The ins and outs of exclusively expressing

[missbabes]

Hi ladies, hope everyone is well.

It's been a few weeks since I posted on this thread, and currently I'm still going strong with pumping. I've been pumping now for 7 weeks, and up to 36oz now in a day and that's after reducing from 8 sessions a day to 4-6 a day (depending on how busy I am). I'm just shy of being a weeks worth of milk ahead. Granted that sometimes I hate pumping, the thought that DS is getting the good stuff keeps me going.

 

[seaweed eater]

Sounds like things are going great, missbabes!

I thought I would give an update too I dropped to 2 ppd about 6 weeks ago and it really has hurt my supply. I went from about 18-20 oz per day to 15 right away and it's still dropping gradually. Right now I'm around 12-13. Ideally I'd like to produce > 5 oz for 4 more months, but 2 months is a more important goal so hopefully I will at least make it that long. LO is still taking about 25 oz, give or take, so I give him as much as I pump and the rest is cow's or goat's milk. I'm also rotating 4oz frozen (and freezing 4oz) so hopefully my freezer stash will last a while (I already lost a lot of it due to leaving it too long without using -- be careful about that). I'm happy with things as they are right now...not having to pump at work is AWESOME. The only thing I don't like is that it takes an eternity to empty. I'm not prone to clogs but I'm thinking of trying lecithin to see if that helps speed things up.

 

[DragonflyWing]

I'm on the home stretch! My twins are 11 months old today...1 month until I can start weaning off the pump.

Right now I'm pumping 3-4 times a day, and getting about 35-40 oz. I never fully recovered from a really stressful business trip last month, when my supply dropped from 50 oz to 30oz. I've gotten it back up a little, but it really took a toll.

On one hand, I can't wait until I'm done with the pump. On the other hand, I feel slightly guilty for not going longer...and I'm a little afraid I will gain weight when I stop.

 

[ThunderPearls]

Well I think I have given up trying to latch Ethan during the day... He will still latcj occasionally thrugh the night but not always so I may just give up thatoo as it makes night feedings too stessfull.

I have just been using my avent hand pump for the past couple of months now since I had to give the electric one back and cant afford one of my own... It was going well but I am still stuck on 24-28oz a day which is JUST enough so can't yet build up a stash.

I can only express 5-6 times a day and it is even difficult managing that much as my little guy is just being awful at giving me time alone without screaming. I have taken to wearing him in a ruck wrapped on my back whilst expressing and pacing around the room singing to him... Needless to say it is sh*t hard to initiate a let down whilst doing that and also having him pull my hair but its better than having him scream :/

also fear I am getting RSI fromthe hand pumo as I keep getting weird tingly spasms through my hands and forearms :/

eugh I so want to go to a year but its just a constant stress on my life! Though I don't even think we could afford to switch over to formula right now anyway even if I wanted to!

 

[spunky84]

missbabes: 36oz a day is awesome! Did it go up to that after you dropped your sessions or was it around that before?

seaweed eater: How is your supply doing? That has to be really nice that you've been able to drop down to 2 ppd! That has to be a nice feeling and knowing that you can still give some breast milk.

DragonflyWing: Not much longer for you! How is it going? Are you stopping when they are a year old? Don't feel guilty if you don't go longer! A year is amazing! It's great that you've already given them what you have. How has your supply been doing? Has it gone up anymore?

ThunderPearls: It really is hard to pump when trying to take care of LO at the same time. During maternity leave, I found that to be the most difficult part & one of things that almost pushed me to giving up because it became too hard. How are you doing now? All you can really do is take it a pump at a time. A day at a time. A week at a time, etc.



I'm happy to say that I made it to my 3 month goal! I'm still going strong with my 5 ppd. There are some days that I do 4. Usually on the weekends/my days off. I get lazy. That's all I have to say about that!

I'm still producing around 28-30 oz though LO is starting to suck down 5oz at feedings, so I may have to start supplementing. I've been able to freeze about 30-40 oz a week, but now that she's starting to take so much, I think that's going to slow down, but she may start going longer between feeds now too.

It's an absolute pain lugging everything to work every day. Well, not so much lugging it to work and through work, but it's mostly a pain after I pick up LO from daycare & then have to lug everything in and her.

But I'm feeling really positive about everything right now. I still have my moments where I want to quit and just absolutely loathe pumping, but it's becoming more routine and I still keep going. Also, it just does something for me when I see LO drinking breast milk. One thing that keeps me going knowing that she's thriving so well & so it pays off.

I'm just not sure of when to set my next pumping goal though. My ultimate goal is 9 months. I'm thinking of putting my next goal at 6 months, but wonder if that's putting too much pressure on myself. Maybe 5 months? Idk.

I'm still renting the hospital grade pump. Thankfully. I probably would have quit for the sake of nipple pain. They still hurt from time to time, but it's manageable.

 

[missbabes]

missbabes: 36oz a day is awesome! Did it go up to that after you dropped your sessions or was it around that before?

I think I must have caught it about the right time as it went up by 4oz. Only times I find it less is when I haven't drunk or eaten much during the day.

At the moment it's still more than what DS has in a day, so I've been able to store a fair amount. I've always got 12 feeds in the fridge at a time. Even managed to ship some of the frozen stash to my mum's house in preparation for xmas

 

[seaweed eater]

So glad things are going well, spunky

My supply has good weeks and bad weeks...there are fewer days of 13oz and more days of 11 recently. I'm not sure I'm going to make it to March. Thinking of dropping to 1ppd in January and then just letting it fizzle out on its own.

 

[Mimzy3]

Hello Ladies, can I join?

I breastfeed my son for 3 weeks with extreme trouble he would have "fits" at the breast. And I had to use a nipple shield. Ended up with mastitis and bleeding sore nipples. Had mastitis in the right breast only, so started feeding him solely from the left and pumping the right. After wanting to pull my hair out with the never ending feedings and struggle to get him to latch and stay latched (feedings were taking an hour at times!) I decided to start pumping more and just giving him a bottle. Turns out DS was tongue tied but by the time we got the problem fixed it was just to late.

So slowly over time the breastfeeding sessions stopped and he now just gets breast milk from the bottle. I feel great that I have never had to supplement with formula but this pumping is sooo hard at times. I wish he would of just learned to latch properly. I started out pumping 8-7 times a day then went to 6 and now at 12 weeks I'm down to 5 pumps per day. I average 40 oz. per day. I drink Mother's Milk Tea and when I had family in from out of town over Thanksgiving my supply started to go down so I took Mother's Milk Plus, but stopped taking it once my supply went back up.

I did read some where that milk when placed in the fridge loses some of its antibodies and the "good stuff" and even worse when frozen. Do any of you ladies know if this is true? I really hope its not!!!

 

[Emerald87]

Hello Ladies, can I join?

I breastfeed my son for 3 weeks with extreme trouble he would have "fits" at the breast. And I had to use a nipple shield. Ended up with mastitis and bleeding sore nipples. Had mastitis in the right breast only, so started feeding him solely from the left and pumping the right. After wanting to pull my hair out with the never ending feedings and struggle to get him to latch and stay latched (feedings were taking an hour at times!) I decided to start pumping more and just giving him a bottle. Turns out DS was tongue tied but by the time we got the problem fixed it was just to late.

So slowly over time the breastfeeding sessions stopped and he now just gets breast milk from the bottle. I feel great that I have never had to supplement with formula but this pumping is sooo hard at times. I wish he would of just learned to latch properly. I started out pumping 8-7 times a day then went to 6 and now at 12 weeks I'm down to 5 pumps per day. I average 40 oz. per day. I drink Mother's Milk Tea and when I had family in from out of town over Thanksgiving my supply started to go down so I took Mother's Milk Plus, but stopped taking it once my supply went back up.

I did read some where that milk when placed in the fridge loses some of its antibodies and the "good stuff" and even worse when frozen. Do any of you ladies know if this is true? I really hope its not!!!

Welcome! You've done so well, so congratulations

Yes, some nutrients are lost. Breast milk contains live cells including Mum's white blood cells and good bacteria, some of which die with time. MOST, however, just become dormant and will reactivate with warmth inside baby's tummy or when you warm the bottle (be sure it's not too hot).
However it's not enough to feel worried about as it still contains all the nutrients, good fats, surviving cells, antibodies etc. which refrigeration and freezing do not destroy. Some proteins break down with time, yes, but again, nothing to worry about. It is still the most healthy option available to us pumping Mums

 

[Mimzy3]

Emerald thanks for responding!
I usually try and leave DS a freshly pumped bottle out for his next feeding. Besides when at work of course. So that's good to know that sometimes he is getting the full benefit of breast milk.

So last night DH slept for 7 hours, I went 8 hours without pumping. So my first morning pump took about 35mins and I still wasn't completely drained and pumped about 15oz. A coworker of mine says her pumps never took more than 10 mins to drain and she would get about 10oz. How long should it take to drain? I usually pump about 20mins before I stop. I notice that I only have one or two points where its shooting out, a majority of the time. Could that be the problem on why it is taking so long for them to drain? Anyone know why this happens and if it can be fixed?

 

[Emerald87]

Some pumps took me over half an hour when I was extra full. The machine would time out and I would have to start it again I think my record was around 25oz for a single pump. Other days I got nothing more after 10min.

Those periods of shooting out are letdowns. Completely normal and very useful. I always tried to pump until I got a final letdown before I stopped pumping - the letdowns would become further apart and yield less and less during the pump.

As for the full benefits of BM - you're doing your best Your gorgeous son is always getting the full "benefits" from you.

 

[Mimzy3]

Some pumps took me over half an hour when I was extra full. The machine would time out and I would have to start it again I think my record was around 25oz for a single pump. Other days I got nothing more after 10min.

Those periods of shooting out are letdowns. Completely normal and very useful. I always tried to pump until I got a final letdown before I stopped pumping - the letdowns would become further apart and yield less and less during the pump.

As for the full benefits of BM - you're doing your best Your gorgeous son is always getting the full "benefits" from you.

great information thank you!

 

[TMonster]

Hi, I guess I should introduce myself here. I am exclusively pumping and have been for 9 weeks now.

My daughter has a severe congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and was in the NICU for 8 days after birth so I never really had the chance to work with her on BFing and when I tried it just didn't go well so I've decided to just pump exclusively. Everyone seems to be shocked that I've stuck to it this long but I want to keep at it for at least 6 months. I initially said a year but man, its rough.

Initially I had a massive oversupply and was producing 90oz/day w 3-4 ppd but now I've managed to balance it out to 30-40oz/day with 3-4 ppd which is a good comfort zone for me.

Unfortunately my pumping sessions usually take at least an hour to 90 minutes and even then I am not always completely drained. I am using the hospital pump but I have massive breasts size K now (went from G to M now K) and it just takes a long time for them to drain out.

I spend 5 hours pumping a day which really kills it for me. I want to keep it up because I feel its best for my DD and her full repair is scheduled for mid Feb-Mar so I really really want her on breast milk until she is out of the hospital and recovered.

How do you ladies do it?

 

[Mimzy3]

Hi, I guess I should introduce myself here. I am exclusively pumping and have been for 9 weeks now.

My daughter has a severe congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and was in the NICU for 8 days after birth so I never really had the chance to work with her on BFing and when I tried it just didn't go well so I've decided to just pump exclusively. Everyone seems to be shocked that I've stuck to it this long but I want to keep at it for at least 6 months. I initially said a year but man, its rough.

Initially I had a massive oversupply and was producing 90oz/day w 3-4 ppd but now I've managed to balance it out to 30-40oz/day with 3-4 ppd which is a good comfort zone for me.

Unfortunately my pumping sessions usually take at least an hour to 90 minutes and even then I am not always completely drained. I am using the hospital pump but I have massive breasts size K now (went from G to M now K) and it just takes a long time for them to drain out.

I spend 5 hours pumping a day which really kills it for me. I want to keep it up because I feel its best for my DD and her full repair is scheduled for mid Feb-Mar so I really really want her on breast milk until she is out of the hospital and recovered.

How do you ladies do it?

Well you are doing a great job! I've been EP for 3 months now. I started out pumping every 2-3 hours 7-8 pumps a day at 20 mins. Now that my supply is stabilized I pump 4-5 times a day for 30 mins and produce around 40 oz. a day.

The fact you produce so much milk is great hopefully you are storing lots so even when you do stop you can still feed her for a while on breast milk. So if I'm read your post correctly you only pump 3-4 times a day each taking about a hour and you get about 40oz a day? I understand the frustration of all the time you spend pumping it is sooo draining! I would say to cut down on the length of the pumping sessions maybe to pump more frequently. That way when you go to empty maybe it won't take so long? I just know the longer I wait the longer it takes to empty.

I know it can be so difficult but you are doing your best for your baby girl and that's very rewarding! I think your doing a fabulous job and with time it will get easier because you will get more of a system down. I know to save time in-between pumps I just rinse the parts put them in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge, that way I don't spend more time washing them. I give them one good wash once a day. Milk is good in the fridge so the parts are fine.

 

[DragonflyWing]

Well, my time in this thread has come to an end. I pumped for the last time on 12/21, which was 2 days after my twins first birthday.

I'm super stoked that I managed to make it a full year exclusively pumping for twins

I would have gone to at least 15 months, but I have severe postpartum depression, and the medications that are safe for breastfeeding were not working for me. Now I'm on medications that are really starting to help, so I think we made the right decision.

Good luck and happy pumping to you all

 

[Tweak0605]

Amazing amazing job Dragonfly!!! I'm glad you're starting to feel better now with the new meds too!!

 

[Mimzy3]

Well, my time in this thread has come to an end. I pumped for the last time on 12/21, which was 2 days after my twins first birthday.

I'm super stoked that I managed to make it a full year exclusively pumping for twins

I would have gone to at least 15 months, but I have severe postpartum depression, and the medications that are safe for breastfeeding were not working for me. Now I'm on medications that are really starting to help, so I think we made the right decision.

Good luck and happy pumping to you all

Great job!!! pumping a full year for twins and with postpartum depression you deserve a medal!

I have another clogged duct in my left breast I've been using warm compress, leaning over while pumping with the pump turned up to the max, and pumping for longer periods. And still nothing is unclogging it! I had mastitis in my right breast a couple weeks after birth. Hope I don't end up with it again in my left breast this time! I've read you can poke the white tip with a needle to unclog it but I'm kind of scared to. Have any of you ladies tried this? Oh and I've been massaging it like crazy that's not helping either. I hate that I keep getting this.

 

[Tweak0605]

Mimzy, do you mean a milk blister? I had one of those, and was finally able to unclog it with warm compresses and massaging, but I do have one friend who did the needle trick. You can 'sterilize' it but putting it in an open flame, and letting it cool, then poke the blister. I was never brave enough to try it though!

 

[missbabes]

Hey ladies, hope everyone enjoyed Christmas.

It was an experience for me as we spent two days away from home for the first time ever since having little man. I went out with 3 feeds and came home with 7 which was quite a surprise, just glad that I took extra bottles otherwise I wouldn't have had anywhere to store any.

I've relaxed that much more now since hitting the 3 month mark, and I'm down to 3 pumping sessions a day. Even the thought of having to throw out a feed once in a while doesn't phase me like it used to. Already thinking ahead to the 6 month mark when I'll likely drop down to 2 sessions a day.

For New Years Eve I've decided to let myself have more alcohol than the odd one I had over Xmas, so will have my first pump and dump. Only need to figure out how long I'll have to throw milk away for.

 

[Mimzy3]

Hey ladies, hope everyone enjoyed Christmas.

It was an experience for me as we spent two days away from home for the first time ever since having little man. I went out with 3 feeds and came home with 7 which was quite a surprise, just glad that I took extra bottles otherwise I wouldn't have had anywhere to store any.

I've relaxed that much more now since hitting the 3 month mark, and I'm down to 3 pumping sessions a day. Even the thought of having to throw out a feed once in a while doesn't phase me like it used to. Already thinking ahead to the 6 month mark when I'll likely drop down to 2 sessions a day.

For New Years Eve I've decided to let myself have more alcohol than the odd one I had over Xmas, so will have my first pump and dump. Only need to figure out how long I'll have to throw milk away for.

Down to 3 pumps a day that's great! I can't wait till I can cut out some of the afternoon pumps. I pump 5 times, on days I only pump 4 I get less milk. You can get these strips that test the alcohol in your milk. They sell them at buy buy baby.

I finally relieved my clogged duct. Just pumped more and used a heating pad. I keep getting them though, had another one today I started taking Lecithin 1200mg today as I herd that helps prevent clogs.