XP: eping a premmie

cottingham3

I posted this to the BFing board but hoped you ladies might have more specific experience...

I posted several weeks back...but now I am back for more encouragement!

My son was born 26 weeks on 12/28/12. He is now one month old and receiving 16cc of BM every 3 hrs in the NICU and increasing daily.

So far I feel I have done well to establish my supply. I am pumping for 15 to 20 min every three hrs until my second letdown is done and getting 2 to 2.5 oz each time. I no longer wake at night to pump and go about to 6 hrs between pumping.

I mentioned before I ebf my first to children so the worried about supply apart from the child's progress diapers and weight gain etcis is hard for me. The NICU staff is very supportive of my desire to one day bf my son. I just worry if my pattern and supply are right. I have over 200 oz in the freezer which seems like a lot because he is only eating 4oz2 per day now but I know it will go fast once he starts eating several oz per feeding. I know with ebf the milk makeup changes for the baby's needs and not nessicarily increase in volume as they get older. Does my body react to the pump in the same way? Is there something I should do like change or increase pump time or suction settings to help by body change over time? I just want to make it work until I can begin BFing my baby and I want my body to be ready when that time comes!

If any of you have any suggestions about my pattern or amounts I'm getting please let me know. If it sounds good...I'd love to hear that too! I just know we are looking at possibly up to 60 more days in NICU and I want to make this work for the long haul! Thanks so much!

Mahon Baby

Hi.  I had my twin boys at 26 weeks back in Aug and am still pumping for them.  I would really recommend not going a full 6 hrs in between pumping.  I would stick w/ every 3-4 hrs and a gap of max 5 hrs at night. 

Right now, you have plenty of milk for him but believe me they catch up FAST.  It's always better to have more than not enough.  You never know when your supply will take a dump.  Also, our bodies really wasn't "ready" to start nursing right now so it may be doing well but may not really be producing the quality it should.  This happens only because our pregnancy was cut short and our hormones didn't properly regulate themselves and trigger what they should as it would have during a proper 40 week pregnancy.  I was told to do non-nutrietive nursing w/ the boys when they started showing rooting signs.  Somehow, just their saliva triggers the body in ways a pump can't....both in quantity and nutritively.

Honestly, I produce like a cow.  I shocked all the NICU staff.  It seems my body can't carry a baby but it sure as hell can feed an army of them!! LOL  Even with that said, I haven't gone more than 5 hrs to pump.  That's really the best advice of all.  When they came home it was a whole new level of stress and that caused my abundant supply to dip even w/ the constant pumping.  So, you're more than likely going to experience ups/downs in stress levels and it will all effect your supply.  Try to make the most you can.

 Best of wishes.  You'll be in my prayers... I wish non of us had to deal w/ such a long NICU stay.    

jbranden12

Hi there! My daughter was born at 26+3 on 1/8 and I am EPing for her. Right now I go 2-3 hours in between pumping and get an average of 2 oz. each time. I was getting almost 2.5 each time but I had a case of mastitis and and slowly recovering. Our NICU has lactation consultants who really advised against me going longer than 3 hours, even at night, for the first couple of months. I don't like it, but I do it. At least when I spend the night at the hospital it lines up with her cares!

I hope my milk will increase or at least not drop off! Usually I get more milk if I pump right after a hot shower or right after we kangaroo. I'll keep an eye on this thread for tips

Brummy14

I pumped every 2-3 hours during the day and no longer than 3 hours at night for 12 weeks -- granted, I had to kick my supply up to enough to feed two, but to this day, I've gone no longer than 3.5 hours between pumping sessions yet! My LC just recently said I could lengthen the time between sessions, now that I'm up to the volume I need to generally keep up with the girls (I also have about 650oz frozen). 

But, yes, my girls now are eating anywhere from 20-25oz a day each, so my the 50oz/day I produce JUST keeps up with them at times (and during future growth spurts, may need to throw in a mix with some formula if they go above that!)

That said, this early in the game, I wouldn't go longer than 3 hours between sessions (maybe 4 hours at night). You should be telling your body how often a baby would eat should he be home with you, and it would certainly be more often than every 6 hours. 

cottingham3

Thanks ladies. I am going to talk with the LC again tomorrow. She told me that if I felt my sleep was more important at night to take it for now. She said if I became too fatigued over all that could have a worse effect on my supply than the long break.

I should have mentioned I had a case of matistis in my right breast and my supply has still not fully returned in that side. Also, I have 2 olderto kids I have to get up in the mornings and get to school. My little man is in the hospital 45 minutes away and although they are open through the night there are no parent beds. I make the trip everyday and sometimes again at night for daddy to spend time with him. I try to pump as much as possiable using the hospital pump and right after holding or caring for the baby. It is a demanding schedule. I stay up till 11pm...pump...and wake between 4 andfresh 4:30 with my husband and pump again. I just don't think I can wake more than that and keep myself going during the day.

I am going to try "power pumping" in the evenings this weekend and see if that helps.

Thanks again for sharing!!

haziedaze

Sounds like you're doing really well! Wanted to say that I've never heard that preemie mom milk isn't as good nutrition wise. If anything, preemie mom milk tends to be higher in calories to help them grow. As far as your milk changing over time, the bottom line is that your milk has so many good things for them, that it's ok if you're feeding newborn milk to them at 6 months. Formula never changes!

I also think the sleep thing really varies mom to mom. If your supply continues to slowly increase over the first month or so with the break then you're probably ok. I EP for 4 weeks then started a little bit of nursing while continuing to pump. Right before H started really nursing I was pumping about 40 oz per day- I was a touch crazy and had to block feed/pump to decrease my supply so we'd be in better synch from nursing. I took the 6 hour break at night too, but then did every 2-3 hours during the day. For me sleep was really important so around 2-3 weeks out I started doing the longer stretches at night. Stick to what works!

H went home mostly nursing and it was wonderful to be able to transition from pumping to nursing. We're still nursing and he's almost 17 months! Hang in there and take it one day at a time. Many of the moms with older preemies managed some combo of pumping/nursing long term, so there are lots of encouraging stories out there! Check out the preemie resource blog for stories and pumping tips:  https://preemiemomblog.blogspot.com/