Pumping

When Hayden was born I tried to nurse, really I tried, but I have nerve damage from my reduction I had in high school and every time he tried to latch, I’d fall flat. The lactation nurse kept working with me but I was so frustrated and Hayden was even more frustrated that I just kept pumping and my milk came in rather quickly. The nurses were impressed how fast it came in, so we just kept at it with the pumping. Hayden was born on a Friday and we were home on Monday. By Wednesday I had a good electric pump.

The early days were HARD. I just can’t get over how much I was doing. I washed 20 bottles per day, Hayden was eating out of Avent bottles about eight times per day and I was pumping six times each day, using two Medela bottles at a time, that came with my pump. I wasn’t even pumping as often as I was supposed to. Looking back now, I’ve learned that I needed to be a little more disciplined about it and more organized if I wanted it to work long-term. Hayden is 4 months old now and I’m still going strong. I’m not making enough for him, he’s using almost eight ounces of formula each day, but I’m giving him something and that’s what mattered most to me. Nothing was natural about my pregnancy. It took me three years to get pregnant and that was with numerous drugs, procedures and two losses. I ended up with an emergency c-section, which is not what I wanted. I stressed the entire pregnancy about whether or not I would be able to nurse Hayden at all. I struggled with the thoughts of whether or not it was a huge mistake to have a reduction when I was younger (yes, it was, but that’s another story). So if nothing else, I wanted to be able to nurse Hayden, which I can’t, but I can pump and he gets the same benefits at least.

Some things I learned for any future babies we have, if I decide to be an exclusive pumper:
· Have a designated place in the home to pump and make it as comfortable as possible.

· Have a spot for a drink (water!), my iPad or laptop and the remote control for the television. It’s important to make this “me time” because you’re already spending time away from the family most likely and it can feel a little resentful to have to do this so often. I read some good tips a few weeks ago on another blog and the mother pointed out that if she could go back, she wouldn’t have spent so much time pumping and spent more time with her family. (You can find her post about increasing your supply here.

· Pump as often as the baby eats BUT (this is the important part) pump AFTER he is done eating. Too many times I would decide it was time to start pumping and lo and behold I had a hungry baby on my hands and would have to stop, lose a good suction and sometimes get distracted and not pump for quite some time afterwards.

· Request a written policy at work regarding nursing mothers. I’m having troubles where I’m only allowed to use my lunch hour to pump, broken up into three breaks of 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 15 minutes. There’s another woman at work in a different division who is allowed to pump 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon and in addition to that take an hour lunch to go home and nurse her son. I’d love to be able to visit Hayden at lunch but I don’t want to make a stink about it and ruin what the other woman has going because I’m sure that’s what would happen, not that they’d let me have that hour to go home also.

Finally, before I even decide to be an exclusive pumper again, I'm going to meet with a specialist lactation consultant. It was recommended to me to do this with Hayden when he was first born, but the place was an hour away and we just kept making excuses for not going down there and checking it out. I just spoke with the consultant and we have an appointment next Thursday to see if she can even help at this point. It's $30, which isn't bad at all. Any future children I have, if I have a c-section again, I will make it a point to book time with this consultant the day the baby is born and have her come to the hospital and help me since the lactation consultant/nurses at the hospital weren't able to help me that much.

I hope these tips and my ramblings can help anyone else who is faced with exclusive pumping. It's a hard job but I am glad I'm doing it.