2  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

Frozen gold

A few weeks ago, I dug out the old breast pump*. I had developed a nice freezer stash of frozen breastmilk the last time I did this, and I wanted to do it again. For one, I wanted a ready supply in case of emergency: illness requiring certain medications or something like that. Also, since breastmilk keeps in the freezer for 2-3 months, it wasn't too early to start banking in case I needed extra when I started back at work.

Yet, I couldn't remember how I got a surplus.

I got on some of the breastfeeding message boards out there (I find the La Leche League breastfeeding forums really helpful) and saw that people had success pumping right after the morning feed since people found their breasts fullest then. Some also pumped one side while simultaneously nursing on the other, a feat of physical coordination I remember trying with Jolie a few years ago. Um, awkward much?

The first few times I tried to pump after nursing in the morning weren't very fruitful. I mean, an ounce, an ounce and a half total from both sides. I was starting to get discouraged as it would take FOREVER to build up a serious supply at this pace. But, I kept at it and I noticed that I was producing more and more every morning. I also was substituting one feed a day with pumped milk and always pumped more milk than little JL would take. Because he wouldn't take so much by bottle, he'd become hungrier earlier and want to nurse sooner, creating even more demand for my body to produce more.

Now, he's 6 weeks old and I have probably at least 40 oz already frozen and pumping a lot more each day in surplus. At this point, I sometimes get 5 + ounces AFTER I've just nursed him in the morning. It's possibly more than I'd be able to use eventually.  But that's okay. I'd rather have extra than not enough and it's just extra calories burned, right? (I often joke that instead of working out, I'll just  slap on a sweatband and throw in an extra pumping session or two.)

Now the problem is: freezer space. More freezer space.

*I got my great  Medela Pump In Style pump through this site which had the lowest price I could find by far AND free shipping...