sometimes arden wants to eat every hour. this is just a bit exhausting, especially at night. anna wants to help relieve some of this burden (what a wonderful wifey) so today i pumped with the intention of anna giving arden a bottle.
we haven't actually gotten to the bottle yet. we needed to clean and sterilize things first. and we didn't to try when she was starving. and we wanted to go for a walk. and and and :)
suffice to say, i am excited to try. also any tips are greatly appreciated regarding pumping, storing, and feeding. we've read-up all the info in our books, and lots of things online, but first-hand experience could be more helpful. like regarding my sore right nipple. i think i just pumped too long on it, or something, but it's making feeding arden on that side painful.
ok, i hope everyone enjoys their new year. arden, anna, and i wish you all the very best in 2010. :)
I just started pumping (to store for going back to work), so no
ReplyDeletereal advice to give. I kinda hate it so far...but getting that extra sleep might make it worthwhile!
Hope you all have a very happy new year! The pic is adorable!
Regarding the last comment - several people I know said they hate pumping, but I actually think it's pretty cool. The process is kind of tedious, but you can actually see the milk squirting out which is fascinating, and I really love that we can maintain a breastmilk-only diet but I can still go to work for a whole day (or to the spa, or whatever).
ReplyDeleteI recommend getting a hands-free type device for pumping. I have the Medela Freestyle which comes with bands to hook the cones/bottles to a nursing bra, but there are also band/bra type things out there that hold the pump parts in place. Then you can eat/read/whatever while pumping, and you don't have to worry about spilling if you don't hold your hands perfectly still.
If you want to build up a stash of milk, I followed recommendations about pumping every morning for a while (when there's the most milk), immediately following a feeding. Having a bunch of milk stored in the freezer is nice because then you don't have to worry about Arden having enough food when you're away from her. We use the Lansinoh storage bags (much cheaper than the Medela) for freezing. We started out freezing in bottles, but one of the glass ones cracked and we didn't have enough bottles anyway. If he's going to be getting the milk in the next couple of days, then it just goes in a bottle in the fridge.
I'm not sure about the sore nipple - maybe next time make sure it's positioned exactly in the center of the cone so it's not hitting the sides?