Back to work Anxiety
I've tried to keep January 4th out of my mind for months. It has crept up on me so quickly.
I am very lucky to have had 5 months of time with Val. TONS of people do not get as much time off as I have.
So I am grateful it worked out.
I would recommend to anyone pregnant that you should take off as much time as possible.
Don't rush to get back to work!!! Your baby will not be a baby for long.
I cannot believe how much Val has changed from August to now!!!!
With work in mind, my anxiety of returning and working out the logistics of schedules and pumping, I have been researching what other people do.
Hopefully, this might help you.
If you're like me...which I'm crazy yes...I like specific examples and routines so I don't reinvent the wheel. I'm all about doing the same thing someone else does and then perhaps modify the routine to fit.
Remember again, I am not a lactation consultant..just a regular person like you! I learn from my mistakes, research, and ask the good old internet for tips and tricks!
So maybe some of these topics will help you.
I am very lucky to have had 5 months of time with Val. TONS of people do not get as much time off as I have.
So I am grateful it worked out.
I would recommend to anyone pregnant that you should take off as much time as possible.
Don't rush to get back to work!!! Your baby will not be a baby for long.
I cannot believe how much Val has changed from August to now!!!!
With work in mind, my anxiety of returning and working out the logistics of schedules and pumping, I have been researching what other people do.
Hopefully, this might help you.
If you're like me...which I'm crazy yes...I like specific examples and routines so I don't reinvent the wheel. I'm all about doing the same thing someone else does and then perhaps modify the routine to fit.
Remember again, I am not a lactation consultant..just a regular person like you! I learn from my mistakes, research, and ask the good old internet for tips and tricks!
So maybe some of these topics will help you.
Packing Your Bags
I will be pumping at work and breastfeeding at night and on weekends.
So you don't really need a specific pumping bag in my opinion. You can very well just put your pump stuff in a sturdy bag.
My sister gave me hers since she is done having kids. I have seen people buy stylish and cute Sarah Wells brand ones but they are at least $99, so yeah, I'm not buying one.
I got $800/month in fertility loans to pay, so I love hand me downs!
A basic pumping bag like I have holds the pump in a cutout spot where I can just zip down the sides and expose the pump controls.
This Medela one that I have doesn't have cold pack type cooler sides, so if you travel for your job, you might benefit from a bag that does. I have fridge access, so it won't matter to me.
I noticed online that the Medela tote bag comes with a pump that is why it is $269. I got my pump for free through secondary insurance cuz my primary wouldn't cover it.
I have a sink and fridge access, so if you don't your list might be different.
Pump bag for electric pumps:
So you don't really need a specific pumping bag in my opinion. You can very well just put your pump stuff in a sturdy bag.
My sister gave me hers since she is done having kids. I have seen people buy stylish and cute Sarah Wells brand ones but they are at least $99, so yeah, I'm not buying one.
I got $800/month in fertility loans to pay, so I love hand me downs!
A basic pumping bag like I have holds the pump in a cutout spot where I can just zip down the sides and expose the pump controls.
This Medela one that I have doesn't have cold pack type cooler sides, so if you travel for your job, you might benefit from a bag that does. I have fridge access, so it won't matter to me.
I noticed online that the Medela tote bag comes with a pump that is why it is $269. I got my pump for free through secondary insurance cuz my primary wouldn't cover it.
I have a sink and fridge access, so if you don't your list might be different.
Pump bag for electric pumps:
- Pump (duh)
- Pump cord
- Tubes
- Extra tubes
- Hands free bra
- Nursing Pads
- Lanolin
- Extension cord--just in case
- Pump manual--just in case something malfunctions
- Medela Quick Clean wipes--just in case I can't access my sink
Pump bag for manual pumps:
For the electric pump, you can put the entire tote bag into a larger overnight bag. That way you can not be carrying 4 million bags.
With the manual, you won't need a huge over night bag. Now I just use a smaller gym bag.
- Manual Pumps (duh)---now that I have multiple sets, I just keep 2 handles at work so need to forget them!
- Hands free bra
- 6 bottles and lids
- 1 set of pump parts
- Wallet
- Any of the above items you think you need as well
For the electric pump, you can put the entire tote bag into a larger overnight bag. That way you can not be carrying 4 million bags.
With the manual, you won't need a huge over night bag. Now I just use a smaller gym bag.
If you need more space for your stuff...use an overnight bag to include:
- DC Power Inverter for car pumping---not using this since I use the manual and don't need electricity
- I heard that the car adapter for the Medela Pump In Style makes the suction suck less lol. So with the inverter, you use the cigaretter lighter outlet, but it looks like a wall outlet with the prong holes. Just in case I get stuck in bad weather or break down etc and have to pump.
- Bottles/lids for storing milk
- Now I have seen some people use larger bottles like water bottle size. Remember, you are only supposed to combine freshly expressed milk with freshly expressed milk and cold milk with cold milk. So if you pump at noon, you cannot combine that milk to 9 am's milk if you had it in the fridge or cooler. However, if you cooled them both then you could add them. However, I collect milk in Medela bottles and store with their lids. Val uses Dr. Brown's bottles, but I don't have a lot of them, so I leave them at home. You can collect your milk and store in bigger bottles. You can put Dr. Brown's bottles onto Medela Pump in Style pump, but I don't have enough bottles to take.
- Set of pump parts/bottles
- I have only one pair in my bag cuz I refrigerate the parts after each session in my lunch box. At home, I have at least 8 sets of electric pump parts. Makes it nice to not HAVE to wash every night. I need to buy more manual pump parts cuz right now I only have 3.
- Wallet---I don't bring my purse
Lunch box (mine's like a cooler with a plastic insert):
- Lunch (duh again)
- Medela ice pack for storing bottles
- Hand me down from my sister. It's cut out on the sides to make room for 4 bottles. For my 8:30 pump, I place bottles then put my lunch foods on top.
- Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads
- Since my nipples have been hurting due to pumping on a higher suction, these pads are great cold from the fridge. They stick to your nipples and don't hurt to take off. The Medela brand ones hurt.
- Any pump parts that have been used
- So if I pump before leaving the house, I will use the same parts and bottles throughout work.
At work I keep:
- Pump in Style Advanced (I only use my Harmony manual pumps now)
- 1 pair of electric pump parts and bottles
- Extra valves & membranes
- Extra nursing pads
- Granola bars
- Pretzels
- Brita water pitcher
- 2 water bottles
- Nursing cover (don't use since I have own room with locked door, but you might if you have to share an area)
- Spare makeup, deodorant, dry shampoo, bobby pins
How do you get yourself ready for work?
I am nursing him on weeknights and weekends. So if you are using bottles every day and night, this might look different to meet your needs.
Having a baby at home is difficult and thinking of leaving the house to go to work makes you add in a whole other thing to figure out.
My husband is home for 1 month before returning back to Baltimore, so luckily, Val doesn't need to be out of the house.
Those of you who get your kids out of the house to go to their daycare place...how in the hell do you do that?
I know once I am home by myself and my mom will come over to watch him, that will throw a brand new wrench into my 'routine' for I will be alone at night. She will come over at 6:45 a.m.
So for now...here's how I get ready for work with my husband home watching Val.
UPDATED To when my husband is gone.
Here's what I do:
Having a baby at home is difficult and thinking of leaving the house to go to work makes you add in a whole other thing to figure out.
My husband is home for 1 month before returning back to Baltimore, so luckily, Val doesn't need to be out of the house.
Those of you who get your kids out of the house to go to their daycare place...how in the hell do you do that?
I know once I am home by myself and my mom will come over to watch him, that will throw a brand new wrench into my 'routine' for I will be alone at night. She will come over at 6:45 a.m.
So for now...here's how I get ready for work with my husband home watching Val.
UPDATED To when my husband is gone.
Here's what I do:
- Plan a week's worth of outfits on Saturday or Sunday (days off)
- I have a notebook and section off 5 areas for workdays. I literally write down what I'm going to wear from head to toe. I wrote down what shoes, jewelry, and how I will do my hair. I figure that I can wear it up or down. I used to just figure out what to wear the day of and that was time spent debating and/or trying on shit that didn't look right...waste of time obviously.
- Whatever jewelry I am going to wear, I put on my vanity. I hang the necklace on the shirt hanger. Earrings and headbands go into a little bin on the vanity.
- I've found writing down outfits helps me avoid repeating the same colors several days in a row.
- Doing my hair takes out the monotony of having the same hair too.
- I put clothespins on the outfits that I'm going to wear because let's admit sometimes you cannot find a shirt since it fell off the hanger (velvet hangers are awesome but I don't have a ton) or it's sandwiched between other shirts and you cannot find it!
2. What to do the night before?
- Like most people, my IQ level is really low in the mornings. Doesn't matter if I get 12 hours of sleep, I still have a hard time trying to get awake and functioning.
- Pack your lunch
- Pack your pump bag
- Pack up your main bag
- Make a list to keep on your countertop or garage door where you can DOUBLE check you have all your shit.
3. What time do I need to get up?
Option 1: Baby is sleeping when I wake up.
Option 2: Baby is up when I wake up.
Option 3: Baby wakes up in middle of me getting ready
Option 4: Baby wakes up 10-15 min after pumping
4. How much milk will I need for my baby while I'm gone?
You have to look at pumping as replacing the feeds you have during the day. I have an app called EatSleep that tells me the average times per day/week/month that he has diaper changes, feeds, and naps, etc.
It told me that currently Val eats 9-10 times a day...9.93 to be exact. LOL
KellyMom is an EXCELLENT website that has tons of info about pumping, breasfeeding, and other topics.
You might be thinking, how do I know how much milk my breastfed baby drinks? Here's a calculator on KellyMom.
It says that full time breastfeed babies up to 6 months in age will average 19-30 oz in a day with 25 oz being the true average. (older babies start solids, so the amount can vary)
So if you feed 10 times, you take the average of 25 oz and divide by 10.
That means Val drinks about 2.5 oz a nursing session. He only nurses one side a time. Of course it could be less with 2 oz or high end of 3 oz.
Breastfed babies eat more frequently...just think of you eating 7 smaller meals a day versus the traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is why you can go through a lot of smaller quantities of milk versus other babies drinking more in one sitting.
5. When to pump?
I have scheduled breaks, so I pump during them. For example, I would pump 8:30, 11:30, and 1:10. Then arrive at my house at 4:35.
If you don't have scheduled breaks and can determine your own pumping time, you can make them about 3 hours between pumps. You could make it less to 2 or more to 4, but that's as much lead way as you want. Otherwise, your boobs might get engorged, leak, or mess up your schedule.
If Val has taken a bottle around 3:45-4:35, then I have to make up for that feed with a pumping session. So my husband holds him longer while I pump.
6. What to do with pumped milk for feedings?
Monday's pumped milk is stored in the fridge for use on Tuesday; Tuesday's is for Wednesday, and so on.
On Fridays, we freeze my milk. Then on Mondays, my husband will use older frozen milk. We do this because it rotates my frozen milk stash. I have frozen milk from August that I am using now.
Another option is to just leave your Friday milk in the fridge to use on Monday.
When pumping at work, I keep the milk in the Medela bottles and only combine if I have lower numbers. For example, if I pump 3 oz on the left and 3 on the right, I could save those as 2 separate bottles. If I only pump 1 on the left and 2 on the right, then I make them into a 3 oz bottle. I refrigerate it to use later on. Don't rinse the parts/bottles.
When I come home from work on Monday through Thursday, my husband puts the milk in fridge. He wants to use milk from the day before first if there is any leftover.
Sometimes, we mark the bottles with Sharpies and painter's tape. I store the milk in Medela bottles and then my husband portions them for feeds in Dr. Brown's bottles.
To make sure you get all the fat off the storage bottles when you're transferring milk to the baby's bottle, you can gently swirl the milk or run the bottle under warm water. The fat will stay on the sides when it's stored, but you want that baby to drink it!!
My husband then washes the parts and bottles. He sanitizes them too and we do this because its only 2 more minutes in the microwave sterilizer. Its not necessary, but i figure they're already wet so why not? I have 8 sets of pump parts and many extra valves and membranes.
We keep an empty tupperware container on the counter and that is where we put the used bottles and parts. To wash, we love the no scrub Medela Quick Clean breastmilk soap. We still end up using a bottle brush just to be sure, but it's not necessary.
7. Freezing milk
When you pump, you can decide to keep your milk out in room temp, refrigerate it, or freeze it.
If you decide to freeze it, it is recommended you do it as soon as possible to preserve the nutrients.
I pumped when I got home from the hospital because I thought that was what you were supposed to do. I actually pumped on my last day using the hospitals pump...I had over supply and the nurse recommended I do it. So I was nursing Val 16 times day and pumping 6 more times.
I was exhausted and when I told my sister, she said that I was telling my body that I had quads! It was thinking I had to feed 22 times a day.
The good thing about that is that I have a lot of milk from August that can last me one year.
The bad thing about that was that I set my boobs into over drive and when I realized my mistake and stopped pumping, I had less stress and more sleep, but I had boobs that got sore and hard cuz they were used to be used and used.
Anyways, this is how I freeze my milk: I use Lansinoh bags because the reviews are amazing and they don't puncture or leak often compared to other brands.
I store my milk not bigger than 4 oz sizes cuz you can't have a full bag of milk and then put it in the freezer. It expands and you have a super high chance of having the bag open and be ruined.
You will cry over spilling your breastmilk for you once you go back to work, you realize how important it is to make milk for your child. Sometimes it's really hard to get more milk out of your boobs while pumping.
Okay, so you have your milk and you pour it in the Lansinoh bags.
You then seal up the bag and lay it flat in your freezer. The reason why flat?
If you store it upright it freezes upright. Then you have a cube of breastmilk that takes up more room in your freezer, but also can puncture easier and takes longer to warm up.
Once frozen, we put the bags into larger ziploc bags with the date or dates on the front.
I know some people like to use tupperware bins or empty pop 12 pack cardboards, but bags I feel seal in better.
We recently bought an upright deep freeze since we wanted one for awhile, but also breastmilk can be store in it longer than the bottom compartment refrigerator/freezer combo since you are not opening the deep freezer often.
- Figure out when you must be out of your house and work backwards from there.
- I work 50 minutes from home, so I MUST leave at 7 am. Since it's winter, I am sooooo not looking forward to shitty roads, but I have no control over that.
- As far as wake up time, this took me a while to figure it out. Pre-baby it took me 1 hour to get totally ready. I would shower, eat breakfast, do makeup, do hair, get dressed, let dog out to pee, then leave.
- I get up at 5:40 now...I am sure that will change to earlier.
- Now I figure I have 2 options: shower or no shower. I have done "dry runs" kind of by not showering and seeing how my hair looks. No shocker: it's greasy because well, it's always been greasy and I must shower each day. I figure on days I'm crunched on time, I will use dry shampoo. I found an excellent kind called "Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo"! It makes my thin hair feel thick, but most of all, it really corrects the grease without leaving white powder. Even as a blonde, I didn't like when dry shampoos did that.
- If I am more crunched for time, I can skip makeup and do it at work. I have a small makeup bag that I keep at work.
- You must figure out if you are going to get ready first or nurse/feed the baby first. I get ready first unless he wakes up crying, which he doesn't...but knock on wood.
- On days that he hasn't woken up, I shower, then pump and give my hair time to air dry before blowing it dry and getting makeup on.
Option 1: Baby is sleeping when I wake up.
- I take the monitor handset with me everywhere in the morning.
- I jump in the shower. He has woken up right before I jumped in and I showered, then nursed him while my hair was wet.
- After I shower, I pump both sides for 15 minutes. Then I put that milk in the fridge for today's feedings. I put the pump parts in a ziploc baggie and put in the fridge to take to work.
- Then, I go do my makeup, hair, and get dressed.
- I eat cereal, brush my teeth, and leave. I remember to take my refrigerated pump parts into my lunchbox.
Option 2: Baby is up when I wake up.
- Change diaper and nurse him. He usually nurses for 10-15 minutes, so if it's longer than that, I can cut back on my makeup and hair. When all else fails, I go to work with hair looking crappy in a ponytail or no makeup.
- If he's awake after nursing, I would put him in the pack n play and get ready. If he cries, I can hold him while I do my makeup and put him down to get dressed. He can stay in the high chair while I eat breakfast.
- If he's asleep after nursing, I would try to let him sleep a little bit more on the pillow on my lap. Val ALWAYS wakes up when place in the pack n play if I haven't gotten him to sleep longer on the pillow. It's like he has to hit his REM sleep before being transferred. He will most often sleep in the pack n play if I have given him about 20 minutes of lap time, but if I don't have the time, I will take him around with me to get ready.
- Do hair, makeup, get dressed if time permits
Option 3: Baby wakes up in middle of me getting ready
- Get ready quick and attend to baby. Luckily, Val does not wake up crying. He is just awake and I would see it in the monitor handset.
- Change diaper and nurse baby
Option 4: Baby wakes up 10-15 min after pumping
- Finish getting ready
- I will still nurse if I think time wise it will work out. If not, I can go and my husband will give him a bottle.
4. How much milk will I need for my baby while I'm gone?
You have to look at pumping as replacing the feeds you have during the day. I have an app called EatSleep that tells me the average times per day/week/month that he has diaper changes, feeds, and naps, etc.
It told me that currently Val eats 9-10 times a day...9.93 to be exact. LOL
KellyMom is an EXCELLENT website that has tons of info about pumping, breasfeeding, and other topics.
You might be thinking, how do I know how much milk my breastfed baby drinks? Here's a calculator on KellyMom.
It says that full time breastfeed babies up to 6 months in age will average 19-30 oz in a day with 25 oz being the true average. (older babies start solids, so the amount can vary)
So if you feed 10 times, you take the average of 25 oz and divide by 10.
That means Val drinks about 2.5 oz a nursing session. He only nurses one side a time. Of course it could be less with 2 oz or high end of 3 oz.
Breastfed babies eat more frequently...just think of you eating 7 smaller meals a day versus the traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That is why you can go through a lot of smaller quantities of milk versus other babies drinking more in one sitting.
5. When to pump?
I have scheduled breaks, so I pump during them. For example, I would pump 8:30, 11:30, and 1:10. Then arrive at my house at 4:35.
If you don't have scheduled breaks and can determine your own pumping time, you can make them about 3 hours between pumps. You could make it less to 2 or more to 4, but that's as much lead way as you want. Otherwise, your boobs might get engorged, leak, or mess up your schedule.
If Val has taken a bottle around 3:45-4:35, then I have to make up for that feed with a pumping session. So my husband holds him longer while I pump.
6. What to do with pumped milk for feedings?
Monday's pumped milk is stored in the fridge for use on Tuesday; Tuesday's is for Wednesday, and so on.
On Fridays, we freeze my milk. Then on Mondays, my husband will use older frozen milk. We do this because it rotates my frozen milk stash. I have frozen milk from August that I am using now.
Another option is to just leave your Friday milk in the fridge to use on Monday.
When pumping at work, I keep the milk in the Medela bottles and only combine if I have lower numbers. For example, if I pump 3 oz on the left and 3 on the right, I could save those as 2 separate bottles. If I only pump 1 on the left and 2 on the right, then I make them into a 3 oz bottle. I refrigerate it to use later on. Don't rinse the parts/bottles.
When I come home from work on Monday through Thursday, my husband puts the milk in fridge. He wants to use milk from the day before first if there is any leftover.
Sometimes, we mark the bottles with Sharpies and painter's tape. I store the milk in Medela bottles and then my husband portions them for feeds in Dr. Brown's bottles.
To make sure you get all the fat off the storage bottles when you're transferring milk to the baby's bottle, you can gently swirl the milk or run the bottle under warm water. The fat will stay on the sides when it's stored, but you want that baby to drink it!!
My husband then washes the parts and bottles. He sanitizes them too and we do this because its only 2 more minutes in the microwave sterilizer. Its not necessary, but i figure they're already wet so why not? I have 8 sets of pump parts and many extra valves and membranes.
We keep an empty tupperware container on the counter and that is where we put the used bottles and parts. To wash, we love the no scrub Medela Quick Clean breastmilk soap. We still end up using a bottle brush just to be sure, but it's not necessary.
7. Freezing milk
When you pump, you can decide to keep your milk out in room temp, refrigerate it, or freeze it.
If you decide to freeze it, it is recommended you do it as soon as possible to preserve the nutrients.
I pumped when I got home from the hospital because I thought that was what you were supposed to do. I actually pumped on my last day using the hospitals pump...I had over supply and the nurse recommended I do it. So I was nursing Val 16 times day and pumping 6 more times.
I was exhausted and when I told my sister, she said that I was telling my body that I had quads! It was thinking I had to feed 22 times a day.
The good thing about that is that I have a lot of milk from August that can last me one year.
The bad thing about that was that I set my boobs into over drive and when I realized my mistake and stopped pumping, I had less stress and more sleep, but I had boobs that got sore and hard cuz they were used to be used and used.
Anyways, this is how I freeze my milk: I use Lansinoh bags because the reviews are amazing and they don't puncture or leak often compared to other brands.
I store my milk not bigger than 4 oz sizes cuz you can't have a full bag of milk and then put it in the freezer. It expands and you have a super high chance of having the bag open and be ruined.
You will cry over spilling your breastmilk for you once you go back to work, you realize how important it is to make milk for your child. Sometimes it's really hard to get more milk out of your boobs while pumping.
Okay, so you have your milk and you pour it in the Lansinoh bags.
You then seal up the bag and lay it flat in your freezer. The reason why flat?
If you store it upright it freezes upright. Then you have a cube of breastmilk that takes up more room in your freezer, but also can puncture easier and takes longer to warm up.
Once frozen, we put the bags into larger ziploc bags with the date or dates on the front.
I know some people like to use tupperware bins or empty pop 12 pack cardboards, but bags I feel seal in better.
We recently bought an upright deep freeze since we wanted one for awhile, but also breastmilk can be store in it longer than the bottom compartment refrigerator/freezer combo since you are not opening the deep freezer often.
Storing your milk in the freezer
Pumping Logistics
So you have all your stuff ready and now you are going to pump.
By no means am I saying I'm a know it all, but right now this is my routine. I know before I went back to work that my mind was thinking 8 million things and wondering how it was going to work.
Since I've been back, I've had to figure out more stuff.
I just want your transition back to be as seamless as possible.
Here's what I do:
5:40 Shower
5:55? Not exactly sure, but when I'm out of the shower, but I pump for 15 minutes while hair is in a towel.
6:15ish Put milk in the fridge to use for the baby. If I make more later on, we can freeze it.
Get ready (hair, makeup, clothes, pack lunch up, make sure stuff is in the bags)
6:50 Eat breakfast
7:00 Leave the house
1. Before I leave home:
If your baby is still sleeping and can stay at home for your sitter, then don't wake them up before you leave or to nurse. Your boobs will be full, so pump before you leave your house. Give yourself extra time to pump so when the baby is up someday, you will have it set into your schedule. You can decide if you want to keep that milk for use that day or freeze. I go back and forth depending on how much I have in the fridge. If I had a low output the day before, I will add that morning pump.
Don't forget if you pump before leaving, you can just keep those pump parts and bottles in your lunch box until the next pump. No need to rinse them or dry. Yes they are a little cold next time you put them on, but it's nothing crazy!
I used to eat my cereal and drink orange juice while I pumped with the electric. Now using the manual, I can't obviously multitask.
If the baby happens to get up while I'm pumping (hasn't happened yet), I will most likely continue pumping unless I just started. If I did just start, I am going to get off the pump and nurse him. This is why I pump at 6:30 and leave at 7:00. Don't start pumping 15 minutes before leaving your house.
If your baby has to be somewhere for childcare, you will have to figure in time for them to be dress, in their car seat, and in the car etc. Good Luck to you Mama...your job is harder than mine!
2. What to do while pumping:
Don't stress. I mean seriously...DON'T DO IT. Don't look at the bottles. Don't start calculating what you have in the fridge and definitely don't freak out about not having enough.
Yeah I know easier said than done, but pumping at work and multitasking killed my output. I was stressed from what I had to quickly get done that I forgot that those precious minutes were dedicated to my baby.
I now learned to put on music that is upbeat and gets me into a good mood and look at videos and photos of Val on my phone. I do mindless things.
I also found when pumping that I was lifting my shoulders up in a tense way inadvertently. Just try to relax your joints.
3. How long I pump:
For both the electric Pump in Style Advanced and manual Harmony I pump both sides for 15 minutes. When I breastfeed, he only takes one side at a time for 10-15 minutes on average.
I have pumped for 20 minutes before, but I can't really see a difference and I don't have all that extra time to do several 20 minute pumps. I have to save break time to actually go to the bathroom or eat my lunch.
Some people pump until they see no milk coming out. I don't do that...it's 15 minutes period.
Now I have heard people doing a power pump for 1 hour while they had a long commute. I've never done that.
When I pump with the Harmony manual, I get much more milk. I am a HUGE fan now and probably will not go back to the electric!
UPDATE: I pumped on my drive to see how it would work and it was easier than I thought. Here's what I did...I pulled over at a convenience store away from other parked cars and possible people walking about. I decided to do it about 20 minutes from work. I lifted up my bra and shirt and wrapped my Hands Free around my torso. Slid it up really quickly just in case someone was around. But really who cares? Anyways, I plugged my pump into the power inverter and aligned the flanges in the middle. Then I found if I leaned to the right with the bottles on either side of my legs, it wasn't awkward and I could drive normally. Now, I usually drive with one hand, so I checked the time and then drove without looking at the pump or bottles. I couldn't even hear the pump going and the only tricky part was trying to tell if my letdown began so I could press the letdown button. I did have to look down and I know, I know, I know that's not safe, but I liken it to changing the radio. From the sides, since it's winter, I could not notice the pump sticking out and looking "obvious". Once I got to my work's parking lot, I stopped the car (duh) and then removed the flanges. I put the bottles into the cup holders and wiped off my nipples. I took down the pumping bra and fixed my shirt. I combined the milk bottles and threw the pump parts into my lunchbox.
I really don't care if people see me...I'm more worried about the logistics of the way the pump is set up. Right now I feel it's awkward so driving (especially in winter), but like many things, the more you do it the more it becomes easier.
I know some people have said they use nursing covers to block the pumps or have tinted windows. Either way, the car adapters are not as strong I heard, so look into the DC Power Inverter I mentioned earlier.
4. When I get to work:
When I was regularly using the electric, I would plug it in and get the tubes in the holes of the pump. I get to work at 8 and pump at 8:30. I just have it ready cuz for that 30 minute period I'm in turbo mode working on work stuff. I have an alarm on my phone for 8:30 during the week that goes off and reminds me it's time to go pump.
For the manual, I literally just get the parts out and have them ready, so when the timer goes off, I can put the bra on and adjust the parts onto my boobs.
5. Routine:
When it's "break time", I get my lunchbox and take out my pump parts and bottles. I have these pieces already together.
For the electric, I moved my pump to be in front of me. Since mine is in the bag, I just move the bag.
For the manual, I just sit like normal or walk around for some exercise lol.
Plug in the tubes to the pump parts for the electric.
Then I put on my Simple Wishes Hands free bra. To do this, I lift up my bra. I wear a non underwire bra. You can wear a nursing bra and just clip down. However, I have noticed that lifting up my bra and shirt is quicker. I just keep it up on my chest.
Oh, and I just wear normal clothes. I wore a dress one day and yep, I pulled it up too! ahahahahah I have privacy in a locked room that no one can see it, so I could have my belly showing.
The Hands Free bra is nice since you can wear straps or no straps. I like the straps on and up cuz I feel more supported. I am a DDD.
I put the bra on and then get the flanges inserted into the holes. I line them up as well as I can then turn on the pump.
I usually have to move the flanges cuz you want your nipple to be in the middle as best you can. You need to make sure your nipples have room to grow.
Don't let them be pushed up against the sides.
I pump both sides for 15 minutes...set another timer on your phone or if you use a computer, just Google an online timer, alarm, or stopwatch and let it run. Just zone out with music and photos/vidoes of your baby. Mentally go some where else....like a beach!!
I walk around the room and pump...exercise too! Yay!
With the hands free bra, you might notice some milk going backwards so you might want to lean a little when pumping.
Once my timer goes off, I pull out the parts, put milk into bottles with lids, and then put parts and/or used bottles into my lunch box to put in the fridge until next pump. Don't put your pump tubes in the fridge.
By no means am I saying I'm a know it all, but right now this is my routine. I know before I went back to work that my mind was thinking 8 million things and wondering how it was going to work.
Since I've been back, I've had to figure out more stuff.
I just want your transition back to be as seamless as possible.
Here's what I do:
5:40 Shower
5:55? Not exactly sure, but when I'm out of the shower, but I pump for 15 minutes while hair is in a towel.
6:15ish Put milk in the fridge to use for the baby. If I make more later on, we can freeze it.
Get ready (hair, makeup, clothes, pack lunch up, make sure stuff is in the bags)
6:50 Eat breakfast
7:00 Leave the house
1. Before I leave home:
If your baby is still sleeping and can stay at home for your sitter, then don't wake them up before you leave or to nurse. Your boobs will be full, so pump before you leave your house. Give yourself extra time to pump so when the baby is up someday, you will have it set into your schedule. You can decide if you want to keep that milk for use that day or freeze. I go back and forth depending on how much I have in the fridge. If I had a low output the day before, I will add that morning pump.
Don't forget if you pump before leaving, you can just keep those pump parts and bottles in your lunch box until the next pump. No need to rinse them or dry. Yes they are a little cold next time you put them on, but it's nothing crazy!
I used to eat my cereal and drink orange juice while I pumped with the electric. Now using the manual, I can't obviously multitask.
If the baby happens to get up while I'm pumping (hasn't happened yet), I will most likely continue pumping unless I just started. If I did just start, I am going to get off the pump and nurse him. This is why I pump at 6:30 and leave at 7:00. Don't start pumping 15 minutes before leaving your house.
If your baby has to be somewhere for childcare, you will have to figure in time for them to be dress, in their car seat, and in the car etc. Good Luck to you Mama...your job is harder than mine!
2. What to do while pumping:
Don't stress. I mean seriously...DON'T DO IT. Don't look at the bottles. Don't start calculating what you have in the fridge and definitely don't freak out about not having enough.
Yeah I know easier said than done, but pumping at work and multitasking killed my output. I was stressed from what I had to quickly get done that I forgot that those precious minutes were dedicated to my baby.
I now learned to put on music that is upbeat and gets me into a good mood and look at videos and photos of Val on my phone. I do mindless things.
I also found when pumping that I was lifting my shoulders up in a tense way inadvertently. Just try to relax your joints.
3. How long I pump:
For both the electric Pump in Style Advanced and manual Harmony I pump both sides for 15 minutes. When I breastfeed, he only takes one side at a time for 10-15 minutes on average.
I have pumped for 20 minutes before, but I can't really see a difference and I don't have all that extra time to do several 20 minute pumps. I have to save break time to actually go to the bathroom or eat my lunch.
Some people pump until they see no milk coming out. I don't do that...it's 15 minutes period.
Now I have heard people doing a power pump for 1 hour while they had a long commute. I've never done that.
When I pump with the Harmony manual, I get much more milk. I am a HUGE fan now and probably will not go back to the electric!
UPDATE: I pumped on my drive to see how it would work and it was easier than I thought. Here's what I did...I pulled over at a convenience store away from other parked cars and possible people walking about. I decided to do it about 20 minutes from work. I lifted up my bra and shirt and wrapped my Hands Free around my torso. Slid it up really quickly just in case someone was around. But really who cares? Anyways, I plugged my pump into the power inverter and aligned the flanges in the middle. Then I found if I leaned to the right with the bottles on either side of my legs, it wasn't awkward and I could drive normally. Now, I usually drive with one hand, so I checked the time and then drove without looking at the pump or bottles. I couldn't even hear the pump going and the only tricky part was trying to tell if my letdown began so I could press the letdown button. I did have to look down and I know, I know, I know that's not safe, but I liken it to changing the radio. From the sides, since it's winter, I could not notice the pump sticking out and looking "obvious". Once I got to my work's parking lot, I stopped the car (duh) and then removed the flanges. I put the bottles into the cup holders and wiped off my nipples. I took down the pumping bra and fixed my shirt. I combined the milk bottles and threw the pump parts into my lunchbox.
I really don't care if people see me...I'm more worried about the logistics of the way the pump is set up. Right now I feel it's awkward so driving (especially in winter), but like many things, the more you do it the more it becomes easier.
I know some people have said they use nursing covers to block the pumps or have tinted windows. Either way, the car adapters are not as strong I heard, so look into the DC Power Inverter I mentioned earlier.
4. When I get to work:
When I was regularly using the electric, I would plug it in and get the tubes in the holes of the pump. I get to work at 8 and pump at 8:30. I just have it ready cuz for that 30 minute period I'm in turbo mode working on work stuff. I have an alarm on my phone for 8:30 during the week that goes off and reminds me it's time to go pump.
For the manual, I literally just get the parts out and have them ready, so when the timer goes off, I can put the bra on and adjust the parts onto my boobs.
5. Routine:
When it's "break time", I get my lunchbox and take out my pump parts and bottles. I have these pieces already together.
For the electric, I moved my pump to be in front of me. Since mine is in the bag, I just move the bag.
For the manual, I just sit like normal or walk around for some exercise lol.
Plug in the tubes to the pump parts for the electric.
Then I put on my Simple Wishes Hands free bra. To do this, I lift up my bra. I wear a non underwire bra. You can wear a nursing bra and just clip down. However, I have noticed that lifting up my bra and shirt is quicker. I just keep it up on my chest.
Oh, and I just wear normal clothes. I wore a dress one day and yep, I pulled it up too! ahahahahah I have privacy in a locked room that no one can see it, so I could have my belly showing.
The Hands Free bra is nice since you can wear straps or no straps. I like the straps on and up cuz I feel more supported. I am a DDD.
I put the bra on and then get the flanges inserted into the holes. I line them up as well as I can then turn on the pump.
I usually have to move the flanges cuz you want your nipple to be in the middle as best you can. You need to make sure your nipples have room to grow.
Don't let them be pushed up against the sides.
I pump both sides for 15 minutes...set another timer on your phone or if you use a computer, just Google an online timer, alarm, or stopwatch and let it run. Just zone out with music and photos/vidoes of your baby. Mentally go some where else....like a beach!!
I walk around the room and pump...exercise too! Yay!
With the hands free bra, you might notice some milk going backwards so you might want to lean a little when pumping.
Once my timer goes off, I pull out the parts, put milk into bottles with lids, and then put parts and/or used bottles into my lunch box to put in the fridge until next pump. Don't put your pump tubes in the fridge.
Ways to help increase your pumping output
Okay, so as an exclusive breastfeeder, I don't pump much.
I have only pumped a handful of times before beginning work. I pumped more right after he was born because I thought you were supposed to do that.
UPDATE: Please oh please buy the Medela Harmony manual pump.
I have really increased my output versus using the electric pump. Now I get a total of 8-10 ounces from both sides. Before,I'd say average I get 2-3 ounces total between both breasts.
Now according to Val's drinking, he gets in 2.5-3 oz at each feed on average.
Many breastfeeding women are disappointed when pumping because you feel like you have no milk, but the thing is you are not established at pumping like person who exclusively pumps.
It takes practice to get used to a pump.
A baby is far more efficient at taking milk out of breast and a pump just tries to mimic that.
So don't beat yourself up about your output.
If you are concerned about it, let's try to figure out what you can do.
Start with your pump and it's parts!
There are several different pumps on the market. And there are several different sizes for the flanges that fit onto your breasts. Keep reading and I'll explain it more.
It seems like the go to pump is Medela's Pump In Style Advanced like mine pretty much because insurances often have 1-2 options that they will pay for.
Mine had 2 options. I couldn't even tell you what the other one was. I heard Medela and was like free? Okay I'll take it.
The pump is fine, but not comfortable...but from joining a few breastfeeding groups on Facebook, I'm seeing that Pump In Style Advanced has a very comfortable and inexpensive rival: Spectra S2.
From what I've heard, you can hack it with your Medela parts. Many women say it gives them better output and feels better in comfort.
At $130, it's much cheaper than the PISA.
I got my PISA for free from secondary insurance, so I don't want to spend the money to get the Spectra S2, but I'm very curious about it.
Another point for Spectra is that it is closed system: meaning you can share it with other women...for the PISA and most other brands are open system. Open system means there's possibility of back flow and that's unhygienic. That is why you are to never buy a used breast pump.
Another great pump that is convenient and doesn't have you attached to an outlet are Freemies. They look like bra pad inserts.
A Medela Harmony manual pump is something I got from my sister as a hand me down and I must admit: I thought it was gonna be a pain in the ass to use.
HOWEVER, I just used it tonight and got 4 ounces off one boob...I have been getting less than 4 ounces from both boobs. Now this could be a fluke since I pumped at 5:30 and hadn't previously pumped since 1:15, so there was time between.
The manual pump was WAY more comfy than the electric PISA...wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more tolerable. Yes my hand got tired after 15 minutes of pumping, but my letdown came within 1 minute. Lately it has taken up to 5-6 minutes before I see milk.
Yes my hands get tired and I have to briefly pause every now and then, but now I put on music, my timer, and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze the handles. I will put in the extra hand effort to get double the milk no doubt.
I have only pumped a handful of times before beginning work. I pumped more right after he was born because I thought you were supposed to do that.
UPDATE: Please oh please buy the Medela Harmony manual pump.
I have really increased my output versus using the electric pump. Now I get a total of 8-10 ounces from both sides. Before,I'd say average I get 2-3 ounces total between both breasts.
Now according to Val's drinking, he gets in 2.5-3 oz at each feed on average.
Many breastfeeding women are disappointed when pumping because you feel like you have no milk, but the thing is you are not established at pumping like person who exclusively pumps.
It takes practice to get used to a pump.
A baby is far more efficient at taking milk out of breast and a pump just tries to mimic that.
So don't beat yourself up about your output.
If you are concerned about it, let's try to figure out what you can do.
Start with your pump and it's parts!
There are several different pumps on the market. And there are several different sizes for the flanges that fit onto your breasts. Keep reading and I'll explain it more.
It seems like the go to pump is Medela's Pump In Style Advanced like mine pretty much because insurances often have 1-2 options that they will pay for.
Mine had 2 options. I couldn't even tell you what the other one was. I heard Medela and was like free? Okay I'll take it.
The pump is fine, but not comfortable...but from joining a few breastfeeding groups on Facebook, I'm seeing that Pump In Style Advanced has a very comfortable and inexpensive rival: Spectra S2.
From what I've heard, you can hack it with your Medela parts. Many women say it gives them better output and feels better in comfort.
At $130, it's much cheaper than the PISA.
I got my PISA for free from secondary insurance, so I don't want to spend the money to get the Spectra S2, but I'm very curious about it.
Another point for Spectra is that it is closed system: meaning you can share it with other women...for the PISA and most other brands are open system. Open system means there's possibility of back flow and that's unhygienic. That is why you are to never buy a used breast pump.
Another great pump that is convenient and doesn't have you attached to an outlet are Freemies. They look like bra pad inserts.
A Medela Harmony manual pump is something I got from my sister as a hand me down and I must admit: I thought it was gonna be a pain in the ass to use.
HOWEVER, I just used it tonight and got 4 ounces off one boob...I have been getting less than 4 ounces from both boobs. Now this could be a fluke since I pumped at 5:30 and hadn't previously pumped since 1:15, so there was time between.
The manual pump was WAY more comfy than the electric PISA...wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more tolerable. Yes my hand got tired after 15 minutes of pumping, but my letdown came within 1 minute. Lately it has taken up to 5-6 minutes before I see milk.
Yes my hands get tired and I have to briefly pause every now and then, but now I put on music, my timer, and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze the handles. I will put in the extra hand effort to get double the milk no doubt.
Here's some things people say will increase your output:
A lot if not all have no scientific evidence backing them, so proceed with caution. I personally will not take anything pill wise unless told my a doctor and only choose to eat 'real' foods and drinks.
I also believe these things boost your caloric intake and since you are to be eating 500 calories or more while breastfeeding, it's interesting to see if just the added calories alone boost supply.
The #1 thing for me again, was the manual pump...I literally am head over heels in love. Just bought another one from Target so I can have extra parts.
1. Being stressfree
I can claim this as working cuz you have to relax to pump better. I know it's hard to sit on your ass and not want to multitask at work or at home with your mind wanting to race, but try to chill.
2. Drinking a shit ton of water and Gatorade
I try to do this for it's important nonetheless. I always keep a big jug next to my breastfeeding area and use a Brita water pitcher at work for making refilling easy. I've always liked Gatorade. I notice that if i bring it 1 hour before pumping I get better output.
3. Breast compressions
I never had done this before until I noticed I wasn't getting a letdown (letdown means your milk is starting to come out. I know weird word to describe the beginning of something good!) Now when I notice I don't see letdowns, I start squeezing my boobs in the same pattern that the pump is pumping. You basically squeeze and 'pump' your boobs while you pump.
Has it helped? I think so...not really sure..kinda hard to squeeze both and maintain proper suction, so I squeeze one and then the other back and forth.
This is really only possible using an electric pump.
4. Steel cut Oats
Oats, oatmeal, and granola bars can help. Why? I'm not sure. I've always been a granola bar fan and keep a box of them on the table next to my breastfeeding area. I eat Honey Bunches of Oats for breakfast everyday and have for years because I like the taste. Does it increase output? I dunno.
5. Flaxseeds or Flaxseed Oil
I have always taken flaxseed oil vitamins for digestive reasons. I was surprised they are to help with milk production. I know many people use flaxseeds in lactation cookie recipes too.
6. Fenugreek
It can be in the form of tea, powder, or capsules, however, I have heard some people take it and it makes them sick, have bad diarrhea or worse: causes your child to have urine that smells like maple syrup, colicky symptoms, and/or bad digestive issues. Another down side is that you take 6-14 pills or so a day...yeah that's a lot. I cannot attest to it working or not. I have a friend on it and her supply is very low.
7. Brewer's Yeast
As one of the ingredients in lactation cookies as well, you can also drink a dark beer. I am not a drinker and if I do drink, it's not beer, so I cannot attest to this working. My good friend Kathy made me these cookies and the taste really good...just like normal cookies.
8. "Mother's Milk" Tea
I have a friend who uses this but hasn't seen an increase in output.
9. Malt Ovaltine and Almond Milk
I tried this and haven't noticed anything different. Make sure you get the red bottle of chocolate malt ovaltine versus the blue of just regular ovaltine. It's located by the hot chocolate in your grocery store. You put 2 tablespoons of the powder into the milk and chug lol. Or just drink it like normal. If anything, I think it gives you an okay tasting chocolate milk drink, but the 'secret' is in the malt and lecithin in the almond milk I guess.
A lot if not all have no scientific evidence backing them, so proceed with caution. I personally will not take anything pill wise unless told my a doctor and only choose to eat 'real' foods and drinks.
I also believe these things boost your caloric intake and since you are to be eating 500 calories or more while breastfeeding, it's interesting to see if just the added calories alone boost supply.
The #1 thing for me again, was the manual pump...I literally am head over heels in love. Just bought another one from Target so I can have extra parts.
1. Being stressfree
I can claim this as working cuz you have to relax to pump better. I know it's hard to sit on your ass and not want to multitask at work or at home with your mind wanting to race, but try to chill.
2. Drinking a shit ton of water and Gatorade
I try to do this for it's important nonetheless. I always keep a big jug next to my breastfeeding area and use a Brita water pitcher at work for making refilling easy. I've always liked Gatorade. I notice that if i bring it 1 hour before pumping I get better output.
3. Breast compressions
I never had done this before until I noticed I wasn't getting a letdown (letdown means your milk is starting to come out. I know weird word to describe the beginning of something good!) Now when I notice I don't see letdowns, I start squeezing my boobs in the same pattern that the pump is pumping. You basically squeeze and 'pump' your boobs while you pump.
Has it helped? I think so...not really sure..kinda hard to squeeze both and maintain proper suction, so I squeeze one and then the other back and forth.
This is really only possible using an electric pump.
4. Steel cut Oats
Oats, oatmeal, and granola bars can help. Why? I'm not sure. I've always been a granola bar fan and keep a box of them on the table next to my breastfeeding area. I eat Honey Bunches of Oats for breakfast everyday and have for years because I like the taste. Does it increase output? I dunno.
5. Flaxseeds or Flaxseed Oil
I have always taken flaxseed oil vitamins for digestive reasons. I was surprised they are to help with milk production. I know many people use flaxseeds in lactation cookie recipes too.
6. Fenugreek
It can be in the form of tea, powder, or capsules, however, I have heard some people take it and it makes them sick, have bad diarrhea or worse: causes your child to have urine that smells like maple syrup, colicky symptoms, and/or bad digestive issues. Another down side is that you take 6-14 pills or so a day...yeah that's a lot. I cannot attest to it working or not. I have a friend on it and her supply is very low.
7. Brewer's Yeast
As one of the ingredients in lactation cookies as well, you can also drink a dark beer. I am not a drinker and if I do drink, it's not beer, so I cannot attest to this working. My good friend Kathy made me these cookies and the taste really good...just like normal cookies.
8. "Mother's Milk" Tea
I have a friend who uses this but hasn't seen an increase in output.
9. Malt Ovaltine and Almond Milk
I tried this and haven't noticed anything different. Make sure you get the red bottle of chocolate malt ovaltine versus the blue of just regular ovaltine. It's located by the hot chocolate in your grocery store. You put 2 tablespoons of the powder into the milk and chug lol. Or just drink it like normal. If anything, I think it gives you an okay tasting chocolate milk drink, but the 'secret' is in the malt and lecithin in the almond milk I guess.
Pumping Problems I've Experienced
There's a ton of things that can go wrong when pumping or breastfeeding. Luckily, I haven't experienced much besides the following:
1. Clogged Duct
When Val was around 2 months, he took a really long nap...like 5 hours. I napped too and I awoke to a very sharp stabbing pain in my boob. I couldn't see anything different, but it felt like a knife.
It would be sharp throbs all night long and I rubbed it and never felt anything.
I called my OB and she had me call a lactation center and they thought it was a clogged duct. Apparently, most clogged ducts are bumpy and you can feel them in your boob.
I don't know if it was because my breasts are large, but I felt nothing. However, I did end up notice a small red spot. The pain made me cry...and I'm not a crier at all.
I was very concerned for mastitis is very serious and painful. You can get antibiotics to help with that.
It ended up going away within a few days. I kept breastfeeding which is what you're supposed to do
1. Clogged Duct
When Val was around 2 months, he took a really long nap...like 5 hours. I napped too and I awoke to a very sharp stabbing pain in my boob. I couldn't see anything different, but it felt like a knife.
It would be sharp throbs all night long and I rubbed it and never felt anything.
I called my OB and she had me call a lactation center and they thought it was a clogged duct. Apparently, most clogged ducts are bumpy and you can feel them in your boob.
I don't know if it was because my breasts are large, but I felt nothing. However, I did end up notice a small red spot. The pain made me cry...and I'm not a crier at all.
I was very concerned for mastitis is very serious and painful. You can get antibiotics to help with that.
It ended up going away within a few days. I kept breastfeeding which is what you're supposed to do
2. Sore nipples and boobs
So, I must've been turning up the pump suction too much because the last several days, when Val latches, I'm very sore.
My nipples are not dry or cracked...just feel overworked.
Turning up the pump suction doesn't yield more milk and I knew that...but it was like I wasn't being really good at setting up the pumping to be comfy and wanting to hurry up and get started to save my time.
I learned my lesson.
I turn down the suction and applied Lanolin to my nipples. If you are allergic to wool, take caution because Lanolin comes from it.
When my nipple got dry one other time luckily, I used Lanolin as well. It is very thick and safe for the baby to feed off of. When your nipples are sore with pumping, you can put some inside your flange.
You shouldn't keep Lanolin on all the time for it blocks the skin form breathing.
I heard that coconut oil is good to use as well, but since I didn't have that, I used my Lanolin.
I actually feel a lot better now and it was only 1 day of turning down the suction.
To help with sore nipples buy Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads and for sore breasts, you can heat up the Lansinoh TheraPearl 3-in-1 therapy packs to help with plugged ducts/mastitis and with pumping to get a quicker let down.
Also, if you cannot pinpoint the problem, it could be a sizing issue. This might seem like a weird thing, but remember many pumps come with the 'standard' sizes when you're talking about the flanges..those funnel things your nipples get sucked into. Standard is 24 mm.
You can also buy Pumping Pals angled flanges. They send you 3 sizes for $35 and have a money back guarantee. I bought the size Large ones from a FB group member and didn't feel a difference but noticed less output, so I only used them 1 time.
I often have to stop and adjust the flanges because my nipples will rub up against the sides.
There are 5 other sizes available! There's a Facebook group called "Fancy Flanges" that you can message an admin and send them a pic of your nipple in the flange. They can then assist you to figure out if you have the right or wrong size. The admin told me to try 21mm, so I am going to buy them from Amazon to see if they make a difference!
Okay so the closed Fancy Pumpers group on Facebook is pretty amazing!!! They are giving me permission to post their photos that they have. I definitely think you need to check them out!! They have several groups like Fancy BST, Fancy Talk, Fancy Pregnancy, etc.
One of my friends just switched from 24 to 21 and thought her pumps were more comfortable and she didn't have to adjust herself one time!
So, I must've been turning up the pump suction too much because the last several days, when Val latches, I'm very sore.
My nipples are not dry or cracked...just feel overworked.
Turning up the pump suction doesn't yield more milk and I knew that...but it was like I wasn't being really good at setting up the pumping to be comfy and wanting to hurry up and get started to save my time.
I learned my lesson.
I turn down the suction and applied Lanolin to my nipples. If you are allergic to wool, take caution because Lanolin comes from it.
When my nipple got dry one other time luckily, I used Lanolin as well. It is very thick and safe for the baby to feed off of. When your nipples are sore with pumping, you can put some inside your flange.
You shouldn't keep Lanolin on all the time for it blocks the skin form breathing.
I heard that coconut oil is good to use as well, but since I didn't have that, I used my Lanolin.
I actually feel a lot better now and it was only 1 day of turning down the suction.
To help with sore nipples buy Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads and for sore breasts, you can heat up the Lansinoh TheraPearl 3-in-1 therapy packs to help with plugged ducts/mastitis and with pumping to get a quicker let down.
Also, if you cannot pinpoint the problem, it could be a sizing issue. This might seem like a weird thing, but remember many pumps come with the 'standard' sizes when you're talking about the flanges..those funnel things your nipples get sucked into. Standard is 24 mm.
You can also buy Pumping Pals angled flanges. They send you 3 sizes for $35 and have a money back guarantee. I bought the size Large ones from a FB group member and didn't feel a difference but noticed less output, so I only used them 1 time.
I often have to stop and adjust the flanges because my nipples will rub up against the sides.
There are 5 other sizes available! There's a Facebook group called "Fancy Flanges" that you can message an admin and send them a pic of your nipple in the flange. They can then assist you to figure out if you have the right or wrong size. The admin told me to try 21mm, so I am going to buy them from Amazon to see if they make a difference!
Okay so the closed Fancy Pumpers group on Facebook is pretty amazing!!! They are giving me permission to post their photos that they have. I definitely think you need to check them out!! They have several groups like Fancy BST, Fancy Talk, Fancy Pregnancy, etc.
One of my friends just switched from 24 to 21 and thought her pumps were more comfortable and she didn't have to adjust herself one time!
3. Low output
Since Val drinks about 10-14 ounces a day, I have noticed that with only being back at work for 9 days, my supply has gone WAY down with the electric.
Like, I end up only making 8 ounces.
It could be a combination of not drinking water as often, stress, suction to high etc...there's just so many factors.
If I don't make enough fresh milk for the next day, we use older frozen milk.
I am NOT against using formula for I was a formula baby. I explained in a previous post how some people get all hot and bothered that it HAS to be breastmilk, or breastfeeding, and really look down on others for formula, but I don't concerning that.
However, with using the Harmony manual pump, my morale has increased sooooo much. I feel so much better that I'm making more milk.
Now with using the Harmony for almost 2 months, I am back to being an over supplier.
Since Val drinks about 10-14 ounces a day, I have noticed that with only being back at work for 9 days, my supply has gone WAY down with the electric.
Like, I end up only making 8 ounces.
It could be a combination of not drinking water as often, stress, suction to high etc...there's just so many factors.
If I don't make enough fresh milk for the next day, we use older frozen milk.
I am NOT against using formula for I was a formula baby. I explained in a previous post how some people get all hot and bothered that it HAS to be breastmilk, or breastfeeding, and really look down on others for formula, but I don't concerning that.
However, with using the Harmony manual pump, my morale has increased sooooo much. I feel so much better that I'm making more milk.
Now with using the Harmony for almost 2 months, I am back to being an over supplier.
Baby Monitor Hack
My AngelCare AC1100 monitor is awesome. It has a sensor pad under the mattress and when it senses no movement it alarms. Yes, I've had false alarms, but none since contacting AngelCare and getting a free replacement.
The handset dies after 4 hours of use and I have to plug it in in the middle of the night. And when it's 3 am and I have to put that little handset onto the cradle, you might as well ask me to thread a damn needle!!!
Then when I get up, the handset is not fully charged from being on while charging, so it dies when I'm getting ready.
The charging cradle is in the bedroom where Val sleeps, so I have to sneak in and charge it, but then I cannot see him and that bothers me.
Yes, I was doing this for 5 months straight until I had a light bulb moment: I could just buy another cradle!
So I was looking on eBay not seeing a cradle, but other entire systems for $100 and more.
I clicked on a listing and the person wrote that they had a battery dying issue too and they 'hacked' it.
Oh My God this is so brilliant what she did.
Follow me if you can: She taped the cradle to the handset. Then she got another cord to put in another room.
That way if it dies, you can just plug in to the cradle and then when it dies again, you can plug it in the living room without needing the damn cradle!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH so genius!!!
So it gets better...I start looking for another cord and tell my hubby to take a pic of the cord.
He comes in and says that the cord to the crappy Munchkin white noise machine/projector we have that has been breaking has the SAME cord!
WOW!
So we put that cord in the living room!
Side note: don't buy that that Munchkin white noise thing...it randomly shuts off, stops spinning, and I'm on my 2nd one. The only plus side is that they are sending me ANOTHER one for free.
I ended up using an app for my iPad for the music and for the projector, I bought this one from Amazon.
The handset dies after 4 hours of use and I have to plug it in in the middle of the night. And when it's 3 am and I have to put that little handset onto the cradle, you might as well ask me to thread a damn needle!!!
Then when I get up, the handset is not fully charged from being on while charging, so it dies when I'm getting ready.
The charging cradle is in the bedroom where Val sleeps, so I have to sneak in and charge it, but then I cannot see him and that bothers me.
Yes, I was doing this for 5 months straight until I had a light bulb moment: I could just buy another cradle!
So I was looking on eBay not seeing a cradle, but other entire systems for $100 and more.
I clicked on a listing and the person wrote that they had a battery dying issue too and they 'hacked' it.
Oh My God this is so brilliant what she did.
Follow me if you can: She taped the cradle to the handset. Then she got another cord to put in another room.
That way if it dies, you can just plug in to the cradle and then when it dies again, you can plug it in the living room without needing the damn cradle!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH so genius!!!
So it gets better...I start looking for another cord and tell my hubby to take a pic of the cord.
He comes in and says that the cord to the crappy Munchkin white noise machine/projector we have that has been breaking has the SAME cord!
WOW!
So we put that cord in the living room!
Side note: don't buy that that Munchkin white noise thing...it randomly shuts off, stops spinning, and I'm on my 2nd one. The only plus side is that they are sending me ANOTHER one for free.
I ended up using an app for my iPad for the music and for the projector, I bought this one from Amazon.
First Postpartum Period-------OMG
Now since the C-section, I had some bleeding here and there after the lochia. This is totally normal and expected. Your body is irregular after going through this huge life event.
I went on the minipill (Progestin only birth control pills) about 3 months after the surgery and then went off them because of the LEEP.
I started bleeding heavily on January 18th...just out of the blue. I wear liners everyday, but this time I felt that "gush" of blood..you know the first day of your period.
Kinda reminded me of when my placenta first abrupted.
And I was cramping a ton...which doesn't happen to me.
I felt some blood running out at night and that doesn't usually happen to me either. The sheets had some blood on them.
Well yesterday, January 19th, I wore a pad and had like nothing on it...so today, January 20th, I just wore a liner thinking that it wasn't my "real period" yet.
I had heard that breastfeeding can keep your period away until you are done lactating...and boy was I excited to not have it for a year because that is my breastfeeding goal.
Well, shit that went out the window with what happened today!!!!!!!!!!
I wore a liner and around at work around 9:30, I felt a huge gush. I ran to the bathroom and I was SOAKED...I mean totally fucking SOAKED with bright red blood...liner, underwear and leggings.
It took me several minutes to clean up! I had no extra clothes or underwear.
I had 4 pads and a tampon in the bathroom in my little toiletry bag.
So I stacked 2 pads on top of each other to make this thicker and longer pad.
At 11:30, when I have my lunch, I was totally soaked again!!!! The pad was drenched, underwear were worse and leggings were too!
Ughhhhhhhhhh!!
I stacked 2 more pads on top of each other and did my best to clean up.
I had to pump on my break from 11:30-12, but I wanted to call my OB. So I put them on speaker phone and used the manual.
They took my info and were gonna call me back later on. They weren't too concerned.
Around 1:15, I went to the bathroom again and wasn't that crazy with blood, but there was a medium amount.
At the end of the day, I had more bleeding, but nothing as bad as before.
My OB's office said as long as it wasn't 2 pads every hour for 4-6 hours straight, then that is okay.
HOLY SHIT!! Imagine having that happen to you!!!!!
I went on the minipill (Progestin only birth control pills) about 3 months after the surgery and then went off them because of the LEEP.
I started bleeding heavily on January 18th...just out of the blue. I wear liners everyday, but this time I felt that "gush" of blood..you know the first day of your period.
Kinda reminded me of when my placenta first abrupted.
And I was cramping a ton...which doesn't happen to me.
I felt some blood running out at night and that doesn't usually happen to me either. The sheets had some blood on them.
Well yesterday, January 19th, I wore a pad and had like nothing on it...so today, January 20th, I just wore a liner thinking that it wasn't my "real period" yet.
I had heard that breastfeeding can keep your period away until you are done lactating...and boy was I excited to not have it for a year because that is my breastfeeding goal.
Well, shit that went out the window with what happened today!!!!!!!!!!
I wore a liner and around at work around 9:30, I felt a huge gush. I ran to the bathroom and I was SOAKED...I mean totally fucking SOAKED with bright red blood...liner, underwear and leggings.
It took me several minutes to clean up! I had no extra clothes or underwear.
I had 4 pads and a tampon in the bathroom in my little toiletry bag.
So I stacked 2 pads on top of each other to make this thicker and longer pad.
At 11:30, when I have my lunch, I was totally soaked again!!!! The pad was drenched, underwear were worse and leggings were too!
Ughhhhhhhhhh!!
I stacked 2 more pads on top of each other and did my best to clean up.
I had to pump on my break from 11:30-12, but I wanted to call my OB. So I put them on speaker phone and used the manual.
They took my info and were gonna call me back later on. They weren't too concerned.
Around 1:15, I went to the bathroom again and wasn't that crazy with blood, but there was a medium amount.
At the end of the day, I had more bleeding, but nothing as bad as before.
My OB's office said as long as it wasn't 2 pads every hour for 4-6 hours straight, then that is okay.
HOLY SHIT!! Imagine having that happen to you!!!!!
And to top things off...
Well, on Thursday night, January 28th, I started feeling like I was getting a bladder infection or yeast infection. I woke up on Friday morning and when I went to the bathroom, I was really sore!
I wiped and found a ping pong "ball" on my inner lower vaginal wall.
Ughhhhhhhhhh
Surprisingly, I didn't freak out: I remember a long time ago getting this...I had to Google and sure enough, it's Bartholin cyst.
This thing fucking hurt like a motherfucker!
Throbbed and what was worse was sitting and wiping!! Things you have to do pretty much all day.
You have Bartholin glands down there and they can get randomly infected or irritated and cause the glands to swell up or even get an abscess with pus to swell up.
Yeah fucking gross!!!!!
I took Tylenol for the pain, sat on heating pads, and soaked in hot bath water to help.
My OB-GYN said that it should take less than a week to disappear. She would lanced it if it was "huge" which is softball size according to her.
Christ!!!!!!!! Softball size!
Luckily, this went away after 5 days of being total hell and annoyance.
I wiped and found a ping pong "ball" on my inner lower vaginal wall.
Ughhhhhhhhhh
Surprisingly, I didn't freak out: I remember a long time ago getting this...I had to Google and sure enough, it's Bartholin cyst.
This thing fucking hurt like a motherfucker!
Throbbed and what was worse was sitting and wiping!! Things you have to do pretty much all day.
You have Bartholin glands down there and they can get randomly infected or irritated and cause the glands to swell up or even get an abscess with pus to swell up.
Yeah fucking gross!!!!!
I took Tylenol for the pain, sat on heating pads, and soaked in hot bath water to help.
My OB-GYN said that it should take less than a week to disappear. She would lanced it if it was "huge" which is softball size according to her.
Christ!!!!!!!! Softball size!
Luckily, this went away after 5 days of being total hell and annoyance.