Middle of the night pumping pals

[lenorajoy]

I wonder what they would charge for something like that... We may need some sort of anti-gravity thing or maybe something to make gravity go a different direction. I have to say it would be nice if we could just get some pump bottles that won't spill milk if tipped over. I don't know how many times I've knocked the pump bottle over and spilled some of the milk. It makes me so mad! Wasted liquid gold and now it's all up in the vacuum-y part where it isn't supposed to be.

 

[TinyLynne]

I didn't hit snooze this time! Maybe I will get a little more sleep?

I really need to get to bed earlier. We have been so busy working on our house, it just went on the market, that we have had late nights. But hopefully that ends tonight!

Hope you ladies are having an easy and productive night!

 

[beemeck]

Up for second pump ! Got 1 on the dot tonight and woke again now so why not take advantage of those prolactin levels. Doc told me to start feeding her in night now but I'm gonna on weekend when dh can help if it turns into a disaster - she doesn't like to be woken. Longer pump didn't seem to yield any more so just sticking to my 10 min for now too.

 

[lenorajoy]

Yay for not hitting snooze! I hope you get more sleep to show for it.

DD woke up around midnight-12:30 and here I am at almost 3:30 still hoping to get back in bed for a bit... I tried to go back to bed at 3 when I woke up and realized I had passed out in the chair sometime after 1:30 waiting for her to finally be asleep enough to put her back in the bassinet. She passed the floppy arm test, Burn of course woke up as soon as she touched the bassinet. On the plus side she ate again and pretty well on one side, but I really want to pump and it's downstairs so I can't even pump on the available side.

 

[kajastarlight]

I wonder what they would charge for something like that... We may need some sort of anti-gravity thing or maybe something to make gravity go a different direction. I have to say it would be nice if we could just get some pump bottles that won't spill milk if tipped over. I don't know how many times I've knocked the pump bottle over and spilled some of the milk. It makes me so mad! Wasted liquid gold and now it's all up in the vacuum-y part where it isn't supposed to be. [/QUOTE

Whoever made up the phrase "don't cry over spilled milk" has clearly never pumped!

 

[TinyLynne]

OMG kaja! I have said that SO many times! It's totally okay to cry over spilled breast milk! I'd be lying if I said I hadn't cried over spilling just a fraction of an ounce.

Good luck feeding DD at night Bee! That's what I was told to do too, but when DS is sleeping, he is sleeping. He would not wake up to eat. We had his fire alarm go off in his room a few weeks ago in the middle of the night (from the steam from the humidifier) and he didn't even wake up then!! Lol

I hope putting DD to bed gets easier Lenora! And you can finally get some good sleep!

 

[TinyLynne]

Staying at a place on Airbnb now through Sunday, this night pumping things is REALLY weird when I'm not not on my own couch in my own house.

This place had multiple reviews, all 5 star. But I'm not really digging it. I'm actually super uncomfortable here. But it would be a waste of money to leave and go somewhere else at this point.

 

[lenorajoy]

Definitely okay to cry over spilled breastmilk! I think I cried once, but I'm pretty sure I threw something... I was so mad! I think it was because the stupid cat had woken the baby AGAIN. She was running all over the house playing with a toy and ran under the swing DD was sleeping in (not swinging) and bumped it HARD and woke the baby. I think it was around the start of her reflux issues, so she wasn't sleeping well at the time and I had finally gotten her to sleep and put her down and was able to pump. NOT COOL, CAT.

I woke at nearly 3 am and DD was still sleeping! She went to bed around 9 I think, so she slept around 6 hours. I was engorged by then, so I got up and started pumping. She woke up around 15 minutes in, and I had a good 1.5 oz pumped from one side by then! Now she's back to sleep, back to pumping!

Enjoy your time at the Airbnb, Tiny, even if it isn't awesome. I'll be pumping in a strange place in July when we go visit my grandparents in Michigan. That will be our first LONG trip with a baby, so I'm a bit nervous about the 8-hour drive. I'll have to bring some pumped milk for the trips there and back so the stops will be shorter with her not nursing and I can pump while we're on the road. That will be interesting! I've done it once before and it was really strange!

 

[lenorajoy]

Aaaand attempting pumping session #3 as DD woke up a few minutes after I started pumping.

 

[TinyLynne]

We are in Michigan! Lol

Where do your grandparents live?

Our first long trip will be visiting my sister and sister in law in Alaska in August/September some time. DS will be 9 months then, so hopefully it will go well!

Exciting that DD slept 6 hours!! That is about when DS started sleeping that long. Sorry she woke up as you were pumping. That always happens! It will get easier and more predictable soon!

 

[lenorajoy]

Oh wow, I bet that's a drive! Or are you flying?

They live in Bellaire, which is about 45 minutes from Traverse City. It's become more of a tourist town since I lived there thanks to Shorts Brewery so some people have actually heard of it now.

 

[TinyLynne]

I had a good friend in college that was from there!

Yes. We are flying. We drive there last April, glad we did. But never again. Lol

 

[lenorajoy]

How funny! It's really a small world.

And I can imagine never again! An 8-hour drive is long enough for me. We drove to Florida last March... A 16-hour drive from here, not including stops. No thanks!

 

[TinyLynne]

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't remember pumping in he middle of the night! Of course I did because there was milk in the fridge. I do vaguely remember now. But I guess I'm becoming a zombie during my night pump! Which I suppose is okay, as long as it gets done!!

 

[kajastarlight]

Well zombie pumping is almost as good as pumping while you sleep! My DD woke up after I pumped last night. I wasn't sure she would be happy nursing with me being mostly empty but thank goodness she was! I don't like having to do a bottle in the middle of the night.

 

[TinyLynne]

They always know the best timing, don't they? Glad she was still satisfied!!

 

[lenorajoy]

Mine actually didn't wake up after I pumped last night! I was so sure she was going to wake any minute both times I went to bed last night after pumping. To my surprise she slept great! I got two pumping sessions in and 3 oz to show for it. I haven't been very consistent with night pumping lately with both of us being sick and her being fussier than normal, so I'm not expecting to see much difference in output at this point.

I'm starting to think maybe she has a rather mild milk allergy. We fixed the reflux issues and then about a week later we switched the formula she's on (we're fortifying her breastmilk and formula feeds to get her weight up) because the dietitian I had spoken to said the version of Gerber formula for supplementing is the same thing as the regular Gerber Good Start Gentle, so if it's cheaper just buy the regular stuff. I've since noticed that she cries and pulls away during feeds (breast or bottle) and has a rash on her bum that won't seem to go away. I'm not sure if the little bit of mucus she has going on is just lingering from being sick or related to a milk allergy. I guess only time will tell... So starting yesterday I now have her on Similac Pro Sensitive since we had a small sample can at home. We'll see if she improves much on that over the next couple of days. Since formula isn't cheap and if she's having an allergy problem it doesn't seem to be severe I don't want to run out and buy something we won't use if it turns out it isn't an allergy problem and maybe it's something else. I'm still doing research to see if I can confirm it's a milk allergy while we wait to see how she does on the other formula. She seemed to do fine on the Gerber Soothe formula, which has probiotics in it, so I should probably go get some probiotics to start her on as well. I know I have a coupon at home somewhere...

All of that doesn't really have much to do with night pumping... But it seems like there's always something! I started taking moringa on Sunday to boost my milk supply. I've noticed a small boost already, but we'll see if by the end of the week I see a significant boost (like double!) like others have. It's a plant that grows in India and the Philippines that's really commonly used in those areas for milk supply and other things. They say it works well for those that haven't had success with fenugreek, so we shall see!

 

[TinyLynne]

Good luck Lenora! Poor baby! Rash does not sound fun! I hope you can get it figured out!

 

[noon_child]

My DD woke up after I pumped last night. I wasn't sure she would be happy nursing with me being mostly empty but thank goodness she was!

She might get fussy that there isn't a huge amount of milk straight away, but your body is ready to produce milk at all times (after all there isn't anywhere in the breast to store milk so most of it gets produced at the time of pumping/feeding - especially when supply has regulated). After a pump might be the best time to feed too if you are working on upping your supply at all as she might get milk that the pump cant and it'll tell your body to make more.

 

[lenorajoy]

Another great night! DD slept her usual 4 hours, I got to pump after I put her to bed, but when she woke around 1 I apparently passed out in the chair while she ate for a couple of hours. I woke up and look at my phone for the time around 3:30 and she wasn't sleeping deeply, so I rocked her to sleep on my shoulder while patting her back (this seems to be one of her favorite places to go to sleep lately) and put her down around 4. I was able to get ready, pump, see off my friends that were visiting around 5, and get dressed before DD woke up and had plenty of time to feed her before leaving for work this morning! Granted, I've been up since 3:30, but I think it would have worked out the same if I hadn't passed out and managed to get her back in bed earlier.

I did notice that my supply was a little bit lower yesterday when I didn't have oats for breakfast! I guess we'll see if the oats make a bit of a difference if my supply is better today.