Exclusive Expressers

[Dansta]

im glad i found this thred...i'll fill out the questionair thing...

How long have you been expressing? almost 4months.

How long do you plan to do it for/ or have done it for? 4 months was my starting aim, now im aiming for 6-8 months

How many times a day do you express? Now 3-4 but i'm trying to aim for more, i'm also on
moltilium as my supply dropped RIGHT off when i started
Do you enjoy it? Yes because i can see my body working its magic. but No because its not the same as Bfing

Do you have other kids? No. i dont know how i'd cope if i did

If you feel comfortable sharing- Why you are expressing? DS was in SCN 20hrs after he was birthed with a chest infection & then jaundace so i expressed for him (and expressing colostoum is harder then i thought it'd be!), after we got home we found he had toung tie, that then became failure to thrive. so i had to express so they knew how much he was getting, he then became too used to the bottle dispite weekly trips to the LC to try and re attach.

What type of expressing method do you use? Started off with Hand expressing. now i have a melda manual and also a melda swing pump

How much milk in a day? around 800ml (at a guess)

Best expressing tip? watching m*a*s*h seems to make milk flow!

I'm glad i've found others who are expressing. i'm also FF at the same time becuase of the failure to thrive. i had my faith in my body knocked around with Failure to thrive. i had a dietion want me to put formular into my EBM he was also on thickner for reflux but is now off that...

how do you 'get ahead' with expressing? im really struggleing with that...

[ezymay]

BB- TO "GET AHEAD" you need to pump often. Empty boobs make more milk than full ones. So you might need to increase your the number of pumping sessions. 800mls is good though. Its a tough road, good on you for wanting to continue!

Belfie- that's great well done making 8 months.

We hit 9 months next week and I think I am going to have to add a formula feed in. Can anyone who's done this give me some adivce? Should I start with a step one formula or an age appropriate one? Would you do half FF half ebm?

[leesha]

eej thought I would poke my head back in..... well done on making the 9 months! So proud of everyone!!!

Indroducing formula can be done a few different ways. My advice about what types of formula is to go straight to the stage 2. I have some mums in my mums group who started on step 1 and then going to step 2 they had alot of trouble. They all went back to step 1 as adviced by their MCN and are still on it. Apparently it doesn't really matter about the steps but if you are to go to full time formula then just go to step 2 and don't bother with step 1!

I personally just introduced a formula feed at his bedtime bottle(7pm) for a few weeks and EBM for the rest of his feeds and then gradually increased his formula feeds until I stopped expressing full time and I had no trouble with that. I didn't mix EBM and formula together. I don't have any advice on that but I can't see why not? it maybe useful if bubs isn't enjoying the taste of just formula!

Right now I am doing 120ml formula and 60ml cow's milk so I can make the transition to cows milk much easier. That has been my last week and I think next week I will cut back on the formula and increase abit more cows milk After a lot of research there is no need for step 3 and it is all a money making gimik for the companies. Once they are 12months then cows milk is all they need.

step 3 formula has a vanilla flavour in some and that is a real problem trying to then get bubs onto cows milk. They just aren't interested!

I have always used s26 gold but that is my personal choice and have had no probs with using that at all!! Some bubs stomach some formulas better than others.

I tell you what tho keep expressing because formula is so expensive and I am so glad I expressed for as long as i did and saved some $$$$$$$!!

Happy pumping all!!
xoxox

[belfie]

Best expressing tip? watching m*a*s*h seems to make milk flow!

Hey Baby_blip welcome to the thread. Love your tip that's great! Re getting ahead, what Eej said - the more you express, the better. I also swear by raspberry leaf tea - does more for me than Fenugreek, which is lucky cos i can't take Motilium and I never had great supply. How is it going now? I found from 3-4 months (once growth spurt was over!) I was able to start getting a bit of reserves... occasionally I'd just express every 2.5 hours. USually need DH around to help out tho, otherwise it clashes with feed times at some stage. Normally I expressed after every feed then one more before bed (i.e. 5 times a day minimum).

Eej - sorry hun I know nothing re FF, but good luck with it oh and I finally found some big 250ml medela bottles at Baby bunting the other day!

Leesha - oooh you are so helpful!

And my question - when did you find they had upped their solids so much you could start to express less? X still takes about 800mls a day and is progressing really slowly with his solids (due to the same problems that impacted our BF'ing)...so I'm just hoping he'll improve soon and then need less EBM

Happy pumping ladies!!!

[storm]

HI Ladies, Mind if I join you?


How long have you been expressing? 1 month

How long do you plan to do it for/ or have done it for? as along as possible
How many times a day do you express? every hour at the moment, only getting between 30 & 50mls each side.

Do you enjoy it? Yes & no I get a bit stressed if I don't get enough

Do you have other kids? yeah 5 can make it a bit hard at times..

If you feel comfortable sharing- Why you are expressing?Noah seems to be a hopeless sucker, he would feed off the boob for hrs on end & still be hungry so I expressed one day & gave it to him in a bottle & he was happy.


What type of expressing method do you use? Medela double pump

How much milk in a day? 400mls if I am lucky
Best expressing tip? sitting in front of the fire & keeping warm.




I had started to think it was my milk, till I tried EBM so Noah went onto formula for a week, now I am trying to build up a supply again to solely give him EBM, it's so hard LOL. But way better than formula I think.
HE will still attach to the boob, but gets frustrated as it runs out in 5 mins.

I'm having alot of trouble finding a bottle/teat to suit him. The avent ones work well but give him sucking blisters the straight up & done tommee tippee ones are useless takes him 1hr to have a feed am going to try the closer to nature ones I think.He just doesn't seem to have a very strong suck unless of course it's his dummy!!!

[belfie]

hey Storm,

Welcome to the EE group

GL trying to build your supply up, I know how hard that is! I find taking raspberry leaf seems to really help mine (as well as pumping heaps, of course). How is he going now? And how is the supply? I use the medela bottles with Xander, and while he didn't BF well, he always looooved his bottles!

hope everyone else is going well.

Eej - are you doing a FF feed yet? I'm probably going to start that over the next month or so.

We just made 9 months today woo hoo so that's a nice milestone. I had said I'd stop now, but I've got nearly 2 litres in the freezer and a litre in the fridge, so I'm going ok for a bit longer I think. I'm also finding I can finally start to reduce my expressing, I'm down to 3 times a day, and it's bliss!

[ezymay]

Welcome storm!

Yep I have added some formula in, it started off only 60 mls but since I've stopped the motillium my supply has really dropped off! So now she is having more. I go back to work on the 3rd of Aug so I am thinking I will be all finished by then. I'm not to sad about it (well I'm trying to tell myself that) I've done my best.

[Sars]

hello
thank god i found you all - you've renewed my enthusiasm! recently, i've been getting to be so over this pumping BS, but DH keeps saying its the best thing for her growing brains, which of course make me feel awful for not making enough and for wanting to quit. but reading this thread has reminded me that, in the middle of the night with DH and bub sleeping soundly and only the ner-ner-ner of the pump for company, i'm not alone


How long have you been expressing? 16 weeks

How long do you plan to do it for/ or have done it for? lets get to 6mths and see how we go

How many times a day do you express? 4 - 5
7am, 9:30am, some time around lunch, some time around 3-4pm (if im lucky), 7:30pm, 8pm, 12pm

Do you enjoy it? Nooooooo... apart from the sense of satisfaction i guess

Do you have other kids? no

If you feel comfortable sharing- Why you are expressing? I had bilateral breast surgery 10 years ago, and was told with BF to hope for the best and not expect anything. I tried BF for about 6 weeks, but she was slow to gain weight (50 percentile at birth down to 25%, now back to 75%) and then we both got terrible head colds. Moved in with my (unsucessful BFing, formula-loving) mum for a week and she happily stuffed Ollie with formula After that, lots of breast refusal, screaming, scratching, the works. So I went and hired an ABA medela symphony and four months down and we're getting maybe half & half EBM and Nestles. Go boobs!

What type of expressing method do you use? Medela symphony

How much milk in a day? 5-600mls if I am lucky + 2-3 bottles FF

Best expressing tip? hand expressing into a bowl (surprisingly quick and effective, and less to lug around when out). and dont skip feeds

[belfie]

hey Sars,

welcome to the EE thread! i had to laugh at your description of the ner-ner-ner for company, so true! It must be difficult pumping if your DH is more motivated than you when you're the one who has to do the time! I found I had patches where I totally wanted to stop. At about 4-5 months I did nothing but think about stopping.... EVERY time I pumped for about a week. Then I got through it and felt ok again. But ultimately you have to do what is right for you.

Few questions, do you double pump? And do you use a hands-free bra? Honestly, they're the best thing I ever found! Otherwise, GL with it, and pop & and ask questions/say g'day when you feel like it. It's a reasonably quiet little thread - there's not many of us. Myself and Ezymay (who's also posted earlier) are just in the process of stopping expressing, but I'm sure we'll both still be around.

Cheers,
Belfie

[leesha]

Just popping in again to say gday and to tell you all you are doing a FANTASTIC job!!! Even if you are feeling close to this being the end and you decide to stop you have provided your bub with the best start in life and feel proud of whatever milestone you reach!!

P.S I miss expressing when I read your posts but Gosh I love having my boobs back!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sars]

wow handsfree! can't believe i haven't done this before. cut some holes in an old bra and now i can keep doing stuff round the house, with Liv etc. fantastic. thanks for the suggestion

[belfie]

ROFL well I bought mine, didn't make it! Gosh I got ripped off then but it zips up over your bra, very handy!

[*Infinity*]

Hi ladies
You're all truly an inspiration. I figured that you're a great bunch of people to ask a few questions of, it sounds like you've got the fine art of expressing down pat!

A bit about me....I started expressing at day 10 due to attachment issues (very badly damaged nipples and subsequent infections + thrush + vasospasm). Was struggling to keep up with the demands of a new bub after an emerg c-section, and got very unwell. I had to stop expressing about 11 days ago when another infection flared up and I was VERY unwell. Now that I'm healing though, I have a renewed hope that I can get back on the expressing road to give my boy at least a couple of EBM feeds a day. I haven't coped well with having to go to formula full time so early, but he had to eat didn't he I have milk, it seems like such a shame not to give it to him.

I don't think I can express the 6-8 times a day necessary to have him on EBM exclusively - but you never know. I was using a manual single pump (Medela Harmony) and am thinking that if I get a double electric it could help make things WAY more efficient. If i'm realistic with myself I would like to try and pump 2-3 times a day. I was going mad from cabin fever before being attached to a pump.

A couple of key questions....

Double pump recommendations - my preference is Medela so any of their models you've used and why you like them would be great.

Has anyone been able to maintain a moderate supply at 2-3 pumps a day? One of the LCs i spoke to thought it wouldn't be enough to maintain supply?

Are most of you taking Motillium or other meds to boost supply?

Where can I find these hands free expressing bras - they sound like a great help! And amusing too....

Cheers
Lollybaby

[ezymay]

Hi Lolly baby! Congrats on your bub! Its great you want to try and give bub some liquid gold. Whatever you can give is great. I know how you feel about the formula. I had to finish up with EEing and put DD on ABM recently and it was so hard!!!

So your questions- I had the medlea pump in style advanced. Its a double pump that comes in a backpack or shoulder bag (actual pump is removable) It is great!!! Its a double pump just below the quality of the hospital grade ones. Another option is hiring one of the hospital grade pumps from the ABA. Thye usually have the Lactina and the newer model, Symphony. I have used both before I got my own and they were big but powerful.
When I reduced to 3 pumps a day I was still able to get 600mls but that is after full time pumping for a long time. It may take some time of pumping 6-8 times a day to then be able to reduce to 3. All you can do is give it a go and see what you get! Anything is better than nothing.

I was on motillium pretty much the whole time I was EEing. But others have been able to do it without it or with natural suplements.

And the pumping bra is called Easy Expressions Bustier hands free pumping bra. I got mine from an aus online store called Nursing Angel.

Good luck hun!

[belfie]

Hey Lollybaby,

I'm so glad you've posted in here

Ezymay has given you great answers (she should get commission on the pumping bra - truly it is brilliant tho!).

In answer to your question

I don't think I can express the 6-8 times a day necessary to have him on EBM exclusively - but you never know.
I agree, it may not be enough only 2-3 times a day, but it's worth a try! And as someone said to me, even if it's part EBM and part FF - if that makes you feel ok and is maintainable, that's all that matters.

I was using a manual single pump (Medela Harmony) and am thinking that if I get a double electric it could help make things WAY more efficient. If i'm realistic with myself I would like to try and pump 2-3 times a day. I was going mad from cabin fever before being attached to a pump.Double pump recommendations - my preference is Medela so any of their models you've used and why you like them would be great.
Definitely agree that a double electric is the way to go - honestly, you won't know yourself with a pumping bra and the double pump. I've hired both a medela symphony (awesome, but expensive to hire) and lactina (was faulty - so not a good experience there). I would recommend hiring the symphony for sure. A pparently you can hire through ABA at good rates (I went thru my local pharmacy). You also need to buy two sets of pump attachments to be able to double pump - so there's some cost there too. I type on the computer (right now) watch telly, talk on the phone, eat meals, feed child... do lots of things while pumping - it really helps to minimise that "trapped" feeling. In the end I bought a Medela Pump in Style - it's great. Not QUITE as fancy as the symphony, but really great nonetheless. Expensive, but good investment.

Has anyone been able to maintain a moderate supply at 2-3 pumps a day? One of the LCs i spoke to thought it wouldn't be enough to maintain supply?
I was pumping 5 times a day for most of the earlier months. BUT, I managed to get my supply UP whilst doing this (occassionally had to throw in a 6-7 pump day for growth spurts). I'm now down to 3 a day (since DS about 9 months) and getting about 600-700ml a day.

Are most of you taking Motillium or other meds to boost supply?
Probably should have - I was sent home from hospital with paperwork saying "low supply". But no-one ever suggested it, and I never asked - I just pumped and pumped! I'm actually allergic to Motillium anyway, but don't know if I could have take an alternative. Have tried fenugreek (don't think that made much difference). Find that raspberry leaf tea or tablets makes a BIG difference for me - also eating well, BF'ing vitamins & drinking lots of water. Tried milo (can't take akitivite) maybe it helped, but probably more from just making sure I was eating ok.

Where can I find these hands free expressing bras - they sound like a great help! And amusing too....
As Ezymay said... i bought mine there too - or was it from soulmother? One or the other. It's awesome. And it CAN go through the tumble dryer - a godsend when you're using it day in day out... and yes, it's probably the least sexy item of clothing i have EVER owned.

All the best, let us know how you're going. I'm still going strong here. Was going to stop at 9 months - started bringing in some FF, but just couldn't do it. So back in the zone and pumping... onwards & upwards, hoping to make 1 year now. I must admit, I'm finding pumping atm the easiest it's ever been. It's just part of my routine, I don't think about it much, it's not a stress, and finally I'm keeping up with little Mr Hungry quite easily (thank god for solids!). Plus i have a nice little 2 litre stockpile in the freezer!

Hope everyone else is going well

[Sars]

Hi Lolly

My Olivia is 20 weeks today! I am still expressing, though nowhere near enough to cover Livvy?s daily intake. Today, I managed to express at 9am, 11am, 3pm and I?ll do 8pm and maybe 3am (if she wakes me up). That?ll produce around 3 x 150ml bottle, so she?ll have another 2 or 3 bottles of formula. My goal is to make it to six months, so we have 6 weeks to go?

For a while there I was trying to express as much as I could, get up several times a night, stay home and wear the double pump pretty much all day, to see if I could build up my supply to her full intake. I think the most I ever managed was about 600ml a day. I found it really gruelling to get up in the middle of the night now that she sleeps through, and I tend to get run down and catch colds.

I did it for a month or two, but nowadays I have been skipping that. And I was managing an actual breastfeed at 7am (i.e. direct for the source - huzzah!!) and that worked great for about a week, but skipping middle-of-the-night expressings has caused my supply to drop, so Liv wont latch on in the morning anymore. I agree with Ezymay though, you should probably try to do a few weeks of lots of pumping, then gradually reduce the number. And yeah, anything is better than nothing!

I rent a Medela Symphony from the ABA ($25 a week). I found it excellent and quiet ? and has a handle on top so you can carry it round the house with you. When I go out, I hand-express into an Avent bottle. They have a fairly wide mouth and I find this quick and hassle-free (I used to lug the pump around but it was a lot of hoo-hah). I had a Medela Swing but I found it less good, v noisy and its only a single pump. I didn?t use it after I rented the symphony, so I leant my swing to a friend.

I chopped some holes in an old normal bra and poked the pumps into that. It works really well! I have pumped while giving her a bath and massage at night ? but it is awkward. She tends to kick at the pumps too, which can be uncomfortable.

I don?t take any medications to boost supply. Probably should have asked about them, but noone ever really mentioned them and I've been to MCHN, GP and breastfeeding support day-stays at my hospital. The LC said the best way to boost is to pump more and I?ve found that does make a difference. Also, lots of sleep helps me (where do you buy that though? hahahaha). Also, my partner was concerned about possible side effects of motillium and since she was on a bit of formula already it didn?t seem worth the risk.

Good luck!

[*Infinity*]

Thanks for all the replies...very very helpful.

Update on me...I have hired a Lactina pump from my local ABA group today - have enough bits to start single pumping (they didn't have the double pump kit but if I get a few spare parts I can convert my manual Medela pump bits to make it a double kit!) Was hoping to get a Symphony, but they don't have one at our local group. If the Lactina doesn't work out I might try a local chemist for hire or consider buying one....$ is a bit hard to come by though right now.

My plan is to start pumping when I can to give the BBs the signal that we're all systems go again. Will try and set up the pump tonight after tea. I'm not going to take the Motillium at this stage...I want to see how supply goes without the meds and then maybe re-consider if I'm not getting very much. Instead of trying to fit in a prescribed number of pumps I'm just going to sit down and do it whenever I get an opportunity. Rigid schedules just didn't work last time and stressed me out more.

Sars - you're so right, those middle of the night pumps are what broke me last time. Very gruelling. And I think I'll be in a similar situation to you...producing enough to give DS a couple of bottles a day and the rest will have to be formula. And thats ok with me - I've had to come to terms with a compromise on this journey given what we've been through. Its just not worth me flogging myself to the point where I'm unwell and can't look after my boy to my best ability.

Will keep you all updated over the next few days about how I go.

Lolly

[*Infinity*]

Ok, update from me and some troubleshooting questions ALREADY...

Set up the pump last night, gave it about 10 mins on either side. All seemed ok. Bit sore on the nipples, but that has been my experience with pumps all this time anyway. Only got a few dribbles out of either side, but that's all I was expecting anyway.

Gone to pump this morning, and the short time I was on last night has opened up cracks on both nipples. Right around the edge of the pointy nipple bit - sort of if you imagine the crack going the whole way round, my nipple would come off. Not happy Jan
It was too ouchy to keep going - plus, I am NOT going to risk getting all these infections back again. Cracked nipples were how they started in the first place. And I was finally healed too....

I have the pump on the minimum setting, and the flange I use is the right size so its not rubbing (needed a bigger one which the hossy gave me early on). Its either one of two things (and probably a combination of both):

1...Pump too powerful for me and 2...I have nipples that are like tissue paper - not very hardy at all by the looks of things. I know they are more susceptible to damage becuase I have Raynauds too (circulation problem). BUt this is just silly - after just one pump

This is very discouraging. Any ideas....I really don't want to go back to manual pumping but it might be my only solution. I can't cope with damaged nipples again.

x