Pumping the first round
My first journey with pumping was all about trial and error. Better me than you, because now I can share and help you! I was a new mom, new to breastfeeding, and completely lost. There was so much information online and truly it just made it more confusing. So here you will find a quick starter guide, with notes that saved me.
Schedule
With pumping you want to pump as frequently as your baby eats. It is based on supply and demand. With Harvey I was strict. I had an alarm set for every 3 hours on the dot day and night. When the alarm went off I would pump for 20-30 minutes. Harvey was an on the dot every 3 hour baby. I would pump and then he would be ready to eat. Our schedule was 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm... you get the point and I did that through the night. This was my routine for the first 3 months until my supply leveled out.
Supply
I was an over supplier from day one, so a lot of the reason I pumped so frequently was for relief. I would be so engorged by the time the 3 hour mark came around that I really didn't even need the alarm. The first pump at about a week after Harvey was born (when I switched from breastfeeding) was about 12 oz in 20 minutes. Then as I got on the schedule and created the demand, I ended up pumping up to 100 oz a day. This is not normal by any means. I had an oversupply, and it was hard. I was sore and hurt all the time. It was draining me, and I would eat anything in sight. Don't even get me started on how thirsty I was.
Cleaning
I was super crazy about cleaning, it was always on my mind. Breastmilk is living and carries a lot of bacteria, and the parts and bottles need to be cleaned regularly to make sure it was safe to store and feed to Harvey. After every pumping session I would wash all the parts and then put them in the sterilizer for the next round. Do you have to be this crazy? Probably not — you can just wash them after every session and skip the sterilizer. I just wanted to be confident that they were clean.
Pumping is a lot and really hard to do. It takes commitment and dedication like no other. I am an open book, ask me anything! I would love to help you on your journey. I am not a professional, just another mom trying to help as much as I can.
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