Sorry this took so long, in the throws of moving I neglected the blog, its pretty tough to pack up in order to move cross country with a newborn in the house!
PUMP A THON!
So in order to increase my supply I had read that a Pump-a-Thon could help. A Pump-A-Thon (or what I will refer to as a POT) entails pumping every 2 hours until empty for 24 hours. Sounds time consuming and crazy right? It is.
Luckily I had my mother staying with me becuase my POT happen to coincide with another of Ethan's growth spurts. So essentially I never to got be with him that day, I was tied to the pump for most of the time and he was eating or sleeping, no time for play.
My supply had seemed to diminish which is why I chose to POT. Here are my results:
0800 pumped 4 oz in 30 minutes
1000 pumped 2.5 oz in 30 minutes
1200 pumped 2.5 oz in 35 minutes
1400 pumped 2 oz in 30 minutes
1600 pumped 1.5 oz in 30 minutes
1800 pumped 2 oz in 30 minutes
2000 pumped 1.5 oz in 25 minutes
2200 pumped 1.5 oz in 35 minutes
2400 pumped 1 oz in 30 minutes
0200 pumped 1 oz in 35 minutes
0400 pumped 4 oz in 30 minutes
0800 pumped 5 oz in 30 minutes
A total of 28.5 oz in 24 hours. Which had been just around what I was pumping, the point was to see reults in the next 24-48 hours.
Are you waiting for the come to Jesus moment, where it all turns around?
Well...thats not going to happen. My supply maybe increased to 3 more oz a day, and I was still pumping every 3 hours. I was miserable, I never got to be with Ethan becasue I was always pumping. Why not pump when he naps you ask? He never seemed to nap for me! He was so used to me trying to wake him up from when he was nursing that he was super alert and fought going to sleep. I thought newborns were supposed to be sleepy!
On top of it, I was in sooo much pain because I had the wrong size nipple sheilds.That was quickly corrrected with a trip to Babies R Us to purchase a bigger size, plus some motrin and lanolin cream.
I was in a pickle, I mean I wanted to get him off formula, but we were both miserable from not being together and him not napping well. I made an ED, an Executive Decision. I decided to pump 5 x a day. I decided my supply was what I had, he was doing fine with the little formula he had to get and when he gets on a schedule and we are done moving I will try to increase my pump times.
Oh the guilt! I felt it like a ton of bricks. I was a failure. I promised you guys I would be an EP ing all-star, and I was a failure. Well get over it Denise! I have a beautiful son, who I love to snuggle. Guess what? He's oing well health wise, he's gaining weight adn hitting his milestones. He gets 5 feeds a day of breast milk and two feeds formula, not too shabby considering.
What about my supply you ask? It dropped to 20 oz a day, but has leveled off. I try and pump extra if there is time to spare. But with trying to pack my house and sleep train this kid, there are few moments where I can get on a pump for 30 uniterrupted minutes.
Hopefully, things will improve once he sleeps and we move?
What does this mean for EPing and for you?
Absolutely nothing! All women are completely different, I think that my anxiety with him not sleeping EVER and moving didn't help my supply. Also I struggled with my supply from the get go. On the blogs and research a POT has been shown to be effective. It makes sense that pupming more often, aka stimulating your breasts, increases supply.
Things to remember:
1. Relax! the fact that you are even attempting to EP for your baby is admirable, whatever Breast Milk you can give him is great, even if its 10 oz a day, he still gets those great antibodies and nutrients.
2. Make sure you have correct nipple shileds! Trust me. If you are going to pump until empty, that can take 30 to 40 minmnutes which means you have plastic rubbing your nipples 12 x a day for almost an hour, you need to protect the nips!
3. Keep track! The best thing to do is keep track of what you are pumping to monitor your supply. Also keep track of how much your child is taking in, this gives you better control of the situation, which will in turn give you peace of mind.
4. BOND! Make sure you spend good quality bonding time with your baby, its all great if he only gets breast milk but he really needs to be with his Mommy too. Dont let pumping interfere with raising your child because that will decrease your milk supply too. Skin to skin is a great way to increase milk supply.
5. Empty those breasts! My next blog post will cover the importance of emptying your breast. This will stimulate your breast to produce milk for the next feeding!
Week 3 Summary:
We are preparing to move from San Diego, CA to Cincinnati, OH to be near family. I am excited but so overwhelmed with the move. Ethan is not sleeping well, he fights taking naps during the day, at night he does well but during the day he is over tired and fussy, so wake time is not enjoyable for me or baby. I know every one says 7 weeks is too young for a schedule, but I don'tthink its too young for a routine. I am not quite sure what to do about it.
HOpefully next week, he will improve now that I am pumping less and able to invest more time in helping him get to sleep and stay asleep!
Next Post: The importance of emptying your breasts and Week 4 summary!
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