I feel like this is a topic that can tend to stir up a lot of opinions and beliefs. Before I even get into it, I just want to say that I’m one of those people who believe’s “fed is best”. Each Mom has had their own experience with breastfeeding and I’m not here to judge somebody for how they choose to feed their child. If you aren’t able to breastfeed or it just simply isn’t your thing, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I think people need to respect each persons journey and decision when it comes to how you choose to feed your child.

Now that I got that out there, I’ll move on with what we’ve been doing. When I was pregnant I had decided that I was going to try breastfeeding and pumping, but if it didn’t work out for some reason, I wasn’t going to get upset about it. I called my insurance and got my pump; I use the Spectra and love it.  Most insurance companies will provide you with a breast pump free of charge, so make sure you get a hold of your insurance to take advantage of that. When it came I was pretty busy getting everything else ready for baby’s arrival that I kind of just threw it in the closet and didn’t look into it too much. Well, if you’ve been following me for a little while you know he showed up almost 5 weeks early and mama had no clue how to breastfeed or work that pump!

Normally when you have your child you do your skin to skin and can start breastfeeding if you choose to. I didn’t have that option with him being born early, he was in distress and wasn’t able to breathe well on his own. I was only able to hold him for a minute and then he was taken away to the NICU so that they could care for him properly. My nurse asked me if I was going to breastfeed and I said I was planning on trying. She gave me the hospital pump so that I could start pumping right away. As I said before I had no clue what I was doing, thankfully I had the most amazing labor and delivery nurse, and she showed me how to use it. Once I finished pumping the nurses joked that I was an overachiever because of how easy my labor was and the amount I had pumped for the first time. I literally laughed because it was such a small amount, but what did I know!

Little Maurice ended up being in the NICU a total of 10 days and every time I went to see him I would bring the pumped milk I would get. He was eating through a tube in his nose at first and then they started giving him a bottle and they would use the milk I brought. I did meet with a lactation specialist one day in the NICU so that I could learn more about breastfeeding. She helped me get him latched and showed me what I needed to do to. Because he was a preemie baby they wanted me to be extra aware with how much milk he was consuming to be sure he was gaining enough weight. It is also a lot more work for them to breastfeed because of the sucking, they tire themselves out a lot quicker.

The majority of the first month I spent pumping and feeding him with a bottle. I felt it was easier for me to see how much he was eating and knew he wouldn’t become overtired. Right around 1 month I started trying to breastfeed a little bit and he adjusted really easily. He was such an easy baby when it came to eating from pretty much any bottle (we used these and these) I gave him or breastfeeding. I will say at times nursing was more convenient because you don’t have to pump then feed or heat up bottles. What I did like about pumping was that I could see how much he was eating and I could get help from Mo or my Mom in the middle of the night when I was super sleep deprived.

When I first started the whole process I told myself I’d try it for 3 months and see how it was going when we got to that point. Since I was home with him and everything was going so smoothly I decided to keep pumping/breastfeeding. I figured by 6 months I’d be done. 6 months rolled around and I just felt I still wasn’t ready to stop. By this point he was no longer breastfeeding. At about 5 months I noticed him not wanting to breastfeed, so we were exclusively pumping from that point on. I also noticed that right before the 6 month mark my milk supply took a hit. This is when my period returned and my hair starting falling out as well, I think hormonally my body was changing.

I started tracking how much milk I was getting each pumping session vs. how many ounces he was eating per day. Right now he is eating around 7 ounces of milk per feeding 5 times a day. As of right now, I’m not producing enough for five full bottles per day. I try to do as much milk per bottle that I can get and then I supplement with formula for the rest. It usually ends up being 5 ounces of milk to 2 ounces of formula. Toward the end of the day it might be less milk depending on the day.

I noticed when he would drink bottles with more formula he would spit up more. It has gotten much better, but he seemed to do much better with the milk than formula. That was a big reason I wanted to keep pumping. When I started producing less I did start to feel a little bit of guilt and disappointment, I wanted to find a way that I could could boost my production. I honestly didn’t expect to feel like that, but I did. As a mother you just want to do what is best for your baby. I have tried a bunch of different things to help boost my milk production like power pumping, drinking Body Armour, drinking beer, eating oatmeal etc. I didn’t notice anything help drastically/ If you have any good tips, send them my way please!

For now I plan on continuing pumping and supplementing with a little bit of formula. I will say that it has been pretty rewarding knowing that I’m providing what has helped nourish my child and helped him to grow. I will forever be amazed at all of the incredible things a women’s body is capable of! Whether you’re breastfeeding, bottle feeding or giving your baby formula, you’re doing great! I think every mama needs a little reminder just how special they are, because growing, birthing and raising a child is a lot of work!

Xoxo,

Danielle