Parenting Magazine

Top Ten Tips For Expressing Breast Milk

I couldn’t have put together a better list myself.

Top Ten Tips For Expressing Breast Milk
By Hannah Will

I’ve been expressing breast milk for several weeks now, so I thought I would share some important tips that have helped me greatly.

1. Be sure to drink plenty of water. It’s hard to produce milk without it, as I’ve learned. I started out expressing four to six 3oz bottles a day, but then tapered off to two or three bottles. I realized I had not been drinking much water. Increasing my water intake helped to get my milk production back up. If you decide to increase your water intake, express 15 to 30 minutes later than you normally would for a while.

2. Expressing is usually better in the morning, or after a bath or shower. You get a good let down from it. (Let down is a basically a reflex that moves your milk from the milk ducts into your nipple where your baby or breast pump can suck milk out.)

3. If expressing more than once a day, try to keep to a routine. I express two to three times a day, at 8am, 2pm and 8pm. Although it’s often recommended, I don’t express through the night, since I always have to feed through the night because my partner won’t get up to feed by bottle.

4. About 5 minutes before you’re going to express, prepare two face cloths or flannels and a bowl of hot water. Don’t make it too hot! I prefer to double express using an Ameda Lactaline dual pump. I put the hot cloths on both of my breasts for five minutes before expressing. If the cloths cool too quickly, reheat them.

5. Before expressing, remove one cloth at a time and massage that breast, rubbing softly. Pay special attention to massaging any lumps or sore areas. If you’re expressing off one breast at time, put just one cloth on the breast your planning to use first. Once you feel you are ready to express, take the cloth off that breast, reheat it and place it on the other. If you’re planning on double expressing, place hot cloths on each of your breast, wait five minutes, then massage both at the same time. Read the rest of this entry “

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I Have Decided

]I am finally at that stage of my pregnancy. It’s the “OMG get this baby out NOW” stage. The stage where getting in and out of bed/chairs is an adventure, where 90% of what I eat gives me hearburn no matter what kind of antacid I take, where sleeping is done in 2 hour chunks if I’m lucky and naps are gold, where peeing is akin to a religious experience.

But, I also know that no matter how much I may complain or whine, this baby is not coming out unless one of three things happen. A) my water breaks, B) I reach and/or go past the 40 week mark without any sign of her wanting to get born or C) she is showing signs of distress. After all the crap I went through with the doctors when I was pregnant with Liam (which ended up with him being born early and spending the first two months of his life in a hospital), I’m not taking any chances.

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Okay, How Do I Do That

I went to see the midwives on Friday and it went well. But she did bring up a concern. She’s a little worried about my weight. Not that I’ve gained too much, but that I’ve not gained enough.

That’s right boys and girls, my doctor wants me to GAIN weight. Now she said Sarah is doing well and growing and there’s a good chance I may weigh less after the pregnancy than I did when I started out, which was a bit comforting. I’m not entirely sure how much I weighed when I got pregnant, but at a rough estimate I’ve gained about 30 pounds give or take. With the excessive summer heat and some of the real life stresses I’ve been going through my appetite has not been what it was. I do try to eat at least three times a day, but I know I can be doing more, maybe like eating smaller meals, but I find it hard to do when a lot of the time what we have in the house or what Brad cooks just sounds unappetizing. I could fall into the eating nothing but junk food trap, but I know that’s not the best choice. So, dear friends, what can a girl do to eat more and GAIN weight?

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Ultrasound Part Deux

So there was a second ultrasound done this morning.

I took Liam along because I promised him that I would last month. He was really excited about getting to see his little sister.

We got to see Sarah’s face and Liam was in awe. She has all ten fingers (the technician didn’t get around to counting toes so I can only assume they are all there). Everything else checks out with her, and it was confirmed that Sarah is a girl, so that made me happy. Liam said the whole thing was “very awesome”.

So without further ado I present to you, Sarah Felicia Hart.

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My Uterus Is Not A Circus Ring

But it certainly feels like one right about now.

For a while there I was a bit worried about not feeling much movement from Sarah. I shouldn’t have been. She’s currently performing acrobatic feats and generally making me uncomfortable. I don’t remember Liam ever being this active until much later on. I guess it goes to show how different each pregnancy can be. I just wonder if I can survive the next 18 weeks while still staying sane. I did it once before……

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Baby Update

So, there was an ultrasound this morning.

It’s a girl.

Later the ultrasound will go up so everyone can admire Sarah Felicia in all her glory. My mom was very happy. I told her “So now you can tell everyone.” She replied “Now I can buy girly things!” That’s my mom.

We told Liam this evening. Showed him the ultrasound pic, asked what he thought it was. He didn’t know. So I told him it was a baby. Then I asked whose baby he thought it was. He named both my sisters and a family friend first. Then I told him it was mine and that he was going to be a big brother. He gave me a thumbs up. Then I said it was a little sister. He facepalmed. Seriously. But he seems rather okay with it and was overall just kind of blase about all of it. It was far easier than I’d thought it would be. He’s since asked when she was coming out but no other questions. He’s gonna be a great big brother.

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Seeking Advice From Other Moms

Okay, yes this is my second pregnancy, but it has been ten years. I’m seeking advice from all the moms out there for a couple of my pregnancy symptoms.

Swollen feet, what to do about them? When I was pregnant with Liam they didn’t swell until the last trimester. This go around they’re already swollen. I really don’t want to contemplate buying larger shoes right now, so any advice on getting the swelling down? I already drink water and know I need to be drinking more. I’m also trying (emphasis on the trying) to monitor my sodium intake.

Also headaches. I swear I’ve had a constant low grade headache for a month now, but I’m pretty sure it’s allergy related as my sinuses are acting up. I wake up with a stuffy head and a raging headache that’s concentrated between the eyes and/or on the sides. I’m already taking Sudafed for the allergies but anything else to help. I’m almost contemplating a humidifier in the bedroom to help me breathe at night or at least to stop my sinuses from getting clogged.

Thanks in advance for anything you can tell me!

Katy

BTW I don’t care how fat I am at Halloween, you won’t catch me doing this…

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Liam and “The New Pet”

We love Liam, but there are days when we roll our eyes at God and ask, “Oh Lord, how hell did two super smart people end up with such a fucking idiot for a child?” Then we remember he is nine. Then sometimes I say it’s normal because he has a penis. (Sorry guys, but it’s true, you are ruled by the whims of your hormones, even more so than us women.) Then I realize it doesn’t really matter, because he is ours and we love him.

I rant because he tends to be a loud mouth idiot who babbles on for hours about crap he lacks any understanding of to people who really don’t care, don’t want to hear it, or that he should be paying attention rather than the other way around. We haven’t told him of the baby. He isn’t stupid by any means, even if he has some learning problems mostly in delayed abilities because he was between 4 to 6 weeks premature. (I’ll talk about idiot doctors soon enough, but that’s another post) Right now when Brad and I need to talk about it, we either YIM from across the room or when other family members are present it is referred to as the new pet. We’ve decided to wait until we know the sex of the baby to tell him, that way he can say with confidence that he is having a brother or sister. Of course, I am totally dreading the thought of him asking how the baby came to be. I do NOT need to be having THE TALK with my ten year old son. That’s Brad’s job.

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What Was I Expecting Now That I’m Expecting

I am happy, I am sad, I am excited, I am worried, I am scared, I ecstatic, I want to smile, I want to cry, I am scared shitless (might be the prenatal vitamins with iron), I am happy, I am sad, I am excited, I am worried, I am scared, I am happy, and that was just the last thirty seconds. If you feel any of that, then you aren’t alone in this. This is normal, trust me. You aren’t going crazy, it’s the hormones and let me tell you, it will only get worse (or better) with time. You’ll alternately want to curse your husband/boyfriend/significant other and then jump his bones. It’s loopy and weird, but it comes with the territory.

When I was pregnant ten years I know I found great solace with all the people I met on different message boards and thought I would like to do that again. But Brad said no, no, we will start our own blog and board. He has turned his other blogs profitable, or at least to the point of not losing money so I am on board with this. So thank you for visiting us and helping us out. Point anyone else you know over here, we’d appreciate it and maybe they’ll learn something, or just get a good laugh for the day.

My due date is October 21, 2008, just two weeks after Liam turns ten. When my mom heard this, she joked I should cross my legs if I felt contractions on his birthday. I didn’t think I would be in this position again. In fact I had all but decided I was done. If I had any clue the pill would fail after all these years I would have suggested to Brad, who I knew didn’t want more kids, to go get snipped. I wish he had he had been thinking about that too, because we wouldn’t be in this situation, and what a situation it is. Remember, no matter how long you’ve been using a particular birth control method; it’s never going to be one hundred percent effective. I’ve been on the pill for almost ten years, since Liam was born. There was a brief two year period where I lost medical coverage and we used condoms, and we’re damn lucky I didn’t get pregnant then. Read the rest of this entry “

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