Breastfeeding: Pumping

It's been a while since I've talked about my breastfeeding experience and now that I am nearing the end, now feels like a good time. In my last breastfeeding related post, I talked about the costs of breastfeeding that no one really warned me about nor did I think about until I was in the middle of all of it. This post is kind of the same thing but about pumping.  These are thoughts and ideas that I've came across along the way reading through forums, searching Pinterest and doing some talking with other moms.

1. Just keep doing it - This relates to that moment when you're sitting on your couch or at your desk at work pumping for the last 20 minutes, you look down, and you see this...

Less than an ounce. Total. From both boobs combined. It feels like such a waste of time and your mind almost immediately goes to "I don't even see the point of my next pumping session." There is a point though! You're signaling those things to make more milk. Your boobs and their milk supply, at least in my case, are pretty unpredictable. Just stick to your "schedule" and they'll most likely do what they need to do. Don't skip your next pump because you think you'll get less than 2 ounces.

 

2. Always, Always, Always have spare parts - Since my pump is a Medela PISA, I am only familiar with that brand and model, so these particular terms apply to it. I can't tell you how many times I ripped one of the membranes (the little white circle things that attach to the yellow things) during cleaning. Guess what happens if you rip one? Your pump doesn't pump that side. Who knew that one little round circle could have such an impact on a machine. Whenever I got down to one spare set, I bought another pack. They are like $6 and every once in a while Target has a cartwheel for breastfeeding accessories. Stock up on this crap when that happens! This same thing goes to tubing and shields. I was at work one day and noticed black stuff (I'm thinking mold somehow) in my tubing. Luckily I had another set at home and didn't have to go all day at work without pumping.

3. Become a little OCD with your routines - Your pumping routine, your cleaning routine and your morning routine for getting out of the house. The first 4 months of Tucker's life, I exclusively pumped and bottled fed him. Since Danny works 24 hour shifts, I had to learn to pump and feed at the same time: get bottle, prop baby up on Boppy, get pump hooked up to me and start pumping, feed baby, finish pumping, put baby in swing, deal with milk and parts. I did that 8 times a day. I put parts and bottles in my bag in the same order each morning and I clean them the same way every single night. I've forgotten something at home one time. I've read horror stories about moms leaving something at home and not realizing until they are at work, with a short lunch break and nowhere close to buy extra parts or a hand pump. If you've ever had engorged boobs, I'm sure you're having sympathy pains for those women right now.

4. Your pump output is like your grades in high school - It'll fall in the blink of an eye and you'll have to pump like its your job to get it back up. Power pumping(pump for 20 minutes, 10 minute break, pump for 10 minutes, 10 minute break, pump for 10 minutes) is the equivalent of that 2 page essay you had to do for like 10 extra points. You work on it for 4 nights and you get a 2% increase in your grade, except you get 2 more ounces. Except the difference is 2 ounces makes you want to throw a party and not bang your head against a locker.

5. Don't dump without at least sniffing it - I say at least, because you might even have to taste it. Go ahead and judge, but there have been times where Tucker would drink 1 oz of a 4 oz bottle, meaning 3 oz would go back in the fridge and come home with us after work. No way in hell I'm dumping 3/4 of a bottle. I always stuck it back in the fridge when we got home and sniffed it the next morning. If I couldn't tell if it was good or not, I would stick my clean finger in the bottle to get a little drop to taste. If you don't have kids yet and have never experienced the agony of dumping breastmilk down the drain, then save the judgement for when you do have to do that. Its painful. Because like the scenario in #1, 3 ounces could easily be the result of 40 minutes hooked up to the pump.

I hope these tips/thoughts on pumping don't scare you away from the idea of pumping. That's not what they are for. Hopefully you find them helpful if anything! I know if it weren't for reading a few of them, I would have quit months ago!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Despite all of my unintentional efforts to gain 5 pounds this weekend by eating no less than 3 cookies a day, stuffing my face with free macaroni and cheese and washing it down with free margaritas (seriously, why do free margs taste better than margs you have to pay for?!), I managed to not gain 5 pounds. As a matter of fact, I even saw a loss this morning! A pretty shocking one too!

 

Last Weigh-In (mid-September): 165.2 lbs

Today's Weigh-In: 159.6 lbs

Change: -5.6 lbs

 

 

A 5.6 pound loss. I'm not really sure what happened there. Actually, its probably due to the fact that I'm not carrying around a bunch of extra milk since my breastfeeding journey is coming to an end. I'll get to that at some point in the next couple of weeks. Or, its because I finally started treating my body the way it needed to be treated. It has felt so good to get back on track.

 

A few years ago, after a weekend of not giving too much thought about what I put in my mouth, I would have just kept going in that direction. Eating poorly Friday, Saturday and Sunday would have led to eating poorly Monday through Thursday too. Then it would be the weekend again, and eating healthy on the weekend is dumb, because its the weekend. And lets not forget, working out on the weekends is classified as overachieving.

 

That thought process got me nowhere, except for 10-20 pounds heavier and feeling bad about myself. That "moment" that people who are tired of being overweight (or new moms who are still carrying around the baby belly) have when they've had enough happened a week and a half ago. That moment where enough is enough.  That moment where you get off the couch, put your tennis shoes on, and get to work. That moment when instead of ordering pizza or Chinese, you eat some chicken and veggies. That moment when you realize if you don't get it together, you're going to be huffing and puffing while you chase your child around the house.

 

Right now, I am taking it day by day. Holiday parties start next weekend for us. I can't keep my eating and exercise perfect. Depriving myself of treats doesn't work well for me long-term. It only works for about 3 days. If I keep myself in check the other days of the week, hopefully the times where I treat myself are just that, a treat and not a binge!

 

 

 

 

Frankenmuth Weekend Recap!

The 4th Annual Girls Weekend with my mother-in-law and 2 sister-in-laws is now in the books. I seriously look forward to this weekend more and more each year!

Friday morning we headed out of town around 8:30 and stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  We got to Frankenmuth/Birch Run around 1:30 and immediately started shopping. Each year, we've left earlier and earlier because we need more time at the outlet mall. We timed it just right this year! We hit Old Navy, Carter's and a couple of other stores before we all realized we were starving and were ready to get back to our hotel. If you're ever in the Frankenmuth area, or any area with a Drury Inn, I highly recommend you stay there! Free breakfast every morning, and then a "Kick-Back" every night with free dinner(soup, pasta, salad, baked potatoes, hot dogs, nachos) and drinks (like with alcohol, limit of 3) every night. All we pay for is lunch! Its beautiful! We were so tired from driving and shopping, that we were all in bed by 9:30.

Saturday I woke up more rested than I have in the last 2 years I think. It was lovely! After we all at breakfast and showered, off to Bronner's we went! It doesn't matter what time or what day we go there. It is always packed! I did find a perfect Christmas tree for the fire station though! If only I had hundreds of dollars to spend!

After Bronner's it was time for some more outlet shopping and lunch. We hit A LOT of stores. Between shopping Friday and Saturday, we had 3 stores left for Sunday. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped to get fudge and run into the cheese shop to get the boys some of their favorites. After we got to the hotel, we settled in with some dinner and drinks, then hit the hot tub before going to bed.

We were up bright and early again on Sunday to attend church before finishing up our shopping. It was a good thing we were done shopping, because we were running out of room in the van! My nieces are excited for when they finally get to go (we're thinking at age 16 or 17), but we're not sure where they'll sit?! We did get almost all of our Christmas shopping done for everyone else's children and even some for our own!

We got home yesterday evening around 5. I was ready to see my boys. All 3 of them! Diesel was excited I was home, Danny was happy to hand the baby off, and Tucker just gave me a small smirk. He apparently had too much fun with his daddy this weekend to miss me too much! I guess I would rather that happen instead of him being inconsolable.

It was a great weekend and a much needed break from wrestling through diaper changes and chasing a baby!

Weigh-In Wednesday

It's been a while since I've participated in this link-up and there's no better time than a morning where your pants just piss you off. And it shouldn't come as such a shock, since I basically took all of October off of running and eating right. Now that November is here and the holidays are weeks away, it's time to get a handle on things before I really fall off the wagon!

Let's start with the numbers to see what damage October did.

Last Weigh-In (mid-September): 163.6

Today's Weigh-In: 165.2

Change: +1.6

Considering the fact that I ran 5 times in October and went on vacation, I'll call a 1.6 lb gain a win. Things could have been A LOT worse. Regardless of putting a positive spin on a gain, I had my "enough is enough" moment on Saturday.

After feeling icky from Friday night's Chinese dinner and just not feeling great about myself all weekend, I decided on Saturday that I would start T25 the very next day. Who starts a workout program on a Sunday? Well, apparently I do. Originally, I wasn't going to start until next Monday. I'm going on my annual shopping trip to Michigan with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws this weekend, and after the trip felt like a good time in my head. But, my body was telling me something different. It needed to move and it needed change. So, I started Sunday night after Tucker went to bed. Working out at 8:30 or 9pm is not something I enjoy, but I also don't enjoy this muffin top I'm sporting either.

If I do both rounds of T25, which barring any broken bones, I should be able too, that'll put me finishing up just after the New Year. The timing couldn't be better.

Danny and I have done some talking over the last few weeks and we've both decided that its time.... to join a gym. You thought I was going to say have another baby didn't you?  He has been wanting to get back into lifting weights (he was a rock star lifter in high school) and he suggested to me in the most nicest way possible (because husbands suggesting anything weight loss related too their wives always goes over well. This actually did though) that I start lifting weights to get better results. I know I need too and I know I should. I've known it for a while. I'm still finding balance with this working mom crap, but the gym we want to join (the YMCA) has childcare in the evenings so I can go right after work and take Tucker with me. It'll be good for him to (hopefully) interact with other kids too since he's mostly just with Danny's mom every day.

That's the plan for now. To get a handle on things before the holidays hit by doing T25 and watching what I eat, then start going to the gym after the New Year.

How are you battling or preventing holiday weight gain this year?

Halloween & Weekend Recap

So, it's November. How in the hell did this happen? I'm going to have an 11 month old tomorrow. Crazy stuff!

The weekend started early on Friday. Work has been so unbelievably slow its almost kind of boring. I'm caught up on a few things, I'm ahead on a couple things and the phone isn't ringing since the farmers are still in the fields around here. So, I went back to work after lunch for about 20 minutes and called it a day. I went home to clean our dining/middle room of our house while Danny watched Blacklist on Netflix. I don't know what to call it. Its supposed to be a dining room but we don't have a table soooo? Anyways, I can see my desk, there aren't a 5 different bags just hanging out and the infant car seat that hasn't been used since July is finally in storage. It was a productive couple of hours!

Danny was actually productive on Friday too.

Next up was Tucker's first Halloween! The weather was TERRIBLE by the way! I think we saw, rain, sleet and snow.  I debuted our family costumes last week, which is what we sported again Friday night. We mostly just visited Danny's family and then my best friend at her parent's house. Her dad thought Danny's costume was hysterical! I'm not sure why but he just laughed his ass off. After making a few rounds, we ordered Chinese, ate a Danny's moms while visiting her then went home for the night. Our little monkey was tired and went straight to bed and we watched some more Blacklist.

Happy Halloween from my zoo to yours!

We were up early on Saturday and I felt sick when I woke up so I asked Danny to take over so I could lay down. I'm blaming the Chinese food so I don't eat it again. Another 45 minutes of sleep helped a little. I had an hour long massage scheduled for Saturday morning. It was heavenly! Danny's mom got it for me... last  year... for my baby shower. It was time to be used. After my massage, I headed home to get Danny and Tucker then we headed to my mom's new apartment. She lives about 30 minutes closer now! We helped her unpack, went to dinner at Five Guys then headed home. We watched a couple episodes of.. wait for it.. Blacklist.

Dressing up for Gigi!

Tucker, Diesel and I had a typical Sunday. Danny worked, so it was just me and the boys.  I got a few things done around the house, Tucker and I went to Target, then a birthday party and played and ate all evening long. After a fun bath time, Tucker was ready for bed a 7:00pm on the dot! Daylight Savings Time has us back to our pre-vacation sleep schedule of 7p-5a. The early mornings kind of suck, but its nice to have a few hours at night to fold laundry, put away clothes, pick up toys, change sheets, workout, shower and dry my hair, which is how I spent 7:30-10 last night.

 

This kid is such a ham!

It was a pretty standard weekend. I like those!