Pumping question

hubbs173 · March 2014

I had my little guy a week ago and I've been pumping since day one. I'm a FTM also, so I feel a little clueless! My milk seems to have come in but I'm not getting a lot yet. The most I've gotten in a pumping session is a little over 1/2 oz combined. I pump for 15 min at least 8 times a day.

Is this normal? Does it usually take a mom with a preemie longer to get a good milk supply going? Just curious to see what everyone's experience has been with pumping and any tips are greatly appreciated. Side note: I do have access to a lactation nurse and I've gotten some tips already from her.

babybean82 · March 2014

Hey Hubbs, I had a little trouble with getting enough milk at first too and my LC had me watch this video online....

https://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html

trying this helped me a lot, as well as massaging before I start pumping and pumping for longer amounts of time, 20 to 30 minutes. Also as soon as they start letting you Kangaroo that might really increase your milk, I leak all over the place after Kangaroo care.

Cst2CstBride · March 2014

Have you asked the lactation consultant how much you should be getting? The amount will increase over time. I don't remember how much I was getting at one week, but I know it took around two weeks to really settle in.

rcnavywife · March 2014

I agree with pp, check with your LC how much you should be getting at this point. That said, my production was very low in the first week and I was placed on domperidone to increase my supply. Worked well for me. K-care, and even pumping while you look at your baby can boost production if you are able to pump right in the NICU.

MinaE01 · March 2014

This happened to me, too. Unfortunately, no matter what, I wasn't able to produce more than 1.5oz per pumping session. I was not the best about pumping every 2-3 hours while he was in the NICU because of how stressful it was. That could very well be the root of the problem. Learn from my mistake and stay on top of it! I did try LCs, fenugreek, mother's milk plus, lactation cookies, etc, but none of those seemed to help. I would recommend getting as much help from the LC as you can. Most of them are great resources!

My point in this post is that no matter what happens, just do the best you can. That is ok! I battled tons of guilt about my breastfeeding. I only ended up doing it for 4 months, but DS got some and that's better than nothing! Good luck!

hubbs173 · March 2014

Thanks for all the advice! I definitely plan on talking with LC. At least the last 2 days I've been pretty consistent with the amount, I just figured by a week I'd have a better supply.

Wally3 · March 2014

Remember premies don't need much milk at the beginning. My DS started with just a teaspoon of milk. Glad you are talking to a LC. Also, looking at pictures or videos of your baby while you pump can help with production. Remember to take care of yourself and eat and drink when you can.

Brummy14 · March 2014

Just keep at it! I had an AWFUL start with my supply -- but week on week, the amount I pumped in a 24h hour period continued to slowly, slowly increase. For me, it was 100% about supply and demand. I power pumped 2x a day, pumping every 2 hours during my waking hours, and every 3 hours at night -- resulting in 11-12 pumping sessions per day. Granted, I was trying to keep up with two, so I had to be ultra aggressive about it, but the increase in output continued to be slow and steady. Hang in there!

jbranden12 · March 2014

Yes, it took me longer to get a good supply up. I was given a sheet to track output by the LC which had a goal of getting 25-30 oz by day 14. It took me a good 10 days longer than that.

flerlgirl · March 2014

It took me a while to get a good supply going. The LCs helped a lot - does your hospital have an information line you can call? I called those people about 70328 times a week and they were very pleasant and helpful. GL!

hubbs173 · March 2014

Thanks again everyone! I'm going to see how it goes through the weekend and plan to meet a LC on Monday. My BFF actually went out and got me fenugreek and a special tea to help with my supply. So I plan on giving those a try too.

DrRx · March 2014

Also, make sure that your phalanges are the right size. I would also invest in a hands-free bra (or make one yourself) because it really helps with the suction. I would do it for 20 min and if milk was still coming out, I would increase it to 30 minutes. Make sure to eat oatmeal and tons of water. I was able to establish my supply after about a week of pumping. I did it every 3 hours, with 1 5-hour break at night to sleep. Good luck!

ziggy903 · March 2014

MinaE01 said:
My point in this post is that no matter what happens, just do the best you can. That is ok! I battled tons of guilt about my breastfeeding. I only ended up doing it for 4 months, but DS got some and that's better than nothing! Good luck!

This! My supply sucked (I would pump 20 minutes every 3 hours on the dot and get maybe 12oz a day) and the pumping and leaving the room to pump and all that added to my PPD... And DS was iugr and having trouble gaining weight if we breastfed, so we were on doctors orders to pump and bottle feed even at discharge. I felt guilty that I dreaded his feeds because that meant I had to pump.
He got breastmilk through his edd. At that point, our ped could see how it stressed me out so much and told me- DS will thrive at this point on whatever we feed him. Breast milk, formula, whatever. It's insanely difficult to make/keep a supply when you can only pump.

My point is... It's okay if your supply is never where it "should" be. Right now you need to concentrate on doing your best for your baby, and taking care of yourself. If that means you switch to formula... That's okay. Baby will still be fed and happy. Happy mama = happy baby.

xladybassx · March 2014

I'm really not sure if its any harder for a preemie mom than a full term mom, but it took me a long time to establish a supply too. I also had a very bad case of mastitis that landed me back in the hospital a month after the girls were born and that had a huge inpact on my milk production for awhile. It is crucial to drink water. I noticed a big difference in my milk supply for the day if I drank a lot of water! It is really difficult, but getting a lot of sleep and eating well balanced meals helps too. Are you using a hospital grade pump? If not I would highly recommend it. For the first 3 months I pumped 8-10 times per day, and now I am down to 6 times per day. I used an app to track how many ounces I was pumping per day and I found that to be very helpful. To give you an idea...
At 1 week: 6oz per day
2 weeks: 17oz per day
3 weeks: 20oz per day
4 weeks: 17oz per day
5 weeks: 15oz per day
6 weeks: 18oz per day
7 weeks: 18oz per day
8 weeks: 20oz per day
9 weeks: 19oz per day
10 weeks: 26oz per day
11 weeks: 28oz per day
12 weeks: 28oz per day
13 weeks: 28oz per day
14 weeks: 30oz per day
You are already doing better than I was at 1 week. As you can see, the mastitis had a huge impact on my supply around weeks 4-5. After recovering, I had a huge jump in supply during week 10. I stopped keeping track of daily amounts after week 14, but now at 20 weeks I would guess I am making about 35oz per day. I am pumping for twins so I'm not sure how or even if that affects my totals.

You can try galactogogs if you want to be even more proactive, which are natural foods and herbs that have been used for centuries to help nursing moms. Things like oatmeal, fenugreek, brewers yeast, papaya, and (though controversial) Guinness beer. If you try the beer, make sure you wait at least a full hour after drinking it before pumping. Also, it really has to be Guinness, not just any dark beer, because it is the high concentration of both barley and barley malt extract, coupled with a low alcohol content that make this beer so different from others. I tried it and personally didn't notice any difference, but a lot of women swear by it. I drank Mother's Milk tea for awhile which has a lot of herbs that help. It did help me, so that could be worth trying as well. Make sure you ask your LC or your baby's doctor if it is ok though as some doctors may worry about possible interactions between the herbs and medications yoir baby is getting if any passes through to your milk.

Sorry this is so long, I hope something in here helps. Good luck!

hubbs173 · March 2014

I started taking fenugreek capsules yesterday morning and by last night my last pumping session before bed, my left breast was actually spraying milk!! I did also increase the amount of suction, but since last night I've had a small increase in my supply!

@xladybassx‌, I've got a hospital pump, they loaned it to me until Henry's discharged. Then I have to get my own, which DH is looking to see what our insurance will cover. What app did you use to track?

xladybassx · March 2014

The app I used was called Mommy Log. You can toggle between ml and ounces, and it will automatically total your daily amount and chart it for you. Ditto pp's suggestion of power pumping and massage as well...I would just attatch myself to the pump for two hours or so and go 10 min on 10 min off. After Henry is discharged do you have the option of keeping the pump on a rental basis? I did that through our hospital for an additional 2 months before switching to a Medela Pump in Style, which was the best my insurance would cover. It works much better than I expected, but the hospital pump was even better.

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