Pumping question from a new mom!

suzinne

Hello all! I recently gave birth via c-section to a beautiful baby girl and have tried my best to breastfeed as much as possible. My LO lost quite a bit of weight at the hospital (12%) and she was borderline jaundiced, so we decided to supplement with a bit of formula (less than 2 oz/day). She latches pretty well, but I have rather large breasts and flat nipples, baby gets quite drowsy at the breast. I have therefore started pumping (a week ago) and have been mostly supplementing with that. My question concerns the amount of milk I manage to pump. I pump after feelings and only manage to pump around 5 oz/day. How long did it take you to increase your supply? What is a reasonable amount of milk that I might expect to pump post giving birth 12 days ago? Thanks for any responses!

jnnfrrose6

An extra 5 oz with a 12 day old seems like plenty, but I'm sure others will have better information for you. I'd just be careful if causing an oversupply from pumping after nursing.

suzinne

Thanks for you input @jnnfrrose6‌! It's so hard to gauge! I wish our boobs had convenient meters like a gas pump so we know how much our LO's are getting! It does seem like a fair amount, I'm just the paranoid mom who's worried that her daughter isn't putting back on her birth weight fast enough.

jnnfrrose6

I also don't have experience with them, but from what I've read from others, nipple shields can be really helpful if you're dealing with flat nipples. I'd also look into seeing an LC to get some more confidence in what you're doing and try to go in for a weighted feeding to see how much is actually being eaten.

eleolin8

I am a FTM, I had a c-sec.  I have struggled also with BF due to baby's latching issues.  Anyway, my son is 3 weeks old.  My goal is to get a freezer stock going for DH to help with feedings.  Starting a week ago, I pump one breast/day and freeze only 2oz/day.  My LC said not to freeze more than 2oz in a bag.  I don't want to do more than that with worry about getting too engorged and always having to rely on pumping.  but that is just what I decided to do.

maplebar

Nursing your baby is the best way to increase your supply because your body doesn't respond to the pump the same way it does to your baby. 5 ounces on top of nursing your baby full time sounds like a lot to me. When I started pumping around 4-5 weeks I would get 1-3 ounces by pumping the side the baby wasn't nursing on for the first feeding of the morning. My supply increased when my baby would go through a growth spurt and cluster feed. If you're supplementing 2 ounces a day but pumping 5 extra ounces total then it sounds like you have plenty of milk and should refocus on making sure your baby has a good latch and is truly done with a feeding before falling asleep by doing things like rubbing their feet or burping and offering the breast again. Hopefully I'm not misunderstanding what you're saying. 

jennygirlmt

First, I'd suggest seeing an LC if you think you have latch issues.

And same as above, 5oz in addition to full time nursing sounds great. You also don't pump as much as baby can get so that's not a great gauge.

My dd didn't hit birth weight until at least 3 weeks. She wouldn't take a bottle or anything so I just kept nursing her (we had to work out latch issues too.)

A few weeks later all was forgotten and we had a great 2 year nursing relationship. Sounds like you're doing great.

VMRRN23

I don't have much pumping advice to offer, but I too have large breast (36 H) and (almost) flat nipples with DS1(now 4 years old). I did manage to get him to latch on and we nursed for 1 year. However, he actually made my nipples bleed do much that when scar tissue started to grow, my nipples stuck out. So now with DS 2, nursing is a breeze (and I'm a36 H again). Just some unsolicited nursing advice.

suzinne

Thanks everyone for you input and advice! All good points, I needed to be reassured and you have pretty much all confirmed what I already thought. I never thought I would enjoy breastfeeding as much, it has its challenges, but it's so rewarding!