Pumping Extravaganza
9:59 AM Posted In decrease and lack of milk supply , motherhood , power pumping Edit This 0 Comments »My goal last weekend was to be super mom and boy did I deliver! I feel the need to share my pumping extravaganza with you. If you feel this is TMI then don’t read it. However, I find that it was helpful to me to read other mother’s experiences on the topic so I’d like to share my experience and hopefully help some other mothers out there struggling with the same thing – decrease/lack in milk supply. Let's start at the beginning... When my sweet boy Remy was born I was having absolutely no problems in the milk department. I was actually making more than he needed. Now that I look back I regret not pumping more. I did pump once per day, first thing in the morning which is when I started my "stockpile" in the freezer. 6 weeks after my boy was born I started back on birth control and took the "mini" pill, per my doctor. At the time I didn't realize that the mini pill decreased my milk supply dramatically but now that I look back I should have known. Remy became fussy at night and wanted to be on the boob ALL EVENING from about 5:00-9:00 p.m. I thought this was a comfort thing and that he was just preparing for a long night of sleep. I was wrong. Ever since he's been at daycare and gets a bottle all day and in the evening he's perfectly satisfied at night and is much happier. So I've pretty much became a full time pumper and only nurse in the middle of the night and sometimes in the morning or evening if he'll let me (now he prefers the bottle). Because I no longer nurse Remy all day and a pump can't remove milk as good as a baby, my milk has slowly been decreasing and decreasing ever since I went back to work. On an average day I pump 20-25 ounces and Remy eats around 25-30 ounces a day (not including the times I nurse him). I looked in my freezer the other day and I only have 12 bags of milk left! Talk about stressful! I have not had to supplement with formula yet and I will do everything in my power to not have to supplement. If you would have asked me a few years ago if I would be breastfeeding and pumping I would have laughed at you. I never thought I'd do that for my kids.
I've tried a hundred different things to up my production - Blessed Thistle (2 pills, 3 times a day), Fenugreek (2 pills, 3 times a day), oatmeal every morning, eating more calories, drinking more water, breast massage, pumping 5-10 after milk stops, pumping more often, taking a hot shower before pumping, pumping next to baby, pumping with a picture of baby, etc. Ok, maybe not a hundred different things but it feels like it. Nothing has seemed to help much so after MORE reading on the subject I decided to try the power pump. There are lots of different variations on power pumping so I decided to mix a couple together to try to get the best outcome.
Here are some of my websites that I visited frequently about this subject:
http://www.mobimotherhood.org/mm/article-lms.aspx
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/pumping_decrease/
So, here's my power pump story: My day started out with feeding my boy and then the pumping started. I bottle fed my boy the remainder of the day due to the fact that he prefers a bottle and I figured I wouldn’t have enough for him since I was emptying myself every 45 minutes. Ok, and also the fact that he has two bottom teeth that are like razors against my nipple when he bites me. I started pumping around 7 am and ended around 8:30 pm. During a normal day I pump 7 times. Saturday and Sunday however I pumped about 20 times each day – every 45 minutes for 10 minutes at a time and the last hour I did 10 minutes on, 10 off. Sitting on the couch all day pumping doesn’t sound like hard work but boy was it ever! It was stressful, exhausting and emotionally draining. I’m not going to lie, I had a few meltdowns. My poor husband. Along with all of this pumping I drank a ton of water, ate more than usual and ate oatmeal for breakfast and took 2 Fenugreek 3 times a day (which I’ve been doing for the last few weeks anyways). They say it may take a few days to see results from my power pump so I will save this blog and write each day until Saturday...
Monday I was quite excited because I did produce more than normal - probably about 5 extra ounces. I also made more than what Remy ate that day. He ate 28.5 oz and I pumped 30 oz that day. Whoot Whoot!
Tuesday I made another 30 oz and Remy ate less than that. Another successful day. I also spent one hour in the evening doing a small power pump - 10 mins on, 10 off.
Wednesday I did not pump as much but I still pumped a tiny bit more than what he ate - 26.5 oz. I did another one hour small power pump.
Thursday, about the same as Wednesday with a small power pump. These evening power pumps seem to be doing the trick. I'm producing more at night than I ever used to.
TGIF! So today we had a treat day at work because it was someone's birthday and I snacked ALL DAY LONG and I made more milk than usual!! By the end of the day I made 30.5 oz and Rem ate 25. Success! Maybe the ticket is to eat a ton.
So, was the power pump worth it? I suppose it was. I won't look forward to doing it again when my supply decreases but I'll do what I have to for my boy. I think next time I'll just do 2 or 3 hours of 10 mins on, 10 off - probably mid-day. Then it won't seem like the whole day is spent pumping. Oh the joys of motherhood. :)
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