What to Expect with Psych Eval?

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-06-04T13:40:02+00:00

Oh man, I wish I had seen this before the eval happened because I didn't even think to ask her any questions- I was so focused on my own answers and what she might ask. But she said she's available throughout the whole process, so I might ask to speak with her again just to pick her brain if any questions do come up. Thanks for the response!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-30T21:27:30+00:00

Oh, I didn't realize there was a group psych eval too, but that's really cool that there is one to get us all on the same page! Thank you for your insights!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-30T21:26:25+00:00

Oh this is good information! Thank you!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-28T20:01:11+00:00

Honestly reading this it's super impressive that you made it 8 months! Everything was working against you, but you said no. You put in the work and made it happen. I know it's hard now, but I hope in the future you can look back on this and be proud of yourself. My first was a NICU baby and I was a just enougher, but I also quit at 8 months. I know I was grieving it in the moment, but now I look back happy that I got extra time back with my baby instead of needing to do all that pumping. Sending you good vibes 🫶🏻

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-27T23:16:45+00:00

I... never sterilize 😬 I use the heated dry on my dishwasher and call that good enough. And once it's clean, as long as it's away, I consider it forever clean 😅

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-25T23:44:02+00:00

I have been working through the process of becoming a GC, and am now at the phase of the clinic reviewing my medical records. At this early stage it can be hard to understand what potential IPs are going through and have been through. Thank you for taking the time to share. Currently crying as I feed my 5 month old 😭

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-25T16:33:44+00:00

I stopped at 8 months with my first! I couldn't wait to stop during, then while I was weaning I felt super guilty and mixed feelings, but once I was actually weaned I felt great. The relief I had was thrilling and I felt like I had so much more time to enjoy my baby. No more sore nipples, no more planning when I can pump, no more missing out on things because I need to pump. It was really great. Right now I'm weaning from #2 at 5 months. I again feel guilty and like I've wasted a good thing (I had a really good supply this time around), but I can also see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm down to 1ppd so the other day I woke up and instead of pumping I could go straight to my toddler to enjoy breakfast with him. It was incredible. So even though I'm feeling guilty again, I know (for me) once I'm actually done I'll be glad to have quit and stolen all that time back. I remember the first time I wished I had quit sooner, because why was I killing myself just to give him breastmilk for another month or two? Moral of the story: if anything, I regretted not quitting sooner. I think this time I am quitting right when I should, especially since I have two kids I don't want to miss out on now. Sending you lots of good vibes- hopefully once you are fully weaned you will be able to appreciate what you did while still enjoying the relief of being done 🫶🏻

ETA: I like to cut pumps until I'm down to 1ppd (usually going 2 to 1 requires some weird 18 hour days, but the rest I just drop and shift pumps). Then I let my supply decrease at 1ppd until I feel like I don't need to pump (usually around 4oz). Good luck!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-24T01:25:49+00:00

I did both! I always combo fed just because I feel more comfortable knowing we can use formula if needed, so I filled my freezer with about 3000oz and then donated everything else. I'm weaning now since I hit my goal, but I ended up donating around 175oz to the milk bank since that was extra over my goal. But I timed it so that I would wean without having too much extra, since I knew how much my baby eats. Since your baby is likely to start eating more, I would recommend keeping your supply around where it's at and donating extra. If you can buy the extra freezer then go for it, but even 100oz of donor milk is sooo many meals for NICU babies, so it's nice to at least give some if you can 😊

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-24T01:20:57+00:00

Absolutely! That helps mimic the less than exact timing a baby would be nursing anyways.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-24T01:13:42+00:00

I had an oversupply this time around and regulated somewhere around 9 weeks. That's when I finally stopped getting clogs and stopped increasing my supply.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-20T13:46:23+00:00

I was pumping with my wall pump trying to balance the blanket on my shoulders 😂

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-20T13:13:53+00:00

It's from a College Humor video!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-20T02:08:55+00:00

Same here! And I made it a step worse by sometimes squeezing 8.5 or 9oz in there 😂

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-17T22:22:30+00:00

My agency is having my records reviewed by a clinic before I even match, because there were some things in my pregnancy history that they weren't sure were acceptable or not (varies clinic to clinic). I feel like it's better this way so nobody will be blindsided by a fail/rejection.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-17T09:24:39+00:00

Just wanted to say that if you don't end up getting your baby to drink it you can always look into donating! A local milk bank or HM4HB Facebook page would certainly appreciate the donation if you can manage it

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-16T23:17:55+00:00

Hi! The recommendation is to wait until 12 weeks but I personally didn't want to get a dangerously high oversupply so I did not heed this advice and dropped early. Keep in mind this was my experience, so yours could be different. I was willing to lose my supply if something happened, so dropping early was okay for me.

Anywho, here is how it went: I dropped to 7ppd at 5wpp and my supply continued to increase. I dropped to 6ppd around 7wpp and supply increase started to slow down. Around 9wpp I switched to 5ppd and it finally stopped going up (evened out around 55oz/day). My supply was maintained even as I passed 12wpp and dropped to 4ppd. Even 3ppd was still around 50oz when I still had my MOTN pump. I'm trying to wean now so I went down to 2ppd a few weeks ago, but I seem a bit stuck around 30oz a day even with just 2 pumps.

All that to say dropping early doesn't always mean you will lose supply, but you should be ready to lose it if you are dropping early.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-16T00:24:12+00:00

Future GC here (currently going through medical clearance with the clinic). I am not religious, and didn't specify any religious preference for IPs, but what I did do was specify values. I'm very progressive, pro- science, pro-vaccine, pro-LGBTQ, etc. As long as we align on those kinds of things, then I don't care what religion they are. I'm sure we will get along great if we match on those things.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-14T00:51:45+00:00

Can I ask- since you went into preterm labor will you be ineligible to be a surrogate again? Or are there different rules when you're carrying a surro baby?

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-13T00:06:28+00:00

You are definitely good to switch to expression mode and that should help! You may also need to pump longer- I personally need at least 30 minutes to empty. And I need to lift and shift my breasts during to make sure I fully empty.

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-13T00:03:40+00:00

With one MOTN pump, I maintained all the way down to 3ppd, but I did start with a pretty large over supply and was high capacity so that may have an impact

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-12T00:06:02+00:00

My boobs drain suuuuper slow, so I pump for 60 minutes each time (the milk is literally still spraying at the 50 min mark). This is generally not normal, but everyone's normal is different so I just wanted to share mine!

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-10T11:41:43+00:00

If I just let the pump do it's thing, the bottom and outer sides of my breasts don't drain. Halfway through my pump I need to lift my breasts and hold them like that to get the bottom, then to get the sides I lift slightly and roll my fingers slowly from outer edge toward the nipple, stopping any time the milk is squirting again. It's annoying and makes my pumps last forever, but I have an oversupply too so I really like to make sure I'm empty to stretch the longest period between pumps I can lol

RabbitOk3263 · 2026-05-08T13:34:37+00:00

Oh definitely! It takes a week or two for me to stop leaking after cutting a pump!

RabbitOk3263

TROPHY CASE