. You also might have to pump double what your babe would nurse while you're at work.

Pumping is tricky, but I think you'll be able to do it with enough dedication and the proper pump. Oh yeah, one more thing. I bought my PIS used on Craig's List and replaced the tubing, horns, and bottles for maximum used hygiene. I spent $80 and it turned out being my neighbor, who is an OB, that I bought it from.

Let us know how it goes...

[melbb]

My milk supply seems to be crashing, too. DD just turned 11 months old. We just relocated from the west coast to the east coast. I had to give up my Symphony and use my PIS for the travels. I am still using it. Based on past experience, I don't think it is the pump. Anyway, I had been taking 20-30 mg of dom and stopped that, too. And I caught germs on the plane and now have a cold, and our travel was awful and only got 4 hours of sleep our first night in our new place. My supply has dropped from about 26 oz to 19-20 oz. I have never made enough milk for DD, so i always felt like a failure. And now I feel even worse. The thing is, I had planned to drop to 1-2 pumps a day at 12 months and expected to have to give her more formula (she is slow to eat more solids, although is showing much more interest in self feeding now). I am just having a hard time accepting things and letting go. I feel kind of depressed.

[GooeyRN]

My supply is dropping, too. I still make a little more than she eats, but I don't know for how long. I am going to cut some pumps now that dd is a year old tomorrow. (10 times a day is just too much!)

Chronic Chrissy,

I heard that Gerber pumps are awful. I doubt you will maintain your supply with one. If you can't spend a lot, I heard that Avent Isis pumps work pretty well. Its a single sided hand pump. I know some women who actually EPed with them. They are about $50 each. 4 oz is a pretty good output for pumping, though. I agree with mamanurse, that you should try to pump the same times every day, like everytime your baby naps, and once she is sleeping but before you go to bed. Its also good to pump right after your baby nurses first thing in the am. Milk supply tends to be highest then. Good luck!

Gooey

[Chronic Chrissy]

I ask for your honesty and experience, which I know you will give. I'm looking at the Advent Isis manual pump, and the gerber massaging pump(also manual, but now that I've read some posts maybe not) anyone think I'll have success with either of these? Is manual a good idea? I only miss one maybe two feedings and right now if I could get anywhere from 6-12oz in a pumping I would be happy.
I try to catch up on the weekends in the mornings before she wakes up, but somehow I can step out for 10 minutes and DH feeds it to her because she is fussy: and not even hungry, and since her nipples are the same shape as her paci that's what she thinks it is. He's got comfort nursing down better than me. I also pump every morning before work and every day right when I get home, that's when I get the most since it's got a chance to build up. So I get that first 4 oz then till the next morning I'm lucky to get another ounce, so I'm still short. There have been a time or two where I've had to add an ounce of water to top it up because I just can't do it . And now that my hours are picking up and she is eating more it gets me a little worried about how much longer I can keep my head above water.
But thanks anyways for all your help so far.

[Metasequoia]

Not an exclusive pumper, but I've used my fair share of pumps. I loooove the Isis, it's fabulous & I've used a hospital grade pump before & I still love the Isis. Chrissy, do you pump on one side while your Dd is nursing on the other?

[Chronic Chrissy]

Originally Posted by Metasequoia

Not an exclusive pumper, but I've used my fair share of pumps. I loooove the Isis, it's fabulous & I've used a hospital grade pump before & I still love the Isis. Chrissy, do you pump on one side while your Dd is nursing on the other?

I have but my breasts are very smart, and apparently gerber pumps(mine is like 7 years old) aren't very good. Did you use a manual one or electric/battery. I have a bid on a manual for $.99 on ebay, so I don't think at that price I have much to lose, only 2 hours to wait and see.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by Chronic Chrissy

I also pump every morning before work and every day right when I get home, that's when I get the most since it's got a chance to build up.

So you pump before work, and after work, but not during work? Going a long time between pumpings/nursings may cause your supply to drop over a few weeks. Is it possible to pump once during work? That would help you to maintain your supply.

[mamanurse]

Happy Birthday!

The Gooey Peanut turns 1 tommorrow. Congratulations on making it a year of EP'ing and here's to celebrating your baby!!!

PS- I was worried I'd forget to wish happy birthday tommorrow, so I thought I'd do it tonight