First of all, whether your baby is breast-fed or bottle-fed, breast milk or formula, however you decide to feed your baby is up to you, and I love the term “Fed is Best”. This post is for what has worked for me, and I hope I can help some other mommies with my tips and tricks.
Exclusively Pumping
Both of my boys have received breast milk. With Weston
I exclusively pumped, with Nolan I am still exclusively breastfeeding. I always
knew that I wanted to breastfeed, which was my original plan with Weston; I tried
to breastfeed he just would not latch. So I used a nipple shield, he did better
but it still wasn't good enough. Well because he was early they were
worried about his weight and about his bilirubin levels, I was told that
if I couldn't get him to feed that I would have to supplement
him with formula or donor breast milk.
I opted
to the breast milk in hopes that I would be able to feed him myself soon. I
then started pumping, every two hours I would try and latch him and when he
would get so upset that he wasn't getting enough through the shield I
would stop, give him a bottle of donor milk and pump. Eventually I started
giving him just my milk at the hospital, it was AWESOME! Although
I wasn't technically “breastfeeding” I was still providing my
baby with all the good things breast milk has to offer. When we got home, the
breastfeeding didn't get any easier, so I continued to pump every two
hours. The pumping stuck, I just continued to do it day after day. Soon enough
I wasn't even trying to latch him I was just warming up a bottle of
my milk to give to him.
Tips and Tricks I have learned:
Sessions-When I first started
I was pumping every two hours, so 12 times a day, I would wake up and pump even
when Wes would sleep. It SUCKED!!! This is so important though, you HAVE to try
and trick your body into thinking that it is feeding a baby. Most newborns eat
about every two hours, sometimes more, so you have to get your body to make
enough milk to provide for that.
Supplements- I took
fenugreek, I also ate around 3 granola bars every day. Some women eat oatmeal,
but I do not like oatmeal, so granola bars were the way for me.
Pump- Some women need a
hospital grade pump, some just need a manual pump. I was gifted a Lansinohdouble electric pump.
Drink- For me I could drink
just about anything and it would do nothing but help my supply. Lots of women
say water and Gatorade so I would recommend those.
Supplies-You need a pump bra!
Without one you will have to hold the flanges on your breasts and that sucks, I
did that for about a week and talk about miserable! So I ordered a Simple Wishes
bra off of Amazon and it was a lifesaver!
I have also found it
important to track my pumping, I wanted to make sure that I was improving and not
just getting by. I bought the app MilkMaid and it was very convenient. It
tracks it all for you, time you pumped, time since last pumped, amount you
pumped, when it expires, even what you have in your freezer stash.
With Wes I was able to pump
for 10 months before I retired my flanges. Because I had built up a solid
freezer stash, Wes continued to have breast milk until his first birthday. Thanks to the MilkMaid app I kept track and knew that I pumped 7031oz (55 gallons) for my son.
This was just part of my freezer stash.
Stay tuned for Part 2: Breastfeeding
No comments:
Post a Comment