Hello Out There

Abbie, Mary, Julie, Amy, and Heather…if you haven’t already e-mailed me your addresses, please do so.  You lucky ladies were the winners of the What to Expect When You’re Expecting giveaway that ended yesterday.  Congratulations!

In other news, I have been absent lately.  We had a family reunion, appointments, and lots of other summer to-dos going on. 

Butterball had a developmental appointment because he was a preemie.  They did all these tests and then gave us where he was at.  It was nail-biting, I’ll admit.  No mother wants to hear that their child is behind.  And mine, as it turns out, didn’t have any red flags.  He’s right where he should be in cognition and language skills.  However, they said he’s 26% behind in motor skills, mainly because he’s not rolling over yet.  So they told us he needs to do a lot more tummy time…like 6 times a day.  We have to go back in six months.  It’s all mostly preventative, but I can’t help but feel like they’re looking for something that my sweet boy doesn’t have. 

Another big deal was leaving him with my parents this evening for a few hours while me and the hubby went to see Inception (good movie, by the way).  It was only the second time I’ve left him EVER (the only other time was our anniversary in May).  He seemed to do okay, but apparently refused the bottle.  Guess we better work on that before I go back to work at the end of August.  I also need to work on leaving him more often (with my husband, parents, etc) to get him used to not being with me 24/7.  He had a bit of a crying fit with my mom.  As much as it pains me to be separated from my baby, it’s going to hurt him a lot more if I throw him into a situation of being with somebody new for hours at a time without having ever practiced that separation.  So, we’ve got a bit of homework to do this summer to get ready.

I’ll leave you with my Butterball…sweetest little guy I know.

Pumping Advice: 10 Things to Know for Pumping Success

1. Know your legal rights as a working, pumping mama.  In California (and in many other states…also in the new federal health care legislation), your employer has to provide you with a private place and allow reasonable time for you to pump.  You do NOT have to pump in a gross bathroom. 

I know some people have a difficult time with this, even if they are protected by the law.  For example, I have a friend who teaches at a charter school in Los Angeles.  Her boss, a middle-aged single woman who never had children of her own, is completely unsympathetic to her pumping needs and does not give her the breaks or place to pump.  My friend could fight it, but she is not protected by a union, and she knows that her boss could easily replace her with any one of the thousands of unemployed teachers in California.  So, my friend doesn’t even pump (no time to set it up)…she manually expresses milk over the toilet. 

What’s the answer?  I don’t know.  She needs her job, and there aren’t other positions open these days in a crappy economy.  If I were her, I’d document everything related to her pumping issues.  I’d probably also print a copy of the law and ask the principal to have a meeting, where we would talk about it and I’d be as nice as possible.  But…I’m not my friend, so this is something that must be tackled on an individual basis.  My hope is that someday it will be ASSUMED that you want to pump, and every ounce of effort would be made to accommodate a pumping mama. 

2.  Relax and think about your little one when you pump.  It may help to keep pictures of your baby to look at.  Sometimes moms have difficulty getting a let-down.  Bring pictures of your little one, or even better, if you have a bit of time watch a video clip of your baby.  I used to do this when my little guy was in the NICU. 

3.   Drink Mother’s Milk Tea to boost supply.  Bring a thermos full of hot water and keep a mug and Mother’s Milk at your work to save the transportation hassle.  Mother’s Milk contains fenugreek, which helps promote lactation.  Since pumping isn’t as efficient at emptying the breasts as a baby, your supply may take a hit.  Or it may not…it’s totally an individual matter.

4.  Store milk in per feeding portions.  This means each container should only have 1-3 oz each.  This is to prevent wasting milk.  Check out Kellymom’s guidelines on storing breastmilk (http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html).  Make sure you label each container with the date that you pumped.  I used those address labels and cut each one in half.  Nice and simple. 

5.  If your baby is at least 6 months old and meeting developmental milestones that indicate readiness, have your child care provider feed your baby their solids so you can pump at work but focus on breastfeeding at home.  This is what I plan to do when I go back to work at the end of August/September.   I’m incredibly anxious at the prospect of “losing” my breastfeeding relationship with my baby.  So, the idea of having the nanny feed him his solids and a bit of expessed breast milk is very ideal for me.  I will only be gone from 7:20ish- 2ish, so I plan to immediately breastfeed when I pick him up. 

6.  Invest in a hands-free bra.  These are lifesavers.  My son was in the NICU for 53 days, and I had to pump 8-10 times a day!  How boring…right?  Put on a hands-free bra and you can go on the computer, watch TV, write, read…whatever!  This is great for working mamas.  You can still work and pump at the same time, which may be a great selling feature for getting your boss to be more supportive of your pumping needs. 

PumpEase & Pump Ease Petite Hands Free Pumping Support for Nursing Mothers

PumpEase Hands Free Pumping Support for Nursing Mothers (PumpEase Medium, Galaxie Black)

• PumpEaseTM pumping supports enable you to pump HANDS-FREE!
• Made from an 88% polyester/12% spandex high-performance fabric that works with all pumps
• PumpEaseTM will hold your pump in place as securely for your 1000th pumping session as it did for your 1st
• PumpEaseTM Petite are our 3″ wide pumping supports that feature patent pending, ‘no-stitch’ horn openings, guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market
• PumpEaseTM are our 6″ wide pumping supports that feature patent pending, ‘no-stitch’ horn openings, guaranteed to accommodate any breast pump on the market

These hands-free bras also come in other adorable designs, adding a bit of glamour to the art of pumping milk. 

7.  Invest in multiple sets of pumping parts so you don’t have to wash them at work.  I have about 3 sets.  If you have multiple sets, you can use them, put them in a bag, and then wash them at home.  Having to wash them at work is TEDIOUS and time-consuming.  You will love this system of just pumping, throwing parts in the bag, and washing at home. 

8.  Pump as much as you can when you are away from your baby.  This depends on your job, obviously.  But since pumping can lead to a decrease in your supply, you’ll want to do it as much as you can to stimulate milk production.  Some say you should pump in place of the times your baby would normally eat from you. 

9.  Invest in a cooler or insulated carrying bag with reusable blue ice to transport your milk.  I have different size ones from my NICU days, but any cooler or insulated bag will work with blue ice.  If you have a freezer to access at work, that’s great.  Otherwise you may want to look into buying one of those mini fridge/freezers, especially if you work long hours.

10.  If you want to estimate how much your baby will need to drink while you are gone, check out the Kellymom milk calculator .  For exclusively breastfed babies, the drink an estimated 25 oz/day.  Divide that amount by the number of times your baby eats in a day to figure out the amount per feeding.  This will be helpful information for planning your time away from your baby. 

Pumping is a great time commitment.  It can be tedious, draining, and downright a hassle at times.  But pumping is also amazing.  It is truly a gift to your child to give him/her your milk.  And you won’t regret it when you can go home and breastfeed your baby directly, knowing that you maintained your milk supply and a wonderful nursing relationship with your baby. 

I will have to go back to pumping in late August after being able to exclusively breastfeed my baby on-demand since the end of February.  However, I am no stranger to pumping.  I pumped while my baby was in the NICU for 53 days.  For a large chunk of that time, I pumped exclusively.  It was draining and half the time I felt like a full-time dairy cow attached to all the tubes and suction cups…but it was worth every bit of boredom, frustration, and discomfort. 

Here’s the pump I used:

Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with Shoulder Bag

Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with Shoulder Bag

• Daily use breast pump with electric, battery, or manual operation
• “Natural Expression two-stage system that simulates baby’s actual nursing patterns
• Double or single pumping
• Stylish black microfiber shoulder bag
• Adjustable suction/vacuum

I love that the Medela Pump in Style comes in this totally discreet bag.  It’s super convenient to carry around…lightweight too!  It actually comes with a small cooler bag that fits right into the handbag.  I shopped around toward the end of our NICU stay and was told this is among the best.  It really is! 

If you have any questions or need some morale support, please contact me!  We’re in this together!