Exclusive Expressers #2

[Lisa B]

I never did do one of these, so I thought I would now that I'm finishing as a way to reflect and put my story together


How long have you been expressing? 11 months and I have a further month of milk in the freezer

How long do you plan to do it for/ or have done it for? Ideally I was hoping to make 6 months, but in the first 3 months it was really a day by day, week by week thing. Then I set my goals to make a month at a time and finally revised my goal to 11 months with a further month supply in the freezer.

How many times a day do you express? For the first 5 months i expressed 8 times a day, my supply took a big dive around 9 weeks and I ended up on motilium. I tried to get my supply up by expressing 10 times a day for a few days but no luck. Motilium really worked for me and my supply was better than ever. I started to cut back the number of times a day from about month 5 and the last few months I was expressing 4 times a day. I always wanted to get rid of the overnight pumps. I was doing 2 overnight pumps for many months. I don't think I dropped off my last overnight pump until about month 8. In hindsight I could have moved to 4 pumps a day much sooner as my supply was great on Motilium.

Do you enjoy it? I can't say I really enjoyed the experience of pumping, but I did enjoy the special connection of feeding my baby and I'm very glad I did it. I had problems with blocked ducts several times a week, had burst veins about 3 times and it was difficult at times to look after my very active bub whilst I was expressing. The positives however did outweigh the negatives and I learned how to manage the negatives.

Do you have other kids? No...not sure I could do it with a second child (ditto everyone else)

If you feel comfortable sharing- Why you are expressing? I don't have a simple explanation. I had vasospasm when DS was born, and thereafter so we used the bottle and I went on the breast pump. I worked with LCs to try and get BF going. I saw LCs for 9 weeks to try and get BF going. I was able to grin and bear the pain but by then DS might have had nipple confusion as he would cry each time I tried to attach him and he never ever finished a feed on the breast. He was also diagnosed with reflux by one paediatrician and was put on medication but by then his volume of milk was a concern as was his weight as he became fussy on the bottle as well. I decided we needed to concentrate on one method of feeding and the bottle was really his preference. I also couldn't bear to see him cry each time we tried to feed DS. 9 weeks was also a long time to go on the cycle of attempting to BF, then pumping and feeding DS a bottle. That cycle took close to 1.5 hours and was done 8 times a day. We saw another paediatrician and it was discovered that he didn't have reflux but rather a milk protein allergy. In summary I think all of these things led to being unsuccessful with breast feeding, but I will never really understand why we couldn't get it to work.

What type of expressing method do you use? I started with a hired symphony medela then bought my own Medela freestyle. The freestyle was fantastic as it was so portable and I could take it with me and work pumping into my lifestyle. The little ice pack was great and the battery life was fantastic. I accidentally forgot to take the electrical cord when i went away one weekend and the battery last all weekend (4 pumps daily of 20 mins each).

How much milk in a day? Prior to Motilium it was 700-800mls and then dropped lower just prior to taking motilium. Once on Motilium I would get 900-1100mls which was more than enough for my DS.

Best expressing tip? Learning to become efficient by double pumping, handsfree, a small pump which can be transported so you can get on with your life, activities to take your mind off the clock like the internet and tv. Having activities set up for your bub to keep them occupied. Being confident to pump in places outside of the home like the car or parents room at a shopping centre - very handy when you are on 8 x day.

Do you think your baby feeds more or less often than a BF baby would? I think my DS might have fed less than a BF baby. I only have the mother's in my mother's group to compare my DS to. Their babies fed more frequently, sometimes fed to sleep in the night. DS didn't feed to sleep and might have snacked less in the day. It's hard to say as I don't have a great comparison point.