Babys First Year Blog
I’m SO Over Pumping…
Goofy me and yes, that's breastmilk in my hand.
…and I miss my kids but I’m having a blast!
I don’t think I have ever experienced this level of guilt and greatfulness at the same time (I’m at BlogHer in case you missed it.) Maybe it’s the 4-5 pump sessions a day that keeps me in both camps.
I’ll begin to get lost in a session or a party only to be reminded of my motherly duties by the two throbbing, leaking, rocks on my chest.
It hasn’t been as difficult as I thought. Every 4-5 hours I run up the room for a few minutes and relieve the pressure. I’ve been shocked how much milk I’m actually getting. Last night I overnighted around 30oz and I already have 16 more in the fridge. Each nursing session is producing 4-5 ounces. More than I’ve ever pumped before.
The hotels has been VERY accommodating. The fridge in the room was not adequately cold enough, so I called the front desk and they sent me a medicinal unit. In reality it’s just a mini-fridge that runs very cold but it’s been perfect. I simply crank it up to the coldest temps and the milk is kept super cold/almost freezing and my cold packs are all solid in the freezer.
Shipping was also easier than I thought. I simply put the expressed breastmilk in a collapsable lunch cooler with ice packs. I sandwiched the milk between 2 packs and then squished as many as I could around the sides. The cooler fit into a standard $2.00 FedEx box.
I called to get the box picked up 4PM yesterday. It cost about 100 bucks for priority overnight which seemed expensive to me at first, but when I put it in perspective of purchasing formula, it didn’t bother me as much.
My husband received the shipment this morning at 9:30am and the ice packs were barley defrosted.
I can’t believe it worked! All my fussing and stressing seems to unnecessary now but isn’t that always the case. Ahhh good old hindsight. ;)
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10 Comments
Jessica commented on Aug 06 11 at 4:40 pmI think most moms in your situation would have not even tempted what you are doing, and they would use the challenges as excuses to not breastfeed. Great job at making it happen! You are so dedicated to breastfeeding that you are not letting anything stand in your way. Keep up the good work, you will be so glad you did down the road. :)
Blair commented on Aug 06 11 at 11:19 pmI definitely commend you for pumping, and know how hard it is. As a fulltime work outside the home mom, I pump 3-4 times a day, 5 days a week, in my little office (which I feel incredibly fortunate to have) so I can ensure my 4 month old is getting exclusively breastmilk. It is tough!
Samantha commented on Aug 07 11 at 12:01 pmThis made me LOL. Especially about the hard rocks. I just had my second child and I pump at least twice a day and breastfeed. I applaud you for doing this while on the road. I’m determined to breastfeed for at least a year.
Paige commented on Aug 07 11 at 6:15 pmThis is awesome! And you’re right to put the cost in perspective. Yeah, spending a couple hundred dollars in just a few days is a big “ouch!” moment, but compared to the amount you would have/could still spend on formula if you didn’t BF, it’s nothing.
It’s like Zipcars. We don’t have 2 cars, which is usually completely fine. If we need an extra, we can always use a Zipcar, which are about $9/hour including gas, insurance, etc. So if I needed an extra car for a whole day it would be like $70! Which seems like a huge amount! But that hardly ever happens and we’re saving so much by not paying for two cars every single day.
haha, Zipcar + Breastfeeding. Weird. Oh well. Carry on!
Meagan commented on Aug 08 11 at 12:23 amMaybe it’s because I don’t HAVE to pump, and because I generally only do it once or twice a day, but I actually kinda like pumping. Usually I do it while my husband gives the baby a bottle, so my boobs get a break from vampire-baby, and meanwhile, I’m always sort of amazed at watching the container fill with milk…
Roni commented on Aug 08 11 at 8:30 amI don’t hate to pump per se, it was just the 4 days of ONLY pumping. Ugh. My nipples started to really hurt.
I’m also amazing! I swear when I watch more milk comes out! lol
Jess W. commented on Aug 08 11 at 3:03 pmGood work, Mama!
I just came back to work and I pump three times a day. I’m lucky to have an office that I can shut to pump, and the support of my coworkers, but it is so.much.pumping! And then making sure everything is properly cleaned, stored, packed, etc. adds even more time to my evening schedule. But, baby is happy and I’m not giving up now, so pumping it is. Great to know it was so easy to mail milk home. Makes me think about an overnight trip at some point with the hubs.
http://kimonobaby.blogspot.com/2011/08/happy-world-breastfeeding-week.html
April commented on Aug 08 11 at 6:47 pmI recently had a work trip to Thailand for 8 days and pumped the whole time. It was crazy, but worth it. I have now pumped on a plane in turbulence, in a dirty Thai bathroom at an ancient temple, in the bathroom stall of a crowded conference. Insane! But I wasn’t about to at least try to make it work. My daughter was only 8 months old at the time and I wasn’t ready to wean her yet.
Lissa commented on Aug 09 11 at 4:07 pmAs a 7-8 times a day pumper, I HATE it. But good for you doing it while away and even shipping it back–majorly impressive!! Also, 30 oz overnight? Holycrap. I can’t even make 11 oz in a DAY! Wowsa, you GO girl! (and now I’m down to 5 oz a day – 1 bottle)!
jessey commented on Aug 09 11 at 10:27 pmYou rock! I exclusively pumped for both my kids – one for 6 months and 1 for 8 months. Breastfeeding didn’t work out for the first and I got into such a groove I decided to do it with the second. But I was blessed with a good supply that at my height of pumping I was getting 40-50 oz a day (in 5 sessions). I loved watching the bottles fill up. I loved keeping tracking of all the hundreds and hundreds of oz in the chest freezer (bought just for this reason). While they weren’t physically at the breast, I loved, loved the idea that I was able to nourish them – this kept me going on the days I didn’t love pumping.
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