Pro Pumper

Y'all, I'm a Guest Blogger!  Go see me over at The Happy Spitter and The Leaky Boob.  In the end, you'll know more about "the ladies" than maybe you ever wanted to.  At least you'll leave more informed about pumping.  Hope you enjoy!

The Milk Pumping Factory

Let me first start by saying that I am not pro-breastfeeding. Nor am I pro-pumping. Nor am I pro-formula feeding. I am pro-baby feeding. I think people that make you feel bad about the decisions you make for your family are morons. Those who give their babies bottles or those who nurse in public are both given the side-eye. Moms can’t win. Now I’ll get down from my soap box.

After a long labor and more than three hours of pushing, I was exhausted but overjoyed, holding this little angel in my arms. I just knew I would cradle her, look into the beautiful blue eyes passed down to her by her father and a glow would surround us as we began the bonding that is breastfeeding. I mean, this is supposed to be natural, right? Women have done this for centuries, right? How hard could it be, right?

Wrong. And wrong some more. Claire would fight the boob like it was poison delivered by a nipple made of broken glass. She would have nothing to do with nursing at all. I broke down and fed her formula (gasp!), which I was perfectly fine with. I was nervous about nipple confusion, but I still was naive enough to think she would come back to me and that glorious glow would find us again and we would both become breastfeeding pros in no time.

Also to consider was, long story short, I was laid off from my job last April when I was 16 weeks pregnant with Claire. Needless to say, I could not find a job given the economy, and on top of that I had an already big belly brewing. I knew I would be out of work at least until early 2010, so we needed to stretch every dollar in order to make it on one salary. Breastfeeding was part of that. We needed to save money at every turn, not spending it on formula when we could feed her breastmilk for free.

Not only did I have the pressure I put on myself to be the perfect mom but I also had dollar signs flashing in my mind. The day after Claire was born I said to myself, come hell or high water, I would breastfeed Claire. I would not let her or my checkbook down. (And I am fully aware that this is pressure I put on myself, not that anyone else put on me. Don’t ever let someone pressure you do something or be someone.)

So I spent lots of time with the lactation consultant in the hospital, and things slowly got better. Claire needed four or five formula bottles while we were there, and other than that, was starting to get the hang of the boob. I was so proud. Proud of myself. Proud of my baby. Really proud of my super supportive husband. We were a family, and we were making it through the first of many obstacles together.

And then we go home. And things got worse. Claire had lost more than the average 7% of her body weight before we were discharged. And when we saw the pediatrician again at 4 days old she was down almost 2 pounds from her birth weight. The pediatrician recommended we up the formula because Claire was simply not gaining enough weight. I began to doubt the idyllic breastfeeding situation I had fought so hard to create.

My milk finally came in when she was a week old. Now, I knew we would get back on track. Wrong again. Even with my crazy-full boobs waiting to be relieved, Claire still wasn’t getting enough to eat. So at ten days old, I packed up my momma and my babe and we trekked back to the hospital for another visit with the lactation consultant. The visit that would change everything.

We brought the boobs full and the baby hungry and were primed for some breastfeeding lessons from a pro. Claire got naked and weighed, and then we nursed. Fifteen minutes on each side. Weighed again, and she pretty much shocked us all. She had only taken half an ounce in thirty minutes of nursing. At this rate, she would still not get enough if she was attached to the boob 24/7. I felt so deflated, like I wasn’t doing something right.

We tried again, this time with the lactation consultant all up in my business and touching my boobs more than my husband had in months. Claire started screaming. And I started crying. My mom sees me crying and she starts crying. I’m sure we were a sight to behold. Claire was starving and I felt like my boobs were going to literally explode in her face. To offer me some relief, the lactation consultant suggested I pump. Since I am notorious for forgetting things, I had never been so glad to have remembered a little black backpack in my life.

Mom and I had gone to Babies R Us when Claire was a few days old for a few minutes out of the house and to buy a pump. I knew that I would like to have the option of leaving Claire for a few hours or to have my husband feed her one middle-of-the-night when I couldn’t drag myself out from under the sheets. Armed with coupons (you can read more about my couponing tips and tricks here) we set out for what would be the single most used baby item in my house. Mom bought me the Medela Pump In Style Advanced Backpack (which is a double-electric) for a little more than $200.

And man, was it the best $200 bucks she’d ever spent! Not only did the pump give me relief in the lactation room, but it would go on to help me feed my baby for nearly six months. I told her that I wasn’t necessarily tied to the idea of feeding Claire from the breast- as long as she was fed- I was okay. So the decision was made, with great encouragement from the consultant and my mom… I would exclusively pump. She gave me loads of information on how to create and maintain a solid milk supply. Letting down with a pump is quite different than with a nursing infant, so I still had a lot to learn.

She put me on some supplements and a schedule. I was to pump 15 minutes every three hours during the day and every four hours at night, for a total of seven times in 24 hours. I was also to use the let-down button on the pump every five minutes so that I could have three separate let downs during each pumping session. I also was fitted for a correctly size breast shield and picked up another set of pump parts, both of which saved my life.

In the beginning, this is what my day looked like:
7am- Wake up, shower, eat breakfast
8am- Claire wakes up, feed/ change/ dress baby
9am- Pump, wash and make bottles for the day, clean pump parts from overnight (Claire is awake so she sits on the bed with me while I pump, and I wear her or she plays on the floor while I clean)
10am- Feed Claire
Noon- Claire is napping while I pump
1pm- Feed Claire, wash bottles and pump parts from morning (Luke is home for lunch so he plays with Claire while I make lunch, we both eat and I clean up)
3pm- Claire is napping while I pump
4pm- Feed Claire
5pm- Make Dinner
6pm- Pump, wash bottles and pump parts from the afternoon
7pm- Feed Claire, Eat Dinner
8pm- Bathe Claire, Put her to bed
9pm- Pump, wash parts so as to have two clean sets for overnight pumping, make night time bottles
10pm- Go to bed (or try to)
Midnight- DH dreamfeeds Claire
1am- Pump
2am- Feed Claire
5am- Pump and Feed Claire
Start all over again at 7am

I’ll admit it was rough at first, but I got the hang of it. And my husband helped (as much as he could short of hooking himself up to the pump). In the beginning, I had trouble pumping an ounce per session, but when I began to wean four months later I was pumping nearly 10 ounces per session. And once your supply is established (around two months for me) you can eliminate one night time feeding (pump at 3am rather than 1am and 5am). And once your supply goes back up (like a week later) you can eliminate a day time pumping (1pm and 5pm rather than noon, 3pm and 6pm).

I pumped and I pumped for a little more than four months. I was able to feed my daughter and freeze over 1000 ounces of breast milk to take her almost to six months old. And I didn’t have any trouble weaning from the pump. I took the maximum dosage of Sudafed (and it’s safe to give your baby breast milk while taking this), got back on birth control (both of which will help dry of your milk) and cut one pumping session every three days.

Exclusively pumping (EPing) is an option. I am so glad someone gave me this option. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment that I was able to breastfeed my baby when nursing didn’t work for either of us. You need the support and understanding of family and friends. It is very difficult (or for me it was) to care for the baby while attached to a machine. EPing is an option that worked for me and my family. You have to do what works best for you and your family.

Congrats if you made it to the end of this lengthy tale.  Below are just a few things I learned along the way.

Tips and Tricks for EPing
1. Talk to a lactation consultant about supplements. I took 600mg of Fenugreek, three capsules- three times a day. It really boosted my milk supply, so much that when I was ready to stop pumping, I quit taking those and I experience very little discomfort weaning myself from the pump.

2. Find a comfortable place to pump. For me it was the bed. I would stack a ton of pillows between me and the headboard, watch tv, read my Bible, or just close my eyes. It was also nice that in the middle of the night I didn’t have to get up and go anywhere.

3. If you choose to EP, buy an extra set of pump parts. Pumping and washing seven times a day while caring for a newborn/ infant is hard enough. And use larger bottles rather than the 4-5 ounce ones that come with the pump.

4. You can store pump parts in the fridge between pumping sessions. When I learned this about three months into it, things became much easier. This was perfect for my middle of the night pumping. I would start with two clean sets of pump parts on my nightstand before I went to bed. I used the first at 1am, and when I was finished I put it in the fridge. I used the second set at 4am and put those in the fridge as well. Then, I would use the 1am pump parts (just clean breast shields) for the 9am pumping, and the 4am set from the noon pumping. This cut my washings down drastically.

Travelling with the Pump
1. Don’t be afraid to pack up the pump and take it with you places. When Claire was 8 weeks old, she and I flew to see my parents in New Orleans, and I successfully pumped in airport bathroom handicapped stall while feeding Claire, who was in her stroller. You can pump anywhere.

2. This brings me to… get a Hooter Hider, or an Udder Cover (www.uddercover.com). Whatever you want to call it, get one. It’s made for nursing mothers, but worked for me as well. I could pump in my car during the first few weeks back at work or in a room with my friends who aren’t quite close enough to see my ladies.

3. And pack lots of extra batteries in the pump. I could pump about two straight days worth on one set (of eight AA) batteries. Consider a car converter- one that allows you to plug in your A/C adapter in the car’s power outlet.

4. And pack the bag. They give you space there for a reason. Some of the things I kept in there were Lanolin wipes, Lanolin nipple cream, extra breast pads, spare white membranes, spare breast milk storage bags, an old watch if you don’t wear one to keep up with your time, a little devotional book to help pass those fifteen minutes.