Supplements

I read the blog of Katie Allison Granju. She recently had a baby after the sudden death of her older son from a drug-deal-gone-bad. A self-proclaimed breastfeeding lactivist, Granju hasn't been able to nurse her littlest baby.

She writes about how she's embarrassed to use formula in public because she's been so hard-core breastfeeding for her other children.

But sometimes, it doesn't work out. It's not meant to be an embarrassing thing.

You can read what the NY Times wrote about her in A Breast Feeding Guru Who Uses Formula.

Early Trouble

As I have mentioned many, many times, both of my children have rough nursing starts, but the thought of the cost of formula encouraged me to keep trying no matter what.

The first had latch issues.

The second seems to have inherited her sisters inability to latch, but more than that, she just wouldn't suck. I started asking for a lactation consultant in the delivery room. A pediatric nurse helped me so much until I got to my recovery room. After a good night's sleep, we tried to get the baby to latch and nurse the next morning with very little luck. I had a very demanding, rude nurse so I immediately started asking for the lactation consultant again.

The nurse kept saying "they are sleepy for the first 24 hours so let's just keep trying." I knew things weren't right. I'd nursed a baby before and I was really worried about making sure my milk came in and my supply was established.

Finally, the lactation consultant came in to check, saw my problems and tried to help me fix it. We sat with the baby and watched "Jon and Kate Plus 8" while coaxing her to eat. She finally brought in a pump and a finger-feeder. I pumped and she fed the baby with the finger-feeder. She did okay.

Every so often, I'd try to nurse, pump and then finger-feed. I was really avoiding trying to use a bottle, but she told me after three days, I'd have to give up the finger-feeding if she hadn't gotten nursing yet.

I was set to be discharged when the baby was just 36 hours old, mostly because I just couldn't take the awful nurse anymore and I wanted to go home. The baby was already getting yellow so I was told to wake her up every two hours to feed her. The lactation consultant stopped by before I left and handed me a nipple shield. I told her that's how I got my first to nurse. She said she felt I knew how to use it in combination with pumping.

I kept pumping and finger-feeding, we introduced a bottle, we let her practice sucking on a pacifier, we woke her every two hours to try to nurse. I was exhausted. But then one nursing session, she latched. She was using the nipple shield but it happened. It really happened.

All of my pumping led to an amazing supply, too.

She was good with the nipple shield. We had a good relationship. Then right before Christmas, I lost the nipple shield and was force to try without it. Guess what? She latched and did great! We continued on until she was 11 months when my giant supply took over and covered her for another six weeks.

Rough starts or not, my kids and I stuck with it and made it work for us.

Fortunate soul

I’ve been lucky. I’ve had two jobs in the span of time that I’ve had my two children and both jobs have been supportive of my pumping situation.

At the first job, I had my own office and could shut and lock the door for privacy as often as I needed it. I did put a piece of tape over the lock that said “Do Not Disturb” just to be clear that people should not enter the room. I really never had to tell anyone what I was doing or how often I was doing it. It wasn’t a big deal.

The second time around, I wasn’t working in a private office so it was apparent when I was coming and going. I also pumped in a room that had a semi-public bathroom and a fridge and coffee maker in it. I undoubtedly always interrupted someone’s trip to retrieve their Diet Coke. But my boss was accommodating and would even help me out if something was schedule around my designated pumping times.

I can’t imagine being unable to pump at work or being faced with such a challenging work schedule that you can’t get away. What if you wanted to nurse but couldn’t because of your job? It’s just mind-blowing.

I was so happy to see this article this morning: 5 Things Employers Should Know About Breastfeeding. It appears the new health care bill is going to lay some groundwork for right for nursing mothers and I’m thrilled. Now if we could only do something about the awful maternity leave rules, I’d be elated.

Nutrition

When my first daughter was born, I made my dad bring a sandwich to the hospital with actual deli meat. The kind they tell you to avoid when you are pregnant. When we got home from the hospital, my husband and I ordered from Jets (our local favorite). Part of a pizza, a Jet Boat, pop and a salad later, I was finally full. It had been so long since my stomach could actually fit more than a package of M&Ms in it and I was so excited to have food back-I wanted to eat everything in sight.

This is also due in part to the hormones and the breastfeeding as well.

The second time around was no different. The minute I gave birth I began clamoring for food. While hospital food is no good, the second you finally have some room for a meal, you will take it. However, as a nursing mom, I can respect the desire to eat everything in sight, you have to realize that you are still eating for two. While the diet isn’t a strict, it’s important to keep it well balanced.

One of my favorite breakfasts when I was nursing was oatmeal.

While there is no scientific evidence to support the claim, many nursing mothers, including myself, claim that oatmeal can help increase milk supply. Plus, it’s a good nutricious breakfast to start the day. It’s high in iron and oat bran, which are healthy in and of themselves. Women who use oatmeal to boost their supply say any form of oatmeal and even oatmeal cookies do the job.

For more information on this, you can visit Kellymom.com and search for oatmeal.

Underestimation

I underestimated how much a one-year-old takes in apparently. That or her solid food consumption is up. A week after my little one turned one, we still have breastmilk left in the freezer! I’m working on getting her on to whole milk so I’ve been mixing the two, which is making it last even longer than I planned.

I’m so proud of us. I never ever imagined that I would have issues coming from such a rocky start with both of my children. Despite the fact that formula feeding is often faster, easier and can be passed off to someone else, I’m happy for what has come of it for me and my baby. I’m glad I was able to come so far.

She’s growing and developing and thriving and it makes me feel good to know that I gave her that for the first year of her life.

Teach the children

While I am married and work full-time, I am the mom. I am the one they look to for food, bedtime stories and clean diapers. My two-year-old does what mommy does. Mommy never gave her sister a bottle. Mommy always nursed. And sometimes, Mommy pumped. I'd hear from my daughter, "Mom, you pumpin'?" Yes, yes, I am.

So it would seem only natural that my daughter thinks all mommies nurse. Her mommy did. So I'm saddened that people would be so offended by another four-year-old nursing their baby as is written in Four-Year-Old Breastfeeds Her Doll in a Restaurant.

This is exactly what I would want my daughter to do. There is certainly no shame in it. It's her body. That's what it's for! I covered up myself and my baby for other people but I stopped caring. I was feeding my baby. It's natural. The way some people eat at restaurants is not.

Kudos to the moms out there who are examples to their kids in nursing!

The Dry Spell

I think it's finally upon me. The milk has left the building. It only took a few weeks and I think last weeks reappearance, plugged ducts and immense pain were brought upon by a certain monthly guest. Who would've thought?

I'm only still slightly uncomfortable in certain tight fitting clothing. I feel as though I have returned mostly to normal in the size department and my baby is adjusting to the change in her routine.

I miss it a little. Mostly the convenience. Now I get mad when I defrost and warm up a 5-ounce bottle and my little one decides after 2.5 ounces that she's finished and the bottle then becomes trash. I sometimes miss the late night cuddles and getting her back to sleep easily, as now we are trying to teach her middle of the night is not always the best time to eat. And I miss stealing away with her when things get chaotic so she could have a little snack and I could have a little break.

But the time had come and now I'm just me again. It's a little lonely, but a little nice too.

Right heavy

As I've started to wean, it's clear what side my baby preferred, not that I didn't know it already. It's the right side, which is common in right handed women and I am one. However, I wasn't prepared for that side to be so...obviously favored.

It's really common for one side to produce more and therefore be noticeably bigger, but it's not a big deal. It just makes me feel super self-conscious right now. Normally, I would pump or nurse and it wouldn't be quite so apparent, but in this case, while I'm weaning there isn't much I can do.

This weekend we were at the beach with some family and I was wearing a bathing suit. I knew it was visually obvious that I was a little bit....lopsided...but my husband assured me no one was looking....there.

Okay right, engorgement plus lopsided boobs plus a bathing suit....everyone is looking.

But since then, I've decided to take a new approach. I can't do anything about it. Babies changed my hips, babies changed my tummy, heck babies even changed my thighs. While exercise and diet have helped bring those things in line, it took time. And this will take time too. Pretty soon, I'll be back to even sizes again and missing the days that uneven boobs was my biggest worry.

I thought the end was in sight

I finished nursing the week after Father's Day. I felt great. Not overly engorge. Not leaking. I thought I had weaned well enough to get past the uncomfortable phase and on to the celebration of my one-year goal.

Apparently not.

This past Saturday I was camping and woke up a little sore. Shortly thereafter my little peanut hit me on accident and I thought I was going to scream. Ouch the pain. I checked and I was a little engorged but mostly just suffering from a bunch of plugged ducts. It was like marbles inside my breast. It hurt so bad.

Being that we were camping, there wasn't much I could do but hope I didn't get an infection. I didn't have my pump so I tried the next best thing--nursing. Too bad my baby thinks that is so last week. I had to grin and bear it.

As a result I have come up with some tips.

-No tight fitting clothing-I know you are all eager to jump back into regular bras, tight fitting tank tops and bathing suits, but maybe give those nursing bras a few extra weeks. Wait until you have gone back down to size before trying to squeeze into anything. The tightness doesn't help!

-Hot showers-This will relieve some of the pain and encourage some of the excess milk to leak off. Though the steady stream of water can be a little painful if you are covered in plugged ducts.

-Don't throw away all of your breast pads-Keep some around (I gave away the disposables but kept all of the washable ones) because the over engorgement can lead to leaking.

-Don't pump a lot-I'm trying not to pump at all unless it gets really bad. Why? Well, pumping to stimulate your body to produce more milk.

So far, that's what I have learned from this experience. I hope it helps you as you start to wean.

Neglected

My daughter was less than two years old when her sister was born. Suddenly, she was from queen of the castle to sharing the title and that was not easy. Neither was having mommy home, but not being able to play every second of the day.

Besides being tired, recovering and a little overwhelmed with a baby, I had a toddler running loose in my house! And just about every 45 minutes I was strapped to the chair with a hungry baby. Whatever was I to do?!?!

Not to worry, my toddler was not scarred. She was not damaged. She may have been a little bored but we worked it out.

I knew the transition would be tough. And having mommy home and stuck to a baby would be even tougher. So, we figured out ways to have fun around the nursing schedule. First of all, I put her little table near the chair I was feeding in. While nursing, I would color, help with stickers and read. We read books. We put together board puzzles. We watched movies and television shows. She wasn't deprived of attention. But I have a very independent little girl on my hands, so maybe she is a rare case.

In the time I wasn't nursing, we made the most of the moments. We went on walks. I put the baby in a Moby wrap and pushed the toddler in her swing. We painted with pudding. We danced. We played in her water table and I watched her splash in her pool. We played Legos. We kicked a ball back and forth.

And in her own way, she knew that mommy had something else to do. She knew when the baby was eating and she would ask "you gonna pump?" when I would get out my pump bag. She never bothered me or nagged, and even though I felt guilty, I knew it was important. I mean, she got that time with me, shouldn't her little sister? Me and the baby needed time to get to know one each other without a layer of skin and some internal organs separating us. We needed to have time to learn how the other worked. Just because she had an older sister didn't mean she didn't deserve all of her mom too! God knows there are already way fewer pictures of her, should there be less time as well?

I had to drop the guilt and realize that at not-even-two, my toddler didn't know any better. She was okay with giving up some of her mom for her new sister. And the relationship between me and the youngest is better for it.

Get by with a little help from my friends

When I first came home from the hospital, I didn't have a lot of energy. However, I have a particular way of doing things. I like things cleaned a certain way. I despise clutter. The only other person who can clean my house to my standards, so to speak, is my mother. And actually, she does it better. I wanted to make dinner, I wanted to clean, I wanted to open all the baby gifts and write thank you notes. But the baby, well, she had other plans.

In the beginning, both my children were frequent nursers. I swear I would put them down and 15 minutes later they were hungry again. Or inefficient nursers, who knows. So a lot of my plans were sort of left dangling. The bathrooms weren't getting clean; I barely had enough time to shower and pee, nevermind clean them. The kitchen floor had seen better days. But I didn't want to ask for help.

My mom came over one day and looked at the sight of our living room and immediately set to work. She brought me a basket of clean clothes to fold while I nursed and tried to calm the babe. She cleaned the house and left it feel fresh as a daisy. My mother-in-law came over and played with my other daughter in the yard, leaving me time to nurse, bond and rest.

I wanted to believe I could do it all, but I couldn't. Nor was I expected to. If I needed help, I just had to ask. Breastfeeding isn't easy. Neither is recovering from having a baby. Neither is keeping up a house with a newborn. Neither is having a toddler. Combine all those things and you have the perfect storm.

If you can't do it all, ask a family member or neighbor or your husband to take a few chores off your plate. It's only a few weeks until your baby is past that must-eat-all-the-time newborn stage and on to something else. Don't blink or you might miss it.

The Perfect Position

In the early days of nursing, I was mostly concerned with nourishing my child. I didn't care if I was sore. I didn't care if I had to contort my body into all sorts of different positions to get her to latch on. By God being a mother is about sacrifice and I was going to do whatever it took....that is until about three days in when I could no longer move and my back was kinked in a completely unnatural way.

Turns out, those nurses, books and lactation consultants are right. Getting the position correct is important, not only to a good latch but to your muscles and bones as well.

My first child was only nursed cross-cradle. I used a bed pillow or couch pillow and while I had a Boppy, it just never took. We were way better at balancing her on a pillow while I strategically moved to her. I was sore for nearly the entire six months that I nursed her. And I'm probably still out of whack because of it.

With my second, I started using the Boppy the second I got home. I didn't take it to the hospital because I never used it with my first and I didn't want one more thing to bring to and from the hospital. Her and I, well, we become Boppy addicts. I was able to get her to latch well when she was turning her head slightly to the left. So, we cross-cradled it on the right side and used the football hold on the left.

This is where I will impart some "do as I say not as I do" advice.

Don't do this. My kid ended up with a big flat spot on the left side of her head and the inability to cross-cradle on the left. And let me tell you, when they get so big, football hold is much, much harder because their legs can push off the furniture behind you.

I used to sit on my non-supportive couch with my legs folded under me, holding her in these positions until I just couldn't take it anymore. I called a chiropractor friend, got myself adjusted and started over.

I recommend sitting on a supportive piece of furniture. For us, this is the glider in her bedroom. i use the Boppy, even now, to stabilize her and cross-cradle on both sides. I sit back with my shoulders at a comfortable position and tilt and pull her towards me, not the other way around.

This is really, really important. Get into a comfortable position for you and then work with the baby. If you are uncomfortable every single feeding will hurt and all the time in between will be full of trying to stretch out the kinks. But find what works for you. Some like side-lying in bed. Some are okay balancing the baby while sitting in the middle of the floor. Others, like me, need a really supportive environment.

And if the kinks come, call a good massage therapist or chiropractor to get you all straightened out.

Disposable versus Reusable

Alright girls, let's talk breast pads.

With my first, I rarely needed them. I have no idea why. Inverted nipples plus not a lot of engorgement meant virtually no leaking. I think I came into my second pregnancy with a nearly full box. This time around, well, like everything else about the pregnancy/baby/nursing relationship...this too was way different.

Within the first few weeks, I had gone through my existing supply and was on to a new box. Friends who had left overs passed them my way. I was pretty much sticking with the Lansinol brand nursing pads. They come individually wrapped, which was nice because I could use just one if one needed to be changed and the other didn't.

I don't know about you, but I actually don't know why those things are made with stickers on the back. I never used them. I also wasn't a huge fan of the texture for some reason. They seemed to bunch up in places and leave me (already feeling post-partum unattractive) feeling lumpy and out of sorts.

But they did the job. The were absorbent, they were the right size and I could toss them each time I nursed or pumped without a worry.

But, there is something about throwing them away that made me feel like I was just adding so much more to the diapers and other things I was already throwing away. So, on a grocery shopping trip to a local big-box store, I swung by the baby area to pick up another box of the disposables but right next to them were the reusable cloth ones. I figured I'd give them a try.

I like them for all the reasons I didn't like the disposables. Mainly, I'm not contributing to landfill overcrowding. But also, they were soft and they didn't bunch. But I hated them for all the reasons I loved the disposables. I had to remember to wash them or I would run out...and with a new baby the last thing on my mind was laundry. Maybe more than one pack would have helped with that. They came with six in a pack so I just had to make sure they were washed and put away before I needed more. That didn't always happen. Plus, apparently round, white pieces of cloth are food to the sock-eating-monster as well. They would disappear only to reappear after the last load, probably with stories of being stuck under the agitator or inside of a pant leg.

I tried them both. And maybe because I'm on a try-to-be-more-green-and-healthy kick right now, I'd buy more of the disposables. They were what I needed.

Here are some links to places to buy them:

Bare Necessities

Babies R Us

Amazon

FYI, for the disposable kind: Diapers.com. Order them when you get your diapers and you often get over the $50 so shipping is free!

Really on the countdown

This coming Friday marks the end of pumping at work for me. I should newborn to make it quite awhile ob what I have frozen, plus my baby turns one in just under a month. So I am calling it quits. Really though, my baby has been weaning herself and my daily output hasn't been the same since I took a week off of work in March.

For me, the weaning process means cutting down pumps. So this week, I'm pumping once per day at work and not at all at home. It makes my work day feel incredibly long for some reason. Or maybe it's because it is Monday, who knows. I will say that the amount I'm getting doesn't really impress me and I can see why this is the last week.

I'm curious to know how my daughter will take to this when I start giving her a bottle and our nightly cuddle sessions might be replaced with a cuddle session with Daddy instead. I'm curious as to how I will respond to finally having my body to myself for the first time in almost TWO YEARS! Will I be happy at first and miss it later? Will I still have the same cuddle time with her? Will I miss the way she falls asleep and snores quietly while I read the news before bed on my iPod Touch? What about bedtime? How will that go?

So you see, I might be coming to the end of my journey, but there is still so much out there. So much I have to say. I know you have questions and I know I can come up with answers. I know there are things out there that new nursing moms want advice on. Like to drink Pepsi or no drink Pepsi--What was my experience? It's all out there. It's all coming. So stay tuned!

Sleeping Angels

In my last post, I wrote about waking my jaundice baby.

Everyone says "don't wake a sleeping baby," but in the case of jaundice babies who must eat--wake them. This is often easier said than done.

My babies were sleepy babies. Both of them. The second was worse than the first. In order to wake her up enough to eat, I had to do a lot of things. Here are some tips for waking up the little sleepers.

1. Diaper change. Sometimes this is enough to get them startled into waking up.

2. Turn on the lights. This probably should have been the first one because my recommendation is not to change diapers in the dark, but whatever. Most babies will open their eyes and look around. Though my stubborn one would leave her eyes closed and just turn her head toward the light.

3. Take off the clothes. Theirs not yours.

4. Cool rags. I would rub her down with cool rags and wet wipes to startle her, which usually lead to screaming and then nursing would be her comfort.

5. Play with their feet and tummies. I used this trick to keep her awake while nursing. Snuggled up to your warm body and drinking warm milk is the perfect place to fall asleep. I would just occasionally pick at her feet or stomach to make sure she didn't doze off.

My other advice is to leave the light or TV on while you are nursing. I would either watch TV or read a book while she was eating. This kept me awake and also kept her from getting to comfortable and falling back asleep.

Little Glow Worm

When I was pregnant, we explained to our older daughter that we would soon be having another little baby and it would come live with us. She would often give me her Glow Worm and tell me it was her baby. Maybe I should have taken that as foreshadowing.

Our daughter was born a few weeks early and had some nursing issues in the beginning (ones that I still promise I will write about) and was pretty jaundice. By pretty I mean she basically glowed a nice yellow color, even with the lights off--I'm kidding, sort of.

I guess she was a Glow Worm after all.

Now, the only way to get rid of the yucky jaundice is for them to poop. The only way for babies to poop is to eat. The only way my baby was eating at that time was from me. Can we say exhausting?

My doctor gave me strict orders to get up every two hours no matter how long baby wanted to sleep and wake her up to eat. He allowed only one long stretch of no more than four hours per night. It was so difficult to hear my alarm go off and have to wake my baby. But, she needed it. The jaundice, he told me, was making her sleepier, but she couldn't get rid of it unless she was awake.

Night after night, I set an alarm, woke her up, fed her and repeated the process every two hours.

At first I thought "why am I doing this to my poor child? And HOW can my husband just snore through my alarm!" However, she got better and our nursing relationship got better as well. It was a long week or so, but soon our little Glow Worm was a Glow Worm no more.

Though, it was fun to freak unsuspecting people out that first week with our neon yellow baby!

How Medela steam bags saved my life---okay not really

They pretty much saved my milk though.

I like to be prepared. When I pack a back, I pack it for every disaster. Well, most of the time.

When I came back to work after my maternity leave, I packed my pump bag with all the essentials. I had bottle wipes, bottles, nursing pads and some of those Medela steam bags that you put in the microwave to sterlize your stuff. I rarely have to use them, but like I said, it's all about preparation.

Throughout the year, I was less prepared everyday. Sometimes I would forget my little cooler and have to use a fridge at work to store my milk. One day, I forgot bottles to store the milk in. Gasp! I had the bottles I was pumping into, but I prefer the short little 5-ozers for that and those stored a fraction of what I was pumping at the time. I had no idea what I was going to do.

Then I saw the steam bag shoved down in the side of the bag. I glanced at it, looked at two small Ziploc bowls I had left over from the breakfast I brought in that morning and thought--why not! I washed them out with dishsoap in the sink at work, sterlized them in the microwave and then had two containers that fit perfectly into my little cooler.

I don't use the bags a lot because I generally wash/clean/sanitize at home. However, I have to say, this little box of bags is cheap at your local baby supply store and awesome to have on hand for times just like this one.

Resourceful Mom proves I wasn't crazy

When I finished nursing my older daughter, it felt like she took some of me with her.

Oh, not my heart. While nursing was a good experience for me, I was ready to do done. It's almost like she sucked my insides out and took my boobs with her. I seemed....smaller, but in all the wrong areas. I thought I was crazy. Could this really happen?

Apparently it can.

Last week I read a really cute post from Resourceful Mommy about such a topic. It left me laughing. Check out What To Do When The Ladies Have Left.

Helping hands

When I first started nursing my oldest daughter, as I referenced before, we had some issues at the start. I was frustrated and she was hungry. So, I did the only thing I could think of: I cried. Then I got help. I Googled and Googled and read and read, but what I really needed was someone to show me what the heck I was doing wrong. My mother couldn't. I wasn't a breastfed baby. And the Internet offers conflicting advice, shocking, I know. So, I pulled out the paper work I was given at the hospital and found the number for the lactation consultant and called.

At first, I heard "oh those boob nazis" and "they are mean," but those people were wrong. I went there, tear-stained face, no-sleep, baby just four days old and I said "please help." And they did. They found the nipple shield solution that worked perfectly for us. The followed up with us for weeks afterward until I felt comfortable in what I was doing. They didn't judge. They didn't dictate, which is more than I can say for a nurse in the hospital who made me feel as though this natural thing was going wrong and it was ALL MY FAULT!

With my second daughter, I asked for the lactation consultant firs tthing in the morning. Like I mentioned but haven't written yet, we had some issues that time to. I recognized it early on, while we were still in the hospital. Every time a nurse would ask how it was going with nursing, I said "well, we are closer but I think we need the lactation consultant." The nurse would try to help. Some did help, some made me cry, but I always said "can you just have the lactation consultant come by? I have a few questions and I want to make sure she's got a good latch." The lactation consultant came, saw, and helped me conquor. She sat with me and watched some "Jon and Kate Plus 8" with me while we worked on my baby's latch. She checked on me a few times before I left. She followed up with me and said she felt confident I would do fine.

The thing is, I'm not perfect. I'm not the ultimate nursing mommy. I'm just one nursing mommy. A regular, every nursing mom who wants you to know that it's okay to ask for help. It's okay not to love it. It's okay not to be fanatical about it. And you can make it to your goal. And we, your other nursing mommy friends, will be here to cheer you on.

Grubby paws

One of the down falls of nursing and never feeding my child a bottle at home is that I get to miss the sight of her cute little baby hands holding her own bottle.

This weekend we had a long car ride. She woke up hungry and we had no time/place to pull over and feed her. I had just finished pumping and decided to give her the expressed milk in a bottle. This was the first time in a few months I've seen my own child with a bottle. I handed it to her, fully expecting to have to hold it for her, but then she wrapped her cute little chubby fingers around it and started drinking all on her own.

I was stunned. I had no idea. My husband knew this. My parents knew she could do this. My dad even said if she is in a reclined position, she will balance it on her feet and hold it up.

It's really incredibly cute and it makes me realize how quickly she is growing up. I'm glad she's learning the skills needed to hold her own bottle though and that's she's so adorable doing it.

Overly stocked

Someone asked me a question this weekend about engorgement. With a less-than-one-week-old son, she is having engorgement issues. I know she's web savvy and has probably Googled her soul away searching for an answer. And then she e-mailed me. I tried to help her, and here was my advice.

She's engorged on one side only and has trouble getting her baby to latch on.

My initial response was "congrats on your milk coming in!" I mean, it took me about a week to get a well-established supply and feel like I was getting something when I pumped.

So what are my engorgement tips:

• Pump, pump, pump, hot shower, pump, pump, pump. Along with pumping, stop and start the pump a few times (If using a pump that has the quick suction to mimic the baby) and the quick suction at the beginning can help stimulate the letdown. It can take your body some time to adjust. Try not too pump for too long though, just for relief, because pumping leads to more milk production.
• Warm compresses and cold compresses. I found the warm ones helped before pumping but the cold ones helped with pain.
• Supportive nursing bras. Nothing hurts worse than waking up loose and engorged.
• Nurse on only one side during a feeding and pumping for relief on the other to help the body regulate how much milk to produce. Offer the other side when the first side is completely soft.
• Check the baby's latch.
• Know that this will get better!

My friend also said she was using cabbage leaves to help with pain and milk reduction. Kellymom.com, one of my favorite resources, has instructions on using them correctly.

Who knew there would be math involved?

Apparently my pumping has become a really good lesson in why you pay attention in math class. Especially for that dreaded “train a leaves the station at this speed….train b leaves another station at this speed, where will they meet?” question.

Maybe you can help.

In 50 days, my baby turns one. As I've said before, more power to those who continue past one year, but my love affair with my pump ran out months ago and I'm counting the days. My supply is rather low these days so I need to continue my regular pumping schedule to maintain it. Four times a day: on the way to work, 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., then I nurse at about 7:30 p.m. and maybe once at night.

My baby eats five times a day on average. She gets two bags of milk at day care and nurses prior to leaving in the morning, once before bed and then maybe once at night. When I'm with her, we excusively nurse.

I have 175 bags of milk at home. Let’s assume day care has enough milk for this week and won’t tap into my supply at all. I pump about two bags each day. On the weekends, I generally pump an additional bag but use none.

Between now and her birthday she needs 250 bags of milk (could be 200 but let’s go with 250). As I mentioned, I have 175. I need 75 more bags of milk today to make it to her first birthday. But since every day I continue to nurse, I produce two bags PLUS nurse, I actually go down by three bags every day. In addition, starting in two weeks, I'll move to summer hours, which is a four-day week schedule. So that's an additional day of no day care and not taking into my resources.

I'm calculating somewhere around 20 days. Anyone with more math skills than me care to chime in?

On the Road

As evident by my Oh, The Places That I Pump post, there are very few places where I won't pump anymore. My living room floor, a closet at work, my car.

Yes, my car.

This started when I was nursing my older daughter. I pretty much pumped anytime my husband was driving. Why not? I know I won't need to or be able to feed the baby right then and I am not doing anything else.

Then I started doing it when I was driving. It is actually easier than it sounds. I have a car adapter for my pump and I plug it in and hook up before I go anywhere. Once the pump is started, it is easy to sort of slouch and keep the pump in place.(This is probably how my chiropractor stays in business.) I can generally pull my shirt down over the pump parts or I will wear a sweater I can close over them. I pump for 15 minutes and disconnect. I put the milk bottles in the cup holders and then transfer them to a larger bottle for storage when I reach my destination.

To make it easier, you could use 8 oz bottles. That might eliminate some slouching. If you are in a smaller car, I recommend using a nursing cover while pumping. In our vert small, manual transmission Saturn, I feel a little public and often take extra precaution to cover up.

I am busy. Busy at home and busy at work. Sometimes pumping before I leave in the morning is necessary but impractical. I also don't want to have to pump right as I arrive at work for the day. Pumping in the car gives me the ability to get that morning pump when it is most convenient.

Dressed down

The one thing I hate about nursing? The clothes.

Every time I get dressed, I have to think about whether I can easily nurse or pump with what I'm wearing. Forget wearing dresses or lots of layers that are difficult to pull up or down.

It's summer, well practically (okay, maybe not but it's close), and the sun dresses in my closet are calling my name. I need to wear them! They are cute! But the thought of trying to wrangle down the straps to nurse my child make me feel a little....overexposed. I opt for camisoles under loser-fitting shirts.

I have these dreams that after I am done nursing I will wear dresses every day for a year. I have these dreams where I'll be able to wear any shirt I want without any regard for how well it can accommodate pump shields. Not to mention all the day dreams I have of life without the crunch of nursing pads tucked into everything I own.

The day is coming. Until then, I hope the sun dresses quiet down just a touch.

Counting Ounces

I don't really know how much milk my child gets while nursing. I know there is a formula for weighing them, feeding them and then weighing them again, but I never did that. I assumed they were always eating until full. So, as a pumping mom, how do you know how much to put in the bags?

My younger daughter is happy with five ounces, even at 10 months old. My older daughter was getting between six and eight ounces at this point.

Each child is going to be different.

Many people I know make a few size bags and the combine them to get the right amount. I did it differently. I knew by about 6 weeks she would need roughly four ounces per feeding. So for the first few weeks, I made four ounce bags. By the time I went back to work, I increase them to 4.5. Shortly after that, I moved up to five ounces.

When my day care would report that she still seemed hungry after a feeding, I made smaller bags for them to supplement the larger bags as needed. Then, I just started making my bags larger.

We went off her cues. I didn't go by any charts or what everyone else was doing or even what her sister did.

Work with your childcare provider, tweak what you do and you will find the right combination.

Oh the places I have pumped...

To round up my series on my travels, I decided to post some camera photo pictures of all the places I pumped in that one day on that one trip.

First, I pumped in my car. I don't have a picture of that.

I started in the bathroom at O'Hare Airport. Regular stall using a battery pack. Majorly cramped. I didn't know what to do. I had to stand the entire 15 minutes holding my bag. Not ideal.




Second place was the awesome Hotel Allegro in Chicago. After explaining my lack of enthusiasm for public-bathroom-pumping, they gave me a room upstairs. Not only could I sit and pump, but I was able to watch TV too. Awesome. If only I could have napped on the bed!



Back at the airport, I opted for a family bathroom. While the counter provided a spot for my pump bag, I was once again standing the entire time. However, the electrical outlet provided an opportunity for me to charge my dying phone. (What? That battery was being eaten by all the photos of pumping places!) The downside to this was also that there were only two family bathrooms in this area and people were trying to get in. I needed the room for 15 minutes. Then I probably looked like the jerk who left the family bathroom without a family. But, it was better than a single stall. I say do it if there is more than one.



After our flight was delayed, I had to pump again at O'Hare. I opted to use a closer bathroom so I wouldn't risk missing our flight. This time I took the handicapped stall. I had a hook to hang up my bag as well so I didn't have to juggle it and hold the pump shields to myself. This worked well. I leaned up against the wall. I realized later people were probably wonder what the heck I was doing. I don't care though.

I then pumped again in my car on the way home. This is nothing new for me though.

So there was a lot of pumping, but I made it. Like I said earlier, with three bathroom pumps, I was sort of glad to be dumping it, but all-in-all, it wasn't too bad.

Security

My biggest concern of traveling was airport security. I heard horror stories of mortified moms having their bags ripped apart and milk tested very publicly. I was concerned I'd be there for hours convincing someone that my breastmilk was not an accelerant.

Turns out, not so much.

Airport security is going to be slightly intrusive. They have to be. One guy had a bomb in his shoe, another had a bomb in his pants. Come on people, we want to stay safe right? They are going to look through your purse, which in my case might be more embarrassing that going through my pump. I once found a molded orange in my purse so I have no idea what airport security might turn up. Plus, they are looking at the pump and the milk, not asking you to take your shirt off.

As I said before, I didn't bring the milk back with me due to the medication I was taking so I'm sure that made my trip a little easier. I put my shoes, phone and iPod into a bin and sent it through the machine. I then put my pump on the belt and held my breath. Both times the examiner called a female over and said "i think we have a breast pump." The female then asked me, I confirmed and she carried it to another table. Both times they used a piece of paper or something and just ran around the edges of the mechanism. There was no touching of the shields, no touching of the bottles, nothing like that. I didn't care. It took only a few seconds and I'm sure everyone felt much safer knowing my breast pump wasn't bringing down any planes.

For those of you traveling and checking luggage, don't check your pump. Airport delays and lost luggage happen and you don't want to be stuck without your pump.

Down the drain

So this week, I'm focusing on traveling while nursing/pumping. I traveled earlier this week without my baby. I was only gone a day but I wanted to share my experience with you.

I am a fearful flier. I don't do it well. Though, this trip, I managed to make it there and back with no tears and even some relaxing on the flight. That probably had to do with my incredibly long day and a sweet little pill, Mr. Xanax.

I never flew before September 11, 2001. I hated the idea of flying. Up in the air in a tin can? Why, why would people do that? However, I have had to fly several times since then. Some short flights, some long flights. All met with the same fear: I will die on this trip.

For trip one, I called my doctor's office and asked for something, anything, to help me stay calm. They prescribed a little Xanax and it really helped. I've made the same call prior to each flight. This flight would be no different. I went to my daughter's nine-month well-baby visit last week, explained my plight and my doctor wrote the prescription but with this warning: you'll have to dump the milk for four hours after taking the pill.

This was actually probably a blessing in disguise. Now I didn't have to worry about keeping it cold enough on while I was traveling. I didn't need to worry about that added stress going through security. And I have a supply built up, whoa do I.

But I have to say, after pumping, dumping it down the drain was not easy. I'd just dump it and turn away, remembering that I was dumping it because of my stupid inability to calm myself before and during most flights. Bye-bye liquid gold.

On the return trip, I was so exhausted that I considered not taking the Xanax and just saving the milk, but by that point I had pumped twice and dumped it and I didn't have any bottles or ice packs with me. So I took the pill...mostly because I could. It helped too because we had to fly over some storms.

Dump is never easy, but, for me, neither is flying.

Above and Beyond

This week, I have a series of posts about traveling while pumping and nursing. Today, to start off, I want to tell you about a hotel in Chicago that went above and beyond.

Recently, I had to attend a seminar for work. I live in Detroit and the conference was in Chicago. In order to get there on time, I had to get up at t3:30 a.m., get ready, drive to the airport, fly to Chicago, take the train into the city, attend the conference and then do the entire trip in reverse on the way back home.

Let’s complicate this further. I’m a nursing mother traveling without her baby.

So every few hours, I had to find a place to pump. During the early morning hours I conducted two very tedious balancing acts on the stalls in public bathrooms. I tried not to touch anything. I tried not to fall over. I tried not to dump the contents of the bag I was holding.

But I will do what I have to do for my child.

Our conference was being at the Hotel Allegro. After I ate lunch, I went up to the front desk and asked if there was somewhere besides yet another bathroom where I could pump. The girl at the front desk said “yes, I can put you in a room.” I figured she meant a small office that wasn’t being used or something. Imagine my surprise when she said “that’s room 411” and handed me a key card.

Here I was just visiting the hotel for a conference. I wasn’t a guest. And she was letting me use a room. I took the elevator up and I was so relieved. I was able to sit in a chair and relax while pumping. No balancing act. No toilets to navigate. A clean and safe environment. It was the time that day I breathed a sigh of relief. And also considered taking a nap on the inviting bed, but of course I didn’t.

I can’t tell you how nice that was. For a traveling, nursing mother, you have no idea how nice it was of those working at the desk. Not only did they just out me in a room, they asked about my child and how old she was. It was very sweet. While I wasn’t even staying at the hotel, I felt welcome.

My return to Detroit later that night included two more public restroom visits to pump due to delayed flights, but I just kept thinking that there are good people out there who are around to help us tired, weary, nursing, traveling moms.

Goals

When I started nursing my first, the idea of nursing for a year was scary and overwhelming, but even before she was born, I knew I needed to set a goal and stick to it. That's just how I operate. So, I started with six months.

After the first day, six months seemed like an eternity. You can read about the issues I had here. I didn't know how I'd make it past the first six weeks. But, like it says in that post, we got through it. I did start supplementing at 4 months because she was on the small side and I just not able to get anymore milk out. But ultimately, I made it to 6.5 months. Yay.

With my second, I set the same goal. I had a rough start with her as well, but I haven't written about that yet so you don't know. But we made it and things got better and better and better. So, at six months, I made the decision to go to nine months. Here I sit, nine months and 6 days later and we are still going strong. We are going to attempt to make it until the end of June. Her birthday is in late July and I want to start weaning her in June while we are on vacation. But we'll see. I'm letting her tell me what she wants.

I'm a believe in goals. It's good to say "I'm going to stick this out for X days/weeks/months." It gives you something to work toward. A starting point. A road map.

Would you just get in your car and drive around with no idea where you are going? Would you set off on a hiking trail and just decide later how long you will hike? I guess maybe some people would. That's why I'm not governing voice on nursing. Just sharing my experience. So, what's your's?

Late night follies

Night feedings have always been tough for me because I have a tendancy to doze off while nursing.I have had to find ways to keep myself awake while feeding my little ones.

I know lots of people who co-sleep and do the side-lying nursing. I can do that, but I HATE sleeping with me wee one. She beats me up. No lie. She is brutal. So, I get up and feed her and put het back to bed.

The first few months when I was up numerous times, the only thing that kept me up was the TV. I would get het, change her diaper, carry her to our living room and watch a how I had recorded on the DVR for the 30-40 minutes it took her to eat. As she got a little older, the light of the TV actually roused her so that was not an option anymore. Instead my iPod Touch became my new best friend. With wi-fi, I could get online and read the news or my email with one hand. In fact, that's how I am typing this right now.

As she got even older yet, moving to the living room seemed to wake her up too much, so I moved to nursing in her bedroom on the glider. From this spot, I browse the web on my iPod or read a small book if it is light enough outside.

I am not one of those moms that can gaze longingly at their child while nursing. I am too tired. Gazing and rocking in a warm, dark room puts me right to sleep...and most of the time it does the same for my sprout.

So, what do you do to stay awake at night?

Rough starts

There were issues in the beginning with both of my children.

They were born full-term, one at 39 and one at 37 weeks. They had no medical issues. But they just had issues latching.

I'm going to tell you the story of my first.

The first wanted to suck on her upper lip. I figured "we'll get it." The nurses tried to help but they weren't helpful. I tried over and over and over again. I was frustrated, but determined. My husband said he had never seen me so patient toward anything, this was definitely a first.

She wasn't gaining weight and was a little yellow and my doctor got concerned. I was still very determined to breastfeed. I bought the pump, darn it, and I had opened it! We were going to do this!

In the first few days, my doctor suggested a nursing vacation.

Vacation?

I interpreted this as "taking a break from breastfeeing." I was immediately relieve. Oh, good, I thought, we'll take a break and try again in a few days.

But that's not what it meant.

She meant, the baby and I get in bed together and do nothing but nurse. I immediately said no in my head. I had things to do. I had a house to clean, gifts to unpack, thank you cards to write, announcements to get out...I couldn't possibly take a two-day break from everything.

You do hear the sarcasm right?

After a day of crying, both her and I, my husband and I decided I needed help. We just weren't getting it. We called our hospital and the amazing lactation consultant met with us and showed me what I was doing wrong. We determined my baby needed stimulation farther back in her mouth to let her know something was there. Nature wasn't helping me in this area so we resorted to a nipple shield.

BAM! That was what she needed.

I was given strict instructions to feed then nurse for a few weeks, probably a month, to make sure my supply was well established given that nipple shields can make it a little more difficult for little babies to nurse.

It took a bit, but we got the hang of it. We even got such a great system down that I was able to balance my laptop on the couch nearby get work done while I was feeding her. (This time around it was replaced by an iPod Touch, but that's a story for another time.)

It was really a tough start, but we made it six months.

Don't let rough starts taint the whole process.

Keep that receipt

Alright, I'll admit it, I'm cheap. i cut coupons. I shop at the dollar store. I like to stretch a buck. What better way to save money than not buying that incredibly expensive formula?

In the beginning, I bought a few cans here and there when I had a coupon so that I would have it when I decided that breastfeeding and pumping had become too much. But I've used two cans, maybe (I know we had to throw a can away when it got too old), and we have four cans up in our cupboard unopened.

But this is money I'll throw away--well, I won't throw it away, I'll donate it. But you know what I mean.

Kellymom.com, which is one of my favorite breastfeeding information websites, provides a handy-dandy little chart to show you how much you save by nursing.

It shows that you can save more than $700 nursing for a year. But it's not just a few. It shows how much you save with one day, one week and with each additional month.

Currently, I'm at 9 months. It says I have saved $567.42, which is a new washer or dryer or three-night Bahamas cruise. I don't know about all that, but I'm thinking it's worth something--hmmm, maybe I need to treat myself to a new little something.

And for a penny-pincher like myself, that's pretty motivating.

Pain in the Breast

Lots of people say that nursing shouldn't be painful, and for the most part, it isn't. But sometimes it can be.

One thing I didn't know about prior to my first daughter's birth was the pain that would occur in the beginning. Not the pain of the latch or my body getting used to it. I am talking about the pain of contraction proportions. You see, breastfeeding causes uterine contractions and helps the body bring th uterus back to size after delivery. It really isn't the slight discomfort my male OB described it as, especially not with my second baby. It was "Am I going to need an epidural to feed my kid" pain.

The good news is that it subsided. The bad news is there are other painful ailments waiting to take its place. I have never had the honor of mastitis, thankfully, but I have had a few plugged ducts. Here is what I do to ward them off and prevent against them.

-Heating pad- from th early pain to the throbbing of a plugged duct, the heatin pad just seems to soothing. With any pugged duct, I would keep the heating pad on it as much as possible. It eased the pain and helped move things along.

-A pump- This may seem strange. If nursing is inflicting pain, why do it more, right? Well because pumping can ease the pain of engorgement as well as help clear a plugged duct. To avoid additional pain, only pump on a level you are comfortable at. To help with a plugged duct, try leaning forward and letting gravity help with some of the work.

-The fridge- I don't know about you, but when I are sore, a few cold ones really help. I'm not talking about beers, I'm talking about pump parts stored in the fridge so that when you take them out to use them, the cold is soothing.

-Ibuprofen- Yeah, it's safe to take when nursing and it really does take the edge off.

In the beginning

My youngest daughter is nine months old and our know our breastfeeding lifecycle is coming to a close. In a few short months, my little girl, who has depended souly on me for nutrition and comfort will soon feed herself food and drink from a sippy cup.

So, why start this blog now?

Well, without the experience of nursing two children, without experiencing the vast difference that can come with nursing two children, without the time and effort I put into it, I never would have had the confidence to share my experience with you.

I'm not a breastfeeding "nazi." I'm far from perfect at it. I'm certainly not an expert in the field. Do what you like. Bottlefeed, supplement, whatever. I'm just sharing with you my experience, my challenges and some funny commentary along the way.

Feel free to ask questions, submit stories or give me some topic ideas.