Who did not bf or ep for their preemie?

cjb62803 · October 2009

I have been pumping for almost 4 months now and have a deep freezer full of milk as well as my fridge freezer. I am so torn about continuing. I would like to do it as long as possible, but right now I am feeling so overwhelmed. I have 2 other children (10 and 3) and my husband is not able to help much in terms of feeding due to his work schedule. Baby J has been home from the nicu 1 week today. I was so afraid this would happen and was trying to figure out a schedule that would work with feeding him, pumping, etc. I have a hands-free bra that I try to pump while feeding him, but it doesn't quite do the trick. I would love to breastfeed, but that is absolutely out, he has severe reflux and vocal cord weakness, so he literally chokes and aspirates while breastfeeding. I just would like to hear from some moms that ff or did half and half for a while. I know formula is not the end of the world, my other 2 were on it for a while as well. I just have this obsession that this is the least I could do for my preemie. On the other hand, this is one less thing that I HAVE to do with my long laundry list of things to do. I am feeling overwhelmed and guilty. Please help!

ijack · October 2009

ep-ing is VERY hard yet it's also really hard to give up. is it possible that you could only pump once a day (maybe in the morning) to continue to provide fresh bm and then use that, the frozen and formula. any bm that you can give him will offer him the benefits, whether it be 1 bottle a day or 8. You need to do what is best for you and your family and there is nothing wrong with formula

cjb62803 · October 2009

How do you train your body to do once or twice or however many times a day? Mine seems to drop my supply significantly. I was previously pumping 25-30 oz per day and now I'm lucky to get 14. I pump every three hours around the clock. I would love to do that, I would even do twice per day if I thought there was a benefit. Thank you for that suggestion! ( I pretty much thought it was all or nothing.)

TriciaJoy · October 2009

I pumped for a long time (almost 15 months) but by about 12 months, I was producing less than he needed and we supplemented. He started getting formula at night, breastmilk during the day.
I finally stopped pumping at about 14 1/2 months, but had about 500oz frozen in the freezer, so I started slowly weaning him over to more and more formula/less and less breastmilk.

You certainly can do less. Yes, you will lose supply, but it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Once Robbie came home, I just couldn't keep up with 8x/day and dropped to 6. I lost some volume then.. and then tanked bad. I ended up having to take domperidone to keep my supply up, and it still never got above about 24oz/day.

Anyway, you can wean down. Say you want to pump 6x/day. It doesn't have to be every 4 hours. If you can find time to pump one hour and then again 2 hours later- do it. Then if you have to go 5 hours the next time, do it. No, it's not perfect, but dealing with a newborn and pumping is hard.

It actually got easier later As he started sleeping more, having more of a schedule, I could plan my day around it. But that took a while.

Most of all, don't beat yourself up. You're doing a GREAT, GREAT thing for him. FWIW, my doctor said they need 50% breastmilk to get the full benefits of it. Even he gets a little formula, he'll still do great.

mek10976 · October 2009

I EPd while DS was in the NICU for a month, but was very discouraged and stressed due to my supply issues. I tried BF/pumping the first few days DS was home, but the schedule was ridiculous. I felt like I was doing some kind of feeding activity all the time (FF, then pump, clean the parts, etc) and by the time I finished one session, I had to jump right back in and do it again. So I ditched the BM and stuck with formula. It was definitely a load off of my shoulders. But it did take some time for me to feel at peace with. Everyone was touting the benefits of BFing and I felt horrible.

SBMBride406 · October 2009

My DS never got a drop of breast milk. I was very ill after I delivered him (13 day hospitalization post partum) and I never produced more than 1/2 a teaspoon of breast milk while pumping. Even that I wasn't allowed to give him b/c of the numerous medications I had to take. By 3 weeks pp, my breasts were soft and it was clear I was not going to lactate.

Our doctors were very adamant that breast milk is best for preemies, b/c your body produces special antibodies based on the need of the baby at the specific gestational age. That said, 4 months is a great supply, and anything you give him is wonderful and amazing.

If you go to my blog, you can see Marino's stats (height/weight) - he has consistently gained weight (2 lbs a month for a while) and has done great on formula. He's now a very healthy 22 lbs and 31 inches at 15 months. I wish I could have given him breast milk, but it certainly hasn't had a negative impact on him (that I know of). Your boy will be fine no matter what you decide (and, like I said, you stash is nothing to sneeze at!). You have nothing to feel guilty about!

cjb62803 · October 2009

Thank you for all the responses! I posted on the duplicate post as well. I have bound myself yesterday after I tried pumping yesterday and basically got nothing. I have been so stressed so I think it has affected my supply. I am as solid as a rock and am in so much pain. Quitting cold turkey like this was stupid, but I knew that if I did it gradually, it would have never happened! I have second guessed myself all day, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Thank you ladies, you all are wonderful (as always!)

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