Printable View
And just a tip from my pumping efforts - a watched boobie never lets down! I always make sure I am doing something else while I'm pumping - like catching up on BB - so I'm not watching and getting impatient. Then you look back after reading a few posts and voila!
Yep, I agree with thepixie, try to forget that you are even expressing, the more you watch and wait, the more you stress, the less milk you will get. It is so cool to be sitting there watching something on tv and then look down and there is milk in the bottle, LOL.
Mel
Good luck with the expressing and I agree with thepixie as well dont watch it. :)
Guess how much I got ...
1 ml
WOOHOO!!!! :dance:
PMSL...
Mel,
find BecStar's relactating thread - methinks 1 ml is pretty good going!
:cheer: YAY MEL! :cheer:
Well done Mel. That is a really great start. Regardless of your supply, expressing takes practice. 1ml on your first go is awesome. Keep up the great work.
WTG Mel, that's awesome! I remember that feeling of excitement after expressing some milk out! Good on you hun, I'm happy for you :D
WTG Mel! You are doing an amazing job hun and you know you have sooo many wondeful, knowledgable ladies here to help you along too! :)
:clap: Well done Mel!!!
Only a little bit this morning - bout .3ml... lol
But I syringed it into her mouth anyway so she still got some - yay for me!!! I thought I would do it again soon (I did it at 10) so if I do it again soon, and in a few hours before DS wakes up from his nap... I should be on the road to start getting more yeah??
It was funny, I was expressing in front of DS - who has never seen a pump before - or seen me with my boob hanging out for that matter - and said to me (whilst pointing at the pump) "cow"... pmsl... yeah I do feel a bit like a cow.. LOL
Welcome to our world - MOOOOOOOO!
Good on you Mel - great work.
Good going Mel, you're a star :D It will take at least a few days, possibly more, for your supply to build up, so don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen straight away. The more you pump, the sooner it will happen, but I don't mean to go crazy and sit there on it all day LOL. I would aim for something realistic like 10 mins each side every three hours. 24/7 if you can, or just as many times as is realistically possible with two littlies to care for ;) You might find that while you have to do it often to get your supply up, once things are going well you won't need to express quite so frequently. It's worth putting in the leg work at the start to get things moving!
Does she take the syringe okay? I always found they were easier for DS than bottles.
Hun, I'm so pleased for you, you're doing a fab job :D :dance:
I know it doesn't seem like much but you are doing a great job & like Janie said the more you express now the easier it will become & you won't have to do it so often.:
:rofl: your little boy hit the nail right on the head .....
... and the milking continues....
:cheer: yay mel :cheer: go mel :cheer: pump mel :cheer:
well I pumped again at around 1-ish - and got 2.1 ml!!! woohoo!!! I actually saved that bit (put it in a sterilised bottle in the fridge) I did 10 mins both sides and got that - which I was impressed with, cos last night it was 20 mins on both sides (shower break in the middle though) for the 1 ml!!!
I'm pretty impressed that actual white milk is coming out... who wouda thunk it? ;)
hehehehe
Thanks for all your support guys :)
ETA: Janie - yup she is used to a syringe cos thats what we give her wind drops with :) She's a star!!
WOOHOO Mel!!!!!!!! :dance: She is a star, and so are you!
Usually, less time, more frequently is a good thing when trying to build up supply.........and it's certainly better than sitting there for an hour at a time ;) (Mind you, when i say 'less time' I don't mean 30 seconds LOL). So 10 minutes/side is probably adequate at this point :)
If you like, you can store the EBM in the syringe in the fridge, and before you give Mehkelti her bottle you can give her the EBM. As you express larger amounts, you'll be able to store it up for say, one feed a day. Hope I'm making sense!
Did you know you don't need to sterilise your pump? You might be aware already, but I know lots of women who think they do have to, so just thought I'd mention it :)
Really? cos it says in instructions to wash after every use - but sterilise once a day :) But it will be much easier if I don't have to!!!
hey if i store the syringe in the fridge and give it to her, would the coldness of it upset her belly at all?
Mel, I tthink it's only formula that needs things to be sterilised...I'm slack with that sort of thing at the best of times though. Yaaaay on the expressing though!
If you can, store the rinsed pump in the fridge between pumpings. And give it a hot soapy wash (and a sterilize if you want to) once a day. Just let the syringe get to room temp (only take a few minutes) and then give it to her - you don't heat the wind drops! When there is more she may prefer it warmed up - cold won't hurt her, she just might not drink it as well.
Yep, it should definitely be given a really good clean once a day, but that can entail a good, hot soapy wash (with all the bits pulled apart), rather than sterilising if you prefer. Always rinse with cold water first before washing in hot water.
As for during the day, you can either rinse it in cold water and store it in a container, or keep it in a container in the fridge without rinsining it. I prefer to rinse and keep in the fridge, but that's just me :) I also used to sterilise most days, but I that's just the dental nurse coming out in me, we're sterilisation freaks :lol:
As Kmn said, you can just take the syringe out of the fridge for a bit before feeding it to her. BM can sit at room temperature for up to 6 hours (obviously if it's not too hot inside), so 10 minutes will be fine.
ETA I should mention that the sterilising/not sterilising techniques that I have mentioned above are only for EBM........anything used for formula should always be sterilised.
How is it going mel!
You reminded me of something i was told up north qld (we lived in a cyclone watch area).
We were told that if a cyclone hits and you need to be prepared and have a baby - if you dont have formula or h2o for that matter for a number of weeks... you can always relactate. I never ever knew this!
hey PP
Its not going toooo bad.... I'm still getting between .3ml and 2ml each time I express (which are all sitting in syringes in the fridge at the moment..lol)
DH started to give DD her bottle at 10.15 last night because I was expressing at that time, then I had finished at 10.30 - took over and he went to bed, then when she woke up at 4am - he fed her so I could dash out to the loungeroom and express again. What a man!!! I say that cos he had to go to work today... so was very nice to take over feeding her the feed that I usually do (he usually does the 10.30 one and I do the 4am one)
I expressed again this morning and got another .6ml (got about the same last night) but my milk seems to form in droplets quicker than it was a few days ago... and my veins have started to come back again... so I think *something* could be happening.
Fingers crossed!!!! (DH likes the idea so we don't have to spend so much money on formula.. lol)
Mel - have you tried to actually breastfeed.
The ABA told me that bub will always get more than an expressor for feeds.
And She would probably love the contact with you - it might stimulate your supply a little more to try before her bottle each time?
I know it is hard to know how much is coming out but maybe after a few weeks you will notice that she will feed longer and if you try to express more might come out?
Just a thought :)
Yay Mel, how exciting :D
You are doing great Mel!!! :clap:
Me too!!!! I thought I had to sterilise it every time! But then I guess I don't often use it more than once a day so it's ok.:
OMG I wash and steralise my pump after every use! RFLO If only i'd known the time i couldve been saving.
Mel I think ten minutes is plenty, as the supply builds up you will just get more each time. Sounds like you're going great guns. About the temperature, I don't think they really mind, but if you're concerned about it, just put the syringe in a bowl of warm water to warm it up a bit.
:clap::clap::clap: You're going so well :) good stuff!
PP - I don't "do" BFing. It just doesn't agree with me. Makes me vomit (yes I'm QUITE strange)
As it is, just expressing makes me feel like throwing up, but I don't actually throw up - so figure this way is better than no way.. IYKWIM?
So yeah.. I'm not going to put her on me because I don't like vomiting!!!! LOL
lol thats cool! :) good idea not to make yourself vomit! haha!
Keep persevering though! and keep bub close to you to help stimulate! Even try when in the shower when it is nice and warm! :)
I think its fantastic Mel that even though you can't breastfeed that you are sacrificing being uncomfortable (i.e. with the pump) to give your daughter breastmilk.
What a fantastic mother you are!!
Well done Mel, on giving it a go.
I have a couple of tips that might work for you:
1. Try expressing at the same time/s each day. Your bbs will be used to producing milk on demand.
2. Try expressing in the morning if at all possible. After a sleep there seems to be more on offer.
3. A warm compress on your bbs might help with your let-down.
Expressing takes practice - your bbs will continue to make milk as long as they think it's needed. Yes, you won't get as much out from a pump as a baby will, but you will get better and you will get more than you are right now.
I really admire you for giving this a go - it's very unselfish of you, despite your aversion, to be doing what you can to give your bm to your DD! :clap:
Thanks guys (expressing as we speak)
I will try to do it around the same time - hard with 2 kids though, especially the 20 month old and the fact that it takes DD an hour to finish her feed - thats a lot of hour suckage!!! lol
But will give it my best shot - I don't think I'm a fantastic mum really, otherwise I would have done this from when she was born!!!!
Ahh, live and learn huh...
Hun, you ARE fantastic - we make the best decisions we can at the time and it takes a lot more guts to say, "gee, I think I could do a little better," than it does to not make a change at all!:
And you know there is a lot more to mothering than providing bm, this should be a guilt-free journey for you right now.
thanks Jen :hug:
You can stop that right now Mel!!:
How much did you go through in the days / weeks leading up to Mehkelti's birth hun? There were so many other things happening, no wonder you didn't want to think about it to start with. Your baby girl is only five weeks old, it's not like you said when she was two, hmm let's try this EBM thing :P You are a great mum for even trying to do this when it's a very stressful thing for you. Not many would be prepared to deal with your nausea to be able to provide breastmilk for her little girl like you are.....
And I agree 100% with Jen, there is a whole lot more to being a mum than giving your baby breastmilk.
Mel, you are a great mum :) As Jen said, the easier thing would have been to keep on as you were. But you've had the courage to stand up and say you'd like to try this.........it can't have been easy, so good on you :hug:
Oh, and your DH sounds like keeper! What a great guy :D
Mel hun, what a great job you are doing. Who'd have thought you'd be doing so well in such a short time! Well done.
BTW, the nausea/vomitting that you experience is a recognised medical condition - so you're not that strange hun.
MR - seriously??? WOW!! I'm not that weird after all.... ;)
I gave her all the BM that was in the fridge - so bout 10ml...lol... thats like a days worth of expressing... doesn't seem like much!!!
Wow Mel, really? Is there a name for the condition? Anything Mel can do about it?
You're doing ace Mel, 10ml is great! Si only gets 1ml of medicine, so um...the moral of my story is that small amounts of stuff can be beneficial to babies! :D
10ml is ACE Mel, WOOHOO! I love how you've thrown yourself into this, you really are a dedicated mumma (and Mehkelti has a dedicated daddy too, by the sounds of things :)).
Thanks Janie xxx
I wanted to express again at 4 but DS was being a right little turd.... so had to settle for doing it at 7.30. Didn't get much out though (but TBH both me and DH were yelling at DS cos he was STILL being a turd - toddlers just don't listen when you say no! - so wasn't very relaxed....)
Hopefully I start seeing progress soon!!!