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Next week is a very exciting week. I’m going to start teaching again! My hope was to get back into it between 4 to 6 weeks, and since Hunter turned 4 weeks yesterday, that puts next week at 5 weeks. Right smack dab in the middle of what I predicted.
I’ll only be gone 2 evenings a week for 1.5-2 hours, which means I should be able to feed Hunter right before leaving and then feed him again shortly after I get home. But, that might not be the case depending on when he’s eaten and if he’s extremely fussy those evenings. I know Jacob will end up having to feed him too, so that means I’ll need a supply of milk for him.
Since I’m home and constantly with Hunter, I don’t really need to pump much milk, which is why I picked up a manual breast pump instead of an electric one. Plus the manual pump was so much more affordable too (which was a big deciding factor) and it had good reviews.
I picked up the Medela Harmony a week or so ago, which is a single manual pump system. I finally opened it up and began trying to use it a couple days ago. I have to say, it’s definitely not as easy as what I thought it would be.
I ended up having lots of questions:
When do I pump?
How often do I pump?
Will pumping take away a meal for Hunter?
How much milk should I be seeing?
Do I pump right after he’s done eating or wait a bit?
I found some answers online — like the best time to pump is after the morning feeding, when milk should be highest.
So I tried that and this is about all I got from both sides yesterday, right after I finished nursing Hunter.
Then today I waited an hour after the morning feeding and I ended up with about half an ounce. I never really got a good flow going, but I also didn’t feel engorged or like I had much milk in there to suck out.
My first worry was that I’ll empty my breasts out in between his feedings, then his next meal will be skimpy. Or since milk supply stays established by supply and demand, will I just make more then?
I feel like I make just enough milk for him. Like he takes it all in at each session with not much left over.
Maybe I just need more practice with the pump? Maybe just keep trying in between most nursing sessions to stimulate more milk production? I really don’t know.
Have any of you dealt with the same thing? Any advice or tips would be appreciated!
Heather
I second the hoppy beer suggestion! You can take a lactation vitamin–one with fenugreek. Drink lots of water and look at your baby and concentrate on him while you pump.
You will have more milk in no time. He is such a sweet little guy!
So I concentrate on Hunter the last time I pumped and it seemed to actually help!
You milk supply will catch up. When I was getting ready to go back to work I just pumped whenever I wasn’t nursing, like when my baby was asleep cause it seemed like I nursed ALL THE TIME. It allowed my breast to get used to the new type of suction and if baby was still hungry afterwards I would nurse first and then give her a bottle of pumped milk eventually my milk supply picked up and I was able to just store whatever she didn’t drink and I would have some left over.
I couldn’t use an electrical pump it never worked for me. I used a manual exclusively until I started trying to wean her @ 8 months. She is 10 months now and still nurses after I get off work and at night.
I was able to get about 4 oz out of each breast in 30 min when I was nursing exclusively in the morning at noon and before I went to bed.
Hi Heather! I love reading about you and Hunter. Mommy hood is wonderful, isn’t it? My two cents: I never bottle fed Ruby, but would occasionally pump to have milk to mix with her food when she began eating solids and I too used an electric pump and found it to work wonderfully. I know that many insurances can actually write you a prescription for them brining te cost as low as $30. Ask pacific midwifery about that! As far as milk supply goes, the supply and demand thing is true is general, but some women’s supply is naturally lower than others. I have had friends who have slowly had a more and more difficult time giving full feelings to their babes over time. Not that this is the case with you, but should it ever be there are many natural things you can do to stimulate more milk. Brewers yeast is something you could take, or just enjoy a good beer every now and then. 😉 much love. We still need to meet that little man soon . 😉
Oh I could definitely be down with a good beer :). I checked with my insurance and they don’t cover breast pumps… but it was a great idea!
I like pumping in the morning when Cameryn takes her morning nap. I always get the most milk at this time and since I can pump more at this time, my body steps up and produces more milk so Cameryn has enough. I was pumping in the afternoon and couldn’t get more than a few ounces and then I started pumping in the morning and can get 5-8 ounces in about 15 minutes and sometimes more!
Wow that’s a lot in just 15 mins!
I only nursed on one side at a time so for the times that I needed to pump I would nurse one side, wait about 1-2 hours and pump the other side (it was usually getting reading to be nursed on anyway) the first few times, not much… but then it got better. I would then let the baby start nursing on the same side I pumped then finish off on the other side (yes, the one they had nursed on about 3 hours before) and get back to “normal” (the next nursing back on the pumped side) I did that for a while and then things just started working better as far as being able to pump whenever and whichever side I needed.
You could also try pumping before he nursed you will get the thicker milk here and then he will be proficient enough to get the rest out and if necessary he will switch to the other side. Then for the next feeding start him on the side he got a little extra from (if you had to switch sides)
Have you tried giving him a bottle yet? My first really struggled with taking one at first. We went through several! My suggestions: (if you haven’t gotten him on a bottle yet) Try one that is like his pacifier… My girls took a MAM, they finally just made a bottle within the last year or 2. I was SOOO excited. The other thing that helped me was to see what my (pardon me) nipple looked like when they were done eating and find a bottle/nipple that was similar. worked perfectly for 2 of mine. One just refused a bottle completely!
And as my mom always tells me “they will survive, you might remember all of the bad things and cryings, but they wont, take comfort in that”
We haven’t got a bottle yet but that’s a great tip about the nipple!