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tiffanytwisted

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
792
re: nipple soreness- I was red/blistered from bad latching in the beginning and they gave me something called Nu Gel- which is a square shaped pad that I believe is also used on burn victims- it was cool and soothing and they healed in just a few days- and I didn't have to wipe anything off when it was time to nurse again. I bet the LC in the NICU could get some for you.
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
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Messages
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drk|1306942886|2935380 said:
I'm afraid the only thing that made my nipples less sore was cutting down the number of times a day I was pumping. Apart from that, the girls were red and sore for months, with a blood blister on one which just wouldn't heal.
I finally finished pumping about a month ago. I waited till K hit 12 months, then cut back to once a day (after tapering my domperidone), then to once every two days, and then I waited 3 days to pump and figured I'd wait until things felt full again after that. I never felt particularly full again. I had a couple lumpy spots that I'd hand express a little bit out of after that for comfort, but that was it. It was certainly bittersweet. Now I've still got a few bags of frozen BM to mix with milk to help her transition to whole milk (worked great, though I was worried it wouldn't), but other than that we're done with breastfeeding. That was by far the hardest part of the first year of K's life. I don't know if I could do it again if we ever have a second.

Congrats, drk! I totally understand the bittersweet feeling- I almost literally cried when I sold my pump. Where I live, breastfeeding is very much promoted (the bf vs. ff war is quite alive and well) and all the totally committed bf'ers were in awe of us exclusive pumpers. I remember when I first started out, one of my co-workers told me that EPing is like doing double duty- the bodily commitment of bfing with the time commitment of pumping AND feeding AND washing bottles.

Someone should do a dissertation on the emotional aspect of feeding choices. I know I felt a lot of guilt and pressure to feed Drew exclusive breast milk, and the fact that I technically did not (as he was in the hospital the day after he was discharged from being born for jaundice and more than 10% weight loss- he needed formula to get rid of the bilirubin and get his weight back up since my milk hadn't come in yet) really weighed on me for a long time. With Casey, we had no choice but to feed her formula since she was adopted as a 10.5 month old and I was not about to try to lactate for her) and I never felt any guilt. I guess it's b/c I really didn't have a choice. With Drew I did and I put a lot of pressure on myself.

While I'm glad I did EP, and I'm proud to have proven everyone wrong who said it couldn't be done, I wonder if in a few years, I'll look back and ask myself why I felt so guilty and was the pressure worth it? Anyway, enough rambling and congrats again! Enjoy your freedom.
 

Kunzite

Brilliant_Rock
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drk|1306942886|2935380 said:
That was by far the hardest part of the first year of K's life. I don't know if I could do it again if we ever have a second.

I've thought about that a lot too. I think guilt would drive me to do it again (sorry new baby but mommy only wanted your brother to get BM!) but when I think about doing this all over again..... I just don't know if my sanity could take it, especially since I would know what I was getting myself into!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Nov 24, 2006
Messages
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Hi thanks for the tips. :wavey: Well we brought one baby home from the NICU, yay!!! The other one will be there about a month.
Well today I pumped blood. I guess it isn't normal so I turned down the suction (I am using the symphony). Anyone have that problem? It isn't a blister that I can see. I guess I just need to be careful.
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
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Skippy, sometimes you get small internal tears in your nipple that lead to the blood.
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Thank you LS!!! I turned down the suction it is help; I think I will keep the suction lower for awhile. Gosh, I never realized how hard it is to pump and feed.
 

tiffanytwisted

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
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Messages
792
Skippy123|1307117189|2936928 said:
Thank you LS!!! I turned down the suction it is help; I think I will keep the suction lower for awhile. Gosh, I never realized how hard it is to pump and feed.

I never realized how hard it is either, if I would have known before I'm not sure I would have done it. It's a huge committment and kudos to everyone here!!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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group hug Tiffany.


Question. I feel like I have so many questions lately, sorry.
So a Lactation Consultant/Nurse came to the house. She said I was pumping way too much; I pump 9-10 times a day for the past 8 weeks. She said I need to pump every 3 to 4 hrs instead of the 2 to 3 hours I was doing. Does that sound right?? I don't want to lose my milk supply. I did try it sort of and did 8 pumps and actually had more milk then I had in the past, not sure if it was just a weird coincidence? I always thought moms trying to wean would pump less? thanks so much for your thoughts mommas!
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
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Wow, 9-10 times a day?! I don't think I ever pumped that many times. How is your supply? They say you should pump as often as you can for the first 12 weeks while you're establishing your supply. It really depends on each person, but I know I got the most at 4 pumps a day (36-40 oz). I saw a drop when I went down to 3 pumps, but there are women (overproducers, I guess) who still make 50 oz on 2 pumps a day. Just depends...

You probably will save your sanity if you drop to every 3 or 4 hours!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Yesterday I got 29 oz's. I do somewhere around 26-28 oz's. Yes, 9-10 is crazy; it is starting to wear me out. thanks for your thoughts LS. Wow, that is awesome how much milk you got!
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
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Messages
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There's only one way to find out but I bet if you drop some pumps, you might increase. Esp if you're still doing a MOTN pump. If you are, I would wait until 12 weeks first to drop that one, but your body will probably feel relieved of some of the stress and rise to milk-making occasion!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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sorry but what is MOTN pump? thanks LS for your help
 

tiffanytwisted

Brilliant_Rock
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Mar 28, 2006
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Skippy- I either pump or nurse every 3-4 hours. The information given to our NICU moms says 7-8 times in a 24 hour period when establishing their supply.

LS- my babies are almost 13 weeks, I wonder if I could drop the MOTN pumping? More sleep would be great

ETA: MOTN pump= middle of the night
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Tiffany, thank you for chiming in too! This 9- sometimes 11 is crazy making for me so I appreciate hearing that.
I still do the MTON pump. I get lots of milk that time. Do people go cold turkey on the MTON or is there a way to do it LS? just curious, thanks!
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
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Skippy, I think when I was still doing MOTN, my last pump before bed was at 8, I pumped at 12am, then at 5am. Once I dropped the MOTN one, I moved my last pump to 9pm and then got up at 4.30am. I'm not going to lie- there were times when my boobs would be exploding and I couldn't get to that pump fast enough. But gradually, my body got used to it and the leakage (esp if I overslept) went away. My 4.30 am pump then produced 12 oz; I've heard from others how they would produce 20+ oz in one pump! Holy cow! Literally! But it's probably going to be different if you're not exclusively pumping and are actually nursing as well.
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Messages
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thank you LS & Tiffany! i appreciate your input, I feel more relaxed today since cutting back a couple of pumps :halo:

how is everyone doing? :wavey:
 

Kunzite

Brilliant_Rock
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May 17, 2009
Messages
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Skippy - I think you would be fine to cut down to around 7 pumps. I've read that there are many ladies who actually get more milk or stay the same on less pumps. You'd be able to add them back in if you found out that cutting a few out had a negative impact on your supply. You're pumping so much right now that I'd think it would be pretty easy to just cut a few out cold turkey as long as you don't extend your time between pumps too drastically.

AFM - Oliver started daycare this week so I've entered a whole new world of making daycare bottles! He's been pretty good about eating most of what I send but today they tossed three ounces. Boo! Our daycare won't save the leftover to send home either. I wish this kid was more predictable! I also figured out that my supply dips about a week or so before AF arrives. That's what caused my major reduction at 6 months pp. It happened againg last AF and the reduction seems permanent. That's a little depressing. So next month if I get another dip we'll have to break into freezer stash!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
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KUNZITE, oh I hate when I have to dump breastmilk so I understand how you feel. How is he liking daycare? That is interesting to know about AF; I will have to pay attention to that.

TIFFANY, did you cut out your MOTN pump?
 

AllieLuv83

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 22, 2007
Messages
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Kunzite it took us a good 3 months before getting it down. We tried 4 3oz bottles, 3 4oz bottles, 5 2oz bottles, 2 2oz, and 2 3oz. They were wasting a ton (our daycare doesn't save either) on a daily basis. I would say close to 6-8oz was being tossed before they started heating his bottles to a higher temp which he seemed to want. There are still days when he refuses the bottle from them, like today. He drank 1oz of a 5oz bottle, the rest had to be dumped. He drank 4oz of the second bottle. So all together they dumped 5oz today. Yesterday he drank all 10oz. Go figure! When they were dumping so much my biggest concern wasn't the waste but the reason for why Charlie was refusing. I am a total basket case about him drinking his milk. I would say experiment with different amounts to accommodate for as little waste as possible, and give him some time to adjust. When we switched from the 6week-6month room to the 6month-12month room he started to refuse the bottles again. Breastfed babies need to bond with someone, that is why they suggest that as few people as possible feed the baby. He eventually got used to it and was fine drinking for them. Tomorrow I am only sending in 2 4oz bottles. I used to send in a daily extra bottle but that was just a headache to lug back and forth, sometimes I would leave it there for the next day but I always worried about them forgetting to use it. He would only ever drink a 3rd bottle once in a blue moon. So now we just keep frozen milk in their freezer in case they need it.

ETA: And on top of them not being able to save the milk, they are also unable to reheat it. So...once the heat and offer it he has 1 hour to finish it, if he doesn't it goes adios. They tell me that he drinks it even if it is at room temp, and has been sitting out. I know for me at home if it is even a few degrees beyond his liking he refuses.
 

Kunzite

Brilliant_Rock
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Skippy - He seems to be adjusting to DC just fine. He's pretty go with the flow like that. Maybe it was having all those different people in the hospital? I don't know... but he's not afraid of new people or being away from us at all.

Allie - Wow! I can't believe how much milk you were having to toss. That's so sad! Our DC policies sound exactly the same. They have the one hour rule, which I understand, but I don't understand why they can't give the milk back to us at the end of the day. We're also bringing in a spare bottle at the moment because I'm just too paranoid that he'll run out of things to eat! Haha. Like he's ever been that hungry.... :cheeky: We were going to bring in a freezer bag to leave for a spare but they would make us take that home every night too! We can't even leave that overnight. So it's just easier to bring in a bottle to take home than a freezer bag. Since I don't nurse we just use that spare bottle as his bedtime bottle the same night. I don't think temperature is a problem for O as we give him bottles that are all different temps (room temp, heated up, straight from the fridge...) and he's good with that. He's also fine eating from different people. I think his main problem (at home too) is that he's easily distracted. So I imagine that problem is a hundred times worse at DC with all the other little kids in the room. I will say that our DC ladies are really good about trying to get him to finish the bottle in the hour time frame. They're pretty sympathetic about wasting milk. They practically apologize all over themselves when we pick him up and he didn't finish a bottle, like they take it personally!
 

AllieLuv83

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 22, 2007
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K - See Charlie is such a boobie boy and it is totally my fault. In the beginning it was just easier to nurse him, and when DH would come home I should have made him offer C a bottle but that would involve me having to pump. Now he takes it just fine but in the beginning it was pretty hard on me, I was worried about him not eating enough. Luckily, the freezer bags are something I am able to leave there, they are not a stringent on that one. I hope that your transition is a smooth one. Starting DC was one of the harder moments of my life.
 

Puppmom

Ideal_Rock
Premium
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N prefers his milk straight from the tap too. No matter how recently he ate, he whines as soon as he sees me.

So N is going to be one in six weeks. I'm wondering when it's safe to drop to one pump per day while at work? He's only eating 3-6 oz while I'm gone. Thoughts?
 

random_thought

Brilliant_Rock
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1,065
Kunzite|1307815138|2943364 said:
I think his main problem (at home too) is that he's easily distracted.

Lol I have this problem too. We usually have the tv on when we are feeding him and he always turns his head to look at it, I think he likes the blurry colors he can see on it lol
 

turtledazzle

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May 1, 2006
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584
puppmom|1308337138|2948549 said:
N prefers his milk straight from the tap too. No matter how recently he ate, he whines as soon as he sees me.

So N is going to be one in six weeks. I'm wondering when it's safe to drop to one pump per day while at work? He's only eating 3-6 oz while I'm gone. Thoughts?

I'm in the same boat with you, Pupp. When I get home from work it is always a scramble to change into a nursing tank ASAP to get to him because he is whining to nurse (and typically then fall asleep on me for 30-45 minutes before dinner) -- he only sleeps about 1.5-2 hours total at daycare, so he's ready for a quick snooze most days.

We're actually on vacation now but I was thinking about dropping down to one pump once I go back to work. I've had to do it a few times recently because of meetings and everything seemed OK, but I know that it will my supply will go down eventually of course. It makes me nervous, but I have to do it at some point over the next month or so because I cannot keep pumping twice a day at work. There is just too much to do and too many meetings.

T typically eats 8-10 oz while at daycare and then another 3-6 oz at bedtime (in addition to my morning and 5pm nursing sessions). Right now I can meet those needs easily by pumping one side at 6am and my two pumping sessions at work. I *think* I can still meet them by dropping one pumping session at work, as I'm typically freezing 5oz per day. However, I'm worried that dropping that session will decrease my overall supply. Gah, I wish it weren't so difficult!
 

AllieLuv83

Brilliant_Rock
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Jan 22, 2007
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I am currently on summer vacation but when I come back to work in August, Charlie will be about 10 months old. I plan to continue to pump 2 times at work. I wish I didn't have to but I would not pump enough in one session for him to have at daycare. I pump about 7oz at the 9:30 pump and 4oz at the 12:30, he drinks 10oz at daycare. I will pump until his 1st birthday and then slowly wean him.
 

dcgator

Brilliant_Rock
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Aug 15, 2008
Messages
1,115
Hi ladies,

I have breifly read/skimmed through all the previous pages, and it looks like I will have some great references when it come times to pump, but before then, I was wondering if you all could give some advice on the actual breast pumps you use. Everyone seems to talk about the Medela pumps, but no one has mentioned the Ameda or the Avent. Does anyone have either of these? I was originally going to go with the Medela, but I am hearing better things about the Ameda and I am considering the Avent b/c I like the idea of the massager pads and the fact that they are compatible with the Avent bottles.

Any expereinces, stories, etc you knowledgable ladies could share would be appreciated. Thanks!
 

AllieLuv83

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
1,453
I bought a medela because it seemed like that is what everyone else used. My girlfriend had an ameda hospital grade and ended up going with the lasinoh pump. I read up on avent and it seems like the biggest qualm is that replacement parts are impossible to purchase? I have the PISA and have bought double and triple sets of shields, valves, membranes and tubing, I never wash parts at work because I have extra sets with me every day.

I think if I had to do it again I would get the medela once more because of the positive feedback and their popularity. I know that a few moms have the ameda and like is as well. Avent would have been my 3rd choice. After your nipples toughen up you don't need any massaging action. I pump on full power and never have any pain.
 

Logan Sapphire

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 5, 2003
Messages
2,405
I've used both an Ameda rental and owned the Medela Freestyle. I liked them both. Medela parts are easier to find; Babies R Us now carries Ameda parts though.
 

CatLuver

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
227
DC - I have the Ameda after reading reviews on here from Mara and others. I didn't do much other research because I wasn't totally sure bf'ing would work (haha, baby now takes nothing BUT the boob) and it sounded good enough (and is cheaper). It works fine, and the suction is plenty, but here is what I don't like about it:

- makes annoying beeping sound every time it pumps (beep beep..beep beep..beep beep) and there's no way to turn it off
- it's not in a shape that is as small and portable as the medela freestyle (it is still portable, but more clunky because it has these bottle holders which i don't think are useful at all)
- it's not "hands free" like the medela freestyle claims to be. I've never used the medela, so I don't know if you can truly use it hands free without using a pumping bra, but you definitely need a pumping bra with the ameda if you want to be hands free.
- parts are harder to find in store (but easy to order online)

That's it - good luck! I think I would have sprung for the medela if I had known bf'ing would work.
 

CatLuver

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
227
Hi ladies, I posted this awhile back on the Mommy thread, but wanted some other input - when you pump at work, do you take off all your clothes and put the pumping bra on top of your nursing bra, then take it off and put all your clothes back on? (eek, such a huge PITA, but oh well!) I need to do both boobs at the same time so I need to be hands free and my pump doesn't do that by itself. And I do'nt want to rumple my clothes or get milk on them.

Also - does it depend on the pumping bra? I have the Made By Moms pumping band which is velcro and sticks to itself every time I take it off, and every time I take the flanges out of the holes, milk gets everywhere. Is the Simple Wishes one easier to use?

Thanks again!!
 
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