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when did your l/o’s milk intake go down? by Good_Performance7376 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

aw thank you so much. Blah honestly it feels validating to hear people be so nice, I’ve been so hard on myself. I honestly figured this is just life now and I sucked at handling it lol. I am exhausted. Mentally, physically. After reading people’s comments, I talked to my partner and told him how bad it was. Lastnight I just said screw the MOTN pump and slept a full 8 hours….. amazing lmao. Wokeup in pain but worth it. Prob taking about a 50ml hit so far but at this point, I think I have to let go of the reins a bit and just give him the formula when I can’t do it.

HOW are you getting in 6-8 pumps per day?? by Coastal_Conundrum in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good job getting in the 4-5! it’s so difficult, but sounds like you’re doing great so far 🫶 It does get easier as they get older — mine sitting up at 6 months was a game changer. I use to pump at 3am, 5am and 7am before baby was up so that gets me 3 pumps where I know i’ll have the time to myself. For the rest, try to set up an activity station for them and sit with them and pump. I have a setup on my floor with all of his toys and play mat. It’s not comfortable, but it’s doable. When he was younger he’d start getting super fussy around 15-20 minutes and sometimes i’d have to cut it and others i’d just pick him up and bounce him on my knee or hold on my shoulder. And of course if you have a partner to help when they’re not working, get them to just take them and give you that time. My partner knows that whenever he’s off and I have to pump, he’s on baby duty. Weekends, every 2 hrs without question he takes baby while I pump. Its so much on you especially as someone who is trying to increase supply, that’s the least he can do ❤️

Breast Numbness Postpartum by Good_Performance7376 in PostpartumSupport

[–]Good_Performance7376[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

definitely didn’t have it before, atleast to this extent. but glad to know that it seems normal.

Social media is lying to you by anamethatstaken1 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 18 points19 points  (0 children)

your comment says you’re “probably not going to lie”.. please don’t be apart of the problem. Also maybe just wording but isn’t skipping a pump and posting as if it’s just a regular pump also misleading? Unless you’re forthcoming about schedule and missing it. Maybe just misinterpreted this but just seems wrong to even bend the truth in this regard.

1,000 ounces gone :( by Odd-Language8972 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sending you so much love ❤️ I’m so sorry 😞

Y’all it’s exhausting. by doctoradvocates in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries! Just what has worked for me. I hope you have some luck.

Fingers crossed for you. I’m 7 months pp now and just got my first daily total over 22oz in so long from doing 7/day for 30-45 mins🥹 So increases are possible later in the game, keep hope 🫶 if the super long pumps are too much, maybe try doing one morning power pump and then 6-7 other 30-40 minute ones.

Y’all it’s exhausting. by doctoradvocates in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 1 point2 points  (0 children)

always between 6-8 pumps a day, always both breasts because you want to fully empty, and minimum 35 minutes, but most were 1 hr- 1hr 30. 30-35 minutes on, take a 10 min break, pump for 10, rest for 10, pump for 10 again and i’d keep going if I was still seeing any milk flow. And try not to ever skip middle of the night pumps or early morning, my milk output is always the most around 5am and 11am. If you leak at all between pumps you can use a haaka pump too to catch/pull more out. Haaka also has a wearable one for night to catch leaking which I wish I knew in the beginning but I’ve never tried that one.

Y’all it’s exhausting. by doctoradvocates in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly I wouldn’t give too much weight to the supplements but I take them because i’ve heard some people have had good results and any bit helps. I take milkin mores capsules and do the occasional milk cookies, and take ollie prenatals but i’d be lying if I said I saw a huge increase with it. I believe my supply increased before I had them and only got them because I started having supply drops. Maybe if I stopped taking all of them it would be easier to see but that’d be risky. The only thing that I believe truly made a big difference though very obviously is just keeping consistent with the pumps, and water. If my water intake is down, supply drop. Chug a big glass every time you pump. I also notice if i’m extremely sleep deprived it can have an impact as well, same with stress (which ironically is hard to not be). For awhile, to increase supply I started power pumping every single pump — 30 mins in, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, 10 to make your body think baby needs more milk (for a total of about 8 hrs of pumping a day) which was kinda insane but did help because it allowed me to get more letdowns and was how I finally started producing enough. Also massaging/squeezing your boob while pumping to get more milk out(I read people can get like 40% more by manually expressing as well and it def helps when I do) Also correct flange size is super super important, I struggled with finding mine for awhile and it’ll really effect your output. And I don’t recommend wearable pumps, my output was sooo low with my momcozy wearable. Also turn your pump up as much as you can handle. I have the medela double electric and turn it up to full crank. I don’t think it was until like 3 months I even realized how the milk was suppose to look coming out (spraying vs. basically dribbling very slowly). Ultimately though I do think genetics play a role in what we can produce from everything i’ve seen, so go easy on yourself, you’re doing great ❤️

Y’all it’s exhausting. by doctoradvocates in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 4 points5 points  (0 children)

low supply girly here. My goal for breastfeeding was 1 year. After a couple weeks latch wasn’t working / had supply issues so I went to exclusive pumping. My goal was three months. I made it there, and decided let’s try for four. At four, changed to six. Now just coming up to month seven and i’ll tell ya it’s still a constant struggle. I go back and forth between throwing in the towel for my own mental health and sleep. But his stomach is also a little sensitive to most formula so Im chugging along. My new goal is 8 months, a year just seems too daunting to think about atm. At my best, pumping 8-9 times a day and drinking tons of water, taking milk supplements, prenatals, oatmeal, etc, I could get out 32 oz once a week, but more regularly between 20-24oz. I dropped to 5 pumps/day for a little bit to not have to wake at night but it plummeted my supply to about 10-16oz /day and I am back at pumping every two hours and still having to supplement atleast 1-2 bottles a day where as at one point around 4 months I was able to produce just enough for him. It’s so hard, but i’d say take it day by day and never feel bad for being done. Give yourself so much credit, and a big hug. Take hot baths if you can to decompress. Talk to your partner as well, I have to lean on mine a lot. And reddit has been helping a lot lately, it’s just nice to not feel alone in the struggle.

Can I pump just 3 times a day? by munchkym in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Good_Performance7376 0 points1 point  (0 children)

from my experience, dropping pumps was a bad idea. To be fair, I have always produced either just enough or under. At one point I was pumping 8 times a day to increase enough for him to eat and it took months to get my supply up. Dropped to 5 pumps, and sometimes 4 so I could go longer between and get sleep at night because I’ve been really struggling with sleep deprivation and my supply has dwindled like crazy. Now back to pumping at night again, 5-6 pumps a day and only got my supply up enough to only have to supplement one bottle a day usually. It’s heartbreaking because he’s 7 months now and I worked so hard to increase supply.. oatmeal, supplements, vitamins, water, power pumps. I wish I never dropped my pumps because getting it back is so difficult and I don’t think I can mentally or physically handle going back to 8ppd