Exclusive Pumpers Tribe - Page 4

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by bri276

ugh. bad few days. I've only been pumping 4x per day and I wonder if that's ok.

it's just so difficult when it's late at night and I"m tired and I know I could just go to sleep instead of staying up for another pump. and lately, I have just been giving in and going to sleep instead. I hope I don't destroy my supply.

Hi,

I completely understand how you feel! I am sitting in front of the computer looking at the pump (for the past 2hrs) saying I will pump in just 5 more minuites. I mean I could already be done and in bed by now but I just cant seem to find the motivation. I go through days like this..it seems like a rollercoster. Admitily it has been better since I have found a few EPers forums and found out I am not alone. Well here goes...time to pump. booooooo:

[mama-a-llama]

Originally Posted by bri276

does anyone ever feel a bit *jealous* that they can't just say "Eh, gave it my best shot, formula's fine?" I am friends with soooo many ff'ers and sometimes I wish I could be ignorant and just stop EP'ing and convince myself it's not worth the hassle. But especially since dd is at risk for developmental delays I want her to have every drop of human milk proteins to build her little brain, yk? and all the many other reasons.

I totally feel that way. Ds already has developmental delays; the highest recorded IQ for his syndrome is 85. I figure he desperately needs those 8 points from bm. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, eh?
I hope your supply is fine, and that you can find motivation and energy to pump more if you need to.

[GooeyRN]

I too, am so jealous that I can not say I gave it my best shot and just give formula. I am tired. I hate my pump already. I would run it over with my truck if dd didn't need my milk. I guess she doesn't *need* it since she doesn't have any physical/developmental problems... But I feel as long as I have the milk.. She should get it, and for me to not give it to her would be selfish. And.. If she were to become diabetic or have poor eye sight later in life I would blame myself for not giving her breastmilk. But, it won't be my fault if she were to have these issues later. If I can just suffer pumping a little longer I tell myself every day... I am 8 months into this and I am exhausted!

[MaryJaneLouise]

Originally Posted by BakerALM

Hi,

I completely understand how you feel! I am sitting in front of the computer looking at the pump (for the past 2hrs) saying I will pump in just 5 more minuites. I mean I could already be done and in bed by now but I just cant seem to find the motivation. I go through days like this..it seems like a rollercoster. Admitily it has been better since I have found a few EPers forums and found out I am not alone. Well here goes...time to pump. booooooo:

Have you set up a hands free system? Then you can play on the computer & pump at the same time

[cassdarrow]

I just saw this thread, and I have read all the way through it and I feel like I have come home. My 8th is 4 months old now, and we're EPing. She was so small when she was born she could not latch well, and now just prefers the bottle. Every now and then I can get her to latch on, but...it's rare. My last 4 babies (including her) have had growth problems. It was a relief to find out it was not a milk supply issue, but a milk delivery issue. I just finished pumping hands free, thanks to the link one of you posted to kellymom. I can't even tell you how wonderful that was!

At this point, I am lagging behind her intake. I got some "More Milk Plus", but it doesn't seem to be helping much, so I pumped every hour and a half today. I am so blessed to have some older children to pitch in with baby holding, but I really missed holding her and feeding her in the early days when pumping was constant, trying to get my supply steady.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Sorry.

[sehbub]

No worries, Cass. Ramble away!

PAK is the only reason I have any sanity left. I have to do something other than just let the pump run. Otherwise, I would lose my mind.

It's really tough for me to not just say "let's go with formula" because DD does have to get quite a bit of formula. I'm only able to produce about 4oz of bm a day, and she drinks 16-20oz daily. So her needs far outweigh my supply. Sometimes I wonder why I don't just make the switch completely, and then I look at her drinking her bottle of bm and realize she's not going to spit up, and she'll stay full longer, and she's gained 2 1/2 pounds in a month (she was 4.10 on 5/27, and was 7 pounds on Thursday!) and that can't be due solely to the formula. I have to believe that she really NEEDS my milk, otherwise I would just switch entirely to formula. It sure would make life easier

This is the hardest thing, mamas. I feel like such a newbie, because I've only been doing this for 65 days now (not that I'm counting). I'm just taking it one pumping session at a time (every 3 hours during the day, then I take the night off for sanity sake) otherwise I would get freaked out and quit.

And I am SO jealous of all those women who can breastfeed their babies anytime they want, anywhere. I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to pop a screaming baby on the boob and find their needs met, instead of waiting for a bottle to warm up, or the water to get warm enough to mix the formula. LUCKY!

[mamanurse]

I HATE the pump!!!!!: I pump 5 times a day and get about 28-35 oz. Enough for dd's needs without formula, but I have had that thought about switching to ff too: It's just so hard to find time to pump, especially when I can't put dd down (she's been getting upset recently). We are all doing the best we can giving mm to our precious babes. I know I'm definitely giving up the pump when the pediatrician says "Ok, she doesn't "need" mm (or formula) anymore." I would have extended nurse/CLW, but this pumping thing TOTALLY sucks!!!

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by MaryJaneLouise

Have you set up a hands free system? Then you can play on the computer & pump at the same time

Sadly I have been working through some "breast issues" since day one. I have talked to my LC, family doc, and OB. No one can give me a straight answer. I thought that the LC and I had narrowed it down to Reyaud's and possibly yeast but my family doc says it does not look like yeast and also my OB agrees. Also the OB says it does not sound like Reyaud's since the pain never goes away when it is cold. The only thing that cured the overall breast pain was the weather warming up to 80 degrees F but when it gets cold at night the breast pain returns. Sadly the nipple sensitivity never goes away no matter the weather and I have some white clumping on the nipple tip that led my LC to say it might be yeast. My LC got me a prescription for Newman's All purpose nipple ointment and I have been using it for a few days, both my doc and OB aggree that using the ointment won't hurt but they dont thing it is going to help the nipple sensitivity. :-(

So pumping hands free is not really an option since if I don't use compressions as a sort of counter pressure the pain is unbearable while pumping. :

[loraxc]

BakerALM, have you had your baby's palate checked by an LC? Also, have they looked for tongue-tie? I ask because it sounds like you may have some kind of physical issue going on with the "fit" between breast and mouth that is causing you pain. My DD has a very high "bubble palate" that caused persistent nursing pain and also inefficient milk transfer (she *could* get enough but she nursed for very long intervals).

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by loraxc

BakerALM, have you had your baby's palate checked by an LC? Also, have they looked for tongue-tie? I ask because it sounds like you may have some kind of physical issue going on with the "fit" between breast and mouth that is causing you pain.

Sadly, yes I have seen abunch of LCs until I finally settled on a great one! I really trust her opnion more than anyone else (she was a midwife for years until a medical condition made her unable to do deliveries, so she moved into lactation) but it is just hard to hear other opnions from everyone else.

As of right now I am Epumping all the time while working on trying to get my girl back to the breast. Well actually it is going very poorly so odds are I will be Epumping forever. :-( So I know the pain is not caused by any malformation in her mouth. But when she was nursing my LC decribed her as having a "cronically short latch", meaning she did not want to take the breast deep enough so I was left with the nipple being chomped on! Also she had a tendency to bite everytime she sucked and with her short latch that issue was extremly painful. Not to mention my phyiscal breast issues that remaned undiagnosed until I went EPumping since everyone thought all the pain was caused by exclusivly by her poor latch. So when we added all the little problems up (oh I forgot to mention that I was told to give her a bottle at the hospital to give my breasts time to heal and me not knowing any better I trusted their opnion. That just made everyother problem worse.) we ended up with one huge problem!: That is just the short version of the story....I actually wrote the long version out and wow it is like a mini novel! I will spare you the agony!:

[pemja]

Won't Take Frozen Breastmilk

This is my first post here. I'm thrilled to see this thread, as my daughter was born with a cleft palate the beginning of April. She's three months now, and I have been pumping exclusively since she can't breastfeed. I have a ton of breastmilk in the freezer from the first month when I was building up here supply. Unfortunately, she won't take any of it....I'm assuming becuase there is some colostrom in it?? Don't know....has anyone else encountered that? Unfortunately, she had her first bottle of formula yesterday. I'm down to pumping four times a day and I am just barely keeping up. If I pump more, I find my 22 month old and my four year old bear the brunt of lost time.

[bri276]

pemja- my dd has a cleft palate too.

have you tried different types of freezer bags? I know you're not making enough to freeze anymore but my dd hated the plastic taste (and smell) that the medela bags produced, once I switched to gerber she's only refused the milk once.

four times a day probably will not keep your supply up. if you can *possibly* push it to five times, it would be more ideal. at the same time- I"M SURE you are right about losing time with the other kids!!! I'm not sure how long you pump for but if you can go a half an hour hopefully that will help.

I've also heard some women have had success with "mother love" tincture, it's available in health food stores.


ETA: do you ever wish that they made bottles that said "BREASTMILK" on them so when you're out in public feeding your baby you could still be sort of NIP?

[pemja]

Thanks bri276. Good idea about the plastic bags -- that's what I'm using. I'm trying to pump for longer periods (close to 30 minutes) now that I'm only doing it four times a day. I've timed it now for naptime & bedtime so that I have long stretches I can relax....instead of trying to rush through it before lunchtime and dinnertime when the kids are crazy.

Do you feed your daughter with the Haberman? I wasn't able to breastfeed my first child (long story), but did so with my second one. Now with my experiences once again with bottles for our third, I find it's easier for me to feed in public with the Haberman. It probably shouldn't be, but it is. Since lots of people ask me what kind of bottle it is, and I can then tell them about her cleft and how I pump and feed it to her in a special bottle. I remember feeling awful about feeding our first in public with a bottle, but for some reason it doesn't seem as difficult this time around. I guess I'm a more seasoned mom too, so I don't care as much about what other people think. I know I just do the best I can providing for my kids. If others want to judge, then let them.

[bri276]

yes, we use the Haberman. I guess my thing with the bottles isn't so much what other people think - because around here, almost everyone uses formula- as much as the fact that I can't promote bf'ing like I wanted to. oh well!
it's weird, people never ask me about the Haberman anymore. I remember one person said "Hmm they make such strange bottles for babies nowadays" She felt a little sheepish when I said what it was for! does your baby have a cleft lip? mine does not, so everyone is shocked when I tell them about the palate.

[pemja]

Yes, my dd has just a cleft palate too, so folks are surprised if they are not aware of the differences between lip & palate. Is there a forum for babies with birth defects? It would be great to communicate with others who have been through the same, especially as my dd's surgery approaches in December.

[GooeyRN]

Mastitis and Supply drop

I am just getting over Mastitis. I used to get about 75 oz a day from EPing, but now I am down to about 52 and dropping further.. My dd is a big eater, has days where she eats 46 oz. Does your supply eventually come back up?

[sehbub]

Well, ladies, my time here has come to an end. After 10 weeks, my milk has completely dried up. Pumping gets nothing anymore, and DD still can not/will not latch, no matter what we tried. I am completely heartbroken that my ability to provide the best for her ended so quickly, but am grateful that I was able to give her as much as I did. I have to believe that she wouldn't have stayed so healthy or recovered from her 3lb birth weight so quickly if she hadn't received any of my milk.

I am so grateful for all of your support through all of this, and will continue to lurk just in case I can help any other mamas. In the meantime, I thank you for helping me through my rough days and showing me the light at the end of the tunnel.



Bri276, when I got my Medela Lactina Select from the hospital, the bottles it came with said: "Breastmilk: From Mother With Love" and "Nature's #1 Best Food: Mother's Milk" on them.

[fireant]

Originally Posted by sehbub

Bri276, when I got my Medela Lactina Select from the hospital, the bottles it came with said: "Breastmilk: From Mother With Love" and "Nature's #1 Best Food: Mother's Milk" on them.

And my little Medela bottles say "100% Breastmilk" on the sides.

[mamanurse]

I've seen a few new members that are EPers that may not see this thread so far back. I'm giving it a

[bri276]

thanks for bumping! just in time for me to "brag" that I hit my one YEAR mark on Thursday!! and still going, indefinitely. sigh.