Top 9 Things I Wanna Do When I'm Done Pumping
Yes I know breastmilk is the best for Mackinley and trust me I have worked my butt off pumping milk for her for 7 months now. Everyone said it wasn't likely that I could produce enough breastmilk for her through pumping alone, and would most likely have to supplement with formula or my supply would go down quickly. I was able to give Mackinley exclusively breastmilk and no formula for a good 6 and a half months straight and during that time froze up probably 50-80 bottles worth of breastmilk in the freezer. Doctors, my breastfeeding peer, everyone I talked to about pumping said I was doing AMAZING at keeping my supply up, and that it was not normal for it to happen that way often. So I did great. But pumping has taken it's toll on me. I'm just starting to wear out and tire of pumping and the hassle it brings. Keep in mind, I'm NOT giving up, I'm just dreaming of the days I don't have to pump anymore. I still plan to continue to pump until Mackinley is a year old, or until my supply runs out completely, whichever comes first. During the past couple weeks my supply has lowered a lot. I've had to thaw at least one frozen bottle of milk each day, and Mackinley has been supplemented with formula probably 5 times in like 3 weeks.
Recently there's been so much going on I'm finding it hard to find time to pump a lot. When I started out, I would pump every 2-3 hours all day and all night. Then I lowered it during the night to only once or twice, then only once during the night, and now I don't pump at all during the night. Mackinley sleeps better through the night and doesn't drink as much milk so I don't find it too neccessary to pump during the night. I know I could to help bump up my supply, but I just don't have the energy to be up so much during the night anymore. Mackinley is getting bigger and takes so much more energy to take care of her, I need my sleep at night. And since I don't have as much help during the day, I am only able to pump when Mackinley naps. She used to nap 4 or 5 times a day, and now she only naps about 3 times. Which means I pump less during the day too, but not willingly. It's too hard when I'm by myself to keep her happy while trying to pump. So because of all those things, my supply is way down. During the day I get 1-2 ounces everytime I pump, and first thing in the morning I only get 3-5 ounces. If I went all night without pumping months ago, I could have gotten as much as 10 ounces.
So here is my list of things I've been dreaming about doing once I'm done pumping!
-Drink an energy drink (I love monsters and red bulls and I have not had any in a long time. I am just dying to have one, but have been good because I know it's not good for her to get through my milk.)
-Drink anything with alcohol (I'm not a drinker, I've only had alcohol a handful of times in my life, but sometimes I just wish I could have something like that without the worry of it getting into my milk.)
-Drink caffeine after a certain time of the day (I'm tired of watching my caffeine intake. I wish I could just drink a pepsi or some mountain dew at like 6pm and not worry about it keeping her up all night.)
-Eat as much spicy or gassy food as I want (Right now I have to watch eating those things because it upsets her belly.)
-Sleep without a bra (As a lot of you women know sleeping with a bra is not comfortable. I didn't sleep with a bra until I got pregnant, and have still had to sleep with a bra because I have to wear nursing pads because I leak during the night. I want to sleep comfortably again.)
-Go without a bra for at least a whole day (I never used to wear a bra 24/7 and now I have to. I would love to just stay at home and not worry about having to wear one for a whole day!)
-Go out for more than 2 hours at a time and not have to worry about bringing my pump and finding somewhere to pump, etc (Everytime I leave the house I have to make sure I will be home in just a couple hours or I have to take my pump with me and find somewhere to pump. I've even pumped in the car before. I will enjoy not having a time constraint to be home, and I will enjoy not having to lug the pump everywhere with me and finding somewhere discreet to pump.)
-Wear whatever type of bra I want without worrying about leaking or showing (Right now I'm pretty limited on what bras I can wear. I have one regular bra, that's not flattering whatsoever, but can handle the fluctuating in size of my breasts throughout the day. Otherwise I have to wear an ugly sports bra. I want to be able to get back into cute bras, ones that hide better under my clothes, ones that aren't so stretched out and non-flattering.)
-Go to bed when Mackinley goes to sleep and not have to stay up and pump first (Most nights I have to pump once I get Mackinley to sleep before I can even go to sleep myself. I want to just go to bed when she goes to sleep.)
This is just kind of a fun wish list post. I don't plan on stopping pumping yet. I just know I'm getting worn out on pumping and I'm ready for it to be done so I can do all these things above. Pumping definitely takes a lot of work and time. But it's a sacrifice I'm so proud of myself for making. I never dreamed I'd be able to give Mackinley breastmilk this long. I was never familiar with breastfeeding for a long time. When I started thinking about it, I didn't want to do it. Then I figured I could go 6 weeks. Then I figured I could do until she had teeth. Then I figured I would go until 6 months. Now that she is almost 8 months old and had mostly breastmilk I'm so proud of myself for making it happen. And I did it the harder way! I hope to give her as much breastmilk as I can produce until she's a year old. Then I can comfortably say, I'm done. I've got 4 months to go......
Recently there's been so much going on I'm finding it hard to find time to pump a lot. When I started out, I would pump every 2-3 hours all day and all night. Then I lowered it during the night to only once or twice, then only once during the night, and now I don't pump at all during the night. Mackinley sleeps better through the night and doesn't drink as much milk so I don't find it too neccessary to pump during the night. I know I could to help bump up my supply, but I just don't have the energy to be up so much during the night anymore. Mackinley is getting bigger and takes so much more energy to take care of her, I need my sleep at night. And since I don't have as much help during the day, I am only able to pump when Mackinley naps. She used to nap 4 or 5 times a day, and now she only naps about 3 times. Which means I pump less during the day too, but not willingly. It's too hard when I'm by myself to keep her happy while trying to pump. So because of all those things, my supply is way down. During the day I get 1-2 ounces everytime I pump, and first thing in the morning I only get 3-5 ounces. If I went all night without pumping months ago, I could have gotten as much as 10 ounces.
So here is my list of things I've been dreaming about doing once I'm done pumping!
-Drink an energy drink (I love monsters and red bulls and I have not had any in a long time. I am just dying to have one, but have been good because I know it's not good for her to get through my milk.)
-Drink anything with alcohol (I'm not a drinker, I've only had alcohol a handful of times in my life, but sometimes I just wish I could have something like that without the worry of it getting into my milk.)
-Drink caffeine after a certain time of the day (I'm tired of watching my caffeine intake. I wish I could just drink a pepsi or some mountain dew at like 6pm and not worry about it keeping her up all night.)
-Eat as much spicy or gassy food as I want (Right now I have to watch eating those things because it upsets her belly.)
-Sleep without a bra (As a lot of you women know sleeping with a bra is not comfortable. I didn't sleep with a bra until I got pregnant, and have still had to sleep with a bra because I have to wear nursing pads because I leak during the night. I want to sleep comfortably again.)
-Go without a bra for at least a whole day (I never used to wear a bra 24/7 and now I have to. I would love to just stay at home and not worry about having to wear one for a whole day!)
-Go out for more than 2 hours at a time and not have to worry about bringing my pump and finding somewhere to pump, etc (Everytime I leave the house I have to make sure I will be home in just a couple hours or I have to take my pump with me and find somewhere to pump. I've even pumped in the car before. I will enjoy not having a time constraint to be home, and I will enjoy not having to lug the pump everywhere with me and finding somewhere discreet to pump.)
-Wear whatever type of bra I want without worrying about leaking or showing (Right now I'm pretty limited on what bras I can wear. I have one regular bra, that's not flattering whatsoever, but can handle the fluctuating in size of my breasts throughout the day. Otherwise I have to wear an ugly sports bra. I want to be able to get back into cute bras, ones that hide better under my clothes, ones that aren't so stretched out and non-flattering.)
-Go to bed when Mackinley goes to sleep and not have to stay up and pump first (Most nights I have to pump once I get Mackinley to sleep before I can even go to sleep myself. I want to just go to bed when she goes to sleep.)
This is just kind of a fun wish list post. I don't plan on stopping pumping yet. I just know I'm getting worn out on pumping and I'm ready for it to be done so I can do all these things above. Pumping definitely takes a lot of work and time. But it's a sacrifice I'm so proud of myself for making. I never dreamed I'd be able to give Mackinley breastmilk this long. I was never familiar with breastfeeding for a long time. When I started thinking about it, I didn't want to do it. Then I figured I could go 6 weeks. Then I figured I could do until she had teeth. Then I figured I would go until 6 months. Now that she is almost 8 months old and had mostly breastmilk I'm so proud of myself for making it happen. And I did it the harder way! I hope to give her as much breastmilk as I can produce until she's a year old. Then I can comfortably say, I'm done. I've got 4 months to go......
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