Well, I got him to nurse yesterday when I was fairly full. And he did. Just the once. So...I guess the pumping fun continues. I am loathe to let go. I'm not going to lie. If he is willing to nurse at all, then I will continue torturing myself, LOL.
It is worth it for the time he does nurse.
I am tossing around the idea of pumping only once/day at work instead of 3 times, as it obviously does not help my production to do the multiple pumpings. I am too tired to think about it right now, though.
And so the emotional breastfeeding roller coaster continues...
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I hear you on loathing pumping. I hate it too although Jellybean did drink some pumped milk yesterday...the first time in about two weeks. I think you can safely go down to twice while at work. I pump in the mornings, nurse at lunch and then sometime pump in the afternoon but I'll usually wait until we get home and just nurse instead.
ReplyDeleteAlso I have some Domperidone that I bought when I thought I was having a dip in supply but sleep and increasing water intake did the trick for me. Its your's if you think it might help.
it is UNBELIEVABLE how stressful this stuff, isn't it? i'm officially totally FINE with formula -- i was a mixed baby myself, but really, for babies growing up where there is a clean water supply, i have a very hard time getting worked up about how important breastmilk is (for the baby -- i'm cheap as hell and lazy to boot, so that's a separate consideration). and yet... look at all the shit i irrationally put up with in the beginning! i'm still torn between being proud of how hard i worked and ashamed that i didn't just give the kid formula, cheer up, and start being a nicer mother than i could be while in that much pain. even now, i claim to be fine with him having food, then freak out if he's hungry after nursing. sigh.
ReplyDeleteANYWAY. what i meant to offer by way of assvice-but-at-least-assvice-i'm-living is this: on the two days a week that i'm gone for many (8-14) hours, the bean drinks formula and i do not pump at all. sometimes i can work in one "please don't explode" quickie with the manual pump, but often there really is just no time it's possible, and i have no way to preserve the milk anyway. when i get home on those nights, i'm pretty damn full, so i pump out the lumps with the hand pump before bed. when i'm with the bean, i nurse him and do not give bottles of any kind (see: lazy).
...and it's remarkable how quickly my boobs got with the program. they really don't fill up much when i'm gone anymore (until around hour 11, but it's manageable), and i seem to basically have enough for him when we're together. when i'm being smart, i eat oatmeal when i'll be with him, but i've gotten pretty slack about it, to no noticeable disaster. (i'm sure this is partly bc he's really into food now, but still.) i'm pretty sure he is going through a growth spurt; he nursed like a maniac all weekend, with no apparent loss of supply. so at least in my experience, it is possible with an older baby to keep a supply even without "pumping to keep up supply."
HOWEVER, if it's time to stop completely, i will be your number one cheerleader. you are raising a healthy, happy boy, and i have serious problems believing that the milk is really what's doing the trick. i have a hunch you'd be an awesome mama even with no boobs at all.
I remember being on the breastfeeding/pumping merry-go-round and it can be very taxing on your body, as well as your emotions.
ReplyDeleteAll my babies were preemies so getting them to breastfeed was difficult and I didn't have enough milk anyway so I had to supplement. I made a promise to myself that I would pump round the clock until their original due date and then stop. Made it both times but wow, it was difficult.
Breast feeding is great and rewarding and it has it's challenges for sure. I really hope this goes okay for you. Thinking of you.
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