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Since I have been pumping a minimum of 2 times a day every single day since Levi was a day or 2 old, I thought I would post a little update on how that has been. I don’t want anyone to think that I think breastfeeding is the only way or that I am suggesting anyone should make their poor nipples endure this much torture. This is what fell into place and worked for me but not what I had planned and not necessarily what I would do again for a future baby, if that should ever happen. It just happened to work out this way, this time.

First, I think I was pumping more like 4-6 times a day in the beginning. But I weaned down to just twice a day pretty early on and have continued to pump in the morning and again before I go to bed. If you stick to a schedule within a few hours every day, it conditions your body to always make extra milk at that time every day. The reason I have been pumping is primarily so I could give Tru pumped milk. And the fact that I dropped all of my Levi pregnancy weight and then some really fast was also a motivation.

I always felt that Tru got a little gipped on his breastfeeding since I lost most of my milk around 4 months and he was only nursing 1-3 times a day from around 8 months or so until he self weaned at 10 months. Granted, Tru was doing perfectly fine with formula and then cow’s milk but since I had a surplus of milk right after I had Levi, I thought I may as well continue pumping for Tru and freezing the leftover. I was getting around 18-22 ounces per session in the morning and maybe 6-10 at night.

Well, my freezer got full relatively fast and I started swapping the fresh milk out and giving Tru thawed milk to keep my stash fresh. Around 6 months my production dropped a lot and I didn’t have extra to freeze and since we were going in to flu season, I stopped giving Tru thawed milk and just gave him the fresh for the extra “up to date” antibodies. I was getting around 12-15 ounces in the morning and around 4-6 at night.

My supply dropped more once AF returned and now I get about 5-9 ounces in the morning and 2-4 at night. I am coming up on a year of pumping which is something I had NEVER planned to do. I had hoped to make it to 6 months and then be done. But when 6 months came at the same time as flu season, I wanted to keep going for the antibodies. And now we are not quite through flu season but I really don’t think I will make it much longer with pumping. I’ve had a few nights were I didn’t get any milk and never had a let down and I think that happened at least twice in the morning that I didn’t have a let down. I think my boobs are giving out and just getting tired of getting milked and I need to calve again if I’m going to continue in the dairy department. Sorry to be blunt, but there are times I feel like a cow. I still have my whole freezer of milk that I need to thaw and I hope to give that to Levi to continue his breastmilk supply even after I am “dried up”.

Tru is quite attached to getting breast milk and definitely prefers it over cow milk but he will drink cow milk perfectly fine as well. I have also questioned a bit if he is getting enough calcium from me. Thankfully he eats a lot of yogurt and cheese and also takes a daily multi with calcium so that is probably fine. I have been happy to provide breastmilk for him this long because I think he has felt less jealous of Levi nursing since he knows he gets to have “beeboo” milk too. But all good things must come to an end. I’m not sure exactly when that end will be but I have a feeling my body may decide for me which is what I prefer anyway rather than me having to decide. We shall see what happens next!