Day 17: Pumping

Popcorn is 17 days old. Yesterday, I was so worn out from doing to much on days 14 and 15 that I couldn't function. My greatest accomplishment was watching the RHOA season finale, part 3.  And eating nearly a whole bag of dark chocolate Loacker Quadratini.  They really are delicious.  Anyway, it was a reminder that I just had a baby a couple of weeks ago and I still need to take it easy.  It's very easy, as a mommy, to try to get back in the swing of things too early.  You have to rest.  Pretty much every non-Western culture expects new mamas to get lots of rest and recuperate for 40+ days after giving birth.

I don't know why you don't get rest, Mommy, but I sure do!

I have been having a lot of leaking lately so I decided to try to save some of that milk. I'd rather save it than marinate in it.  The first time, I hand expressed after nursing and got about 20 cc from each side. Today, I got about 30 cc on one side while she nursed on the other.  It's not a lot, but I put it in some Lansinoh bags and froze it.

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That's her "I'm ready to nurse" face.

Even though Lettuce and I have pretty much decided that I'll be staying home with the kids, I think it's important to have some milk stored for emergencies.  My milk will keep at least 6 months in the deep freezer.  I'd really like to pump some, but I lost the flange from my pump. WIC may be able to help me with one, if I go back to work.

Avent Isis Manual

So let's talk pumping.  With the first two kids, I didn't pump. I didn't have pump money.  They can be expensive, as I'm sure you know.  I vaguely remember trying a Medela with no success. I hand expressed a little for the Astronaut, but my mother ended up bringing him to me to nurse. I know that sounds crazy but I worked super close to our house.

With Squirrel, I knew I was only going to be home for 6 weeks. I began pumping after about 2 weeks and we introduced a bottle at that time.  I am a heavy chested mama (about an F-yes F as in frog-cup) so the flanges of the pumps were an issue with me.  The flange is the part where you put your breast.   I decided to go with Avent for several reasons.  

•  I'd heard they were easier for bigger mamas.
• It came with a nice carrying bag.
• Avent nipples are wider, more like my nipples, so I figured it would be an easier transition.
• The price was right. It was less than $50, not too big of an investment if I couldn't use it.  

The pump was super easy to use and I pumped the whole time I was home.  I was able to exclusively breastfeed for 7 months, then another 2 months while we transitioned to formula.

But it was hard.

Pumping is so hard and I truly respect the pumping mamas. I nursed first thing in the morning before work, I  pumped on my lunch break at work (my job had a lactation room), which was very lonely business. I nursed as soon as I got home.  I pumped every night.  I was worn out and my supply diminished. There's nothing like baby to breast. In hindsight, maybe I could have used some fennel or Mother's Milk Tea to help me keep my supply up. I was also depending on a manual pump for some pretty high volume pumping. I probably should have upgraded to electric for her.

Avent Isis IQ Uno

With Side Salad, I was a full time student. I went back to school when he was 12 days old.  Initially, I took him with me, but he was the cutest distraction. Plus, I had a professor who was uncomfortable with my breastfeeding.  Yes, she was a woman.  Besides, I was only paying tuition for me, not the kid.  I was only gone a few hours at a time so he took a bottle if necessary, but mostly he slept during my class time. I Supgraded to an Avent Isis IQ-about $150 4 years ago-which is the electric version of my pump. It allowed me to customize the pumping action so it wasn't yanking my nipples off.  I could make the suction as gentle as I needed it to be.  I did not use the petal massager because my breast fit better without it. I told you, I'm a bigger girl.  We ended up with a freezer full of milk.  I was able to go on a cruise without him. He was about 18 months old at the time. He had plenty of milk and I pumped while I was gone to keep my supply up.  I loved my  pump.  As you know, Side Salad self weaned around 21 months.  I put the pump parts somewhere random and now I can't find the flange, though I have all the other parts.

Now I want to pump as a precautionary measure.  Worst case scenario, we use the milk to make her cereal when she starts solids.  Of course, we're team Avent again.

Soon as I can find a flange.

My Breastfeeding Experiences

I am a lactavist. I staunchly belive that breast milk is to formula like diamonds are to cubic zirconia, a cheap imitation.  If you can't get diamonds, wear CZ, but if you had a choice why would you want something less?  This is especially true when you consider that the diamonds in this case are free.

I breastfed all four of my children. Each time, I had a different life situation but somehow I managed to make it work.  With my the Astronaut, I was an 18 year old single parent, four months out of high school.  I waited a year to go to college, but worked from the time he was 2 months old. Maybe one bottle of formula passed that child's lips.  It didn't make it down his throat because he spit it out.  He has quite a discerning palate.  My mom brought him to my job to nurse. I was waiting tables intially, and worked a semi-slow shift.  I left the state and went to college full time when he was nine months old and still breastfeeding. I expressed milk for him and he began whole milk at age one.  We made it 13 months, at which point he self-weaned.  Two months later, I was pregnant.

When I had the Princess, my son had just turned two and I was back home. I worked two jobs in her infancy, begin when she was 5 weeks old.  It was a much more difficult situation.  I was having problems with my then-boyfriend and with my family. I only made it 4 months with my sweet girl.  Then we fell into a vicious cycle of eczema, ear infections, and colds that actually cost me my job.  I didn't qualify for FMLA and my job wasn't very sympathetic to the plight of single mothers with sick children.

The Squirrel was up next. I was determined to make it with her. I returned to work when she was 6 weeks old. She was a fussy little girl, my smallest baby.  Caesar wasn't working then so he stayed with her. I began pumping and freezing as soon as she was born.We began bottles of pumped milk at 2 weeks to try to avoid nipple confusion and my Avent Isis and I spent lunch together in the lacation room at work. My precious girl girl was EBF for 7 months, then hit a huge growth spurt and depleted my stored supply.  She was BF/FF for two months and then FF after 9 months. She couldn't tolerate cow milk based formula and was switch to soy with moderate success. She developed severe eczema which she still suffers from. She's allergic to all nuts (peanut/tree nut), dogs, dairy, and dust. 

Three days after I was laid off from my job, I found out I was pregnant with Side Salad. My little chunky monkey (the biggest of teh babes) was born so fast we shared our first meal together less than 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital, he from the boob and me from the hospital cafeteria.  SS was the lucky one. He was born when I was at the ripe old age of 26, much wiser and more confident as a mother than I had ever been. Formula never graced the palate of my precious papoose. Before the big kids, my mom and I went on a cruise, I stocked up the deep freezer with the help of my Avent Isis iQ Uno.   This kid was EBF until he was 21 months old.  That's right; he was walking, talking, eating from a plate, drinking from a real cup, using the potty, and all.  It was a mutual decision. He just nursed less and less until one day, I realized it'd been about a week since he nursed. I offered and he refused.

You'd assume people who had known me for a long time would be used to my breastfeeding. 

You assume too much, dear reader.  In my next blog, I will outline the infamous "NIP makes you close minded" incident of 2009.

It's a hoot.