Ixelle - ten months down

Yesterday I cleared out a lot of milk from my freezer. Lately it has started to sink in that in less than 2 months I will no longer be spending 2 hours a day with my trusty pump. We have a love-hate relationship, but knowing that it's almost over and Thumper is almost 1 has given me a renewed patience with pumping. Part of me can't believe that it went by so fast and another part can't believe the huge chunk of my life dedicated to pumping this past year. If my calculations are correct, by the time I'm done I'll have pumped for an amount of time totaling an entire month. That doesn't matter, my goal is in sight, I've already seen the fruits of my labor. I've given my son a great start and all this is worth it. Looking back I realize that I would have never made it this far if it wasn't for my husband and his support as well as his insistence that Thumper needed milk. No matter what you do in life, I think that a good support system gives you a great boost toward reaching your goals. I've been very blessed. I'm proud of what I'm about to accomplish, even though the daunting task of pumping while visiting my husband's relatives in Taiwan is still to be conquered. Maybe I'll miss pumping, who knows (yeah, right!). So ladies, seriously, if I can do this for ten months I know you can too if you want to.

In other news, I'm down to pumping 3 times a day at 8am, 4pm and 11pm. 40 minutes each time. I've had to use a couple of frozen bags in the past few weeks, but I'm not lacking in frozen milk and one those days I was still almost pumping enough to feed him. I'm guessing this is probably due to him drinking more milk because of teething. No plans to drop down to twice a day yet, so this might be the schedule I stick with until I start weaning off the pump. I'll update again when I get back from Taiwan with my experiences.

EP Nightmares: Power Outage!!! - Kathy's Story - "Save the Stash!"

Hello fellow EPers! I have made it an entire month. I am pretty happy. This is hard work! (see my first post here)

San Deigo suffered a HUGE power outage yesterday afternoon, which continued through early this morning. San Diego likes to freak out. If it drizzles - the news goes crazy with reports of "Storm Watch 2011". It occasionally gets cold enough in the mountain areas to snow. And, of course, its a big deal. Take out power to the entire population of San Diego county (and we weren't the only ones...) on a unusually hot day- holy crap! Since we had no power, we had the ol' radio in our favor. This is after my husband searched high and low for enough D batteries to power it. Looks like we need to work on our 'emergency plan'.

My first thought when the power went out- damn SDGE! They cut off my A/C earlier in the day (I give permission for them to do this for a break on my bill), now I have NO POWER?! After about an hour, I remembered one important thing- THE STASH! Luckily, we invested in a deep freezer two weeks ago, but that didn't take away the fear that I would loose everything I had stashed away. I don't have a guess in volume but I have been freezing about 15-20 ounces a day for the past two weeks, and probably anywhere from 10-12 ounces a day prior to that. So, there's a decent amount.

I did the best thing I could- didn't open the freezer. I took my current fresh supply that I would be using today and wedged it in between mixed veggies and chicken strips in the freezer. I put some in baggies to hopefully try and get it to stay as cold as possible. I took anything that was 'fresh' and placed in my little cooler bag with the ice pack that came with the pump. Annoying, yes. But, I knew that I would at least be able to feed Karly through the night and the next day. I also have a battery pack for the pump, which helped.

The power finally came back on sometime between 12:30 am and 2 am when we both work up to an unhappy baby. Luckily, she drank lukewarm milk, but she did complain. Hubby ran outside to turn us back on. And, I ran right to the freezer- it was all okay! The stuff in the upper 'basket' had some slight condensation on it, but the milk was solid. I decided to go ahead and use some of that today, just in case. I'll carefully weed through the rest. I am thankful I am only throwing away some regular groceries from the fridge and NOT the liquid gold!

Weaning Experience - Kylee

I am officially finished pumping. Whoohoo!! You can read my previous entries here.

I EP'ed for a total of 6 months. At first I had very mixed feelings about weaning. I was very excited to be done, but on the other hand I felt guilty for quitting. Now that I am completely done I am glad I made the decision to stop.

My weaning process took a total of 8 weeks. I was pumping 5 times - 6, 10, 2, 5, & 9. Here was my weaning schedule.

-Starting 5 pumps a day
-Dropped 5 p.m. pump - total of 3 weeks. Full pumping session.
-Dropped 10 a.m. pump - total of 2 weeks. Full pumping session
-Dropped 2 p.m. pump - total of 1 week. Pumped for 10 minutes each session
-Dropped 9 p.m. pump - total of 1 week. Pumped for 10 minutes each session

When I was down to one pump per day I did this for about 4 days. I went 2 days without pumping, then pumped just enough to relieve a little pressure. That was my last time.

It feels amazing to have my life back! I feel like I can fully enjoy my son now without trying to figure out how I'm going to entertain him while I'm pumping.

At 6 months here are my stats:

* I spent a total of 330 hours pumping
* I pumped an estimated 9000 ounces
* I have a freezer stash that will last me 3 months

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Way to go Kylee! We all celebrate when an EP mom makes her goal!

Mail Call: EPing for Twins

Sara has twins, and reading around on message boards she's gotten the advice that a "hospital grade pump is NECESSARY" for an exclusive pumper in her situation. Here's what she asked our pumping moms:

I have been renting a Symphony for the past 3 months and I am about a week away from having to return it. My insurance only covers 3 months, which is a value of $160. I have purchased the Medela PISA from Target, but have not opened the box and broken the seal, so I *do* still have the option of returning it. I thought I had read enough good reviews about it to be confident in my purchase, but after reading this and other posts from twin moms, I am concerned that returning the Symphony is going to decrease my supply when I start with the PISA. I really don't have the money to be able to rent the Symphony for $50/month, but I also realize that I don't have that kind of money to buy formula if my supply drops and I have to go that route. The only reason I was able to get the PISA is because I saved all my Target giftcards from my baby shower.
So whats the deal? Is the PISA "designed for pumping only a few times a day, not around the clock"??? What would you do if you were in my shoes?
Thanks for your opinions! ~Sara

Here's what our Pumping Moms had to say -

Advice from Arvada -
Dear Sara, Congrats on your twins! I would think that using the PISA would be just fine. I started with the Symphony for about a week and then upon my discharge from the hospital, used my PISA. I never saw a difference in my supply. I have been using my PISA around the clock for nearly 14 months now. While my supply has changed over time, based on the need of my baby, it has never tanked because of a change in pumps.

I would also encourage you to try fenugreek if your supply does drastically change. I do think you might see a small change in your pumping volume with the switch but once your body becomes familiar with the new pump, you should see it come back up.

I would highly suggest that you do change out your membranes about every other month since they will wear out over time. You can get the little white membranes and most Targets and BRU's.

Also, make sure you familiarize yourself with the various parts of the PISA pump since it is vastly different than the Symphony. But you know you can always ask questions here on this blog and any one of us will gladly reply to your question.

Advice from Kristen:
I have a Medela PISA & I pumped 6- 8 times a day for an hour at a time for almost 6 months & now I pump 5 -6 X a day an hour at a time & I get 5 -7 ounces at a time. I love my PISA... Mine is almost 4 yrs old ( got it for my first son & only used for a month) and I have had no problems.

I would say that as long as you keep your nutrition good & your water intake up you should be fine. If you see a drop at beginning you can always add supplements to help (I use Mother's milk plus capsules).

Do you have a health flex plan? If so, you can use that $$ to buy pumping supplies & pumps. Good Luck!

Advice from Kylee:
Sara - I had a Medela PISA - used it for 6 months. The first 3 months I pumped 6-8 times a day, and then the other 3 months I pumped 4 times a day. I had no issues at all with my pump. I would use and will use my PISA again.


Advice from: Janna
First of all I would like to say, great job! I found it hard just to maintain a supply for one baby, so good job providing breast milk for twins by EPing!! As far as switching to a personal use pump, I did notice a slight decrease in my supply when I switched from the Symphony to the Medela Freestyle. However, I also returned to work and was away from my baby, so that may have been a contributing factor as well. I wouldn't give up on trying to get your insurance company to continue to cover the cost of the Symphony. I was able to get approval for an additional 3 months after my coverage ran out just by asking my physician to put in a referral. I that doesn't work, I would go to your babies' pediatrician to see if he/she can get approval; your pediatrician may be able to persuade the insurance company to cover the cost because of the numerous benefits of breast milk (including cost saving benefits to the insurance company due to less childhood illness). Additionally, starting January 1st, insurance companies will be required to cover the cost of breast pumps; your insurance company may be more willing to approve the pump because they will be required to cover it starting in 2012. If that doesn't work, I would check to see if you qualify for WIC. WIC provides loaner hospital grade breast pumps. They can also provide formula if you need supplement. If all these options fail, I would go ahead and use the PIS. I had a friend that was able to build her supply with this pump, so I know that it works well for some moms. I hope this helps! Good luck!!

Advice from: Jennifer
Hi Sara, I have to be honest with you and say that I completely regret returning my Symphony to the hospital. I rented it for the two months that my daughter was in the NICU. Insurance didn't cover a dime, so we paid for it completely out of pocket. I started using the Medela Freestyle and that in combination with starting my menstrual cycle again slashed my supply in half the next month. I'm not certain it is all due to the switch in pumps since my period also started that same month, but I will always wonder if I had kept the Symphony would my supply have stayed up. I even debated going back and re-renting the Symphony again. To me, it was a much more comfortable pump. I find the Freestyle slightly more awkward and not as smooth as the Symphony, as well. With the Symphony, I was able to pump only 4x/day and get more than enough milk for the day and to freeze the excess. With the Freestyle, I pump 6x/day and only freeze excess every few days.

Overall, we've made the transition and survived. Luckily, I had an oversupply so my reduction in milk hasn't been drastic enough that I need to supplement. I also have a massive freezer stash that I can break into on the rougher days. But, I do still miss that Symphony!! Best of luck!

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Do you have advice for Sara? Share it in the comments!
Have a question for our pumping moms? Send it to pumpingmomsblog@gmail.com

Dealing with the tedium - Ixelle

I looked at the calendar recently and realized that next week will mark 7 months of being a mom, and 7 months of pumping. The first few months went by so slowly, and I couldn't imagine having to pump for an entire year of my life. But now the months go by pretty fast and now, before I knew it I was more than halfway through, with much less pressure to produce since Thumper is now taking solids and will likely need less milk as he gets older. Here's just a few tips that I've found handy to keep yourself sane and motivated to 'pick up the horns' every day:

1. Celebrate the little victories! Made it to a month mark? Reached the halfway point to your goal? Go out for dinner with your hubby or treat yourself to a massage. Obviously don't overspend on luxuries but work within your budget, besides that's just money you've saved from not having to buy formula (don't quote me on that, I'm not a professional financial adviser and I'm not trying to get you in trouble with the hubbs!). Just find a way to make room for a little celebration now and then.

2. Pat yourself on the back. Hey, no one else can do for your baby what you've been doing! You're providing years and years worth of benefits for your baby by pumping for him or her. Fewer medical problems, higher IQ, (appreciation of good food?). The few months you spend pumping is nothing compared to that, you can make it. Hang in there.

3. Fish for encouragement. Don't feel bad for reminding the people around you of how long you've spent pumping (I've spent more than 17 days of my life pumping btw) or how hard and draining it is for you to pump. I'm not saying to whine or complain, just use it as a way to let your significant other or others involved in your child's life know that you need an encouragement boost. We're all human, we tend to forget things pretty fast and need a little reminder now and then.

4. Take a long look at your baby, and remember how much you love that little monster. That's your heart right there walking/crawling/squirming around outside your body. That makes it all worth it.

NOT Crying Over Spilt Milk...Anymore

I just returned from a short end of the summer vacation, during which my daughter started full-out crawling and pulling herself up in the crib. First order of business upon our return was lowering her mattress!

Which resulted in a grizzly find...

(don't judge me :)

I found a bottle of milk, about 3/4 full hiding under the crib.

For about 6 days.

Oops.

I can count on one hand the amount of milk we've wasted. I definitely guard my liquid gold well - usually. And in all previous cases I've cried or felt completely ill at the thought of such waste. So I guess this is a sign of growth! Even though my milk is gone and there's no more to replace any that is lost at this point (we're on the last box of my frozen stash right now), I was able to shrug, gag a little, and move on.

It wasn't always that way. Early on, one of the first times I left the house with The Cupcake, I set out from the house with 2 bottles and only returned with one. The other was probably left in a cart at Target or dropped in the parking lot, but it kept me up for DAYS. I had dreams that I found it in my car (which had been thoroughly checked), on store shelves, in the closet - and in my already sleep deprived haze, I couldn't always be sure I was dreaming until I checked again and again.

That sleep deprivation also resulted in a few spills while pouring bottles, which always ended up in tears. An ounce of milk brought at least 2 oz in tears. And there may or may not have been talk of divorce after my husband left 2 full bottles in the diaper bag for two days...

But now, even though I'm fully weaned and there is no more milk, there were no tears with this discovery. It was a bummer, but I'm okay. TC is okay. Life goes on. In retrospect, I wish in those early days I could have let the anxiety go and just roll with the punches more. Despite the pain and frustration of EPing, especially in the first few weeks, a bottle here and there were such small parts of our lives, it was hardly worth the sorrow.

Have you cried over spilt milk?

Tips - Always have enough milk

One of the challenges that is unique to EPing is having enough milk on hand to feed your baby, both at home and on the go. If the baby gets hungry and we're out of milk we don't have powdered food with a long shelf life that we can quickly add water to, and we can't feed them straight from the tap either. Sure, we might have our pump handy but that takes time, which a hungry, screaming baby doesn't understand. So here's a few things that I personally do to make sure there is enough milk.

1. I always keep at least one extra full bottle in the fridge in case Thumper is hungrier than normal or somehow I lose the milk he would have had due to spills or spoiling.

2. I make sure there is at least one full bottle out of the fridge, ready for when he is hungry. Thank God breast milk lasts so long out at room temp! Thumper does not like cold milk so this saves me having to warm it first, which takes time. If he drinks this bottle, and I'm not due to pump for a while I take the bottle that was in the fridge out so that it can 'warm up' to room temperature and be ready if he gets hungry again.

3. When travelling, always pack more than enough milk, even if you plan to pump while away. I've had way too many instances where I was certain I had packed enough milk when lo and behold Thumper finishes everything I bring and is still hungry before I get a chance to pump. That is not fun. I usually pack at least one full bottle that he drinks out of and two full bottles that I pump into, one of which is usually my extra fridge bottle, more if we are planning to be gone for longer periods of time. The nice part is the bottle that was in the fridge keeps the other bottles chilled when we're out and about. If you're worried about the milk going bad just bring a cooler and an ice pack.

4. I keep a manual pump in the diaper bag with some 'Pump & Save' freezer bags at all times just in case. I have not had to use it yet, but it seems like it would be more discreet and require less setting up if I'm out of milk and just need a quick few ounces to tide Thumper over.

I'd love to hear what you do to make sure you have enough milk on hand, do comment!

If I knew then...Shopping/Registry Changes - Jana

While it is becoming increasingly common to choose EPing before giving birth, most EPers "end up" pumping after other plans go awry. We asked our pumping moms to take a look back and consider how they would re-write their registry/pre-baby shopping list now that they've ended up EPing.

If I knew that I would be EPing with my daughter I would have purchased a pump before she was born and also had a rental hospital pump ready to go. I also would have purchased more bottles. We only had a few because we didn't expect to use them. Even though I had received a nursing cover as a gift to use while nursing, I was able to use this as my pumping cover! With our next babe, I will definitely plan to have a hospital grade pump ready in the event that we need it. It was so stressful when nursing was just not working and we didn't have a plan in place. I would suggest any expecting mom to have a breast feeding plan and back-up plan. Have phone numbers of lactation consultants, La Leche League, or any other breastfeeding resources. Make a plan for if you need to express milk; this might include watching a video on how to hand express while you're waiting for your pump to arrive. I never expected to have problems with nursing and I know that we would have had a lot less stress had I created back-up plan prior to our daughter's birth.

Kristen, Ethan, & Lilly- Checking In

We have been Eping for 7 months now. I pump 4 -5 times a day.... I usually freeze 1 -1.5 sessions a day. I am trying to build a stash so that I can continue to give BM after I hang up the horns sometime after her 1st birthday. I'm not sure how much she will be drinking after 12 months so I am struggling with when I can drop a pump. It takes me an hour to pump so I would really like to drop one but I know that it will mess with my supply. Any advice from my fellow Epers?

I have to say while this has definitely had a huge impact on our lives & we have had to adapt, I would not change anything. I have a 3 yr old son that was formula fed because I couldn't breastfeeding and had no idea I could EP. While I know every baby is different, it is amazing to see how healthy & happy my daughter is & I truly believe the majority of it has to do with her nutrition. I am not knocking formula because it truly saved my son and he is healthy & happy NOW... However the 1st 2 years were VERY rough & I can only wonder if I had known about EPing if things might have been different. But "hindsight is 20/20" as they say, and I am grateful to have a healthy little boy and to have been able to pump for my daughter.

Like I said she is 7 months now. I hope to go another 7 months or so and then have my stash carry her hopefully to 18 months.

Kathy & Karly - an Introduction

Hello! I am Kathy, new mom to Karly. And when I say new mom - I mean it. I had never once in my life changed a diaper or even held a new baby. I did know a few things going into this whole 'mommy' business. 1. I was going to breastfeed and 2. I was going to use cloth diapers. So far, only #2 has worked out.

Someone in an online forum had suggested paying to see a Lactation Consultant to get the best start to breastfeeding, while you are in the hospital. I reminded my husband to make sure we set up an appointment as soon as we could. Since I have a pretty awesome tongue tie, I had some suspicion my child would, too.

It all started out great. Karly was born via c-section due to her lovely breech position. We briefly met in the surgery room, while my husband held her close. I didn't get to finally touch her until I was in recovery. The first thing I was asked was "Would you like to try and breastfeed her?". Well, yeah...and so we began. A nice nursing student offered her help, as she successfully fed four kids of her own. Karly appeared to be a champ - she latched decently from what we could tell. It was her first try, you know.

I was moved to my post partum room pretty quickly, and in my semi drugged state, told my first nurse I'd like to see an LC while there. She asked me why - I told her I felt it was important to make things start out right. The nurse told me that they didn't do it that way. If the nurse felt there was an issue with latching or feeding, we could discuss a consult then. The LC's were only there for 'problems'. I figured that was just the way it went, and left it at that. I asked my overnight nurse to take a look at my latch. She agreed it looked great. Ok, fine...she feeds great!

Karly appeared to be thriving already. On the second night there, the nurse came in and weighed her - according to the scale she was up 6 ounces. Which, is highly unusual. Her birth weight must have been off, but my husband watched them do it- TWICE. The nurse viewed our record of her feeding, and she was doing well on paper. But my boobs said something else. I was already cracked and extremely painful. This nurse listened to me - I told her I wanted to see an LC, and I was told "no" previously. This nurse put in the order right away, although it wouldn't be until the following afternoon that I got some answers.

I woke up on morning three to huge, massively engorged boobs. It was unreal. I had never once imagined my boobs could be that big. Or, that painful. I tried to nurse Karly. She refused the right side, which had started the day before. This time, she refused the left as well. I figured, ok, I'll try again in an hour. By then, my huge boobs had grown to DD's. I had no nipple anymore. I knew I would need to pump things down a bit, but was not given any pump supplies. I gave latching another go, with my hubby's help. Karly was screaming, I was crying and my husband was at a loss. Just then nurse #1 (the original one...) walks in, and jokingly asks "Are you killing her or something...". Not even funny. This nurse meant well, but she wasn't helping. She tried to get Karly to latch, but the thrashing and screaming even threw her for a loop. She left to grab pumping supplies, and returned with the LC.

The LC took one look at my screaming baby and had an answer. She's tongue tied. Just as I worried about, yet, discounted because I was told she was latched appropriately. I told the LC to look in my mouth- I showed her my tongue tie. I told her this was why I wanted to see someone sooner! Luckily, the LC was able to get me on the pump to at least deflate the jumbo boobs. Since Karly was refusing to latch, we bottle fed her what I just pumped. It was so much easier. No screaming. No stress. The LC put orders in for our Pediatrician to address the issue asap. Luckily, she happened to stop in and see us. She warned us the tongue tie could be a non issue, and it was just a matter of the 'learning curve', but she would have the neonatologist take a look the next day.

After a night of giant boobs, pumping, and a new found love of ice packs... we were told the tongue tie repair, a frenotomy, could be done that day. Karly was doing great on the bottle and I felt good knowing how much she was actually getting. We went ahead with the frenotomy as planned. It was quick and there was only 15 seconds of crying. A different LC met us back in my room to see how she would latch afterwards.

It made a world of difference. She latched, she fed, it didn't hurt. I thought it would all be ok. Happy parents, happy LC's and a happy pediatrician. And then - we went home. Home was a different story.

She nursed that night, but refused the next morning. I already had a pump that I purchased while pregnant. I'm sure glad I got a good one. My husband opened it up, I pumped a bottle and she was fed. No more screaming and thrashing around. I attempted to nurse a few more times that day, but ended up in tears each time. How did it get this way, what did I do wrong? Why didn't my baby want to nurse from me? I was very upset. I wanted to go back to the hospital. Something was wrong- with me. Karly was only 4 days old, and I thought she hated me.

After a long afternoon of pumping each feeding, I made a choice. I was just going to pump. watching my baby scream at my breast, as I attempt to make her latch was unbearable. Despite the odds of it not working out, I was going to give pumping a shot. And so it began.

The only person who has given me grief is the pediatrician. She tells me she has only known maybe 12 people to make it a full year with pumping. Well, she doesn't know me very well. She challenged me by saying that. She suggested I revisit the LC's and support group, and try to breastfeed her. If she witnessed the stress it causes both mom and baby, she would agree with me. This is what's going to work for us.

Ixelle and Thumper - Checking in

Time sure does fly, Thumper just turned 6 months old! I did some calculating and assuming every month had 30 days, and I spent 120 minutes a day pumping I've already pumped for the equivalent of 15 days. I'm still planning on continuing until he is a year old and that will mean an entire month of my life will have been spent hooked up to that pump! Wow. Honestly I still haven't decided whether I will pump till he is a year or pump until I have enough of a freezer stash to last him to a year but ideally the former. I now pump 4 times a day for 30 minutes at a time, whenever I wake up 7am-ish, 11am, 4pm and 11pm. Once I dropped my 7pm pump the 3am pump followed really soon after. My supply dipped for one day when I got my period again (didn't miss that at all) but the next day was back up to normal so I guess I can now thumb my nose at the stories I kept hearing about milk drying up at 6 months. Granted, my supply isn't what it once was but I am still often freezing 4-8 oz a day and am back to a full freezer of milk that I need to give away or donate again.

We've also started on solids and while he wasn't a huge fan of baby cereal, Thumper has been taking his veggies like a champ! He's tried carrots, peas, sweet potato and green beans so far and likes all of them. However he is still drinking as much milk as he was before so I'm not relaxing about supply yet.

One of my main frustrations now is having to warm up milk that was in the fridge (Thumper won't take it cold) since the gap between pumpings is so wide. The other is having to wait till 11pm to pump when I'm tired and Thumper goes to sleep at around 8. Considering how things could be much worse, I really don't have anything to complain about.

In non-pumping news, I never knew a baby could keep me so busy day in and day out. I feel like I never get anything done, but the time I get to spend with Thumper is so worth it!

Places We've Pumped - Ixelle

Everytime I think I'm ready to write this post, I get a chance to pump in yet another place. Believe it or not, I'm starting to have fun with seeing how many different places I can pump. I've had to pump at my Grandma's house and my Aunts' houses a lot because of family get-togethers. Those haven't been too bad since there is usually a room I can have to myself. I've pumped in the car backseat many times (but not enough to warrant a car adaptor), either parked or when someone else is driving and in the front seat once. I have yet to try pumping and driving, I don't know how well I would do with that. I do have to say I love that our car has tinted windows.

I've pumped at the State Fair, all I had to do was make my way to first aid and ask and they gave me an airconditioned room with an outlet and a bed. It was so much easier than I was expecting, I always think I have to explain what I mean when I say 'pump' but amazingly enough it seems that people always know what I'm talking about right away and are very accomodating. I've pumped in church several times, there is usually an empty Sunday School room that I can lock myself in, I'm always worried that someone will unlock the door and walk in on me but so far it's only happened once when I was already done and everything was put away (and it was someone I was comfortable with anyways). Other moms use the rooms to nurse sometimes so I think people know not to come in if the light is on but the door is locked.

I've only had to pump in a bathroom once, and it was at a country club for a wedding so it was spotlessly clean anyways. My sister-in-law kept coming into the bathroom to check on me and keep me from being too bored I guess, which must have been weird for the other wedding guests who were in the bathroom. I almost had a 'pumpbuddy' that time but she pumped in her car instead. After 6 months of pumping I feel pretty confident about finding somewhere to pump wherever I go.

Mail Call - Pumping on a Plane?

We've got another question from a pumping mom - can you help? If you've had experience pumping on a plane, or want to add to the tips our Pumping Moms offered, share your advice in the comments, or email us at pumpingmomsblog@gmail.com

Here's the situation:

Hi there! I will be traveling by plane next week with my husband and 5 month old son. Just wondering if any of your EPing mamas have any suggestions/tips/advice for me? I have been EPing since the beginning, but have not traveled thus far. Our flight will be about 3.5 hours long and I will definitely HAVE to pump sometime during the time frame of us being at the airport and before we get off the plane. I am on a 4x/day pumping schedule, mainly because I nanny for another 5 month old baby, so I have to make sure I only pump 1x during the hours that I have 2 babies, for obvious reasons--so I would like to try to keep this schedule so my supply is not affected (and so I am not leaking all over the place, which seems to happen when I screw with my schedule).

Also, we will be gone for 5 nights/6 days and I am not sure how many bottles I should bring. We are bringing our bottle-cleaning supplies, but I just don't want to have to pack everything, ya know? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.


Response from Kristen:
I have not traveled on a plane however I have to travel by car often & I am constantly pumping in the car, so I have become a pro... IMO...

I personally think that pumping on the plane would be easier & probably more private if you can believe it. Do you have a hands free set? If not you can easily make one out of a sports bra. Also your pump needs to be battery operated....wear your hands free set, I do it over my bra so when I am done I can take off if I want.Sit in the window seat & have your husband sit on aisle(assuming it is 2 seat only) I would wait until you have taken off (oh as a side note... You should feed baby on take off & landing.. It will help with pressure in the ears & less fussy) I would have hubby hold up baby blanket so you can lift shirt & get hooked up.. I put the horns & bottles under my shirt then I would lay baby blanket over me & I would just pump.... When done I would unhook & then maybe go in bathroom to take off hands free bra & get more comfortable :) Your milk will stay good until you can get in refrigerator since your flight is only 3.5 hrs. I don't know how long you pump for but I would time the pump session so maybe you only have an hour or less left when you finish pumping, that way you can get to where you are going without wasting milk. Good Luck!


Response from Heather:
I haven't traveled via plane while pumping, but we did take several road trips. One suggestion is to make sure you take a pack of freezer bags, they take up less room than bottles, and if you "run out" of bottles (like if baby eats less due to all the activity and all of your bottles are full of pumped milk) you can transfehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr milk to the freezer bags to free up bottles to pump into. For most of my pumping time, I was producing more than my little one ate, so I usually had to bring home more milk than I brought on the trip...extra storage was a must!

My daughter was off the charts in that she took 42 oz of milk a day from 1-6 months. She's not even very big! But when you EP, you really know how much they are eating, and she was consistent. I always took at least a day and a half of milk with me, because I'm a worrier and wanted to be sure if I missed a session or something she'd still have plenty. Clearly you don't have to do that. If you are pretty consistent, think about how long you will be "gone" each day, like will you be at a theme park for 8 hours? 12? Bring enough that you can travel comfortably.

When traveling with frozen milk, one tip I heard and tried was to NOT put it on ice - the frozen milk itself is colder than ice cubes, so the best thing (and what they do when shipping breastmilk) is to just pack the packets of frozen milk close together in an insulated cooler, and use the outside ones first. I tried this for a wedding and after 2 days some of the center milk was still frozen solid, it worked GREAT! I was a little worried since you have a shorter time to work with defrosted milk (should use it up within 24 hours, vs. over a week for "fresh" milk) but it was easier than dealing with ice and refilling coolers for sure.

One final tip - 50% of the time when I had an in room refrigerator, it didn't work properly, so I did keep my "fresh" milk on ice instead - no big deal since hotels usually have ice machines and I already had it in a cooler. Make sure you test the refrigerator if you will be relying on it.

Pumping Challenges - Entertaining the Baby - Heather

While EPing has has a lot of benefits, the main drawback for many pumping moms is trying to juggle pumping time with caring for your infant. For me, this was clearly the biggest pumping frustration. If you are struggling with the question "How on earth do I pump while my baby is awake?!?!" take heart...it does get better!

When The Cupcake was new, she would only sleep in our arms. She definitely wouldn't tolerate the bassinet or the crib, and it never worked to get her to sleep and then try and move her, she always woke up (still does!). This made even going to the bathroom or getting a snack a huge challenge, let alone trying to pump every 3 hours.

Tip #1: GET A HANDS FREE BRA.
I didn't know these existed until a month after TC was born and I had been stressing myself to the hilt trying to pump, keep her occupied, and deal with everything else that came my way, all without the use of my hands. The traditional method of pumping with a PISA is to hold the breastshields to your skin using both of your hands. If you are coordinated you can use one arm - wrapping your forearm around one and your hand on the other, leaving one hand free. I'm not exceptionally coordinated, and after a few spills (spilling breast milk is TOTALLY worth crying over), I was desperate. The day that the phone was ringing, TC was crying, the dog was barking, and I got a bloody nose all at the same time I was trying to pump - that was the end of the line. When I finished crying, and dripping, and trying not to spill the milk I was pumping, I finally did some googling and ordered the Simple Wishes bustier off of amazon. Best $30 I spent on TC so far.

You can't really pump holding a baby to your chest. If you have great arm muscles and a hands free bra you can hold your baby out over the flanges, and I was occasionally able to prop her way up on my shoulder for an emergency burp or to move her somewhere, but in general, holding is out. So my #2 tip is to have a good place to put your little one down that is within arms reach. This could be next to you on a bed or couch if it is secure enough, or in an infant chair, lounger, or Boppy-type pillow.

The latter was my choice. Even though I never breastfed, I used the heck out of my Boppy pillow for the first 3 months. We'd wrap TC up like a little burrito and prop her in the donut-shaped pillow, it was one of the few places outside of our arms she would sleep in the beginning. It was also a good place for feeding - and here we take a little side trip - while some people are strictly against bottle propping, it was a way of life for our family, and I don't regret it. I was in NO WAY worried that she would be isolated or fail to bond, since as I mentioned she spent most of her time in our arms being held and loved around the clock. I was close enough to listen for choking, and to keep an eye out for any smothering/suffication dangers, so I felt confident that safety wouldn't be a problem. The final concern about bottle propping deals with drainage and ear infections. I'll be honest, I don't completely understand this one or why it would be more likely with a propped bottle than a held one (maybe we can get a medical professional to weigh in?), and though I worried about it some, ultimately the convenience of bottle propping won out. And she never did have an ear infection, so all was well there.

This is all a long way of saying "feeding the baby is a good way to entertain him/her while you pump". i.e., tip #3.

My #4 tip for keeping baby happy while pumping is to have everything else you might need at your fingertips as well. I had a couple of pumping "stations" in my house that I rotated between. Before I hooked up, I made sure that in addition to my pumping supplies I had my cell phone, home phone, kleenex, a full bottle in case TC woke up or got crabby, and ideally a snack and beverage for myself. She has reflux so I always kept a lot of burp cloths around too. Taking a few extra moments to get set up really paid off in the long run as I wasn't stressing about or trying to reach a ringing telephone across the room, or interrupting a session to go get a bottle or toy (or sitting in puke till I finished). Anything you can do to lower stress will help with your letdown and production.

#5 is one I STILL am not good at - realizing that sometimes babies cry, and there will be nothing you can do to stop it. It's not your fault, and as long as your baby is safe, clean, fed, burped - there might not be a thing you can do to comfort them. If I keep saying it enough, maybe it'll get easier? My husband and I tried the "Cry it out" method ONCE and made it 3 minutes before we both gave in. But in the long run, if you can keep your sanity and finish a pumping session, you may be saving more tears in the long run by keeping on schedule and keeping up production.

#6 accept help. Another area I started off pretty sucky in, but I'm learning fast! I was neurotic about people being in my house when it wasn't clean...well, it's pretty clear that my house will never be clean again, so I wish I had just come to terms with it earlier and accepted all the early offers of help. Especially from other moms. And when I did have guests over, I felt compelled to sit and chat with them, when really guests who want to hold and love your baby are a GREAT way to entertain little ones while you pump! Whether you pump in front of everyone or excuse yourself to enjoy a quiet moment, take advantage of those helpers.

#7 dance like no one is watching. Figuratively, of course, as the tubing doesn't give you much room to twirl. But don't be afraid to just get silly to entertain your kiddo. You might not be able to hold them, but you can definitely put on a show. Sing loud nonsensical songs. Make fart noises and siren wails and mash together Lady GaGa and Dolly Parton if you only know a few words of each. Find a go-to song that you DO know the words to and sing it over and over - for us it is "Tomorrow" from Annie, and my little one STILL smiles whenever I start in, despite my being completely tone deaf. TC loves it when I drape a blanket over her face and slowly pull it off and when I blow lightly on her lips - babies are new to the sensation of touch, just tracing lines on their arms can sometimes be soothing. Try it. Try everything. You will eventually find a few "go to" tricks that work, and they will carry you through - but you never know until you try!

Places We've Pumped - Janna

The strangest place I've pumped is in the car while I was driving. My sister and I wanted to go shopping and it was time for me to pump, so I put on my nursing cover, hooked up the pump and started driving. It was a little strange, but it worked! I became a pretty experienced car pumper when I needed to pump every 2 hours. Once I was in the back seat with my husband driving and I actually fell asleep. It was great! When I woke up the pump had turned off and I was done. Too bad it was time to pump again :-( The scariest place I have had to pump is at work. I just never felt comfortable pumping at work. I shared an office with another woman and she didn't mind if I pumped at my desk with a cover on. One time we forgot to lock the door and a guy that we worked with walked in. Akward!! From that point on I always double checked to make sure the door was locked.

Places We've Pumped - Heather

I am a home body. I was actually really glad to have my daughter in the winter, because I never felt any obligation to take her out - it was just too much work when I could barely get through a day with all of my "amenities" at arm's reach.

But, eventually, life goes on, and we had to emerge from our safe little cocoon.

Whenever I went anywhere more than just a quick trip to the store, I always brought my pump. I never knew what "hazards" could delay me, and I didn't want to be stuck somewhere and worry about missing a session or getting uncomfortable. I bought so many extra sets of pump parts that I always threw a clean set in my bag whenever I was done, and that meant I could just scoop up the whole thing and take off at a moment's notice (ha ha, we all know that's not true - it still took forever to pack up The Cupcake and all her accouterments, but at least the pump was quick!)

I'm lucky to have my family living just a half hour away, and very near a lot of shopping and entertainment options, so whenever we were out running errands that way it was easy to stop there for a pump break. Recent empty nesters, my mother even set up a special area in my sister's old bedroom with a power strip, pillows, and magazines if I ever needed to pump at her house. It was very comfortable.

On the flipside, the least comfortable place I've pumped was on the floor under a co-worker's desk. When I first went back to work, it took a few days to come up with a good place to pump. I work in the reception area of a public building, with no privacy. I refused to pump in the bathroom (mostly I'm too cheap to use up that much in batteries, but I was also way annoyed when I was pregnant and someone else pumped in there for hours a day. Not to mention...eew.). While my bosses were negotiating with other departments for a better option, I made due using various private offices when their owners were out. I soon learned to carry an extension cord when the only outlet I could access meant sitting on the floor and under a desk for 20 minutes...and I was glad I had my nursing cover, as most of the offices still had small windows.

At about 6 weeks we had to take a trip as a family to a funeral out of town. I was terrified (and tired, and not eating well, and otherwise just in poor mental and physical health) but actually things went really well. The Cupcake slept most of the 4 hour drive up, and when she was awake I could just pop a bottle in her mouth to feed her, so we didn't have to stop and lose time for that. Hubby and his grandfather sat in the front seat, baby and I were in the back, and I don't think anyone even noticed when I hooked up and pumped twice on that journey. My Medela PISA was pretty quiet, the battery pack worked effectively, and I used a nursing cover for modesty. It really helped that my daughter was sawing logs next to me :)

The strangest place I've pumped is probably in the bathtub. I'm not sure if it was a good idea or not (don't sue me if you get electrocuted!), but I used the battery pack and nothing got wet. I was able to multi task and make the most of my husband entertaining TC, and baths were a rare luxury for a while there.

The biggest lesson I've learned about pumping on the go (beyond BRING ALL YOUR PARTS! AND EXTRA PARTS! AND MORE PARTS!) is that it never hurts to ask. Once I needed to pump after an eye exam, and figured I'd just end up doing it in the car. But as I was on my way out of the clinic, I asked at the desk if there was anyplace where I could pump. The staff was so accommodating, they welcomed me into an unused exam room with a locking door, outlet, nice chair and even magazines. Not to mention heat (it was cold outside!). It never hurts to ask, and sometimes it can really help!

Costs of EPing - Janna

We've asked several of our pumping moms to add up their expenses and explain how much they've spent EPing. You can read all of the cost breakdowns posted to date by searching the cost label. Here's Janna's breakdown:


Cost of EPing

1.) Hospital Grade Rental Pump - $8 per month
2.) Lactation Consultant Fees (included pump instruction) - $200 per visit x 2
3.) Medela Freestyle - ~$380
5.) Medela Symphony Kit - ~$20
6.) Bottles - ~$100
7.) Breast Milk Storage Bags - $30
8.) Time: 2-6 hours per day pumping - priceless!
9.) Hands Free Bra - ~$30
10.) Bottle Brush - $5
11.) Nursing Pads - ~$20
12.) Deep Freezer for breast milk storage (used) - $100
13.) Medela Spare Parts - $12
14.) Medela Membranes - $8
15.) Lanolin (several tubes) - ~$20

I think that's it!! I probably spent more than necessary, but again, we didn't expect to be EPing and had no plan so we just did everything trial by error which ended up being very expensive.

Mail Call: Your Questions

Thank you so much to everyone who visits Pumping Moms, I hope you find it worth your while. Recently we received this plea for help via email from a struggling new pumper:

Hello! I am new to Eping, and being a mom! I have a 10 day old baby, and started 6 days ago. So far, so good. My only problem is I keep getting clogged ducts. First, the right side now the left. I was able to clear the right side pretty quickly with warm compressing and massage. But- here I am again, with another problem now on the left (not as bad as the right side was). I have been massaging each side during pumping since I started. I am to pump about 8-9 times a day, and about 2-2.5 hours between, and I have been getting away with one pump at night, about 4 hours after the last session. Am I doing something wrong? Can I avoid this? Is the 4 hour stretch the cause for the issues?

Help!

Thanks in advance... I really love your blog, its keeping me sane!

I posed this question to some of our wonderful pumping moms, and we got a lot of great replies. Here is what experienced EPers have to offer:

From Kristen:
I think that part of the problem is the 4 Hr stretch... It is a little early to be going that long but I understand needing the sleep. So my suggestion is to use a heating pad on your chest while you pump. Also web you take a shower try to let hot water hit your breasts for like 5-10 minutes. This will also help keep things moving. You don't have to keep the heating pad on the whole time I usually put on until letdown & then again for last 5 minutes of pump( when you still have milk) & then for the 5 minutes you continue to pump after no more milk is coming.
What kind of bra are you wearing? What any at night?

From Jennifer:
My two cents...
I totally feel your pain. I had recurrent clogs the entire first month that I pumped, especially on my right side (which has always been my super-producer vs. my left side). After working with several lactation consultants, one of them finally recommended a supplement called lecithin. To this day, I call it my "miracle drug." It is safe to take several times a day. I started by taking 2 at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I now just take 1 per day and it seems to still be effective.

You mentioned that you are only 10 days into this adventure. Do you have an oversupply? The lactation consultant figured that was one of the major causes of my clogs. The pump is just not as effective as a baby at taking out the milk.

I also tried the warm compresses, as well as massaging. To this day (4 months later), I still massage the entire time I pump. I find that I can do this more efficiently by using a hands-free bra. I love the Simple Wishes bras that I purchased off of Amazon.

The LC also said that you can try epsom salt. It never worked for me, but she claimed it worked for other moms. Basically, fill a giant bowl with warm water (as hot as you can stand) and dump in a handful of the salt. Submerge your breast into the mixture and keep in until you feel a release. Like I said, it never worked for me, but I was in enough pain to give it a try!

I always tried to increase my pumping when I had a clog. I would pump, rest for an hour, and then pump again. My longest clog lasted about 24 hours. You'll be amazed how wonderful you feel once it releases!!!!

From Janna:
It sounds like she is doing everything right. The only thing that I can think of is that pumping is just not as good at removing milk from the breast as nursing, so it's important to perform "hands on" pumping if your EPing. Stanford university has a good video on how to do it HERE. Also, make sure that you're fully emptying your breasts during your pumping session; you might need to pump a bit longer to fully drain them. I used a heat pack while I was pumping and that seemed to help.

From Jana:
Start taking 1200 mg if lectithan 4 times a day.
Making sure you do compresses as you pump
Drink plenty of water thru out the day.

From Ixelle:

I'm sorry you are dealing with clogged ducts (ouch!), you sound like you are doing everything right and you are doing such a great thing for your baby! Here are my suggestions:
Firstly, make sure you have the right size flanges - that makes a big difference. Medela has diagrams in their little breastfeeding booklets and here.

Secondly, make sure your pump suction is good, I got my milk blister from low suction (I needed to replace the membranes on the pump, since you have only been pumping for a few days this is probably not the problem but it might be another issue with the pump). Since your baby is so young, I very strongly urge you to rent a hospital grade pump if you don't already have one, at least for a month. There's nothing better for a pumping mom when you are initially building your supply and they're not expensive to rent.

Thirdly, make sure you are pumping for long enough (15-20 mins) each session and don't stop pumping in the middle of a letdown (sometimes I would get a letdown just as the timer hit 20 minutes), go the extra 1-2 minutes if you have to since you don't want to leave milk in the breast when you are this new to pumping and when you are dealing with blockages.

Lastly, if nothing else works, try completely soaking the breast in a warm vinegar solution bath (heard about this from a lactation consultant but never actually tried it) along with the massage and warm compresses you are using, and do it right before pumping. Apparently the vinegar helps with any milk blocking the duct openings.

All the best wishes to you, clogged ducts are no fun at all but hopefully you can fix the problem and move on with your life.
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To see other posts these Pumping Moms have written, click on their hyperlinked names. Do you have a question about Exclusive Pumping that you could use advice on? Send it to us at PumpingMomsBlog@gmail.com

Pumping Woes - Rachel

I have said from the beginning that pumping just works for us. It never seemed like that much of a nuisance, until now. Since I went back to work, I am not responding to the pump as well as I used to. Previously, I would hook myself up and then just tune out for about 20 minutes. I now have to continuously do compressions and it takes me more like 30 minutes. This has become problematic because I don't have 30 minute + breaks at work to pump. I do the best I can, but sometimes that means pumping almost half of what I usually do.

Luckily, I have been able to maintain my supply, trying my hardest to get in good sessions while I am at home. However, my late morning pump session on my days off are also getting more difficult. Hannah seems to want my attention most at this time. I usually put her in the Jumperoo and sit in front of it so I can talk to her, but she usually won't last the 30 minutes it takes me. She doesn't understand why I can't hold her or pick her up. It breaks my heart, so I just stop early to comfort and play with my baby.

I don't have any intention of stopping, I am determined to get her to a year on breastmilk. Hopefully my supply will keep up so my freezer stash will get me there without me having to actually pump for a year. I really can't imagine doing this for 8 more months. So for now, I take it one day at a time...

Which bottles and nipples? - Janna

We went through a lot of different types of bottles before we found the right one. When I first started pumping, I was still trying to nurse, so we picked bottles that were supposed to be compatible with nursing. We first used the Medela bottles with the wide base nipples. We actually used the small 2.5 oz Medela storage tubes with the nipple attached at first. These worked great when our daughter was only eating ~2 oz per feeding and her stuck wasn't that strong. I always hoped that we would be able to transition to nursing, so we put up with these bottles for quite a while even as she started taking a lot more milk. While the bottles were convenient because I could pump directly into them, the nipple always collapsed and our daughter was having a lot of spit-up and gas.

Some other bottles that we tried in the mean time were The First Years Breastflow bottles and Adiri Natural Nurser. I did not like the Breastflow bottles because we seemed to lose a lot of milk in the nipple parts which was incredibly disappointing when I wasn't pumping very much in the beginning. Our daughter was never able to latch onto the Adiri Natural Nurser; I think it was too much like a breast and by the time we had tried this bottle she had developed a pretty severe aversion.

When my daughter was about 2 months old it was pretty evident that nursing was not going to work out and that I would be EPing to provide her with breast milk. At that point, we decided to switch to a bottle that we thought would minimize spit-up and gas regardless of whether it was "compatible with nursing" or not. We ended up purchasing Dr. Brown's bottles because our neighbor had used them and swore by them. Although there are a lot of part to wash, I have to admit that I really like these bottles. Our daughter was able to eat a whole extra ounce at each feeding immediately after switching to these bottles. I think it was because she wasn't filling up on air!! Additionally, she had a lot less spit-up, burping, and gas.

These bottles were also great because I could pump directly into them. I have head that the Advent bottles are good and a bit cheaper, but I was swayed by the ability to pump directly into the Dr. Browns bottles.