Hello,
First of all, thank you ladies for all the valuable info I've gotten while I've been lurking.
My LO is 10 weeks old. I am almost EPing (only nurse at bedtime). LO is a very slow eater and often falls asleep while nursing no matter what I try, so I have to pump and bottle feed (no formula).
At weeks 0-6 I would pump every 2 hours, even in the middle of the night, to build my supply. Now I try to pump every 2 hours during the day, but sometimes I go up to 4 hours during the day. At night I usually pump before bed at 10pm, sometimes 1 am, and then not until 6 or 7am.
Just recently my breasts have started to feel lumpy and rock hard during the day, not just after a long stretch of not pumping at night. Is this engorgement? But they feel this way even though I have just pumped 2 hours prior.
Also, I get anywhere between 3-6 ounces during the day to 6-8 ounces first thing in the morning. Does this mean I have an oversupply? My baby doesn't have green frothy poop though. If it is oversupply, how can I regulate it?
Please help, I am going back to work in a few days and my heavy hard lumpy breasts are going to make it very uncomfortable to get through the an 8 hour day with maybe 3 pumping sessions.
Re: Oversupply? Engorgement? Almost EPing. Please Help
I wouldn't worry yet. I dropped my MOTN pumping session when LO was 8 weeks (he was STTN at that point and I was heading back to work the following week) and had similar issues. My first pump of the morning I usually get 6-7.5 ounces per side (I usually go from 9:30-10 at night until 5:30am). My breasts would randomly develop larger lumps throughout the day so what I would do is just pump longer at my next pumping session and massage until it felt softer. Plus, sometimes you just get lumps. If the lumps don't go away after a while, get painful, or you are red and tender in that area, it might be mastitis (which I've never had, thank goodness), but at this stage of the game, I wouldn't worry. Just keep up your pumping schedule and make sure you are empty after each session.
thank you so much for your response. the lumps are not red and tender, but it was just odd that i'm getting them now, when I never did before when my milk came in at the beginning. i was just thinking that my supply should be regulated by now. i try to pump until empty but usually thats 20mins+. and im afraid of pumping too long to create more of an oversupply.
I would say that is definitely engorgement. I felt that way constantly on maternity leave especially as my LO would only eat from one side during a feeding (likely due to oversupply as he was getting enough from one side). I would just wait to see what happens when you return to work. If you do anything to correct an oversupply it could backfire as your supply can tank when you go back to work and aren't BF but pumping. I saw a HUGE decrease when I went back to work. Some was because I was inconsistent with pumping, but some just seemed to happen from being away from my LO, needing to pump, etc.