We had a rough start because she wouldn't latch well and we needed to supplement because my milk was taking so long to come in. Finally on day five my milk came. Those first few days were so stressful and traumatizing. I knew breastfeeding was going to be a learning experience was boy it was harder than I anticipated.
Emma is a great eater now and does really well switching between the bottle and nursing with me when we are together. I've been very fortunate that I have a really good milk supply. I was really nervous about how I was going to keep up with pumping at work but I've gotten into a good routine and it's going well.
I pump every morning while I'm getting ready for 25 minutes or so. I usually get between 11-15 ounces every morning. I make her bottle for Tommy from the milk I pump in the morning so I don't have to heat it (she almost always leaves an ounce or two so this way I can use it the next day because it hasn't been heated). Then I put the extra ounces in the fridge to use to make her bottles at night for the next day at daycare. Depending on what my schedule is like at work that day I try to pulp when she would be eating (10 am and 1:30pm) but on days I have all my SST meetings I end up pumping at 7:45, 11:15, and a shorter time at 2. I then nurse her at 4:30 and at bedtime (around 7:15). Between the extra ounces I get in the morning and the extra ounces I get on the weekends I always have enough to make her three 7oz bottles each day. I always pump for about five minutes after I feed her on weekend mornings because I know she hasn't emptied me out.
The next phase is going to be interesting once she starts solids. I've been told to keep pumping that feeding she no longer will have once starting solids so that I can have extra milk to mix with food and just to have for emergencies but my only question is what to do on the weekends when I typically wouldn't be pumping. Do you still pump just one extra time as to not throw your body off? Any tips or ideas on how you did it would be appreciated!
That's it for now on this journey. We are starting with rice cereal in two weeks or so once she turns five months. I know it'll be a transition for both of us but I think she will be ready by then for it.
And because no one likes a blog post without any pictures!
Catching up on all my sweet friends' blogs- I so enjoy reading yours!
ReplyDeleteSo awesome that you are able to keep your supply up and continue to nurse! You are super woman!!!
Reading this brought back so many memories of having "milk" on the brain at all times. :) It's a lot to think through in order to keep everything running smoothly, and you obviously have it down to a T!
I won't lie... I was a bit jealous when you said you pump 11-15 oz! I NEVER (not once... EVER!) saw that amount of milk at one time! lol So crazy how everyone's body produces differently and the reason why every nursing momma has a different solution to the same question! You are doing an amazing job, and I say trust your instinct when it comes to dropping feedings. I nursed on demand with Hylan Marie (with mostly a 3-4 hours between feedings), and once she started food (which really was just a playtime to begin with) I still followed it up with a nursing session. Once she really started consuming something significant, I pushed back my "scheduled" feeding and it naturally ended up cutting out one feeding at a time until by 15 months, she was just nursing when she woke up and then again before bed... and that was mainly just for comfort. :) We weaned at that point. Hope this helps!