Hi! I’ve done the whole pumping routine. Twice.
Quick question - how long does it take you to pump? I love my Isis pump, but it takes WAY longer with that pump than with the Medela Pump-in-Style (plus, the PIS has its own storage compartment). An electric double-pump setup is really useful. If you are using the Avent bottles or other wide-mouth bottles, there is a converter set that works like the bottom of the Avent Isis. I used the Avent bottles (wide-mouth) this time, and the converter set.
I agree with the overall kudos - it takes dedication to start, and to continue. And it is okay to supplement when diminishing returns cross your personal threshold.
Anyway, my experience…
First time, I was the first woman in my office to ever pump (previously, they’d had a whopping 6 month maternity leave policy, so nobody bothered… then they got bigger, and so much for that leave!). I was politely told that I could pump in the bathroom. Oh, JOY. I suggested that running an extension cord across the bathroom floor would qualify as an OSHA hazard, so they put in a power outlet in one stall, and the nice facilities guys also put in a shelf for my pump (on their own initiative). Still, it was a bathroom. Ick. But, hey, the conference rooms in that building all had floor-to-ceiling windows, and I lived in a cube. No door.
Then, I moved to another building, and found that the conference rooms were windowless! YAY! So I booked conference rooms every day at a certain time. If I missed my time, my room might be taken, so I was never more than a few minutes late. Not having the flexibility of an office of my own was a real help for keeping to a schedule.
Then, I moved to a client site. Now, that was nice. They had a lactation room. Complete with a sign on the door listing the benefits of breastfeeding.
Then, back to the first building. At that point, I was pretty open about the pumping thing, so people started offering me spare offices to use for pumping so I didn’t have to use the bathroom anymore. But soon thereafter, my pumping supply crashed. My son was 11 months old (~9 months of pumping!), and after talking it over with my ped, we started him on whole milk during the day, and just kept nursing mornings, evenings, and weekends (and nights, too).
I used a Medela PIS (same one both times). I pumped 4 times a day until my supply stabilized and I got through the growth spurts. Then I dropped to three, and stayed there until my supply for the pump crashed at 11 months (really 10.5 months, but hung on and slowly cut out sessions for two weeks).
In the four years between Gabe and Brendan, my company had a population explosion, as all the young punks who worked there got married and started having kids. One of my mentees was not going anywhere near a bathroom to pump, and she happened to be in charge of a quality-of-(work)life group. Suddenly, we had a push for a privacy room - and not just for the pumping moms, but also for anyone who had to make a private phone call that might be less than fun in a cube farm environment. Scheduled time like a conference room, so you knew it was yours.
When I came back from leave this last time, there were three moms using the privacy room. I pumped three times a day at first, then quickly dropped to twice a day, as I was dealing with an oversupply, and got an ounce a minute, no matter when I pumped. Decreasing how much I pumped was one of the ways I managed the oversupply (less stimulation). Plus, Brendan is one of those kids who saves up for when you get home. Instead of drinking 20-24 oz in his 10 hours of daycare a day, he drank 12-15 oz, and rapidly dropped that to 10 oz. Meanwhile, I could supply two babies with milk (which I did, actually - donated some of it).
Once the oversupply stabilized, I then had to deal with all the usual supply issues, getting enough, etc. My supply crashed again at 10.5-11 months. But this time, not such a good idea to swap off to something else, as Brendan had a dairy allergy. I ate oatmeal and used fenugreek and pumped more, and got through the gap. Continued until about 14 months, then tapered off (he was drinking rice milk at that point, and the ped was not concerned about his fat intake, as he eats loads of meat and avocados).
Happy to be done pumping, but really glad I managed it. The first time, getting through all those supply crashes sucked (at 6 months, right along with a growth spurt, my supply dropped… etc.). Sucked again the second time, once the oversupply was gone. The oversupply was GREAT for pumping, but the diarrhea and tummy upsets from Brendan were not so happy. I wish I’d taken more advantage of it, really, and kept a more subtantial freezer stash. It wouldn’t have taken much extra effort, though it would have slowed down the supply adjustment, which wouldn’t have been so great. Ah, well, it worked at the time, and that’s fine.
Here’s my favorite tips on pumping more article (yeah, I wrote it 
).
(Hi, Ceejaytee!)
