Meanwhile...

While Peanut was in the NICU, I saw my job as two fold.

1) First and foremost - - - stay healthy!
2) Pumping

Stay Healthy

Remember that at the end of the NICU stay, you'll bringing a newborn home. You will experience many of the issues that any newborn parent faces, including lack of sleep, and you need to be prepared for that. Maintain your physical and emotional well being.

I tried my best. The NICU was emotionally draining at times, so I felt it was imperative for my husband and I to take nights off once in a while. Peanut was in good hands and we needed that time to recharge. Sometimes we relaxed at home, sometimes we went out with friends, sometimes we went on date nights. Obviously we spent a lot of time with Peanut, but, we recognized that there is a critical balance. He needed us to stay healthy, and our marriage to stay strong, even more than he needed us physically there with him.

Staying healthy also meant not getting sick! We were afraid to bring in any germs to the little guy. This meant getting enough sleep. Drinking lots of water. Washing hands very very well for 20 seconds and using hand sanitizer (probably too often!). My husband got sick with a stomach bug just once during his 4 month stay but considering this was in a sickly time of year (Dec-Apr) that wasn't too bad at all! Getting sick also means we couldn't visit our little man, so it was an additional incentive to stay healthy.

Pumping

Pumping was important to me because we were told it decreases the incidence of a serious condition called NEC. Also, I wanted Peanut to have my antibodies to help keep him from getting sick.

I am going to share my story because I had a lot of success with pumping. I'm sure some of that is my genetic make-up, but maybe some can benefit from my experience!

I started pumping the same day he was born. I think a few hours later, because fortunately, I didn't need a c-section (I'm not sure if that would have changed things). I pumped every 3 hours, with one longer stretch at night. This morphed into my pumping schedule that I maintained throughout the first 6 months - which was pumping at 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7:20 pm, 10:30 pm, 3 am. I cringe a little thinking about it.

The first couple sessions I got a big fat zilch. I think within a day, I was getting maybe 1 mL. I remember the first time I filled a 10 mL syringe! The early milk is very special and was marked with a green dot to ensure that Peanut got it as soon as he could.

It wasn't long and I was overflowing my 6 oz bottles (on each side) into my lap. Our upright freezer, our fridge freezer, my parent's freezer, and my aunt's freezer were all full of frozen milk. Not to mention the NICU freezer, plus all the milk that Peanut ate along the way. It was pretty crazy! It's easy to stock pile since he couldn't take milk for about a month, and even then it was so little at at time!

Here are some things that I did that may have contributed to my milk supply. The funny thing is I was flat out told I probably wouldn't be that successful because I have PCOS.

1) I drank a whole lot of water. I'd hate to try to guess, but I toted around a 32 oz cup (the hospital gave me) and refilled it several times throughout the day. By the way, I hate drinking water. My husband always reminds me, and while I complain, I know it's good for me so deep down I appreciate the nagging :)

2) I ate. A lot. I mean I just never stopped eating. Even though, I lost weight (I was pumping so so much) but I literally couldn't eat any more than I already was and anyone that knows me at all knows that I love to eat. (Side note: This is really coming back to haunt me now that I've stopped pumping...I'm trying to retrain my self control and it's tough!)

3) For the first month I rented a hospital grade pump. This was awesome for 2 reasons. One, the hospital grade pumps just work really well. Secondly, I didn't have to worry about whether I should drop $250 on a pump if I wasn't able to produce or keep up with it. Minimizing stress is good! After a month, things were going well so I bought a Medela Pump In Style Advanced. It was a little noisier than the hospital grade pump (Medela Symphony) but I noticed no difference in my milk supply.

4) I told myself that any milk I would provide Peanut was a good thing. I never once counted or tracked how many ounces I got. I just flat out didn't worry about. I just did it.

5) I got a lot of sleep - took occasional naps during the day if needed.

I'll say that I absolutely despised pumping. It hurt a little at first, but I hated it because I hated being tied up allll the time. I hated washing the pump parts. And most of all, I hated leaving my baby's bedside to go PUMP. I was missing out on valuable time, and my husband would get to stick around and hold him. Unfair. But I was doing it for him!

I pumped for a very long 14 months. I pumped 7 times a day for about 6 months. Originally I wasn't going to keep pumping after I went back to work, but I was worried Peanut would get sick so I just decided that I would keep at it, and just reduce the number of pumps as I got overwhelmed, reminding myself that I was allowed to quit at any time.

When I went back to work I made a decision not to pump at work. I also made a decision that I would only get up at night if Peanut did. Peanut started to sleep through the night at 6 weeks, which meant that I was only pumping 4 times a day. I pumped 4 times a day from about 6 months to about 11 months. Then holiday season hit and I didn't want to be secluded, so I dropped to 3 times per day. Peanut's first birthday hit and I dropped to 2 pumps per day - my supply took a pretty good hit, my period returned, but I kept on keeping on because I wanted him to have the antibodies. I waited until I was ready to risk willing drying up my supply completely before I dropped to 1 pump per day, which was at 14 months, and also coincided with the end of RSV (more on that later) season. When he turned 15 months, and RSV season was over, I quit. Between the fresh supply and frozen stash, Peanut got 100% breast milk for 15 months. It was so so liberating to be done.

Tips for keeping at it

1) Use a hands-free bras so you can do other things while pumping (like using a computer, reading, helping with baby if needed, etc.) I just about quit at 2 weeks before I got one of these dudes - it totally saved me.

One option is to buy this. My problem with it was that I didn't want to change into this bra 7 times a day. It was winter and I was wearing a lot of heavy sweaters and that was a pain.

Another options is to rig up a bra you own, like this. Can't say I tried it.

The solution I discovered was to use this bra. Since it has a dip in the front, it worked just by slipping the pumping cups into the bra, so I didn't have to change my bra or rig anything up. Super convenient for someone pumping a lot.

2) My husband took all of the night feeding when Peanut came home, and I'd pump sitting next to them. It would have been too hard to do both and I would have quit much sooner.

3) Nobody else did, but finally one day I asked if I could pump at Peanut's bedside. They set up a curtain for me and I could pump sitting next to him so I didn't feel like I had to leave and lock myself up in a room. :) I might have been embarrassed at first to do this, but if you do it once you'll never look back.

Remember

If you don't want to pump, can't pump, aren't successful, have little milk supply, or just hate it, don't worry! The stress of the NICU can make it difficult to establish and maintain a great supply, but don't let it get you down. Remember that every little bit helps and that the first days are the most important. If you choose not to pump at all, some NICUs have donated breast milk that they will be able to give your preemie. If your NICU doesn't, I believe there are organizations you can contact to try to get donated milk. The moms that donate are screened and it is a very safe and beneficial option to consider.

If I did it all over again

I'm sure any lactation consultant would cringe if they read this. If I did this all over again, knowing what I know now and that I had plenty of supply, I wouldn't have pumped at night when Andrew was in the NICU. I would have dropped the 3 am pump. Yeah, I had great supply, but balance is important and now I realize that it really wasn't necessary. If, heaven forbid, we go through this again, that's what I'll do. If I need to supplement with formula, I will!

Everyone is different and you need to do what works for you.

p.s. I didn't use any of the traditional methods that I've heard of to boost supply, so I can't comment on their effectiveness!