** stacyc or other long-term EPers **
jerseygirl81
member
I wanted to wait until 9 months to drop from 4 to 3 but for my sanity I think I need to start now. I'm really getting down on EPing lately and I think this will help me feel like the end is in sight. I can afford to lose about 33% of my supply and still feed him EBM without going into the freezer stash. How bad of a hit did you take when you went to 3x?
Do you think it would be worth it if I keep 4x during the week and just do 3x on the weekends? That's really where I'm starting to feel the pinch. It's unfortunate that it won't change my early morning or before bed sessions, but I feel like it's something, you know?
How did you do it? I'm worried about stretching the time out and getting clogs. I'm currently pumping on this schedule:
4:30AM
10:15AM
3:30PM
9:00PM
Thanks!
Emeline 5.28.13
My Blog
Post-Baby PRs
Esri 5K 7.16.2014 - 21:30
Heart Half Marathon 3.16.2014 - 1:43:30
Canton City Marathon 9.8.14 - 3:30:56
Re: ** stacyc or other long-term EPers **
you can totally drop now and the weekend thing is a good idea. But my guess is once you see how great three pumps is you will be doing it during the week too (and there is nothing wrong with that). Another thing i did when i went from five to four pumps that helped was for about two weeks before i solely went to four pumps. I was doing an every other day thing. Five pumps on Sunday, four pumps monday, five on tues etc. I didn't lose any milk when i went from five to four.
I lost a bunch by dropping my 4th pump- however i shortened my other pumps (so it wasn't a normal drop when i dropped my 4th i was really trying to get my oversupply handled). If you can keep pumping the same time as your other pumps or maybe a little longer each session- you really shouldn't take a huge hit.
When i went to 3x i was doing it at 7am- 2pm and 9pm. So around 7hours in between pumps. I didn't have any clogs or anything.
Oh there is an end trust me. You are doing GREAT!
you said you wanted to be done by summer time right?
This is all post stomach bug when I had to go back to 5-6-7 pumps/day. I'm not one to ask about supply issues as I've almost never had an oversupply, but I pump 5 (sometimes 6) times/day during the week when I'm working and 3-4 times on the weekends. SOMETIMES I have a supply dip on Sundays and sometimes I don't. I have however figured out how to combat it... I "power pump" my last pump Sat night and I'm fine. I pump for my normal 30 and then take a 30 minutes break and come back and pump for 15 more... I've found that more effective for me than doing the standard 20/10/10/10/10.
The other thing is that Monday is my seriously LONG day (teach all day @ school, stop at home to drop off milk/see my baby and dh, then drive to the other side of Cinci to teach my college night class and back home). So I get at least 3 driving pumps in + my AM pump + my work pump + my night pump. So even though I might see a dip on Sunday, by the time Monday night rolls around it's all evened out. Does that make any sense? So maybe power pump Sat night and at some point Monday to make up for fewer pumps on the weekends while your body adjusts? I haven't had any issues with clogs, etc...
At this point, I've resigned myself to having to supplement and I have too much to do on the weekends to spend my day pumping. So my goal is to get 4 pumps in, and if I get 3 in I just make up for it later. I'd rather spend my time with B. Add to that a DH that is never home on the weekends, and it makes it nearly impossible somedays.
Interesting thoughts, Kel. I hadn't considered power pumping at all.
I'll definitely keep the same total number of minutes, I'll take the 25 minutes I pump at session 4 and add 8 minutes to each of the other sessions. I can do it!
Emeline 5.28.13
My Blog
Post-Baby PRs
Esri 5K 7.16.2014 - 21:30
Heart Half Marathon 3.16.2014 - 1:43:30
Canton City Marathon 9.8.14 - 3:30:56
Oh definitely try power pumping. it rocks.
I would always power pump on Sundays- it would always give my week a nice jump start.