Rough Day

I'm not sure what was going on with the ladies yesterday, but production was waaaaaay down. Like scary down. I'm thinking (hoping) it may have been the membranes on the horns I was using most of the day, because when I changed them out for my last pump production went back up to normal, and this morning everything seems normal (except I might have a little clog on Leftie). Other possibilities: I could be getting a period; I may have just been stressed out by the out of character fussiness of the cookie yesterday; work is a little stressful (in a good way, but still stressful) right now. I had planned to drop down to 4 pumps a day beginning Friday, but I'll have to see how the week progresses.

Today's tip: Stay hydrated, but not too hydrated. When I first started pumping, I read everywhere that drinking lots of water was the key. So I drank lots of water. I was drinking a 32oz. cup of water at every pump -- and that's when I was pumping 7x a day. That's 3.5 gallons of water per day. Then about 2 weeks in I was reading a book about breastfeeding, hoping for some tips on increasing supply. It said that overhydrating can be just as bad as underhydrating and suggested a maximum of 12 8oz glasses per day. I lowered my intake and saw an immediate increase in production. Now I stay right around that (though I will have a bit more if it's hot).

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry for neglecting you this past week. I have no excuse except that there's, well, there's another blog in my life. I didn't mean for it to happen...this other blog just came along and swept me off my feet. You understand, don't you? I'm not leaving you...you just have to understand that I'll be posting there more often than here. I'll get you a pretty new design, too -- one with pictures, even. Remember, you'll always be my first blog. Nothing can take that away from us.

Love,

Laura Y.

Today's tip: Keep a log of what time you pumped and how many ounces (or mL -- whatever floats your canteen) from each breast. This will help you keep your pumps evenly spaced out as well as helping you keep track of production and maybe even give you a heads up about a plugged duct.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

The clog is well and truly unclogged, the blister has healed, the bruise is fading, and production is (almost) back up to where it was. Okay, the production's still a tad shy of what I was typically making before, but I attribute this to a) still recovering ducts -- it took over a month for Rightie to recover from mastitis and b) easing back into my regular schedule from the overdose of pumping I did over the weekend. I'’m still making more than she'’s taking, so it's all good.

I joined the gym today. This is not as big a commitment as it sounds like --– I get it free through work. But still, it's a step in the right direction. I hate exercising, but I'’ve gotten to a point where I hate my body more. It's not even the baby bits. It'’s things like my upper arms. Ugh. I told the (really very odd and sort of pushy) manager who was doing my paperwork that for me the gym is like AA -- I'’ve admitted that I have a problem and want help, but I'’m not sure I'’m going to make it. I am a bit afraid that exercising with any intensity is going to adversly affect supply -- right now her body is more important than mine. You get really funny looks when you tell people who work in a gym that your fitness goal is to tone your muscles but not burn any fat.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for an updated design sometime in the near future. And if you'’re a knitter, spinner, weaver, or otherwise fond of the fiber arts, you might enjoy my other blog.

I Don't Want to Be a Weanie, But...

My right nipple is starting to blister again. I know that at this point I'm stuck with getting through it if it blisters up like last time, but I really, really don't think I can deal with it well. I'm seriously considering weaning if the blistering happens. The whole reason I tried so hard to avoid mastitis was because of the damn blisters. Now, I am better prepared than I was last time around. I recognized the first signs, I have APNO on hand, and I already have the larger horns. I'm taking it very easy with the suction. But deep down, I am terrified that I'm going to have those blisters again. This might end up being a very short-lived blog.

I'm afraid I exacerbated the problem with my massive lack of common sense, too. Yesterday I went down to my SIL's with DH and the cookie -- 2 hours each way. Lots of pumping with the battery pack (I went through two sets), and I didn't really get to pump as often as I wanted to. Plus, the cookie turned into Babyfreaksoutalot, and wouldn't let anyone but mom or dad hold her for the first few hours we were down there, so that just added to the stress. I wanted us all to stay home, but it was birthdays for the folks-in-law and DH wanted to take the baby down. Last time we went down it took an extra hour and a half because of traffic. No way I was going to put DH in a car alone with her for that long -- not because I don't think he could handle it (he totally could), but because being stuck on the (often aptly named) Parkway with a screaming baby is nobody's idea of a good time. If I'm along for the ride at least I can sit in the back with her and entertain/feed her, as necessary. Of course yesterday she slept the whole time both ways. And now I have the beginnings of a blister on my nipple.

Today's tip: If you're having a problem, don't go on a trip that's going to require you to pump in uncomfortable places at irregular times. Stay home, take care of yourself, get your poor boobies back to normal.

The Goggles! They Do Nothing!

That's how I felt about the Vicks this time around. Maybe the clog was too big, maybe it was too far below the surface, whatever. The Vicks did nothing. This time around, what worked was a heating pad and lots of rubbing during pumping, which happened frequently. As of 7pm last night I did 30 minutes every 2 hours, then stretched that out to every three hours between 1 and 7am (Dude. I physically cannot function if I'm only getting an hour and a half of sleep at a time, especially if I'm not feeling great to begin with.). The clog dissipated during the 7am pump. I'm pumping again now (9am) just to make sure the clog's gone, because we're hitting the road and headed south to my SIL's, and I truly hate pumping in the truck. But I'm pretty sure it's all done and over. Rightie's still tender, and Leftie's annoyed (I can just tell) about being pumped so often. I suppose I could have capped Leftie's port and just done single pumps on Rightie, but honestly, that's just too much trouble at 1am. Anyhow, here's a little tip:

If you get a clog, screw the staff meeting. Go to the drugstore immediately and get what you need. Start pumping it out. I don't care if you have to take a sick day -- do it. When I left my house yesterday I had a tiny clog. By the time I got to work and pumped 5 hours later, it was large. By the time I finally started treating it, it was huge. Didn't have to be that way, and I wouldn't have had to stay up all night (though to be fair, the cookie was up all night so I'd've been up half the night anyway {remember, my incredibly wonderful husband takes half usually -- he got stuck with the whole enchilada last night. Poor sweet man. I'll have to do something nice for him.}).

Pain, Pain, Go Away

Please do not come back another day. At my 6am pump today, I looked down and suddenly realized that Rightie had only produced about half her normal volume for that time slot (Side note: you may have noticed that I tend to avoid mentioning ounces. This is on purpose. I think a lot of women fall into the trap of comparing their production to someone else's, and you just can't. Every woman and every baby is different. The amount I produce would not be enough for a lot of babies. For mine, it's a little bit more each day than she needs. Now back to our regularly scheduled yammering.). I felt around and sure enough, there was a little clog. Unfortunately, I was very near the end of my pump, so I rubbed a little Vicks on and extended the pump by about 10 minutes. It didn't clear up the clog completely, but I didn't really expect it to, and Leftie was starting to get a little sore so I went ahead and disconnected.

When I got to work, my first pump was clearly not going well, so I rubbed on more Vicks and continued to massage the clog throughout the pump. I got less than half the normal yield for that pump. So after lunch (we have a staff meeting every other Friday, so I couldn't go sooner), I popped down to the drugstore downstairs -- I cannot tell you how much I love working in Manhattan -- and bought some of those air-activated heating pads. Now by this time, I was really engorged and starting to be in pain. Having had mastitis once, I'm not looking forward to having it again. So I popped a pad on and decided to give it a while to do its thing. 30 minutes later (50 minutes ago), I started pumping (with the pad still on). The heat seems to be helping -- I'm getting about the normal amount for this time slot or maybe even a bit more -- but there's still a huge clog (yeah, it grew since this morning).

{7 hours and 3 pumps later...}

This clog is not kidding around. This clog means business. I'm applying heat, Vicks, and pressure, and still I have an extremely tender lump the size of a quail egg in my breast. I am absolutely terrified that I'm going to blister my nipple again. I've gone to a two hour pumping schedule now, with pumping time reduced to 30 minutes. This is at least helping to keep the pressure off the clog. However, lately Leftie hasn't been letting down really until about 45 minutes into a pump, so I'm scared I'm going to get a clog on that side. Not too scared yet, as Leftie hasn't been filling up all that much today, but it's in my mind as a distinct possibility. The good news, I suppose, is that milk is getting through. Also good news is that I choose well when I was picking my baby's daddy -- he's going to take baby duty all night so I can concentrate on getting this taking care of.

No tip today -- I'll make up for it next time, promise.

Like Water, er, Milk for Chocolate

There's always a lot of talk among EPers about supply: how do you increase it, how do you maintain it, what causes it to drop, and so on. A few weeks after I had the cookie (or, more precisely, after she was yanked out of me -- DH describes it as similar to watching someone land a swordfish) I was down to ten pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight, which was about 25 pounds heavier than I'd like to be in an ideal world. I was making plenty of milk and even had a little bit to freeze at the end of the day. So I decided I could probably safely get rid of at least that last ten pounds, and then at least I'd fit into my prepregnancy pants, even if my shirts remained a little snug.

Now, it's common knowledge, or at least commonly held to be true, that cutting calories/losing weight is death to a girl's milk supply. So I decided that rather than actively dieting by counting calories and portion control, which has helped me lose weight in the past, I would just cut out sweets. That's it -- no cookies, no cake, no ice cream, no....chocolate. I quit cold turkey, and for a week I can honestly say I did not eat a single confection or pastry. I did eat fruit, but I forbore to put my usual dollop of whipped cream or even drizzle of chocolate sauce lest I be tempted in to more decadent delights.

After one full week, I found that I had lost exactly 0 pounds. Yes, zero. The big goose egg. The number of playoff games the Kansas City Royals expect to play in this year. I attribute this to the fact that even though I had cut out sweets, I had been hungrier for other things. So instead of a scoop of ice cream, I'd have a bagel. And so on. Possibly more nutritious, but I missed my chocolate, dammit! And, not only did I not lose a single pound, I was producing less milk. Only slightly, but at that point even a slight dip could have been indicative of a permanent loss of supply.

I don't make enough extra to lose supply. So back came the sweets, with a vengeance. Chocolate is my drug of choice, and I go through three or four bags a week (I like Riesens and Hershey's Nuggets best). Supply went back up, and even continues to increase now, two months later. I can tell the day after a low chocolate day -- I still get that little dip in production.

My point here is that although you'll read about things like oatmeal and fenugreek and mother's milk tea, the key to supply is to find what works for you. I used to eat three bowls of oatmeal a day, and several oatmeal cookies. I stopped one day (for no particular reason -- just didn't feel like eating oatmeal that day, I guess) and noticed no effect on my supply. Chocolate, though...can't make milk without it.

Today's tip: Remember to look at your overall production for the day and not to freak out it you have one low production session. Some days my production is spread out really evenly and some days it's a couple of huge sessions and a couple of little ones. The number of ounces at the end of the day tends to be just about the same on both types of days.

People Butter

Lately I've been noticing that when we go for a walk, the milk that I'm carrying gets all sort of clumpy. It's not gone over -- I can tell that by smelling. But it's just sort of...gritty. It doesn't seem to happen in the car, just when we go for a long walk. The past couple of days have been worse than usual, even, and if you're pumping, you know how much it hurts to throw out even a drop, much less a couple ounces (Okay, I'll be honest -- it didn't smell at all bad, so I fed it to her and she didn't seem to mind. But I felt bad doing it.). So during our walk this morning I ruminated on the mysterious clumpy milk, determined to find the cause.

I do make particularly creamy milk -- after it separates in the fridge, nearly 3 ounces in a 4 ounce bottle are cream. So I thought that might have something to do with it. Then I thought maybe it had something to do with bouncing. The walk in to town isn't over the most level of ground. But I still couldn't figure out what was happening to the milk. I mean, even fresh milk was doing this -- halfway to town it looks like I spilled cottage cheese in the bottle. So I'm thinking Is that what it is? Am I making people cheese? Can I sell this? Is it Vegan? Now, when I was a little girl, I was a huge fan of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (well, up until the part when she starts courting. What the hell kind of name is "Manly" anyway?). And I remember that she described the churning of butter. And it suddenly occurs to me that with the assistance of Dr. Brown, I'm making not people cheese, but People Butter!

Tip o' the day: It doesn't have to suck so much. "It" in this case being your pump. I learned after several weeks of extremely tender nipples that turning your pump up all the way is not only not necessary, it can actually cause damage to your nipples! I finally found this out from the manual that came with my Medela PIS -- my hospital LC had encouraged me to "work up to full speed" on the hospital model and no one told me anything different about the rental pump. I now happily pump at about half suction.

O, Leftie, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

You'll recall (or you'll go back and read the archives) that Leftie has been my big producer until just recently, when I had to start doing compressions. Well, things have been steadily going downhill. Leftie still outproduces Rightie, but just barely and only because I pump for 45 minutes + every session. Rightie's really done in about 20, but Leftie doesn't even start making an honest effort until we're past the 30 minute mark (ah, what I would give to be a quick emptier). I don't think it's a clogged duct because a) I can't feel it and b) compressions work immediately, which has not been my experience in the past with clogs.

[For those of you who are new at this, a clogged duct feels like a lump in your breast. There are lots of ways to get rid of the clog. My favorite is to take some Vicks VapoRub (I read about this on a message board and yes, it does work, though not as quickly for me as for some others. YMMV.[edit: DO NOT GET VICKS ON YOUR NIPPLES! Trust me on this one, ladies.]) and just use one or two fingers to continuously rub the lump. This usually takes two or three pumps to be fully effective. There's also something with a comb and a hot shower -- as with many things EP, see kellymom for more details.]

So anyhow, I feel like Leftie is deserting me. This makes me sad. Leftie and I had such a great relationship. I could always count on her. She was like that friend you have that never has anything more important to do than come over and dish with you. Leftie, I implore you, don't leave me! I need you! The cookie needs you! You're our rock, our tower of power, our Lance Armstrong.

Today's Tip: It's all about the water. Yes, water intake is essential to happy and productive breasts. However, be careful not to overdrink, as this can lower supply just as quickly as not drinking enough. A good rule is 12 8oz. glasses/day. I happened across this number in one of my breastfeeding books and cut down to this amount right away. I saw a big (about 20%) increase almost immediately. Do be careful in the heat -- you'll probably need more then -- but don't go overboard.

And Then There Were Five...

Yes, I seem to have successfully dropped another pump. Woo-hoo! I'm down to 5 a day now, and things are really much more manageable. I originally intended to drop an afternoon pump, but because of my commuting and work schedule, it ended up working out that I dropped that pesky middle of the night pump. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Even when she doesn't sleep through the night (like last night), there's a huge difference between getting up, taking care of her, putting her back to bed, then pumping and getting to go back to bed myself.

I am also very pleased with the girls for keeping up production even in the face of the high stress work situation I've been in. The less said about that the better, but I think everything's taken care of now. I'm hoping, anyway. On an unrelated work note, I am worried about what's going to happen in the fall when I have to be in the office full time and on my regular schedule. The cookie will (hopefully) have a regular bed time by then, so I won't see her at all in the evenings, and our mornings together are pretty rushed. I will be able to spend a little extra time with her in the mornings, as I can take the later train once I start staying later, but still, it's going to be a lot more time away from her. It makes me sad to contemplate. Sigh.

Okay, here's today's tip: Forget Lansinoh and olive oil -- just use a little EBM to lube up your nipples before pumping. Works great, and you don't have to remember to bring anything with you when you're pumping away from home.