Pumping Questions XPost

AZAmy77

 I had a C-section last week and we are still working on the breastfeeding, or even feeding in general, Andrew was born at 35 weeks.  Right now I am mostly pumping and then we are trying breastfeeding 1-2 times a day.  We actually got him to latch and feed for about 15 minutes yesterday!

 So it seems that pumping for me has been going really well and I have a lot of milk so far. I was up to about 70-80 cc's/ml's at each session. The last 2 times now though, I've dropped down to 60. I'm guessing that this is a usual amount of variance between sessions, but was just looking for reassurance. Thanks!

Also my one breast seems like I am not really draining it completely.  Actually not sure I am draining either completely.  Originally they told me to do 15 minutes each session.  One side really seemed to make way more milk than the other( like 60 vs 25 cc's), so I started to add 5 minutes to the lower side to see if it would help.  The lower producing breast definitely seems harder and I try to work on it with massage while pumping.  Another LC told me that I can pump for up to 30 minutes or until drops coming out are gone for 2 minutes.  I never seem to make it even close to 2 minutes between something.

Thanks all!

jbranden12

Congrats on the birth of your son! In the beginning, it really helped me to take a super hot shower and massage just before I pumped. I still massage before pumping, and since I wear a hands-free bra and don't have as much access, sometimes I take a break after 15 minutes or so to do a good massage and usually get another let down. When I can, I pump until I'm dry. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes, sometimes 30. If milk is still coming at 30 minutes, I usually take a short break (10 minutes or so) and then keep going. Sometimes the milk stops but I know I'm not empty so I try to get another letdown by using the letdown button on the pump or taking a break to massage.  

Pips09

It's been a while for me, but you might need different size phalanges for each side. I also had one side that was my good producer, and one that was less productive.

BLPL101

I exclusively pump and have been since DD was born (she's 23 weeks). My right breast makes almost double what my left breast does. Your breasts never fully empty. I pump 20 minutes and they are not spraying out by then (usually).