Delivering tomorrow at 36+1 - baby only expected to be 2kg

Congratulations! I am expressing 3 hourly during day and once at night for a total of 7 sessions each day. Here's my schedule: 6:30am, 9:30, 12:30pm, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30pm, 2 am - then back up at 6:30. I am very tired from all this but it has worked and my supply is good. I had the midwives hand express me a number of times each day before my milk came in and then I switched to a Medela. I totally understand why you are forcing yourself to do this - it is the same for me as DS is still only on nose feeds although I put him to the breast when I can and he has a little tries (he is now 35 weeks and 2days). Hopefully just 2 more weeks in special care but no one has committed to a date yet.

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Congratulations! I am expressing 3 hourly during day and once at night for a total of 7 sessions each day. Here's my schedule: 6:30am, 9:30, 12:30pm, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30pm, 2 am - then back up at 6:30. I am very tired from all this but it has worked and my supply is good. I had the midwives hand express me a number of times each day before my milk came in and then I switched to a Medela. I totally understand why you are forcing yourself to do this - it is the same for me as DS is still only on nose feeds although I put him to the breast when I can and he has a little tries (he is now 35 weeks and 2days). Hopefully just 2 more weeks in special care but no one has committed to a date yet.

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Wow! I'm glad to hear things are working well for you. Is that amount of expressing covering you DS's feeds or are you still needing top ups? (If you don't mind me asking?). I'd like to just do one overnight, but want to wait til my milk is in first. I think it's getting close - I'm getting 7-8ish ml a time now (about double yesterday). Still not huge, but an improvement....

I am getting enough to cover his feeds. He was just upped to 50 mls per feed today. It is exhausting as I am now home so every day we travel back to hospital. Up until today we stayed for 3 feeds and I pump there when I need to. Today we just stayed for 2 feeds as we needed to spend time with my 2 year old and for this reason we are not going in on Monday. It is very hard not being with our new baby all the time but DS1 really suffered with my long hospital stay and we need to devote time to him. They told me to skip the day now when DS2 isn't up for much sucking anyway as I should be there when he is ready to do more sucking .

Our house is a mess and I still haven't unpacked my hospital bags as I am just exhausted by the time we get DS1 down to bed.

I go home Monday and have mixed feelings about it for much the same reasons you mentioned. Trying to pump, visit DD2 and try to establish BF, look after DD2 and do all the 'normal' house stuff is going to be exhausting. I want DH to take his time off work when DD2 comes home, so I'll be looking for an endless supply of babysitters to look after DD1 whilst I visit DD2. Of course I want to be home with DD1 and DH, but leaving DD2 here doesn't sound very appealing :(. All I can hope is that she puts on weight and takes to feeding quickly so we don't have to do it for long.

Once bubs are stronger you can ask that they be fed with a bottle (for feeds you're not there for) rather than tube fed. In most (possibly all?) nurseries it is a requirement that all feeds be suck feeds (so breast or bottle) for bub to be able to come home. I had to ask the nurses to start DD on a bottle as they didn't think she'd be able to at that gestation but from that first bottle, she was just go go go.

Though they usually don't like to start on bottles until bfing is well established so there's no nipple confusion...

Thanks for the info Schonell. I was talking to a midwife about this today and she mentioned the bottle when I'm not there thing. Hopefully she gets strong enough that we can try suck feeds soon.