Got Milk?
I do. Not a lot, but it’s there.
I know I’ve been dodging the question about how the breastmilk pumping is going. I think I alluded to my poor performance a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, as usual I was being hard on myself, convinced my body had failed me yet again. But that was before I got some input from the experts.
I was following the regimen of pumping every 3-4 hours as best I could. I thought that everyone got milk within days (hours) of starting to pump. Uh well, my boobs were not cooperating. So I contacted the First Expert.
The First Expert first of all reassured me that it took her a week before she saw a drop. Phew, I thought. I’ve got a little more time. She then made it sound like after that drop, the floodgates opened up. So when I got to 8 days and barely saw a drop pooling at the nipple, I thought I had once again been placed in the special class for slow breastmilk producers.
Eat while pumping, First Expert suggested. I couldn’t see how that would take me from pooling to ounces, but I did what she said anyway. Yeah, as I expected, it didn’t help. First expert then suggested that I buy a new pump. To my thinking, though, this made no sense. I was renting one of the best pumps out there, the Medela Symphony. So why did I need a new pump? Well the preferred Limerick Jr pump has soft breastshields that might provide more stimulation of the areola, said First Expert. But I just couldn’t see going from a hospital-grade pump to a less powerful personal pump. I explained this to First Expert, who promptly got pissed off and told me that she couldn’t help me if I didn’t do what she said.
I then acquiesced and told her I would consider buying another pump, but I later found that Medela makes the same kind of soft breastshield for the Symphony and its other pumps. Why couldn’t I just get Medela’s soft breastshields and forget the entire buy a new pump business? I proposed this to First Expert.
Oh no, I was told. The Limerick Jr. pumping action with the soft breastshields is very different from the Symphony’s. And the breastshields were not the same at all, I was told by first expert. Well to my eyes, the breastshields looked exactly the same.
I wasn’t buying what she was selling. So I asked Ursela, my lactation counselor. She advised getting the Medela soft breastshield and sticking with the Symphony. When First Expert heard what Ursela said, she decided to drop me like a hot potato (again). “I will leave you to the care of your ‘lactation counselor’ (who is not, by the way, a board certified lactation consultant) since you seem to trust her more than you do me.” Yeah, OK, diss me and my lactation counselor because neither of us agree that what you’re suggesting makes no sense. Right.
By this time I was truly over First Expert. I needed to find someone to help me understand how I was really doing. So I went to the better expert, the physician developer of the Newman-Goldfarb protocol, Dr. Jack Newman. And boy was he cool! So much better than First Expert!
The first thing he did was to let me know that after 3-4 weeks of pumping, most women were lucky to produce a few drops of breastmilk. Some produce faster but most don’t. Boy did I need to hear that! He also told me that I could increase the domperidone up to even 160 mg/day. Since then I have slowly increased my dose from 80 mg/day to 150 mg/day. During the first week of the increase, the amazing thing that happened was that my milk drops actually made a splash into the bottle! I did the happy dance. Sure it wasn’t enough to truly collect, but hey, you’ve got to have more than two drops to make it into the bottle. I was on my way.
In addition to Dr. Newman, I also found two very great resources. First, the Adoptive Breastfeeding Resource Website message boards and the 1ABSupportGroup on Yahoogroups. There I learned that with the use of a supplementer like a lact-aid I would increase my supply over what could be produced with a pump. I also learned that 4 oz of breastmilk a day would supply enough antibodies to the baby to help her immune system.
Truth be told, after I produced enough milk to make it to the bottles on the pump, that was a turning point for me. My body was doing something right. Maybe it wasn’t 4 ounces a pumping session, but it was something…something good. And all those days of pumping and producing nothing, I never thought I’d ever seen anything in the bottle. Thus I had made clear progress. And that felt good.
Nowadays, with me about 6 weeks in, I still don’t produce tons with the pump. My boobs just don’t seem to like it very much. So my regimen is now pumping for 15-20 minutes and hand expressing afterwards. I’m up to 1-2 ounces/day. Again, not much but it will get better with a baby latching on instead of this weird-ass pump. (I gotta ask, how could it not freak someone out to watch their nipples going up and down in the breastshield?)
So that’s the story/update for those who have asked. I’m not a raging success, but I’m making progress and am sticking with it. And now it’s time to go pump.
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Wow-I admire your committment to breastfeeding! Way to go for not giving up. I was a formula feeder, by personal preference, but I truly respect what you are aiming to achieve. I hope it’s not long before your baby girl and you are up together for 2am feedings! Wait until you see the utter lack of good TV programming at those hours!
So glad you wrote about this – I’d been wondering how you were doing. Yes, it’s WAY strange to watch your nipples in the breastshield. Keep up the hard work.
I think you are doing a great job. I breastfeed my twins and in the beginning I couldn’t pump more than an ounce. Even now pumping three ounces seems like a major accomplishment for me.
Pumping sucks. That’s all there is to it. I was so glad when my son refused breast milk from the bottle because it mean that I didn’t have to pump anymore. The whole routine is so arduous-getting out all of the supplies, finding a comfortable place and position, listening the the strange noises of the machine as it seems to mock your efforts, watching your nipple stretch to abnormal lengths, feeling the futility of doing this for X long and only getting drops. UGH! When the baby comes, though, you probably will start getting a let-down. And you’ll LOVE those because for a brief few minutes the milk will actually stream out and allow you to get ounces in that time.
Keep up the good work!
Sorry. Another thing. Everyone produces differently. That dumb lady is silly to think that you would respond the same way she did. And why did she take your needing other experiences sopersonally? I am happy IF I can offer help or advice to someone. But in no way, would I ever take offence if someone didn’t chose to do the same things I did. Silly. Just silly.
Well see, not to out her, but outing her anyway, she was the co-developer of the protocol,so she felt that she knew best. Yet for me, I found Dr. Newman actually knew best.
I was wondering how you were doing but didn’t want to ask. Glad you got some help and some milk!
Yeah! I remember layering my pitiful half ounce on top of yesterdays quarter ounce in little jars in the freezer. But after awhile I had a respectable collection in the freezer, and by the time Marcus arrived he had breast milk for months between what I was producing and what I had frozen. I personally didn’t mind pumping. It was my only time to shut the door and have 15 minutes of peace where no one would bother me. As I was mom to a toddler at that point those moments were few and far between! Keep up the great work, you will be so rewarded in the end when you finally nurse this precious little girl.
-Joanna
I’m glad you’re blogging about this, I’m still in the undecided category but I would like to give it a whirl if we get any amount of notice with our future match.
Kudos to you for sticking with it!
If you decide to do this, you have to prepare well in advance, like when your homestudy gets done. The protocol calls for at least 30 days of domperidone and Yasmin, but the longer you stay on the protocol, the better. The ideal situation is 6-9 months before stopping the pill and continuing the dom and pumping.
I would suggest starting the protocol when your home study is done and beginning to pump when you match. I’m happy to offer advice and support if you choose this route. I have to tell you that even though I don’t have much milk, it is nice to see my body doing what it is supposed to do for once.
I think it’s terrific that you’re doing this. I saw a photo in Mothering magazine today (okay,not my favorite magazine, but I was in line at Whole foods and bored) and there was a lovely photo of a woman breastfeeding her adopted son and thought of you.
Good luck.
sorry, this is a serious and wonderfult thing you are doing, but I had to laugh at the part where you mentioned or asked rather…
[quote]..I gotta ask, how could it not freak someone out to watch their nipples going up and down in the breastshield? [unquote]
To answer that question, OMG I ‘asked’ that of myself also, I felt like a cow..it was weird! If that doesn’t humble someone seeing their nipples do a dance in the breastshield, I dunno what will!
-Candy
Somehow, I missed this post. Sorry Liana!
I think it’s very weird watching your nipples in the breastshield. very weird, indeed. Then when you remove it, the nipples remain in these weird shapes for a little while. Ugh.
but in the end it is worth it.
How are the new breastshields coming along? Let me know, becuase I might get them if they are working better! Did you get the soft ones or just larger shields?
I got the softfit shields first, which were more comfortable, but there was still a lot of rubbing the sides. I just bought the large PersonalFit (the soft ones don’t come in large) and they are much more comfortable. After 5 minutes, I am much less aware that they are there (but for the jutting bottles in front of my chest). Try the larger size and see what you think.
The way I don’t get freaked out by the pulling and stretching of the nipples during pumping is I don’t look.
I read a book. I only pump one at a time–I vastly prefer reading a book while pumping longer than just getting it over with. It’s kind of a nice, quiet time for me.
Sounds like you’re doing a great job.
Congratulations!! Im so glad you are seeing some success!