BEWARE: This gets personal!!!
So, by now most people are aware of my plan to breast feed by pump only. For those of you who were not aware, I am choosing this route because I do not feel that I would be comfortable with baby on there directly, but yet I know the greatness of breast milk is supposed to be better than anything else. So, my resort is to pump exclusively.
Now, since I only plan to do this for 4 weeks (I want to dry up before I go back to work) I cannot see paying $200+ for a good pump. So I've decided to rent a pump and parts from the hospital - it comes with everything that's not disposable, it's been sanitized well by the hospital, it's hospital grade (supposedly the best) and as long as I return it to them clean and in it's original condition it is only $45 per month to rent. This, I feel, is a win-win.
Even though I've got my whole plan in place, I still keep questioning doing the "real" thing. Why? Well, let me break my thoughts down for you:
Pros to the "Real" Thing:
- I can just feed baby right away and not have to worry about anything else. Feed, and done.
*Hmmmm, that's the only one I can think of.
Cons to the "Real" Thing:
- I have very sensitive nipples (to be quite frank, lol). Sometimes the slightest touch could literally piss me off. Would it be different if it was my baby though?
- Gene wouldn't get to feed the baby until after done with 4 weeks. Unless we make plans to do so with a bottle, but then I'd just be pumping anyway.
- With my Mom staying with me for 3 weeks or so, I don't think I'd be comfortable with baby being on my boob with her there. I mean, what would she be thinking? Ew. We are just not that type of family.
Now...
Pros to Pumping:
- Gene can feed baby any time he wants to. As well as my family members feeding baby too.
- I can go into the other room to pump while someone watches the baby so I can do it all in private. I'm sure it will be trial and error and I might not want the embarrassment.
- I wont feel awkward having a baby on my boobs (previously Gene's territory), and I wont get that irritating feeling of something on my nipples.
Cons to Pumping:
- It can take longer to extract the milk (some people say it takes up to 45 minutes to empty every time).
- Will I feel like a cow?
- Will I still feel awkward with my Mom knowing I'm in the other room milking myself?
Okay...
Same for the two:
- As long as I keep the pump parts in the fridge, I will only need to clean them once a day if pumping... which would be the same as the "real" thing (b/c I'd still pump some to keep stored away).
- The frequency would be the same, about every 2-3 hours between pumpings/feedings, and even at bedtime.
- Supposedly the same amount of soreness, but I'm sure this could vary.
Now that I put it down on "paper" I think I might feel more comfortable about the whole Pump-Only option I've been planning on. I know it will be time consuming, and I'm sure I will get very emotional being milked all day long, but I'm confident that I can get a routine going and maybe it will all work itself out.
Anyone have any additional thoughts on this for me to consider? This is all new to me, so any advice would be great to hear.
3 weeks, 4 days until due date! Yay!
Jenni
Good post. Don't let anyone sway your decision, you have to do what's comfortable for you. I'm BFing exclusively right now but I pump between the first 2-3 feedings of the day to store up milk for when I go back to work. With JUST those few pumpings plus feeding her, I can get between 8-10 ounces/day. Each pumping takes about 10-15 minutes total but that's just one boob at a time. Are you going to start him/her on formula until your milk comes in? I'm hesitate to introduce the bottle, mainly because I don't want to lose the latch, but having DH be able to feed her from time to time would be great (I'm hoping to wait until 6 weeks to intro the bottle). RE: feeling like a cow, I watch while I pump and I think, man this can't be good for my boob but I mean, it's gotta be or they wouldn't let people do it, right? Good luck and how exciting less than 4 weeks!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm nervous about the whole ounces thing... like how many will baby eat, how many do I need to try to get pumped, etc. I'm sure everyone worries a bit about that at first though and I'm sure I will get it all down once I'm actually doing it all. I liked to read that you're getting that much just from pumping between feedings. And, I have newborn formula for if my milk isn't in yet, but in my head I keep thinking it will just magically be there once baby is out. Haha.
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