As if life with a newborn isn't hard enough, there comes the added challenge of breastfeeding and then the equally as new/weird topic of pumping. I am not a person that deals well with change, so life has been pretty crazy the past 2 weeks.
Right when we got the hang of breastfeeding (truly, she's been great at it and even though I think it's hard and exhausting, it's been fun for me at times to bond with her) it was time for me to figure out this whole pump thing.
First of all, I had to get a pump. I knew that people had told me I needed the Medela pump, ok, I can do that. My mom, Emmeline and I packed up and headed to Babies R Us with gift cards in hand. I found the breastpumps and of course there are like 3 different styles of Medela. Luckily a woman saw me sitting on the floor and came to ask if I needed help. I asked her the differences in the pumps, pretended to understand what she was saying to me and then went back to just staring blankly at the boxes. I decided to go with the mid-grade pump. I always figure not the cheapest, not the most expensive, will be fine. I got my breastpump, checked out and then went outside to have my mom pick me back up. Of course, I had left my phone in the car and my mom had driven off with Emmeline for a while and then parked under a shady tree waiting for me.
So here I am now, huge breast pump box (of course, the lady didn't have a bag to fit it in) just standing on the curb at Babies R Us while tons of cars drive by me. I stood there for about 5 minutes when I finally spotted the car on the other side of the parking lot and started walking to it, huge breast pump in hand. I'm sure I looked like a lunatic, but thankfully my mom saw me and began to drive toward me.
Once I got home, it was time to figure out the breastpump. I'm not going to lie that I was extremely nervous about this. I felt like a cow once I got it hooked up and didn't really know what I was doing. When was I supposed to pump? Was it supposed to hurt? Would it be bad if I pumped and then she got hungry? Would I be able to feed her? It all contributed to the other loneliness I had been feeling in our first week home. I felt like I had no clue what I was doing.
I know I still am probably not pumping right and may not know when to do it, but I am sure, like all things with a baby, it will get easier as time goes on.
Yes, I just wrote a whole post about breastpumps. Who am I?
I hear ya on the weirdness factor. I never enjoyed pumping (and rarely did it until I had to) with Lilly. It's really up to you - it's nice to have some stored milk for when you want/need to get out and want someone else to be able to feed the baby. This time around, I was so engorged last week, that I've pumped a lot just to help him eat and for my own comfort if he only eats on one side (I'll pump the other) or if he has a bad feeding. Some people pump after every feeding to start getting a stockpile of milk - you can usually get something and it will add up. But yes … I feel like I may as well be on a cattle farm when I'm sitting at the table hooked up to that thing!!
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