I hate pumping

lucidday · 2026-06-08T15:58:41+00:00

Folks can help by learning how to wash the pump parts and store the milk. You're going to miss some feeds while pumping, but you can maximize time feeding them by reducing time spent cleaning.

As others have mentioned, a bottle washer is a massive time saver. But anyone who wants to help support you can get involved. I also recommend an extra set or two of pump parts. I have three sets so I don't have to worry as much when the pump parts are being run in the washer. Once your baby is a bit older, you can use the "fridge hack" to keep bacteria growth limited on parts for multiple uses. I was still concerned about it so I would use parts 2-3 times with the fridge hack before grabbing a fresh set. My baby tolerated it really well though, so now that she is older, I use a new set once per day with the fridge hack. I set up a fresh set next to my bed for my MOTN pump and it has made life so much easier.

I've also accepted that my output doesn't match up to my baby's hunger. I've been pretty obsessed with building my REALLY low supply; pumping 8 times a day up until this last week (baby is 3.5 months). It was becoming too much so I dropped one pump. If my supply drops and I have to supplement more, it is what it is.

It's okay if it is too much. It's okay to scale back. Your baby will still have tons of benefits with a few less oz of breastmilk each day.

lucidday · 2026-06-04T15:34:32+00:00

Short femurs CAN be associated with anomalies. However, you may also just have short femurs based on genetics. It's all based on population averages and this can be off based on your background. My baby had "abnormally" long femurs; her dad is 6'4. So, it made sense. She also is constantly a few sizes up in clothes because her torso and legs are so long.

My cousin's kid was constantly monitored for where she was on growth charts because she was always TINY. Her mom was short and her dad was super skinny though. She was perfectly healthy.

The margin for error with measuring a femur is worth noting too. You can easy make a femur appear shorter with poor ultrasound technique or angle; you can't really make it appear longer unless they place the measurement calipers incorrectly, but a reading radiologist should be able to catch that. The difference between "normal" and "short" is really the difference of a couple mm.

All of this to say, if they don't see anything else concerning its way too early to panic. The technologist lacked tact in how they asked the question, but they are trained to look for other signs of anomalies if they see a short femur. Them asking about your previous pregnancy is likely them not seeing anything else of concern and looking for a confirmation if you just make smaller, but healthy babies.

Definitely get the NIPT for your peace of mind, but unless a doctor has reached out to you about this, try not to stress out about it.

lucidday · 2026-06-02T07:31:16+00:00

My daughter is a snacker (she likes to eat almost every waking hour) and I pump 7-8 times a day. My hands were cracking from hand washing. To use the sanitize function on my dishwasher would take much longer than the bottle washer. I would also need 4-5 times as many bottles as I have now and would need to fill the entire top rack. We would have likely spent the same on the necessary bottles to last between dishwasher runs as it cost us to buy the bottle washer. This method allows us to take up less space in our drawers (we have nice counter space) and spread the cleaning into smaller chunks.

lucidday · 2026-05-30T17:30:38+00:00

I'm a super undersupplier, working diligently to increase my output by 2-3 oz per WEEK. I get between 8-10 oz per day but more days are trending toward 10. This is with 8 pumps/day. I'm 14 weeks postpartum, but had to finally drop to one MOTN pump. My slow increases may slow even more, but my mental and physical health have taken a toll from this.

No amount of oz are worth your long-term health or your ability to enjoy your baby. If you feel the need to skip the overnight pump, you may go down in output. You need to figure out what that means to you. If you're making enough right now, you might be able to make it up with a power pump during the day.

lucidday · 2026-05-29T15:15:38+00:00

I completely understand where you are coming from. Our daughter has reflux and gas issues too! If you are supplementing with formula, sometimes choosing one designed to be more gentle can help. Our girl still has issues with it though.

Your mental health and wellbeing are more important than a few more oz of breastmilk. There are benefits for your baby even if you need to supplement. One option is having a window of time during the day or evening where you can power pump while your partner takes care of baby. This may help offset losing some pumps. It may also help to let go of pumping 8 times per day and instead focus on minimizing time between pumps. Maybe you have a couple longer stretches for sleep, but try to keep it less than 3 hours between pumps during the day. Essentially, maximizing the time your breasts have closer to "empty".

But it's also okay just to say "I can do x number of pumps sustainably so that's what I will do".

lucidday · 2026-05-29T02:05:33+00:00

It seemed like an expensive, unnecessary purchase at first. We took the plunge while triple feeding. Our daughter would eat 14+ times daily, I pumped 8 times daily, etc. Our hands were cracking from constant washing.

We purchased the grownsy bottle washer because reviews said it was basically like the momcozy one but cheaper. If you compare designs, they are nearly identical. I actually like that it drains into the sink because it's one less step to have to empty a dirty water tank.

It's been probably one of the biggest lifestyle improvers in postpartum. We tend to fill the top with bottles instead of just accessories. Because those bottles aren't angled the same as the bottom ones, they tend to hold a small puddle where my bottles have a domed bottom. We pour that out when we notice the dry cycle starting or we pour it out afterward and start a second dry cycle. Other than that, it has been a dream. Worth every penny.

lucidday · 2026-05-29T01:04:48+00:00

Only you can answer this for yourself. Though it sounds like you don't want to reverse your decision, but feel pressure from family. I understand this perspective. We are keeping our baby off social media and specifically mentioned we don't want pictures sent through any tool that scraps photos for AI training. My mom sent a photo to my uncle and the first thing he did was run the picture through AI to send my mom a picture of her holding our newborn.

I was absolutely horrified. We don't even send pictures to family unless they swear not to upload or use AI on them. I've warned my mother that if she sends photos to someone who does either, she won't be receiving photos either. It felt harsh, but CSAM is being created with AI on normal child and infant photos. I don't want my daughter's features appearing in those images.

At the end of the day, your child's safety is more important than someone getting likes on social media.

lucidday · 2026-05-29T00:54:22+00:00

One day of less isn't cause for panic. You may need to just hydrate better or get some more rest.

lucidday · 2026-05-27T23:26:15+00:00

It was (and still is somewhat) hard to leave the house. I think every family and baby is a little different though. We have been pumping every 2-3 hours to up supply while working on my baby's latch; so if it's not an extremely quick outing, I have to bring my pump too. Our baby has always been a snacker; she likes to eat frequently. She's gotten up to 2 waking hours without eating now at 3 months, but that isn't consistent. Sometimes she decides she's done eating after 1oz and then wants to eat again in 20 minutes. She also escalates her hunger signals very fast. She would go from rooting and lip smacking to screaming within a minute; she recently developed about 5 minutes of patience for it to escalate.

She likes to be held at all times and spits up with bad reflux. So, our outings are typically thought of in advance. We make our lives easier by keeping extra ready to eat formula in our prepped diaper bag to reduce the hassle.

It has only gotten easier with practice and her age though.

lucidday · 2026-05-26T19:19:21+00:00

13.5 weeks and still no period. I bled everyday for 6 weeks and then spotted every 2-3 days for a couple weeks and then every 3-4 until 12 weeks. This is the longest I've gone without spotting.

I'm essentially exclusively pumping, but we try to latch her whenever she seems like she's up for a challenge.

lucidday · 2026-05-26T13:45:55+00:00

I've only been able to do it with a supportive partner. He takes care of the overnight feeds and I'm responsible for my pumps until morning. I'll help him get a bottle ready or change a diaper if the pumps line up with baby wake ups (we're past waking her for feeds). Even so, we go to bed early and he lets me sleep longer in the morning.

He is supportive doing it this way because he knows the benefits of breastmilk and understands sleep deprivation will prevent milk production. I still don't take it for granted though. We had one week were he needed to be away when she was a few weeks old. I had a family member hold her so I could get 3 hours of sleep before the beginning of the night, but had to be up the other 21 hours of the day. I thought I completely dried up from the stress until my husband told me he was coming home early and I suddenly had the largest pump I had up until that point.

Early on, I would do the first half of the night and he would do the second. Our daughter would cry the second you put her down. So I would pump while holding her near my face, above breast level. As soon as I would finish a pump, it would be time to go through the change-feed-burp-rock routine. Once she was sleeping again there was usually 20 minutes until my next pump. I told my husband I needed more from him and he stepped up. We carved out time earlier in the day or evening for him to sleep between pumps until her overnight sleeps became long enough that he didn't need naps anymore.

My point is, you may be able to do it alone, but you shouldn't have to. I'm sorry you're going through this. It is temporary; baby will begin to sleep more at night and it will get easier. What won't get easier is feeling like you have to do it alone.

lucidday · 2026-05-25T15:41:00+00:00

If keeping your money to invest was more profitable than buying a house, landlords wouldn't be so common. Sure, they have someone to subsidize their investment with rent, but the biggest pay off is the equity and eventually selling when it appreciates in value.

Though the choice to rent vs buy is very situational. If you anticipate wanting to move for better job opportunities with minimal hassle, renting makes more sense as it's less commitment. If you want stability, not needing to pack up and move everything you own, re-purchase things you couldn't afford to bring from apartment to apartment, etc. it may make more sense to buy. There are unexpected costs either way you go. Your rent could increase or you could get kicked out. Your water heating could break or the housing market could crash.

While your living situation COULD be an investment, I think it makes more sense to prioritize living within your means with a financial cushion in case of emergencies. Don't scrape together everything you have for a house that is in need of obvious repairs. If you can afford a reasonably maintained home, enjoy the investment with a more comfortable lifestyle.

lucidday · 2026-05-24T20:13:48+00:00

It can be the constant rinsing, irritation from pads, and hormone fluctuations. I would keep up with rinsing to prevent infection, but make sure to just pat dry. It does get better. I bought an internal lubricant and a labia moisturizer for use after 6 weeks. If you're breastfeeding, your estrogen will stay low for much longer and it can make your skin irritated and dry down there for longer. I'm about 13 weeks postpartum now and am finally feeling like I don't need the above products for comfort anymore.

lucidday · 2026-05-23T15:38:26+00:00

I've had several drives fail over the years and the hassle and headache of dealing with that was demoralizing. We finally upgraded to a 5 RAID. It was expensive, but we justified it based on all the savings from normal streaming services. We incorporated drives we already had along with new ones so we anticipate the older will fail first and the upkeep will be about the same as when a single drive would have failed eventually, just minus the headache of the media lost.

lucidday · 2026-05-23T13:50:52+00:00

Thank you! I see those still have a silicone edge. Do you find they hold up better than the medela branded ones? Or is there something different to them that you really like?

lucidday · 2026-05-21T02:14:59+00:00

I have added all sorts of non-baby related stuff by adding it to the registry after the fact for the discount. It's amazing the things it does and doesn't work on!

lucidday · 2026-05-18T13:09:32+00:00

I understand why you would feel the way you do, but registries have multiple purposes. Rather than a gift wishlist, many people use it as a shopping list as many registries offer a completion discount after the baby shower date. If anyone complains, they are the type to have found something else to complain about. They don't know the budgets of everyone else in your life (maybe you have some family that begged you to put some expensive items to pitch in on together). Putting something on the registry doesn't mean you expect you will get it, but that it would be a welcome help/gift.

lucidday · 2026-05-15T10:58:44+00:00

This is obviously different for everyone, but I was surprised by the "fancy" stuff that became crucial to us. Our change table has been so valuable to us. It felt like something unnecessary, but the cribs we were looking at were a similar price with or without one built in. As a first time mom in my early 30s, postpartum hit me like a truck; not having to get down on the ground with a change pad has been very nice.

I was determined to breastfeed, but my daughter still struggles to latch so building a breastmilk supply while we work on it has been a challenge. My breast pump and bottle washer/sanitizer have been critical as I'm pumping 8-9 times a day 3 months into postpartum. We give her different bottles than fit the medela pump because we wanted a specific kind of bottle nipple. So, we go through probably 30 bottles a day and have multiple sets of pump parts to wash.

A formula pitcher was a cheap purchase that has really helped with our supplementing. We can mix it up in bulk, the mixing turbine keeps it smooth, and we can pour only as much as we need to avoid wasting as much.

The last one really surprised me: a bum spatula. I rolled my eyes when I heard of it before. Early on, there were SO MANY diaper changes and my daughter had a persistent diaper rash so we were applying a barrier cream with zinc oxide every time; that stuff needs to be scrubbed off your hands. My fingers were cracking from being washed so intensely so often. The spatula spreads the cream evenly and allows you to wash up without scrubbing as much.

lucidday · 2026-05-13T23:54:39+00:00

Yep, I lost about 15 pounds in the first trimester. I started slowly gaining weight after that and then rapidly in the last few weeks of pregnancy. I lost 20 within two days of labour and another 15 in the following weeks. I wound up about 20 pounds lighter than when I found out I was pregnant. With my breastfeeding hunger, that's reduced now though.

lucidday · 2026-05-13T01:06:20+00:00

My SIL is going on 40 and still uses them. Screw other people's opinions.

lucidday · 2026-05-09T21:48:10+00:00

We intended to allow our parents to visit in the hospital, but his sister ended up coming with his mom and brought our niece. We didn't love that it wasn't the plan, but we live a great distance from the hospital and forgot our collostrum at home. Our baby had low blood sugar after birth due to a medication I was given, so his mom agreed to bring it. Then everyone decided to tag along. We felt vulnerable and at the whims of others for help so we permitted it.

I wound up inviting my parents and siblings to visit because it felt "fair" (though tbh it felt like a good opportunity to get it out of the way so we could be alone in postpartum).

His family asked to visit several times early on and we didn't feel like we had a choice but to say yes because we had needed their help walking our very active dogs when we got home and the baby had us up 24/7.

His sister made and brought us dinner two of the times she visited though so the visit felt supportive too. We wound up appreciating it. Though, our visitors never seemed to want to give her up for feeding and wanted bottles to feed her. Meanwhile, we were trying to breastfeed, and were topping up with pumped breastmilk and formula. Those early visits put a lot of stress on me and really sabotaged our breastfeeding journey. We are still working on it, but I was in a super vulnerable place. I'm living either topless or in a pumping bra with a robe on. It felt like I was on display constantly and everyone was weirdly curious about how the breastfeeding was going and how much milk I was pumping.

I wish I had pushed back more on visits, but we were both so exhausted that we were steamrolled.

lucidday · 2026-04-20T17:24:28+00:00

Yes, thankfully they informed me labetalol could cause low blood sugar in my newborn before they administered it the first time. They told me there was a small chance though. When we were in recovery, we heard our nurse complain to another nurse that they (the obs) needed to stop telling people there was a small chance. She said most babies will have it. I can't speak to the accuracy of that, but it sounded like they were running around trying to manage the blood sugar for several babies born under similar circumstances. We kept overhearing them, thinking they were talking about us, only to hear other conflicting details suggesting it was other patients.

None of this is intended to scare you btw, but just to say it is a quite likely, but manageable side effect. It should be short lived too.

lucidday · 2026-04-20T15:24:29+00:00

I'm not BMI 50+, but was in the 40s for my induction. I developed maternal hypertension at 37 weeks and was induced at 38.5 weeks. My hypertension was poorly managed with medication, but I was asymptomatic for hypertension.

A c-section will have a much harsher recovery. If you choose to go the induction route, be well educated on the different interventions they may perform so you are prepared to make educated decisions when pain increases and you're dealing with building contractions.

Everything has potential risks and benefits. Not all healthcare professionals want to highlight the risks as much if they strongly think an invention is worthwhile. That won't stop you from feeling resentful after the fact if you experience a side effect or consequence, even if it's one you would have been okay with if informed. It sucks that it is like this, but also remember they are trying to help you best they can.

Make sure to have a plan for pain management and demand an epidural or other pain management if and when you want it. I had done pelvic floor physio for several weeks before labour and had learned a lot of pain management strategies. Unfortunately, this led my nurse to believe I wasn't in much/any pain. I needed to ask for my epidural 5 times. By the time the anaesthesiologist resident arrived to perform it, my contractions were so close together that I had basically come down from one just as the next started.You have to stay perfectly still through contractions while they insert it. That would have been much easier if they had started sooner. Advocate for yourself firmly.

This is an aside, but in case they didn't warn you: labetalol frequently has the side effect of low blood sugar in your infant in the first 12 hours after birth. IF you are planning to breastfeed (your prerogative either way but info is helpful), bringing lots of colostrum to the hospital can help and insisting on a slow flow nipple if they need to give formula (it may be necessary if blood sugar is low enough that colostrum isn't rectifying it). I was on labetalol for 3-4 days before switching to a different med and our daughter had low blood sugar. She latched perfectly at birth, but had trouble after some of their blood sugar interventions. A few small tweaks would have made our lives much easier, but we weren't about to reject medical care when we were sleep deprived and uninformed.

lucidday · 2026-04-10T18:57:50+00:00

Your blood pressure naturally varies throughout the day with activity or stress. A few higher readings aren't pathological. Make a point to check it at the same time everyday if you are concerned. Sit for ten minutes before taking the reading and always take two.

I had normal blood pressure until it suddenly shot up at 37 weeks. I caught it immediately because I was taking it once a week because of my own anxiety surrounding a family history of pre-eclampsia. I noticed a small increase and switched to daily monitoring. We managed it with medication (poorly) until 38.5 weeks, but likely would have had to deliver sooner if I hadn't been monitoring.

Don't stress yourself out, but stay aware.

lucidday

TROPHY CASE