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.

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!

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!

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

Tips: It's in the bag #2 - extension cord

If you ever pump on the go, adaptation is the name of the game. Sometimes you get lucky and people will bend over backwards to accomodate your situation - once after an eye appointment the clinic staff let me use an exam room for over half an hour, so I had a closed door, a nice chair, magazines to read (did I mention my daughter was with the babysitter?)...ahhhh, that was the life!

...And other times you end up in a bathroom stall, or your car, or a storage closet, or worse.

It's not always idea, but pumping moms perservere. Another tip to make it easier on yourself: carry an extension cord in your pump bag. Even a 6' cord could make the difference between sitting on the floor under a desk (i.e. my first time pumping at work) or reclining in a nice office chair (the rest of my days, after I threw a Dollar Store extension cord in my bag!).

I am too cheap to run on batteries when I don't need to, and I've always felt I got better suction plugged in (and almost too much with the car adaptor, but that's a different story). A short indoor extension cord doesn't take up much room or add much weight, and comes in very handy when pumping in new environments.

Read all of our "In the Bag" tips here - and feel free to share yours via pumpingmomsblog@gmail.com

Freezer Storage - Giftbag Method

Here's a handy video that has been floating around for a while, if you haven't seen it yet, it's a cheap and easy way to freeze your milk that creates a storage box AND DISPENSER out of recycled gift bags:



You don't have to be crafty, or have a lot of time - the mom who put up the video even has her baby right by her side :)

Do you have a unique or helpful way of organizing your freezer stash? Share your story! Send it to pumpingmomsblog@gmail.com and become a contributor today.

Tip - It's in the bag

Most EP moms get pretty used to schlepping around our pumps, be it to work or out on the town. But even the most practiced pumper among us has probably forgotten a part once or twice and cursed themselves when they realized - which was probably when we needed to or had already begun pumping!

One part that is often forgotten: bottle caps! I know I've done it at least twice...usually on Monday mornings.

My solution (besides throwing a couple of extra caps into my bag) is to always keep a pack of freezer bags in the side pocket of my pump bag. They don't take up much space, and they're a LOT cheaper than buying emergency bottles if you find yourself in a bind. They come in handy if you find yourself without caps, or if you end up needing to pump again into a single set of bottles they can be used for additional storage. And since there are many bags in a package, even if you forget a few times you're still covered :)

What's in your pump bag?

Tips - use a timer to keep on track

In the early days, when you are in the depths of sleep deprivation and awake around the clock, it can be hard to keep on top of a pumping schedule or remember when you pumped last or should pump next.

One way to make it easier, is to get a cheap battery powered kitchen timer for your pump bag, something like this:



When you pump, you can use it to time your session - i.e. if you will be pumping for 15 minutes, set and start it when you begin pumping, and then you have one less thing to keep track of when you are already juggling pumping + entertaining baby + telephone ringing, etc.

Later on I continued to use the timer method when I was pumping at work or on my own. I found that when I was able to zone out and watch TV, read a book, or otherwise NOT focus on how much milk was adding up, I tended to get much better production than when I was stressing about it. Also, sometimes when I was nice and relaxed on my lunch hour, I'd forget when I had started if not for the timer going off :)

When you finish, you can set the timer for the remaining interval until you need to pump again - i.e. 2 hours and 45 minutes, and toss it back in your pump bag. When it goes off, you'll know it's time to hook up again, even if you can't remember what you did 5 minutes ago, let alone 3 hours :) Especially in this day and age when clocks and watches are disappearing, a timer can be VERY helpful!

What pumping tips do you have to share?

Kylee & M - An Introduction

Why do I exclusively pump?

My entire pregnancy I constantly worried about whether I would be able to produce milk to feed my baby. Two years prior to getting pregnant I had decided to get breast implants. I knew that decision would have an impact on my breastfeeding abilities. When I went in for surgery they placed my implants under the muscle and they said they did not touch any milk ducts. I was told that the implants should not effect my ability to breastfeed. WRONG - (well somewhat). The doctor was right in that fact that it did not effect my milk supply at all. However, nobody told me that you would have heightened sensitivity or loss of sensitivity - and I had both. On my left breast I only have about 70% feeling and what I can feel is more like pins and needles. On my right breast I had extreme sensitivity. Those two factors I was fully aware of when I was making my decision that I still wanted to breastfeed. Prior to being pregnant I had heard women talk about EPing, it sounded appealing to me since I wanted to give my son breastmilk, but I didn't have a strong desire to actually nurse him. Once my son was born we started off rough, he wasn't latching well and when he did he would fall asleep within 2 minutes. M's blood sugar was also low so they had to supplement him with formula to try and get it back up. He also had dropped from 8 lbs. 3 oz to 7 lbs 2 oz within the first day. Since M was receiving formula and not nursing as often as a normal baby I was worried that my milk wouldn't come in, so I went against all I was told and starting pumping. Seeing how much milk I was producing and knowing exactly how much I was giving M was VERY reassuring and allowed for M to stop having to supplement with formula. This is when I made the decision that I wanted to exclusively pump.

Easy, right?

I had heard so many people say that breastfeeding was not easy, well I thought I'm NOT breastfeeding, I'm pumping so it will be much easier. I don't have to worry about latch issues, sore nipples, and I'll know exactly how much M is getting. Let me say it was NOT easy. Once I realized that I was pretty much "double-dutying" it I wondered if I made the right decision. I never had an issue with supply, so I could feed M and then pump after. For the first month I felt like my life was the exact same thing every day - feed M, rock him to sleep, pump, try and get myself some sleep. That rotation was based on 3 hour increments, so by the time I was done with everything and trying to take a nap I only had 30-45 minutes left before the whole thing started again. What about when I needed to eat, shower, do laundry? Those things were pretty done only out of the complete necessity. If my stomach wasn't growling I would skip my meal so I could sleep, if my hair didn't look greasy or I couldn't smell myself then my shower was pushed aside, if I still had clean underwear then I definitely wasn't doing laundry. Life behind my pumping horns was WAY more difficult than I had planned. I had issues with engorgement, clogged ducts, and mastitis. I feel like a great deal of these issues were caused by my lack of knowledge about pumping or just breastmilk in general.

Here are things I wish someone would have told me:

* It's not easy, but it DOES get easier

* At times you will completely despise your pump, other times you will feel so proud of what you have accomplished.

* Don't skip reading materials about breastfeeding, a lot of the information will still apply to you

* Watch a video or read about hand expression, you will get more milk out if you do this while you are pumping

* If you have a clogged duct, wet a washcloth, put it in a ziplock bag (not closed) and in the microwave for 30 seconds. This will create a heating pad that you should put on your breasts for 10 minutes before you pump and then reheat to put on while you pump. Massage the spot while you pump. It may take more than one pumping session to get the clog out - do not go more than 4 hours between sessions during this time.

* If you get chills, achy body, fever while you have a clog - call your doc asap, this may mean mastitis.

* Instead of buying a hands free bra, make your own with a sports bra. Actually I just wore whatever bra and would pull my shirt down instead of up and once I got pumping there was enough suction to hold the horns on - as long as I wasn't moving too much.

* Get yourself a small jug to put milk in that your baby will be eating right away. If you put everything right in bags you will be wasting too many. Fill your jug first, and then freeze any extra.

* Get yourself a inverter for your car. You can save yourself a lot of time by pumping while driving/riding.

* When you first get started don't try to get on a schedule, pump before/after each feeding. It's a lot easier to just stay on the same pattern as your baby. Pumping at certain times a day in the beginning was not practical for me.

* Set small goals for yourself. 3 months, 6 months, etc.

* Always bring your pump if you plan on being gone for more than an hour. That way if plans change you are prepared.

4 Month Stats

I have now made it to 4 months. Wooooohoooo!!!!

* I have spent 224 hours pumping

* I have pump an estimated 6100 ounces

* I currently have 2000 ounces in my freezer ( 2 month supply)

It's Membrane Monday!

If you haven't done so recently, make sure to switch out your breast shield membranes! You should do this about every 3 months or whenever you notice a decrease in suction.

Ixelle's Milk donation experience

I recently donated some milk to MothersMilk Bank, mainly because we don't have a chest freezer and our freezer just couldn't store all the milk I was freezing. As I said in an earlier post, I don't rotate my freezer stash because I want Thumper to get the freshest milk I can give him. Here's a few thoughts about the process and my donation timeline for anyone interested in donating milk in the future.

*If you think that you may be interested in donating milk in the future, you can go ahead and do all the paperwork and bloodwork without actually comitting to donating. My process took over a month before I actually sent in the milk, and in the meantime my frozen stash took over the freezer to the point where we didn't have enough room for our frozen food and everyone had to get real creative with storing food that needed freezing. If I had to do it over again I would have definitely started the process much sooner, before I was certain that I had enough to donate.

*When choosing a milk bank, make sure you do the research on where the milk is going. There is a company out there called Prolacta Bioscience that turns human milk into a product and sells it for a profit and several so called 'milk banks' sell the milk they recieve to Prolacta. The milk does not actually go to babies in need. When in doubt, donate to any of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America banks (HMBANA).

*Apparently some milk banks have stricter policies on donor milk, things like washing your breasts before each pump session, how soon you have to refrigerate or freeze your milk, how to clean your pump etc.

* The IRS does not allow a deduction for donating any kind of human tissue. However, you can deduct mileage you incur in your volunteer efforts as well as the cost of your breast pump. (from Milk donor FAQs )

*Alternatly you can donate milk directly to a recipient over websites like Human Milk 4 Human Babies, Eats on Feets, Milkshare.org or even try to sell it on sites like Only the Breast. Most moms will want to know about your health and diet and want to see your test results for certain diseases (and rightly so). I did this while waiting for the official donation process, just answering ads instead of posting. However this will not let you claim any expenses as a tax deduction.

my timeline:

May 31: Contacted milkbank.org and was referred to a closer Mothers Milk Bank and subsequently contacted them. Was asked a series of health-related questions.

June 1: Received the medical history forms and consent forms needed to become a donor (each milk bank is different) over email. I had to sign a consent form, fill out all my information and Thumper's information, and answer a lot of health-related questions. I also had to have my OB and Thumper's pedi sign forms saying that, to their knowledge, my milk was suitable for donation and donating wouldn't negatively effect Thumper.

June 7: Dropped off forms for OB and pedi (my OB was on vacation till that day) Found out that they had to mail the forms back to me and that it took about a week for mail to make it out of the mailroom.

June 18: Got the forms in the mail, mailed them to the milk bank.

June 20: Got confirmation from the milk bank that all forms were recieved, and the next step was the blood test. They mailed out the information and forms for me to go in to a lab to get my blood tested

June 23: Got the forms for the blood test.

June 28: Went in to the lab and got my blood drawn. Got a funny look when I said it was for milk donation.

July 5: Got telephone confirmation that my bloodwork was fine and the go-ahead to donate, and requested a cooler to ship my milk in.

July 7: Cooler arrived with the airbill, didn't have time to pack the milk for pick-up that day (it was a Thursday), and they told me not to send out the milk on a Friday because no one would be there to pick it up over the weekend.

July 11: Called FedEx for an afternoon/evening pick-up, asked them to knock on the door to pick up (instead of leaving the cooler outside all afternoon). Totally failed in giving them a rough estimation of how heavy the cooler would be since I hadn't packed it yet (but that wasn't a
problem, more like a lolme). Packed the milk in the cooler with some crumpled newspaper insulation and waited for pick up. Guy came, picked it up.

July 12: Got telephone confirmation that my milk arrived safely and in excellent condition (all still frozen). Yay! I have freezer space again.

Tips For EPing - AWBeth

I wrote this for a friend when I was EPing with my first DD.

-Number ONE ---- Store your pump parts in a plastic bag in the fridge in between pumping sessions. You DO NOT have to wash them after every pumping session. I would pump, put them in the fridge, and repeat all day. At the end of the day, I would wash them in hot soapy water or put them in the dishwasher.

-Make sure you have the right size flanges/horns!! This was huge! I needed to move up a size, and once I did, it felt SO much better.

-Try to make your pumping time as relaxing as possible. I usually grab a snack and fill up my water bottle and set up the pump by the computer. I read my email, favorite blogs, whatever.

-In the beginning when I was pumping more often, I would set DD up in the Bumbo or bouncy seat next to me, so I could feed her while I was pumping. When she got older, I used the Jumperoo to keep her entertained.

-I stopped pumping overnight when she started sleeping through the night (about 8 weeks). This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it worked for me.

-Along those lines, in the beginning, I just pumped whenever she ate. So if she was eating every two hours, I was pumping every two hours. I started spacing them out, and around two months, I went to 4 times a day. (*This doesn’t work for everyone, but I did have an abundant supply)

-Pump in the car! This has saved me - kills two birds with one stone. Set it up before you leave and turn it on 20 minutes from your location (or however long you're pumping for). Just put a nursing cover over you while you pump, and no one will know.

-I always massage my breasts while I pump and have never had serious problems with clogged ducts. I also feel like it helps get all the milk out.

-Use the 9oz Gerber bottles for collecting milk. (they are $.99 each, I found them at Target.) They attach to the Medela PISA, and even if you don’t need the bigger size, they rest on your thighs while sitting, so your hands are free to use the computer.

-Speaking of hands free, there are several “hands free” bras you can buy. I recommend using this when driving. Some women have also cut holes in an old sports bra to make a hands free bra.

-Medela customer service is awesome! They sent me new tubing for free after I explained the condensation had caused mold to grow. (as a side note, allow the pump to run for several minutes after you’ve finished pumping to allow the condensation to get out)

-A BF baby’s intake will not continuously go up and up like a formula fed baby. When Edie was about 6 weeks, she started taking 6 ounces at each feeding. We’ve never increased that, although she only takes 3 bottles a day now. (so at one point, she was taking 6, 6oz bottles, and now she takes 3, 6oz bottles)

-I follow the rule of 8s for breastmilk storage: 8 hours at room temperature, 8 days in the fridge, and 8 months in the freezer. (and I’m generous with those numbers) **And I since read that it can be up to a year in a deep freezer.

-There are LOTS of things you can do to try to increase supply, but I just make sure I drink plenty of water and have added more oatmeal into my diet. If supply becomes an issue, there are other things you can use, including supplements and prescription medications.

~originally posted on TheBump.com breastfeeding boards, used with permission from AWBeth