The ins and outs of exclusively expressing

[ShelbyLC]

Shelby, the other thing I suggest is keeping an inventory of all the bags you freeze. I have a clipboard full of pages listing all the bags in our deep freeze. I did the form up in InDesign. It's got Date, Time, Volume and Bundle#. I bundle my milk bags together with rubber bands in batches of 5 or so and then I label them by sliding a piece of paper with the number under the bands. It helps to keep them organised and in order as opposed to having them all loose in there.
The other tip I have is using an app like Baby Connect to keep track of all your feeds, pumping sessions and what you freeze. This has been invaluable for us. You can create a profile for each child. I created a profile called 'Freezer' and each time I add a bag to the stash, I enter it as a bottle and add the volume and time. It adds up the total of what I have in there overall. So helpful.
To do this pumping thing properly, it really is worth being super organised about it. Really saves you in the long run.

I've been doing a sort of low-tech version of this. At the end of each day, I take all my bags and put them into a large ziploc bag, which is labeled with the date. Each individual bag has the date, time, and amount on it.

I write down the time of each pumping session in a notebook, along with how much milk I got. I don't pump for the NICU every day, but if it's a day I am pumping for the NICU, I make a note of it in my log so that I know what's going to my freezer and what's going to the hospital. And at the end of each day, I put the total amount pumped into a file on my computer.

There's probably a better way of doing all this, and I'll probably have to get it all sorted soon before it gets too crazy, but it's a start at least!

 

[Hit Girl]

Sounds great to me!

Also, you deserve nothing short of a standing ovation for donating to the NICU.

 

[Emerald87]

Shelby. I forgot to add. Don't fret about the bottle to breast thing. My bubs was bottle fed exclusively for the first 4 weeks. In the last two weeks she's taken the breast and actually rejects her bottle in favour of the real nipple. Breastfeeding groups put the fear of god in us that if they touch a bottle then all is lost. In our case if Kaida didn't learn how to suck on the bottle she would have never taken the breast. Her latch still isn't perfect but we're improving every day. The reason I'm not EBF is Kaida isn't quite there yet and pumping has given me an oversupply so finding a balance with her is proving extremely difficult. I also fear loss of control - I can't trust my body completely to supply her. I like my numbers - how much I got out and how much she's taken in etc.

 

[Emerald87]

Lip tie lasered. Poor thing is sooooooo swollen but latch is better already.

 

[Sproglet]

Wish I could get my Lo's lip tie done. I can't find anyone to laser here (UK), NHS won't do it, and I can't afford to go private as it needs anaesthetic which will cost over £1,000! But glad it's helping you

 

[Sproglet]

Oh- and Robyn is another baby who now prefers breast to bottle, even though she was exclusively bottle fed for the first 2 weeks of her life (and is still on a mix with at least 1 bottle per day). So all is not lost! (It did require a lot of patience getting her to the breast though, partly due to breast aversion from being forced onto the breast by a midwife)

 

[Emerald87]

Oh- and Robyn is another baby who now prefers breast to bottle, even though she was exclusively bottle fed for the first 2 weeks of her life (and is still on a mix with at least 1 bottle per day). So all is not lost! (It did require a lot of patience getting her to the breast though, partly due to breast aversion from being forced onto the breast by a midwife)

Could write this word-for-word

Sproglet - that sucks! 1000 pounds!?!?! I paid $329 for hers, which is still heaps but it's not as much. Jeepers.

She's very sleepy and in between naps she's very whingey. Poor thing has been sooooo tortured. Got her first immunisations a couple of days ago and now this. She's in so much pain. I feel like the most awful mother

 

[Hit Girl]

I've almost at my wit's end here.

I now have 156 litres of milk frozen and near no room to store any more. I have contacted the Mother's Milk Bank (a few weeks ago), promptly filled out all the forms, got the required blood tests and I haven't heard anything from them. I am DESPERATE to donate some of my milk. Absolutely desperate. I can't believe how slack these people are with communication. I understand it's close to Christmas, but premmie babies need milk all times of the year and my supply doesn't exactly go on hiatus late December. Jeebus! I wish I knew what was going on. I call them repeatedly but they never answer their phone.

I stay awake at night worrying about what I will do with my milk. I've even got my mum's freezer full of milk. It's ridiculous. I don't want to have to tip any down the sink. That would be beyond heartbreaking. I just don't know what to do.

 

[Emerald87]

I'd offer freezer space but I've only got a small one and it's already full

I know some ladies exchange privately. Maybe facebook will have a group?

 

[MommaAlexis]

Ontario has one called human milk for human babies on fb.

 

[Hit Girl]

Speak of the devil! They just phoned me back. They're arranging a pickup for tomorrow. I'm SO relieved.

It's a shame you know, I was hoping we'd be able to store enough to get him to one year but we obviously don't have the room - even when using my mum's freezer. I guess I'll just have to carry on pumping for a while longer. I've stretched it out to every 6 hours now and I'll be an ongoing donor for the milk bank. I was really hoping I could stop pumping really soon but it's not an option right now. Who knew space would be such an issue?! If we had another big deep freezer we'd probably be just fine. Grrr.

 

[Emerald87]

Ontario has one called human milk for human babies on fb.

That's the one!

 

[youngwife20]

I was just popping in wow to the ladies who keep so much info on how much there pumping how much they freeze etc! i couldnt do all that lol i pumped whenever i could be bothered and just pumped more if i needed more milk that day. doing all that work of writing everythin down id feel would take up to much of my day lol

 

[eulmh82]

I really admire your perserverance. My LO was born with a tongue tie - long story but beacuse of doctors faffing he wasn;t seen by an expert until wk 6. I pumped for first mth but my husband works away from home and then he went back to work and my LO was a very windy baby and I just couldn;t do it anymore. I pumped for up to an hour would get 1-2oz off my best was 3oz. I tried so hard and really admire women who can do this for the full 6 mths. I am so determined my next one will breast feed I really want it to work

 

[alaskagrown]

Okay, so I thought I've had it all - milk blisters, mastitis, numerous clogged ducts, cuts on the nipple.....nope!

Over 7 months down the line and, out of the blue, I'm dealing the skin on my nipples and surrounding area completely stripped raw!! OUCH! I'm not sure why this is happening now. I mean, if the flanges were too small you'd think this would have happened months ago!

 

[Emerald87]

Thrush?

 

[alaskagrown]

Eek??! You think?!!

How does one go about curing thrush? I don't want to go to the doctor, it's too expensive!! My last visit to the doctor for mastitis lasted all but 10 minutes and was $375....

 

[MommaAlexis]

Also try olive oil where your skin rests. Will help the friction.

 

[Emerald87]

Eek??! You think?!!

How does one go about curing thrush? I don't want to go to the doctor, it's too expensive!! My last visit to the doctor for mastitis lasted all but 10 minutes and was $375....

I will ALWAYS recommend seeing a doctor as people over the net cannot diagnose you even if they are a health care professional themselves. If it is thrush, some nystatin cream for you and drops for bubs (it'll transfer via your milk). If it isn't thrush maybe contact dermatitis. In that case a very low dose hydrocortisone cream applied AFTER a pump 2-3 times daily will help.

 

[Pinkgirl]

I have nearly made it to the 6 month mark...(baby had posterior tongue tie and lip tie, very poor latch) I am expressing on an evening and in a morning and have lots frozen. I returned Medea pump and now have swing maxi (new double one) and finding it a nightmare and ready to give up! I knew it wouldn't be as good as the hire one but 45 mins later it still doesn't empty me properly and am in so much pain! Don't know how long I can keep it up for!