I've moved!

Please visit me at www.viewfromthepump.com

Thanks!

My Equipment

First, I'm going to warn you that I blog from my phone while I'm pumping. I have a few photos to add here, but I can't guarantee that they will post in the appropriate place.

The Pump

After trying a couple of other pumps (Medela PISA, Medela Symphony), I've settled on my favorite: the Hygeia EnJoye. I started off my renting it from my Lactation Consultant, but then bought one at a raging deal during Breastfeeding Week (Month?) from ecomom.com. Raging deal.
Why do I love this pump? 1) it's quiet...for a breastpump. I pump in the early morning hours and it doesn't wake the baby, my husband, or any of our other children that may have wandered in during the night, 2) the tubes are very long and very flexible. I don't have to sit right next to the pump. I have never had an issue with tubes popping out, 3) it's eco-friendly. It's a closed system pump so all you need is a new filter to be able to pass the pump on to someone else, and 4) the speed and pressure are totally variable and controlled by me. A letdown button is thoughtful (Medela), but I'd rather control it myself.

The Accessories

I'm not a big fan of the Hygeia shield. I think it is shorter than the Medela and (for me at least) tends to slip off the breast. For that reason, I use Medela shields.

I use Evenflo glass bottles for milk collection. They fit perfectly with the Medela setup and are more sturdy than plastic bottles or plastic bags. I used to use plastic bottles, but then I would often times knock them over and cry over spilt milk.

I absolutely hate Medela membrane valves. They are a pain to wash, get lost in the sink drain if you happen to drop them, and constantly need to be replaced. I love, love, love Hygeia duckbill valves. So easy to wash, sturdy and they work great. If you don't have good valves, you will not get good milk output! I've shown in the photo how the Hygeia duckbill valve fits perfectly in the Medela setup.

I've also included a photo showing how the Hygeia tubes fit perfectly with the Medela setup.

I'd rather have AK be able to exclusively breastfeed, but if I have to pump I want to have the best equipment. In my experience, the Hygeia EnJoye is the best breastpump out there for the price. I'm happy that I've settled on that and a good setup that works for me.

One of those days

I'm having one of those days where I really hate pumping and I wish AK could just transfer milk properly straight from the breast. So, I googled 'benefits of breastmilk' to re-motivate myself. The problem is, the articles mostly focus on the act of breastfeeding and essentially state that if you're exclusively pumping its because you don't want to put baby to the breast. I really take offense to that.

I did find one link I liked that had great tips for EPing and kept the tone positive.

http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/pumping-exclusively.html

I'll keep pumping and trying to put AK straight to the breast. One day at a time.

Etsy Shopping

Today is going to be a great day, despite the fact that our AC is broken. We're going to a chicken festival this afternoon! This is one of those times that I have to sort of plan around my pumping schedule. :-( My plan is to pump right before leaving the house & bring the pump with me in case I need to pump in the car. Love that my Hygeia EnJoye has its own internal battery and came with a fabulous travel bag!

In the meantime, here's my current view from the pump. Browsing on Etsy!

Tonight's View

AK is already in bed and I'm squeezing in (ha!) one last pump session for the night. So no interesting view, just the pump.

Tracking output

I've been tracking pumping output since I started when AK was born in June. It sounds a little obsessive, but it serves many purposes, which I will outline below.

~I can keep track of what time I last pumped. This is especially important in the early postpartum days when you don't know what day it is, much less the time.

~I can keep track of how many times I pump per day. At the beginning, the goal is 8-10. Now, three months out, I can get away with 6-7 sessions.

~I can track what time of day I have the highest/lowest output. This is helpful especially if I'm feeling down that I only pumped two ounces at 6pm. I can see that this is typical for me and can expect my output to increase at the next session.

~I can track other important things like taking medications or supplements or even remembering to drink water. If you track those, you can see how those affect or don't affect your milk supply over time.

How do I track?

I'm sure there are smartphone apps that could track this for me, but I went old school and bought a notebook. I keep it on my "pumping table" next to my pump. Each day gets its own page. I've attached a photo below of a sample day. I essentially just write in the day and date and for each session, the time I started pumping, oz output and a running total of ounces. In the beginning, I also jotted down how many minutes I pumped but now I know that I pump for 15 minutes and that works for me.

A fun fact I learned from tracking is that I have the best total output on Sundays. I haven't figured out why, but perhaps I am most relaxed on that day. :-)

If you track, how do you do it? Any other ideas to share?

Repurposing

Another use for the Hygeia bottle holder...

Early Evening Fussiness

Six o'clock in the evening is the most difficult pump session of the day, more difficult than the 6AM session. AK is super fussy, despite having just been fed, changed and cuddled. If my husband (or someone else) is home, it's not so bad but five days out of seven I'm the lone adult around here.

I usually have her in the Rock n Play so that I can rock her, give her a paci , or otherwise entertain her. Her brothers even try. Longest 15-20 minutes ever.

Here's tonight's view from the pump at 6pm, taking a brief break from crying.

Cutting out a pump session

AK is three months old now and up until about a week ago I was pumping 7-8 times per day and yielded 22-26 ounces per day. AK drinks about 20 ounces per day so I'm able to put away a small freezer stash.

Anyway, AK is a great night sleeper and generally sleeps from 8:30 until 3:30 and then again until almost 8. I've been wanting to cut out that 4am pump session because it is just so tiring to be up from 3:30 to 4:30 and then get up for the day at 6 to get older kids off to school. My last pump session was around 11 so I got to bed late too.

Well, a week ago I decided to take a chance and make my last pump session of the night around 9 or 10 and my first morning session at 6am. Guess what? I've been able to cut down to six pump sessions a day, yielding 26-30 ounces total and am getting much more sleep. Success! AK is starting to drink more per feeding (closer to four ounces than three) so I'm a little paranoid that I'm screwing myself here, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. So far, I'm still meeting her needs and putting some away in the freezer for later.

I also realize that at some point I need to share my story about why I'm almost exclusively pumping and I promise I will do that soon.

With that, here's my view from the pump today. Just a mess, no kids. Grammy is leaving today though so later I will have a different view.