Thermalgal’s Temperate Mumblings

EP’ing

April 4, 2008 on 4:22 pm | In Henry, Knitting | 2 Comments

Okay, this post is going to be mostly about exclusively pumping and the stresses of that. So, if you don’t want to read about this, just look at this pretty sock (Monkeys using Knit Picks Bare sock yarn that I dyed yellow).

So, on to the booby talk (boy that should get me lots of spam). I didn’t start out wanting to exclusively pump, it just happened that way. In the hospital after Henry was born, he never latched on (I’m not counting the 5 seconds on our last day with the help of the lactation consultant). While I was in the hospital, I was started on the pump and we fed DS formula until I had enough milk to feed him. I continued to try at home but he wasn’t having any of it. After a week, I went to see another lactation consultant and after two hours, a nipple shield, and supplemental feeding, he latched on really well. So, we went home and continued to work at it. Most of the time he still wouldn’t latch on (even with all the extra props). So, after 4 weeks of hell, I decided to stop attempting to nurse and continued on with the exclusive pumping. By that time he was getting maybe a bottle of formula every couple of days.

I started out doing feeding on demand, but after 8 weeks, I went to a 3 hour routine ala the Baby Whisperer (to fix the day/night swap). Not sure what happened, but I went to just being one bottle ahead (ie. pumping now for the next feeding) to 7 bottles ahead. The minimum I need is 5 bottles (between daycare and DH watching DS before I get home from work).

So, when I started back to work (on a Wednesday), I was 7 bottles ahead. Three days later I was 13 bottles ahead. Then DS got sick. That Sunday after the mist tent went up and he could finally sleep, he started sleeping thru meals. Not a problem for the little bruiser. His sleep was more important to him getting better. But while in the hospital I started to feel embarrassed about the amount I was pumping, so I think I wasn’t as consistent with my pumping schedule. Then DS was kind enough to share the flu with me and I started sleeping instead of pumping. But somehow after we got home from the hospital I was 15 bottles ahead. I froze 10 bottles worth so I could give DS the freshest milk with the flu fighting antibodies. That Wednesday I started back on my pumping schedule, but I wasn’t producing what I needed anymore (at one point I slept for 12 hours and didn’t pump at all!).

That started the long path to trying to get my supply back. Meanwhile I started to dip into the frozen stash. I thought I had finally gotten back where I needed. Not to the amount I pumped just before he got sick, but enough to keep up with him. I think after he started to feel better, he was trying to make up for all those missed meals! Then for some reason my supply dropped again (I think even though AF hasn’t shown up yet, it was that week according to the mini pill pack). And I had to obsess again about getting my supply back. At some point during this I started to take fenugreek. Last weekend I had to dip yet again into the stash (I got down to only 3 fresh bottles ahead!).

This week has been good so. Either because it isn’t “that” week anymore or the fenugreek is working. Regardless, as of this morning I am 9 fresh bottles ahead and I still have two bottles worth in the freezer. I might even think about freezing two more bottles worth.

So, the past err… 16 weeks have been a huge roller coaster. I’m hoping that the next 36 won’t be as bad (my long term goal is a year). It seems that a lot of this is mental. I knew I could get ahead again since I did it before. And in the beginning I knew this entire EP’ing was possible because a co-worker did it for a year… or so I thought. I talked to her a week or so ago and it seems that she didn’t EP, she actually had to rely on pumping in addition to nursing to help with a low supply. But I’m glad I didn’t know the actual details before hand because I’ve had it in my mind that it is possible because she did it.

At DS’s two month appointment his doctor said something about using me as an example that it is possible and gave me kudos for making it that far. I wonder what she will say now. He has been on 100% EBM (express breastmilk) for almost two months. The last time I gave him formula was Feb 17th I think. And I only gave it to him then because I wanted to get ahead to prepare for daycare. I didn’t want a day of all formula so I was going to give him a bottle of formula every now and then to get me where I needed to go. Before that it had been almost two weeks since he had any formula.