My Pumping Journey
Breastfeeding and Pumping; the joy and the pain of being a mother.
I have been so lucky and thankful my breastfeeding journey has been smooth and still continues, my daughter is 19 months and still gets a lot of her nutrition from breastfeeding. We tried to add a breastmilk bottle in at around 6 weeks or so that my husband could have that bond with our daughter and help some with feedings but she did not like the bottle. We tried again at around 7 months and she took it a couple times but she stopped and only wanted boobie.
I pumped when I could to make her Breastmilk Popsicles and froze the rest to donate to a mom that was struggling with her own supply. I had a decent supply of milk in the freezer even though pumping was not easy. It has been hard, stressful and discouraging. I know now that it has been this way because even though there is a lot of information and lactation consultants how to pump successfully still isn’t laid out black and white for women. It is also a trial and error thing we have to go through that can cost a lot of money along the way.
The most important thing I have learned along the way? Measure your nipples! Not the areola but just the nipple. You can do this with a ruler and there are companies like Legendairy Milk that sell nipple rulers which I would recommend in getting one because you should measure them occasionally as your nipple sizes will change. The size of your nipple will determine what size flange you will need for your pump. Why does this matter?
Almost all pumps will come standard as a 24mm opening for your nipple. Now that is nice for the women who have big nipples but if you don’t pumping will be difficult and painful. You will need to buy a flange for your nipple size so that it creates proper suction to get milk flow and not be painful.
I don’t know how many times I went through a pumping session to just look down and have no milk or just a few drops until I dug deeper to find out I had to buy a flange for my pump.
Another obstacle is finding the right pump for you. I have tried a few different ones and struggled even with the right flange size. I have a Medela plug in pump that I sometimes get milk with. A friend lent me a Willow cordless pump that I have had 3 great and lots of horrible sessions with and I was gifted an Elvie cordless that I am struggling to find flanges for in my size.
The most success with pumping I have had are with manual pumps.
The Haakaa is great because you just suction it on and it catches the let down that would normally have been lost to your bra or shirt. I would use the regular one while my daughter was still small but as she became more aware and fiddled more she would knock it off and I would sometimes lose the milk because it would spill.
I loved the Ladybug Haakaa for awhile because I would suction it on and close my bra over so she couldn’t see it. It was great during the times for naps or bedtime when I couldn’t move freely. When she turned one she became a nipple fiddler and kept pulling it off when she noticed it.
Another manual pump I have pretty good results with is the Medela hand pump. I will get about 2 oz from both sides with just a couple minutes of pumping. What really helps is to have my daughter nurse from one side as I pump the other. This has also become unavoidable since when she sees me pumping she comes running and wants to nurse and than continue to switch sides and move the pump around as she does this.
All in all my journey has been semi successful since I have pumped a good amount of milk to feed my daughter and donate to mothers and babies in need. It can definitely be a difficult and stressful journey. My advice is to ask a professional for help. You can also pay Legendairy Milk for them to walk you through the process and get the right flange size.
Thank you for following my journey. If you would like more information about Health Coaching for Weight Loss, Hormones, Gut Health and Preconception Preparation please check out my Health Coaching page and send me a message to set up your free consultation.
