Ha! Get it? Pumping sucks? True on so many levels...
Anyway, Otis ended up back in the NICU last week with a really low temp and no weight gain. So I'm back to pumping milk to bring to him at the hospital. Yesterday I met with the lactation consultant and she told me how much milk I'm supposed to be producing and I cringed. I'm not doing so well apparently. I tend to get busy and let time slip by and before I know it, five hours has passed between sessions. Today I have made it my goal to pump every two and a half hours.
That takes up my whole freakin' day!! By the time I'm done and clean up my supplies, it's almost time to do it again. I can see why people give up so easily in the early days and just go to bottles! But I am determined to get this thing established so I can nurse Otis when he gets home. DETERMINED!! That is one thing the L.C. told me was that it's more about the mom sticking to it than actual milk supply. If you want to nurse, you usually can. It's just about being willing to give up your days to the demand of sitting there hooked up like a milk cow...
Luckily Ingrid is enthralled with the pump and wants to help. She loves to plug in the tubes and "turn on the noise" and if I do it without her she has a fit! What a strange little girl! First she's obsessed with cloth wipes, now she's obsessed with breast pumps :) What am I doing to my poor child?? She is always talking about boob milk and baby milk and feeding her babies with her boobs, it's so funny to hear her. I guess that's what happens when you're open and honest about things with your kids!
Hopefully Otis will be released today or tomorrow (they keep pushing it back one more day...) and then I won't have to pump anymore. I cannot wait until this kid is fat enough to take home and strong enough to eat what he needs to! I keep forgetting how tiny he really is. My due date isn't for another 26 days, so I need to remember that. But he'll make it, and we'll have a long time to nurse after he comes home.
A New Path
1 year ago
4 comments:
Pumping is no fun. I hope you get Otis home soon!
And I think Ingrid's obsessions are pretty normal =)
Mad props to you....I hated pumping too. I'd chose baby attached to me all.day.long. over pump any day.
Let me tell you how many photos I have of both kids with pump parts attached to kid-boobs, dolls, bears and even batman. It is completely about not hiding the real stuff from your kids.
I'm so proud that you are sticking with it!!! No, it's NOT easy, but he definitely needs his mommy's milk!
I wonder if you have a lower fat content in your milk? Did the lact consult say anything about that? I think there are ways for the baby to get more fat if your content is low (more frequent nursing sessions so he gets the hind milk). Since Ethan nursed ALL the time and was always a slow gainer I wonder if that was my case.
Well Ethan calls my bras 'boobies' and he's a boy lol
Aw I do hope he's well enough to be home by now. I pumped for two months for my friend's baby (between us we kept him in milk for six weeks until he learned to suck) and I detest pumping with a vengeance. Keep up the good work though mama, and yes do express as often as you physically can. xxx
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