2nd day back at work - PUMPING BM

[thanka2]

By "afterwards", do you mean right after your baby breastfed...i.e. without a break? Didn't your breasts feel sort of empty after your baby fed... but did you just pump anyway?

Well, actually, the point of pumping isn't always just to "get milk" out--if you're building up your milk supply--part of it is to keep stimulating your breast so even that little bit you get afterward--if you're doing it consistently all day, every day will signal to your body to produce more breastmilk. This is the way to build up your supply. So, no I didn't really take a break afterward. Every little bit counts because breastmilk production works on a "replacement system"--your breasts will produce and fill with the same volume of breastmilk that is being demanded so to get more milk you have to keep pumping a little bit at a time which adds more demand on the production which produces greater yields over time. Also, when I was breastfeeding in the beginning, rarely did my daughter feed on both breasts so if I breastfed and then pumped I would get whatever milk was left in the breast that had not been fed on (or had been fed less on).

I also pumped for my son but want to do better this time round. I'll try the fenugreek thing also.

Fenugreek works best if you take it with domperidone--if you're doing both of those together it should help a ton. You can get ground Fenugreek in a glass jar at City Super for a good price. I walked into a local pharmacy and told them I wanted domperidone in 10 mg tablets and I bought like 200 tablets--I think they were like 0.30/tablet or something. Don't buy it in a bubble pack because it's too expensive--only buy it when you can buy per tablet and you'll get a better deal. You have to take 30 mg, 3 times/day.

My experience is that the pump will not give as much milk as direct breastfeeding. I was also advised to eat a good breakfast and pump after and also to eat protein-rich food.

Yes, I think a hearty breakfast is good because I always yielded way more in the morning than I did in the afternoons--even at the mid-morning pumping.

Also, the more one stresses about how much milk one is getting through the pump, the less one gets in my opinion. So my approach was to try and be 'whatever' about the quantity and just do my best.

I agree.

 

[thanka2]

I'm really sorry that your workplace is not very supportive of breastfeeding or even taking breaks. I can imagine thinking about it alone is very stressful. I don't have any tips in that department but I totally agree with Thanka2's suggestion of contacting LLL. Perhaps pumping 3 sessions of even 5 minutes everyday at work is better than going 8-9 hours pumping only once!

I was just thinking and I don't know what type of work you're involved in, Gracey but, is it possible for you to come to your boss and say, "Look, this is very important for me and my daughter's health. I need to take these short breaks during the day to pump but I am willing to stay after hours for an extra 45 minutes or hour to make up for lost time just to show you I'm not trying to 'slack off' during the work day." Again, I don't know if this is practical in your line of work but this type of gesture really shows your good faith to your employer and willingness to go the extra mile.

 

[charade]

Thanks Thanka! I hate the feeling of pump on empty breast but I'll try to suck it up and do it more this time to get that supply going.

 

[bonita]

I second the medela freestyle. The double pump stimulates both breast at the same time, usually resulting in more milk. It also cuts pumping time in half since you are pumping both breasts simultaneously.

Looking at kid's photo helps.

Do you work at a desk? A cubicle? If so, have you ever consider using a nursing cover & a hands-free pump? Might take a little bit of practice at home to make it smooth and discrete. Mind you, if your working place is super quiet, this might not work.

I work in TV, when I used to go on location, I'll bring my hand pump & freezer bag to pump at least once in a 6-hour shoot. I might not be able to get a lot of milk, but at least I wouldn't go too long without stimulation on the breasts.

Hope everything works out for you.

 

[evgreen]

My sister in law pumps while she drives with a nursing cover! But she lives in California so it's very much a driving culture. I guess people can get pretty creative when it comes to pumping.

Also, forgot to mention, I built up most of my freezer stash by pumping on one side while baby nursed on the other side.

 

[bonita]

evgreen: I do the same thing, too, nurse and pump simultaneously. Best output. In fact, whenever I pump like this, I get more than my baby can eat in one feeding.

 

[Gracey]

Thanka -- your schedule's crazy! So you're basically either feeding or pumping every other hour. There's no way I will be able to do that with my work situation.

Pumping at my desk is not going to work, unfortuantely -- it's a male-dominated office, open plan, super quiet.
I may just do 3 or 4 shorter sessions during what would be normal bathroom / coffee / sandwich breaks. If I do it in the toilet, nobody has to know.

In retrospect, I'm so glad I took more time off for maternity.
At least I know my baby will get 5+ months of exclusive breastfeeding -- which is close to WHO recommended half year. I figure that's pretty good -- and then I will probably move to mixed feeding the months I return to work.
If I can do 1-2 feedings in the morning and 1 at night, and pump a little in between -- she should still be getting the majority of her milk from me. Plus, I will BF on my days off and weekends.
I'll be exhausted, but I think that will work. Wish me luck!

 

[Sarah_Lotus]

One useful concept to remember when returning to work is that of the magic number.

Count the number of times you feed the baby in a day (24 hours) before you return to work and then make sure the number of feeding plus the number of pumpings is the same after you return.

e.g. Say you are feeding the baby seven times a day before returning to work ? then seven is your magic number. If you can manage three pumpings a day while at work, then you need to feed the baby directly four times a day to keep the magic number. If one day you are really busy at work and only manage to pump twice then you need to fit five direct feedings in while at home.

There is a good article which explains this better than me at http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/tag/for-employed-nursing-mothers
(about half way down the page)

Best wishes,
SARAH
www.lotuslactation.com

 

[thanka2]

Thanka -- your schedule's crazy! So you're basically either feeding or pumping every other hour. There's no way I will be able to do that with my work situation.

No...that was my schedule BEFORE I went back to work when I was building up my breastmilk supply by pumping and also freezing breastmilk in the freezer. Aren't you still preparing to go back to work? I had trouble with low milk supply at points so I had to really work hard to get that milk to flow in copious amounts.

This was my schedule when I was at work.

Early Morning: One feeding before getting out of bed (both sides)--about 30 minutes because we're still in bed
(Before Work: Pump for mid-afternoon feeding *always pumping with a good-quality double electric pump--always pumping both sides* if I know I won't have time to pump in the mid-afternoon: 10-15 minutes)
Mid-Morning: Pump for mid-morning feeding: 10-15 minutes
Lunchtime: Breastfeed. Takes about 10 minutes. Feed for 5 on one side, eat, then finish up for 5 on the other--still do this.
(Mid-Afternoon: Pump for the mid-afternoon feeding if I have time...otherwise I switch and pump before work to cover this: 10-15 minutes)
After Work: Usually home by 5:30 pm--breastfeed as soon as I get home. Usually a combined 2-3 feedings at night--each no more than 15 minutes.
Sleeptime: We co-sleep so daughter may be breasetfeeding off/on during the night but not a big deal as I don't have to really wake up much for this.

The most I ever pumped at work was twice/day--sometimes only once if I was instead pumping at home before I left for work. If I had not been able to breastfeed my daughter directly (which is really quick and efficient compared with using a pump) at lunchtime, I would have had to add one more pumping. So, it's likely my pumping at work would have been still only twice/day and I would have just had to pump a third time before work as usual.

But, once my daughter was to six months-old, she started on a bit of solids which meant that I didn't have that pressure to pump so much. I stopped pumping breastmilk when she wasn't quite 8-months-old--because as long as she could have a long feed before we got out of bed in the morning and a lunchtime breastfeed, she could eat a mid-afternoon snack of solids. We didn't give her a mid-morning snack (although she'd have a bit of fruit and cereal with breastmilk for breakfast) because I wanted her to be hungry enough to really have a full feeding when she arrived to nurse at lunchtime.

If I had been unable to feed her at lunchtime I probably would have kept with pumping twice--once before work and once at lunchtime--just to keep my breastmilk supply going. It really helps me that sometimes my daughter feeds through the night--like she'll latch on and a few hours later I'll wake up and she's still nursing--this helps my breastmilk supply.

I think you'll have it a lot easier than new moms who have to go back when their babies are 8-weeks-old (like mine was) because 1) you have an established milk supply and have worked out some of the early breastfeeding issues (I assume) 2) your daughter is almost ready to start solids if that's what you want to do so if she gets a bit hungry there will be other options to see her through until she can get to the milk sometimes. Pumping before work actually was pretty convenient for me and the milk was a lot more plentiful and fast-flowing int he mornings. Adding another pumping session in at night for 10-15 minutes while you're watching TV or something can also help. Then at some point you'll probably only need to pump 1-2 times at your work. I think you'll be able to figure out a way to do it if it's really important to you. Just remember if you start mixed feedings that can affect milk supply which will work against you if you can neither pump or feed as much as you'd like to. But, at 5-months-old (will your child be 6-months-old when you go back?) it will be less of an issue. Good luck!

 

[Gracey]

Sarah -- My "magic number" is 6. She feeds 6 times a day now.
I can feed her twice in the morning and once late at night -- so that's 3.
But there's no way I can pump 3 times a day in the office.
So maybe I move to 70% or 80% BFing. As she will be almost 6 months at that point, I don't feel so bad about it.