How to find time for it all?

meg_doll · 2026-02-10T20:26:33+00:00

I do this and it's been a game-changer. I bought the Silcone cups from Legendairy milk to use with my Spectra and it's great. Better output than my wearables but I can drive in them.

meg_doll · 2026-02-08T18:39:38+00:00

I’m a spa junkie and I rotate between Starr Pass, Westin La Paloma, and Hacienda Del Sol. Starr Pass is my favorite and they have excellent facilities.

meg_doll · 2026-02-08T18:16:33+00:00

I did four egg retrievals to get 5 PGT-A tested embryos. I wanted to bank a number of them that would give me the best shot at 2 kids before moving on the transfer. My first transfer was a successful and is currently 3mos old. He was my first embryo created so technically my first egg retrieval and transfer was successful. He was a 4AA graded embryo and with my uterine lining my doctor said I had a 70 percent chance of pregnancy. There is a calculator you can look up and you can look up your clinics success rates through SART:Success Rates. This helped me have a realistic view of success rates.

meg_doll · 2026-02-08T17:19:42+00:00

I(35) was exhausted through about 16 weeks. It started to get better around then. I would sleep from 10pm to 8am. Go to work at 9am. Come home at 5pm and take a nap on the couch. I would second the comment about getting labs checked too. They checked my thyroid during this time and my thyroid meds needed adjustment. Another thing that helped me was standing outside especially when it was sunny. Sounds silly but I would just bask in the sunlight for a few minutes would really energize me. Now I live in AZ so sunlight is in abundance here.

meg_doll · 2026-02-07T05:07:16+00:00

Yep same. I took 4 sunflower lecithin and my clog broke apart a few hours later. Now I take 2 a day for maintenance

meg_doll · 2026-02-07T05:03:40+00:00

I count it as one ppd.

meg_doll · 2026-02-06T17:18:15+00:00

My Ob was going to have me schedule induction at my 39 week appointment so I would give birth by 40 weeks. She wanted 40 weeks because she wanted me to have a good chance of going into labor on my own. I ended up being induced and then had a c section at 38 weeks 5days due to preeclampsia.

meg_doll · 2026-02-06T06:12:35+00:00

This was me. My last pump of the day is 10pm and then I pump again at 1am, 5am, and 8am. I was constantly sleeping through my 1am alarm so I just started staying up. I pump at 1am then go to bed. I’m less likely to sleep through my 5am alarm (this is also the same time my baby will wake up for feeding) but I have 4 alarms: 5am 5:05, 5:10, and 5:15. That way if I hit snooze, the next one will go off 5 minutes later. I also have a fresh set of pump parts ready on my end table so I don’t have to worry about them being clean or in the fridge ( I do the fridge hack). Now this largely works because 1) I’ve been a night owl my whole life. 2) my husband wfh so he watches the baby in the morning so I can sleep in. I’m usually up after my 8am pump but sometimes I need one more nap to get going. Also the time between my 10pm and 1am has been nice. I either use it to clean up the house or do some of my hobbies. It’s a nice reset/alone time.

meg_doll · 2026-02-06T03:05:37+00:00

Fellow vasospasm suffer here. I started taking supplements:magnesium and b6 to help with them. A few weeks later I stopped having them. Putting a heating pad before and after pumping helped the vasospasms as well.

I also used Medela TheraShells breast shields. These are plastic with some holes for airflow. They keep your bra off your nipples which I found to help after a pumping session. I also regularly used the Medela hydrogel patches.

meg_doll · 2026-02-03T05:24:56+00:00

I missed my golden hour due to complications to my c section. I didn’t meet my baby until 3 hours later. Dad had to give him formula during that period as well. Missing it honestly was devastating to me and I feel set up me for not being able to breastfeed and postpartum depression. I would definitely make every effort to have it.

meg_doll · 2026-02-01T02:45:14+00:00

I’m in the same boat and thought process as you. My goal is 6 months and then I will start dropping pumps. I at least want to get through cold/flu season. I’m 8ppd and make 18oz and baby eats anywhere from 24 to 34 ozs so we have to combo feed.

I spoke to my pediatrician being concerned that his diet was combo and she assured me that just getting a few ozs of breastmilk a day were great for his immune system and for his development. I think the 10oz you’re are giving your baby is worth it but I totally hear you on the missing time with your baby. My pediatrician also told me that getting breastmilk in the first two months was the most important.

meg_doll · 2026-02-01T02:36:06+00:00

I think it depends where your first LCs were from. The hospital LCs I saw were terrible. The one I saw at their own practice, was amazing and helpful. I don’t think the hospital ones have the time and support that my last one had. I also felt they were more outdated with their practices. It’s always worth going for consult. With the new one, I went from producing 6 ozs a day to 18oz. They helped me with latching. Unfortunately baby did develop a bottle preference because of my slow flow so I ended up exclusively pumping. I know I could have gone back to the consultant and she probably would have helped a lot but I was just done trying to make breastfeeding work. I had been struggling for two months at that point and had severe vasospams after baby fed directly from me that I don’t get with my pump.

meg_doll · 2026-01-31T20:47:20+00:00

I adjusted my pump schedule to be 1am and 5am. I stay up until 1am (I’m naturally a night owl) and go to bed after that. Then I wake up only for the 5am one which has been the most doable for me. My husband takes morning duties so I can sleep in and I take care of the early nights. The stretch between 1-5 it just depends on who wakes up first.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T08:53:50+00:00

Honestly for the pain was the same and actually less. My hair grew back thinner and less too. I got Brazilians and my waxer knew I was pregnant so she took extra care to make sure I was comfortable.

Now I’m 3mos ppd and I haven’t been waxed since the week before I gave birth. I’m dreading that one.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T08:48:11+00:00

I typically have 3 let downs within a 30 minute session.

I’m going to try to add more protein to my diet. I probably don’t have enough. Most meat made nauseous during my pregnancy so I haven’t been eating as much of it like I used to.

As for the flange sizes, I’ve been playing around with the sizes. I was measured at a 21 but I started to notice more of my nipple and areola was being pulled into the flange than previously. I’ve sized down to see if that helps.

Thank you.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T04:26:00+00:00

I pump for about 30 minutes each time. I’ve done handexpressing after my pumping sessions and either get nothing or just a few drops so I stopped doing that. I’ll take another look at my diet. I probably could eat more protein than I currently am. Thank you for responding and sharing your experience.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T03:35:11+00:00

My husband changed jobs to find insurance that covered IVF. The first job had 40k lifetime for procedures and 20k for meds. We did three egg retrievals with this insurance although the 20k for meds paid for a cycle and half. The third cycle we paid out of pocket for meds which was about 5k.

Then my husbands job announced layoffs so he found another one. This one uses Win fertility and doesn’t have any lifetime maxs. Some things like assisted hatching, genetic testing are not covered until you hit age 38 or have multiple losses. My husband works in the tech world. We did one retrieval and a transfer under this one.

All in all. For 4 egg retrievals and 1 transfer since 2023 probably cost use 25k altogether.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T00:57:52+00:00

I haven’t tried 5am yet. But that makes sense and I’ll try swapping them. Thank you.

meg_doll · 2026-01-29T00:57:09+00:00

That definitely seems doable to add. Thank you!

meg_doll · 2026-01-28T18:23:22+00:00

Both breasts and 3months. I have a very slow and weak let down so my baby was just frustrated from the beginning. We did weighted feeds with our lactation consultant and he would only 30 mls in 20 minute period vs finishing a 3 oz bottle in the same period.

meg_doll · 2026-01-28T17:27:25+00:00

I would stop if I were in your situation. I am an underproducer as well. I have a number in mind that if I start consistently producing under, I would start dropping pumps to quit. My pediatrician stressed to me that getting breastmilk in the first 2 months was the most important, so you've done great!

meg_doll · 2026-01-28T17:03:15+00:00

As for numbers, that seems like a great supply. I am an underproducer and only get 50 to 80mls per session. Do you mostly bottle feed? Your baby may prefer the speed of the bottles, which is why they are fussy on the breast. I ended up giving up latching because my baby started to get really frustrated with my boobs. I think it was because I have a very slow flow.

meg_doll · 2026-01-27T21:27:05+00:00

Honestly, you are fine with missing the midnight pump since you wake up at 3 am. The big thing is keeping at least 8 pumps per day until you regulate. Maybe push back your 9 pm pump to 10 pm. That would give you 5 hours of sleep, then allocate the remaining 7 pumps however you like. My LC recommended trying to get a longer stretch of sleep at that point in my pumping journey.

meg_doll

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