A Guide to (Almost) Exclusive Pumping

Breastfeeding is my first choice, but sadly, it's not Everett's.  I have had almost 6 months of experience with the pump, so I have picked up a few tricks and tips along the way.  These are the best ways I have found to increase supply and help keep positive about the experience.

Get a Good Double Pump
I love my Medela hospital grade pump.  It is definitely an expense, but I have tried other pumps and there is no comparison.  The hospital pump is quiet, gentle, and extremely effective at emptying the breast (thus creating more milk in the short and long term).  You should take your breast health and lifestyle into account when you are considering which pump to buy or rent.  Babies are much better at getting the goods than any pump, so women who use pumps exclusively are more prone to clogged ducts.  A good pump will really make a world of difference and save you a lot of heart/boob ache.

Make Sure Your Breastshields Fit Properly
Pumping should not be painful.  Flanges come in several different sizes depending on the make and model of your pump.  The pump will come with the most common size flange, somewhere around a 25mm.  Your nipples should not rub against the inside of the shield while you are pumping.  If you are unsure if you have the proper fit, check out this fitting guide.

Pumping is so much fun!

Get a Pumping Bra
I would have given up on this a long time ago if I was not able to use my hands while pumping.   My pumping bra has been a godsend.  I am still tethered to the machine, so I'm not able to practice my dance moves or anything, but I can blog, surf the net, watch TV.  It helps me relax and forget that I'm pumping, which I think in turns allow me to produce more boob juice (I promise that's the one and only time I'll call it that).

Relax If You Can

It is important to relax when you are pumping.  Regardless of when I pump, I usually go so far as to cover up so I can't keep checking how much I'm producing, thereby stressing about it.  For me, the first and last pumping sessions of the day are easy.  I wake up before Bran and Everett so I can pump while I have a little time to myself.  I check my emails, blog, catch up on news, surf the net. In the evenings, I pump after Everett has gone to bed while I catch up on my DVR with Bran.  Easy.

The middle two pumpings take place when I'm solo with the little dude, so they tend to be a little less relaxing.  This means it's really important to me to take some steps to get myself as comfortable as possible.  These two sessions are done either while Everett is asleep (this is preferred) or he's in his jumperoo or chilling on his mat.  I'll make myself lunch and grab my water, the phone, cell phone, computer, and TV so they are all within reach.

Drink More Water than You Think You'll Need

There is no such thing as drinking too much water.  Keep a Nalgene full of it with you at all times and drink at least 4 of them throughout the day (128 oz).  Drink so much your back teeth float.

Get Enough (Healthy-ish) Calories

It's so important, especially in the early days, to make sure you're getting enough calories.  I was starving pretty much the first 6 weeks after birth, with an appetite less specific but more demanding than while I was pregnant.  I have been able to cut back a bit, but I waited until Everett was 3 months old to do so.  The Hunger is not nearly as intense now that things have found a happy medium, but I am definitely not back to my pre-pregnancy appetite.

Add An Extra Pump Session/Time

During the first 2 months, it's important that you are pumping every 3 hours during the day and every 4ish overnight so that you can establish your supply.  This is also a great time to start stockpiling extra milk for future.

If, at any time, you want to try to boost your supply during the first few months or anytime thereafter, add an extra pumping session into your regimen.  Currently, I pump at 6am, 11am, 4pm, 9pm and make just enough milk (30-35oz, but he also nurses a couple times a day and once at night).  I do not have any freezer stash, so if I have less than three bottles in the fridge, I will pump 5x that day and possibly the day after.  After this, I usually see a notable increase in my production.

Buy Multiple Part Sets
The only thing worse than the time it takes to pump is the time it takes to clean your parts.  Invest the extra $25 and make sure you have an extra set that is clean for when you are really tired.  Remember, you can also rinse the parts after each use and store in a ziplock bag in the fridge, but generally I only use them twice like this.  I run a load of bottles and pump parts every evening before bed.

Consider galactagogues 

I have heard wonderful things about Fenugreek and Motillium.  I would have no problem using these things but thankfully haven't had to thus far.

Consider Allowing Formula Supplementation, if needed
The whole childbirth experience made me a little cloudy headed.  My birth experience was pretty scary and traumatic.  Breastfeeding did not go how I had wanted it to, either.  I was so excited to breastfeed, that when things unfolded and I needed to pump so often, I had a one track mind - I was going to do anything it took to make it happen.  In my hormone-laden, sleep-deprived postpartum state, I felt like a failure in so many ways that I wanted to do at least this one thing for Everett.

I put SO MUCH pressure on myself with the pump.  Luckily, I produced enough, but psychologically, I was always extremely worried about having a stockpile, even if it made me miserable to get there.  One day during his 4 month growth spurt, something clicked.  I had plans to go out with my husband and friends, sans baby, but I didn't have enough breastmilk stored to really enjoy the wine that evening (ie pump and dump).  I seriously considered cancelling the event, but I had an epiphany.  I LIKE WINE - that wasn't the epiphany, though.  If Everett got a formula bottle here and there, what the fuck is the big deal (epiphany!)?  So it's one bottle out of 100.... certainly not the end of the world. Not even bad.  Not even not good.  Just not breastmilk.  So what?

After that, the worry and pressure subsided and I was more at peace with my pumping.  I wish I would have realized that formula every so often was NBD for us, if necessary, a couple months earlier.  It would have made me a lot happier to know that it was there for us if we needed it.  Breast is best, but formula isn't bad, either.

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Pumping exclusively can be a very long and difficult road, but you are not alone. It is a huge commitment that's worth it for some women and understandably not for others.  If you have thoughtfully made the decision about what to feed your baby, take heart - your baby will be healthy and thrive regardless of which nourishment path you choose.

Hot Butt

See what I did there?  I have an email!

I want a hot butt and bod, just like the rest of everyone.  However, in my experience, pregnancy does not make ones body in better shape than it was pre-pregnancy (information - I haz it).  I was willing to do just about anything I could do by doing close to nothing to keep my body put together in the early days after pregnancy.  Since the hot butt part would be hard to manage until I truly had time to work it out (and am still working on it 4 months pp), I considered the part of the body changed most by pregnancy - the abdomen.

I had heard about belly binding peripherally through the years.  Natty and I talked early on about our plans to possibly try it, something we were both interested in but knew not a lot about.  In theory, it sounds like a good deal - no working out + doing very minimal work in order to help your body back to it's former shape.  I was game.  So, I embarked on some research.

I scoured the Internet, first looking for stories of women with experience and success in binding.  There was a ton of anecdotal evidence on archived pregnancy and fitness community forums indicating success.  Even media personalities know for their hot butts have used in belly binding with great results (in addition to a personal chef, trainer, etc, I'm sure).  It didn't take much to sell me on it, especially because besides wanting any helpI could get, I also wanted to secure my floating organs in my post partum baby-vacated belly.

After deciding that belly binding was for me, I started considering what type of wrap I wanted to buy.  Yes, I truly lost my mind and gave into my hormone fueled compulsion - I bought or tried each of these different wraps.  Please, learn from my mistake!  It's worth mentioning here that I did end up having a c-section (that story is for another day), so that does possibly change what I ended up liking.  Here is what I found:

The 12" binder
I'm a tall gal, so I thought the 12" aspect of it would be good.  I figured that something soft like this would possibly look decent under clothing and even help a bit with the hips, which I learned can also be helped by binding postpartum (due to the relaxin softening the joints).  I bought a medium (usual shirt size).  It was too big and too soft to really provide any real support even in the first days after birth, though the width was the right one or me (5'8").  It also rolled up on the top and bottom.  I did not use this wrap at all.

The Bengkung Mia
I got very interested in the Malaysian art of belly binding.  Belly binding is largely a cultural practice and many women still routinely do so in many other countries.  I actually bought two of these bad boys, imported from Malaysia.  They were very reasonably priced and as I already mention, I lost my marbles.  I got one thick, one thin so I could switch them off while one was in the wash.  Because I was totally going to wear them ALL THE TIME.

Sadly, that is not what happened.   This wrap is very well made and is probably a good option if you are not a fair weather fan of belly binding.  The Bengkung is very long, even though I bought the shorter version, so once you tie it up (which is simple), sitting is difficult.  Also, it was tough for me to wear this wrap and breastfeed.  I was doing a lot of sitting in the early days so I had to undo the whole contraption if I wanted to sit or nurse.  I did wear this wrap at times, but if I were going to only buy or wear one, I would personally choose something else.  A good option if you're very serious about this, though.

The No Frills Hospital Wrap
I actually got two of these wraps in the hospital for free and it's the one I ended up using the most. It was one size fits most, very tight if I wanted it to be, did not roll or shift too much.  It did show under clothes, but really, it wasn't that bad.  I wore this wrap from day 1 and for nearly 2 months post partum, all day, every day, including while I was asleep, unless I was going somewhere nice, in which case I put on my spanx.  I put them through the washer/dryer over and over and they held up nicely.  Not bad for free.

Spanx
Spanx were fabulous for me from about month 2-3.  I wore them almost all the time because I liked the feeling of being sucked in.  Now, I don't know that they really helped size me down at all, but if you are anything like me and do not like feeling "loose" around the middle, you can wear these as often as you see fit.  As far as sizing goes, I squeezed myself into the same size spanx that I wore pre-pregnancy right away, although I would not have been able to put on the same size pants.

Now the burning question - did it help?  Yes, yes it did.  My stomach isn't back to where it was (it will take working out for that), but I'm confident that it went down much faster than it would have otherwise.  Can it really hurt?