Pump it up

Following on from last weeks purchase of some bottles for when the day comes to introduce them to May I took the plunge at the weekend to buy a pump. I pretty much always knew that I wanted to get a Medela pump, but the cost involved is not insignificant. I procrastinated and delayed the purchase numerous times. However, on Friday night I saw a Dutch website was offering a deal on the Medela Freestyle offering what I think was a big enough reduction on the pump. It was time to suck it up and buy it.

The Medela Freestyle

Panic ensued as I didn't receive any confirmation email from the ordering website before I went to bed that night. I had visions of my credit card being ripped off whilst I slept and having to explain to my husband that I had given an online company our details. All of those worries were put to rest when I woke up to not only the confirmation email, but also the tracking number of the parcel which was already on it's way to being delivered before lunchtime. I was really impressed.

Once I have more experience with the pump I will write a review about it. But for now it has been easy enough to use. Though I have to admit I've only used it as a single pump so far as it doesn't come with a handsfree top and there's no way you can hold two bottles and operate the pump with just two hands. The only other drawback I can see with it right now is sterilising the various parts. The recommendation in the manual is to boil the parts in a pot for five minutes. We have a microwave steriliser but I am too afraid to use it for the Medela given how much it cost. I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to whether the parts can be sterilised that way or not so I am playing it safe for now.

Of course my husband thinks the pump is a 'toy' which isn't exactly how I see it, but I have to admit some excitement when the package arrived and I assembled the pieces (and sterilised them!) for my first pumping session. I read that for full-time breastfeeding mums, one way to start pumping without stimulating oversupply is to pump for a short period (I read 4 minutes) on each side following a feed. I couldn't believe it when I found that I had pumped 2 ounces after just 2 minutes of pumping after May's late afternoon feed on Saturday.

At the moment I am pumping following the morning feed, especially as I often have a full side that May doesn't eat in the morning. That means I pump around 3-4 minutes for the side she did feed on, and around 8 minutes on the side that she didn't. I normally manage around 6 ounces total give or take. This is all in the hopes of building up a reserve in our freezer before I go back to work so that there is less pressure to meet particular targets in order to have enough to feed May the next day. I am freezing the milk in quantities of 3 ounce bags as I also read that it is better to freeze smaller size quantities so that you waste less milk if the baby doesn't want a full feed. We have yet to give May a bottle so I am unsure how much she drinks in a feed, perhaps that would give me a better idea of the quantities I should freeze in each bag. But for now I'm pretty happy with my two little 3 ounce bags each day.

Breast to bottle

May is now 10 weeks old and honestly I do not know how that happened! One minute she was my small newborn and now it almost seems to me like she is a grown up child. She smiles at us, plays with her toys, follows me with her eyes when I walk across the room and is happy to see us get her out of the crib in the morning. Like a lot of babies her changing table is apparently a very exciting place to be. She now likes to stop mid-feed to smile at me which makes me melt. The advances she has made from week 5 to now are incredible. As a first time mother all of this is completely new to me so of course I'm fascinated by her growth and I am pretty insufferable.

Breastfeeding for the first 5-6 weeks of May's life was harrowing, filled with pain, tears (hers and mine), countless doctor visits and plenty of conflicting advice about what the best approach to breastfeed May was. It felt like I was in a constant cycle of dreading each feed, feeding through the pain, trying to get a good latch, dealing with frustration, tears and milk everywhere. Rinse and repeat every two hours. Before I go back to those early weeks, this post is about where we are right now at 10 weeks.

Yesterday I went and bought a two-pack of bottles. Tommee Tippee are the best-selling bottles on Amazon.co.uk and are supposedly designed for the transition from breast to bottle so that is basically how I made my choice. I have only bought two of these to start with in case May doesn't like them and I need to try a more 'traditional' type bottle or something else. I am guessing it will be a bit of trial and error to figure out what is going to work (and fingers crossed it is going to work).

May will start daycare in two months time. She will almost be ready to start some solids, but there is a gap to bridge and I would also like to breastfeed her for as long as she wants it. This popular article doing the rounds on pinterest which presents a timeline of breastfeeding estimates 5-6 breastfeeds at that age. This is where the bottles come in, as I will be going back to work which also involves a commute.

To date the advice I have been given is to introduce May to a bottle well in advance of returning to work. Also, to start thinking about pumping any surplus milk I have following a feed now to build up a supply in my freezer. Waiting until the 2 weeks before May starts daycare to give her a bottle apparently is not a good plan. If it doesn't go well there would a panic on my side about what to do about feeding her when I when I have to go back to work.

But how do I start with bottle feeding May? I am apprehensive about it as so far she has no interest and will forcefully refuse a soother (pacifier). My gut feeling is that introducing her to her new friend 'the bottle' as opposed to the breast will trigger a similar reaction. I have been told to let her Dad be the one that gives her the first bottle, to not put her in the cradle hold when feeding her a bottle, to not even be in the house when it first happens as she apparently can smell me from quite the distance! However, I have also had advice not to force the bottle on her, to let her play with it to get used to the plastic taste, to give her small amounts from the bottle at first and the rest from the breast (so in that scenario would I still be the one to give her the small bit from the bottle?). In addition I find myself having emotional feelings about not exclusively nursing her anymore. Especially as it was so difficult for us to establish a good nursing relationship in the first place.

As a result I have no idea how to include a bottle when feeding May. So on today's to-do list is to read the leaflet that came with the bottles and to start scouring the internet on advice about transitioning from breast to bottle successfully. Of course I cannot even begin to think about how to introduce bottles to May without figuring out how to get the milk in those bottles in the first place. The world of breast pumps is also a complete unknown to me. Given that I will be returning to work I am happy to invest in a double electric to save time pumping, but that can be quite an investment which means that I don't want to choose the wrong type of pump. And then I go back and forth on the question of do I really need a double pump?

Basically I have lots of questions about how to include a bottle into our lives and so far very few answers. I have plenty of time to figure this out as it will be another 2 months until May goes into daycare but I think it is important to start putting a plan in place now. We will just have to see how it goes.