10 Breastfeeding Tips

1. Don't stress. I know it's hard! But being nervous about it only makes it harder! Relax. Find the comfiest spot on the couch and declare it yours.

2. Tell your family they are only allowed to say positive things about breastfeeding. It will be hard. You will cry. But if your husband's over there saying, "why don't you just give them formula?" he isn't helping your journey!

3. If you get a clogged duct, immediately start working on fixing it! A warm compress and extra nursing are the two things that helped me. Take a hot shower and massage your breast. But remember, your baby is the best fixer! He will do a much better job than your pump will. If you're at work, go home sick! Seriously. You need to get that duct taken care of before it gets infected and you get mastitis! Go get your baby and just lay in bed all day nursing until your booby is better.

4. Ask your pediatrician or the nurses if you can nurse in front of them at one of the many newborn doctor appointments you'll go to. They'll either reassure you things are looking good or give you tips about making it better. They might even weigh baby before and after so you know how much milk they just drank.

5. If the latch isn't working, Google it. There are so many helpful articles about latching babies. HERE is a good one. You might even be able to find videos. Remember, it's just a nipple! Don't be shy about watching someone else showing you how to get a good latch. One thing that really helped me was the "Breast Sandwich" where you kind of flatten out your boob so it's easier/smaller for baby to latch on to. Both of my boys struggled with latching, so I know how hard it is!

6. Last resort: nipple shield! I know there are differing opinions about this one, but I used one with my first son for the first 7 weeks and I can honestly say that I'm unsure we would have been so successful at nursing if it wasn't for that darn shield. We had a love/hate relationship, but in the end, it was what worked best for us.

7. Newborns can be super tired. You might have to force them to wake up to eat. Tickle their feet. Nearly yell at them. Hold them up like baby Simba. Take all their clothes off. Blow on them. Seriously. Newborns can sleep through anything and if they're not gaining enough weight, you might just have to force them into waking up for the boob.

8. Healthy eating helps your milk supply. Oats, nuts, seeds. It's good for you and it's even better for your milk.

9. Learn to nurse in the side-lying position. It will make nighttime feedings suck less.

10. Let your nipples "air out." Apply some breast milk or balm and just let them be bare for awhile. In the midst of the early breastfeeding journey, even t-shirt fabric feels like sandpaper. Letting them be free can be a bit of a comfort.

5 Tips for Pumping at Work

1. Don't pump too little! Every 3 hours is a great guideline to follow. Pump until you don't keep feeling letdowns or your milk stream slows. Personally I pump 3x a day for 15 min each. If I'm in the middle of a letdown or still getting a decent amount of milk when my 15 min is up, I'll pump for 2-3 more.

2. Look at pictures, or even better, watch videos of your baby! Believe me, it helps your letdown come faster.

3. Wear nursing appropriate clothes with easy access.

4. Don't stress. Don't worry about how much milk you need. Don't worry about someone walking in on you. Just relax. (I know, easier said than done!) Anxiety will not help you get adequate milk.

5. Start a little freezer stash before you return to work. If you have a few days of wiggle room, you won't feel so stressed out about needing to pump exactly how much breast milk your baby is going to be using the following day.

I hope these were helpful!

Love,
Alaina

5 Tips for Nursing/Breastfeeding in Public

I was pretty shy about nursing my first son whenever and wherever. But these tips have really helped me gain confidence while nursing my second son. Yes, perhaps, some of it can be attributed to the fact that it's my second baby, but these tips should still help you gain the confidence you need!

Our first ever breastfeeding pic! (taken by my husband without my knowledge lol)

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1. Wear comfy and easily accessible tops. My favorite tops are ones that don't open up completely, but mostly cover, just leaving a little space for the booby.

2. Since you've found this link, I'm sure you've already done this one. Search tips for confidently nursing in public. Look at historical pictures of women nursing babies. Those kinds of pictures always surprised me. I envision the past as a time when everyone was so stuck up, so it surprised me to see black and white photographs of women nursing their babies whenever and wherever they needed to! Those are inspiring to me. Breastfeeding is the reason the human race has even survived, after all!

3. Just don't care. I know it's way harder than it sounds, but seriously, try it. Recite these things to yourself: Breastfeeding is totally natural. Guys expose their nipples all the time and nobody freaks out. Would everyone around me rather hear this baby screaming at the top of his lungs right now? It just looks like he's sleeping in my arms.

4. Play on your phone so you don't have to see if anyone's staring or giving you dirty looks. Or, if at all possible, bring someone with you. I know when I'm with my husband or sister, I feel very confident.

5. Be consistent! The more you practice nursing whenever and wherever baby needs you, the more natural it will come and the easier it will be to nurse in public. Start this in the hospital!

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I've nursed Eren in the mall food court, in restaurant booths, on a bench at the zoo, at museums, and all the time in front of friends and family at my own house and others'. And I've never had anyone say anything snotty or rude. People might avoid eye contact until we're finished, but they go right back to cooing at little Eren when he's done with his snack.

And just maybe, one day you'll get a gentle smile from another mommy across the room to reassure you that you're doing your best!

I hope these tips were helpful for you! Good luck & you can do it!
Love,
Alaina

Some Thoughts on Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is hard! I might even go as far as to say that nursing my second baby boy has been harder than my first. That was unexpected. I thought we might have some challenges, but I knew we could get through them. I felt confident that we could survive anything since I had struggled with my first son, Calvin.

With my first, we used a nipple shield for the first seven weeks. He could not, or would not, latch for more than a couple gulps. Although I hated that stupid shield because we were both dependent on it for those seven weeks, I also have so much love for that shield. Without it, I'm unsure we would have been successful at breastfeeding.

Eren, my second, has had a crappy latch from the start. He just wasn't very good at it in the beginning, and he still has moments where he doesn't get it quite right and we have to start over. I asked the pediatrician about tongue or lip ties when he was a newborn and she did not see any issues. My nipples hurt. I mean really, really hurt. I'm pretty sure I told my husband that breastfeeding hurt way worse than any moment of the c-section recovery. It sucked. I truly wonder if I would have continued trying if Eren had been my first son. But because I had been through it with Calvin, my oldest, I was determined to breastfeed again. I knew we would come out on the other side and be so grateful for continuing. We were only able to continue because I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

It does get better! Your poor little nipples will heal eventually. And once you get through that, it is easy peasy smooth sailing, let me tell you! Breastfeeding now at 5 months old is a breeze. I feel sorry for mommas who have to wash bottles day and night. I just whip out the boob and we're good to go. A lot of women say the first couple weeks are the worst. For me, it was the whole first month with my second, then another month of less than great, and only then did it start to be easy!

Even thought it's hard, breastfeeding is perhaps my favorite thing about new parenthood. It's amazing to be able to calm your baby with the boobies. Binkies were made to replace boobies, not the other way around!

With all that being said, I understand why women stop. Even my husband has made those comments, seeing me struggle in pain and overwhelming frustration. I cried a lot with both of my boys. But my husband never once said, "hey, let's just do formula." And he would have gotten an earful if he had! I wanted to breastfeed. I wanted it so much. After the traumatic birth of my first son, I felt I had failed as a mother already (after spending over a month in the hospital with pPROM, then being induced and having pushed for two hours and ending up in a c-section anyway) and if I was not going to be able to nurse that baby, that would have felt like complete and utter failure as a mom in just the first few days of his little life! The lactation consultant and nurses in the hospital were not as helpful as they could have been with my first. But I thank God, literally, for the nurse at our pediatrician's office who told me that using a nipple shield would be okay. I thank God for that nipple shield!

My experience with the lactation consultant with my second son was soo much better than my first! I truly felt like she wanted me to succeed. She didn't just assume I knew what I was doing because I had nursed my first for 15 months. I think everyone deserves to meet with someone like her.

So I guess I write this to say, "keep trying!" Breastfeeding started out crappy with both of my boys, but we have had great nursing relationships! Don't quit on a bad day. Every little drop really does count!

I love you guys.
Love,
Alaina

Pumping & Nursing Schedule Working Mom Breastfeeding 2 Month Old

This is our general schedule during the work week. I still nurse on demand, so the at-home times can vary, but my at-work schedule is very solid.

On Thursdays and Fridays, my husband drops the kids off at grandma's. He leaves at 5:15 am.

2:00 am - nurse
4:45 am - wake the baby to nurse
6:00 am - pump at home
7:00 am - arrive at work
8:30 am - pump at work
11:30 am - pump at work
2:30 pm - pump at work
4:00 pm - off work
5:00 pm - nurse
7:00 pm - nurse
Sometimes he sleeps until 2:00 am, sometimes he nurses again anywhere between 9:00 pm-midnight. Sometimes he nurses every hour from 5:00-9:00 pm, but everything else is pretty constant for my workday. Pumping sessions might move 30 min either way depending on how the workday is going.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I drop the kids off at grandma's. I leave the house at 6:30 am. The only thing that changes are the 4:45 and 6:00 am feeding/pumping session. I don't pump on days I get the boys ready.

2:00 am - nurse
6:00 am - wake the baby to nurse
7:00 am - arrive at work
8:30 am - pump
11:30 am - pump
2:30 pm - pump
4:00 pm - off work
5:00 pm - nurse
7:00 pm - nurse

I hope this was helpful.

Love,
Alaina

Our Breastfeeding Story : My 15 Month Old Self-Weaned

This is definitely "our" breastfeeding story, not "my" breastfeeding story. It's a relationship and a process my son and I have both gone through together. We had a combination of baby- and mommy-led weaning, but when it came down to the very end, Calvin chose when it was time to stop, albeit, earlier than this momma was expecting.

In the beginning, breastfeeding was hard. Calvin couldn't latch. He never latched in the hospital, I pumped, and when he was in the NICU, they even gave him formula. He only finally latched with the help of a nipple shield right in the pediatrician's office at our first out of the hospital visit. And let me tell you, that moment brought tears to my eyes! After days of struggling with him he finally was drinking straight from the tap! 

We didn't take advantage of that magical first hour after birth. Calvin was going to be spending 24 hours in the NICU, after one hour with us, and my family had already waited for like four hours to see him. So I decided to forgo that hour alone with just the three of us, and let our family members come in to meet him. I do regret that decision.

So the nipple shield proved to be another obstacle altogether. It was almost two months before we weaned from it. The nipple shield and I had a very love/hate relationship haha. Without it, I'm unsure we would have ever made it in our breastfeeding journey, but weaning from it was a bitch. Calvin became dependent on it, even when I just knew he didn't really need it, he preferred it. And honestly, I was somewhat dependent on it too. It was easier to just let him use it than to struggle with him for several minutes without it. But I hated relying on the thing. The whole point of breastfeeding was to be able to do it anywhere at any time, but always having to remember that nipple shield was making a natural, convenient process, totally inconvenient. We had an emergency nipple shield in the diaper bag, one upstairs in our bedroom, and one downstairs in the living room. 

I don't want to focus too much on all our mistakes here. I've got a whole post about that here! Haha. I just want to put it out there that we didn't start out all sunshine and daisies. 

Now excuse my #mombrain and #pregnancybrain here about exact dates, but I'm pretty sure we nursed on demand until Calvin was around nine months old. That's when I made the decision to start changing our schedule around a bit. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or if it was bound to happen naturally, but over the next few months, the nursing sessions just started dropping off like flies! 

Around Calvin's birthday, we started trying for baby #2. I really really didn't want to have to wean completely in order to get pregnant. That was a big fear of mine. I wasn't ready to wean. That first and second month of trying we were down to two nursing sessions (morning and bedtime) but when we didn't get pregnant in those two months, I started to question whether breastfeeding was the cause, so we dropped our morning nursing session. So we held onto that one last session each day for about two months before one night Calvin just decided he didn't want the boobies anymore. And what a shame, he had just learned to say booby! Haha. He says it real fancy-like, "boo-bay."

About a week or two before he was totally finished, he refused to nurse on my left side. That side always produced less, so I thought maybe it just finally dried up. 

About a week after he stopped taking the left side, he started nursing every other night or every three nights. I describe it like a cat's instincts haha. If a cat sees a laser or a jingly ball, they just have to attack it, they can't help themselves, it's just their instinct to do it! When Calvin saw the booby, he initially leaned in to drink, but as soon as his lips touched my nipple he was like "nope, I don't want that." We tried both sides, we tried laying side by side, nursing off the side of the couch, laying on my belly, cradle hold. We tried getting him calmed down to almost bedtime proportions, but he still just didn't want it. So he went to bed without it. He only nursed to sleep about half the time anyway at this point, so he was fine to go to bed just rocking with my husband. Justin always takes him up to bed, he's awesome like that. :) I think he has more patience than me. Haha. 

Then he caught a cold. He was already nursing every couple days at this point, and once his nose stuffed up and he couldn't hardly breath while nursing, we were done for. He skipped a couple nights as he was first getting sick, and then we got one magical night where he was actually able to breath before bed and we nursed. Our very last nursing session ever. And it was just great and I'm so glad I was able to cherish that last time and remember it and know in my heart that it was probably going to be the last one. 

We were in his room getting ready for bed. He was covered in natural vapo-rub, we had a humidifier running, and an essential oil diffuser, trying to make sure he'd sleep through the night with his poor little cold. We sat on the floor leaned up against his dresser and nursed for the last time. 

If it had been just a few weeks earlier and I would have had a breakdown, I think. I just wasn't prepared. I felt like I needed it more than him. I worried about having to stop due to sensitive nipples in early pregnancy, but we never had that problem. We were blessed to make it this far and I know it's earlier than I would have liked to let him go, but I am so grateful that he got to make the decision and I'm so glad he did it on his own. 

Thanks for reading.

Love,

Alaina

10 New First Time Mom Breastfeeding Mistakes I Made

I got the idea to create this post after talking to a friend of mine about breastfeeding. I mentioned to her that we made a lot of mistakes in our early days and she asked me to share some with her so she would try not to make the same mistakes too. I figured if it was helpful for her, it would hopefully be helpful for somebody else out there too. I hope this is helpful for someone!

We are seriously so lucky we have made it this far! There are so many things I did wrong in the beginning and only looking back on them have I realized how little I truly knew about breastfeeding. Perhaps I needed to experience these things in order to appreciate the miracle of breastfeeding. I've learned a lot in these 10 months and hope to be able to retain this information for the next time around!

Watch the video here.

I do think it is necessary to give a little background before we hop in.
Calvin was born at 37 weeks and was in the NICU about 48 hours. I did not try to nurse him at all the first day, I instead pumped. (Long story short but essentially Calvin's delivery was traumatic for me and that probably contributed to me not even trying to nurse) He was fed my colostrum through a syringe and nipple in the NICU. They also had us supplementing with formula in the hospital. When he came back to us from the NICU, he would not latch. He didn't latch for more than a second in the hospital. He was born on Friday afternoon, we went home on Monday afternoon, and saw the pediatrician on Tuesday morning. That Tuesday morning was the first time he actually latched on the breast right there in the pediatrician's office after the nurse suggested a nipple shield. (I had actually planned on stopping by Target on the way home to get one that day beforehand anyway) We used that shield for nearly two months.

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So now that you know a little about our experience in the beginning, here are all the things we struggled with in the beginning.

1. Not trying to wean from the nipple shield sooner
We used it for almost two months, but at five weeks we found ourselves in a predicament without the nipple shield and we figured it out. It was hard and took awhile, but we got through that feeding. Looking back, I should have used that experience as an opportunity to start the weaning process. But it was hard. It involved a lot of crying and fussing to try to wean for the shield. I wasn't yet familiar enough with his hunger cues to practice at other times. I didn't realize that I could just put him to breast whenever and let him use me as a binky to practice on. I didn't realize the boob would pretty much fix anything.

2. Bringing pumped bottles instead of nursing in public
The nipple shield didn't help either. It was hard to try and wear a cover (because I was afraid of exposing myself) and situate a nipple shield when you can hardly see what's going on, along with a baby who wasn't really good at latching to begin with. It was a mess trying to nurse with a cover in that whole situation.
I wish I just didn't care. I was even nervous to do it in front of my immediate family. Looking back, it was so silly! I tell myself with the next baby I will whip out the boob all the time!

3. Taking cold medicine!
Anything that dries up your sinuses could dry up your milk!

4. Not letting him use me as a binky
I just didn't realize how handy the boob was for calming baby in any circumstances. Literally, the boob will fix pretty much anything. Baby crying? Give them the boob.

5. Using a binky
I know there is conflicting evidence and opinions about this, but letting him use a binky could have contributed to the nipple confusion. (I also wonder if him taking my colostrum through a syringe and nipple in the NICU also influenced that too) I'm just pretty sure letting him have a binky did not help the whole situation.

6. Letting him nurse on right boob more because he liked it
I don't remember the exact series of events that took place, I'm pretty sure we were only like a week in, but I got a plugged duct in leftie and it wasn't producing as much as rightie. Calvin would fuss a lot on the left side, so I would pump that side while he nursed rightie. Perhaps leftie just didn't make enough milk from the start and my uneven nursing made the problem worse. To this day leftie makes half of what rightie produces. I realize this is a common issue, but I just wonder if I made it worse.

7. Pumping too much and not letting my supply regulate naturally.
I would pump all the time. We fed Calvin bottles overnight for awhile. I should have just locked the pump away for the first few weeks.

8. Not trying to nurse in the NICU
It was probably influenced, at least in part, by the whole being afraid to nurse in public thing. Stupid!

9. Not seeking more advice from a lactation consultant
The lactation consultant came in to visit us each morning we were in the hospital. The first day Calvin was not with us so I was pumping. She came in, saw I was pumping, saw that the flanges looked to fit correctly and that was about it. Once Calvin was in the room with us, the regular nurse came in to help me learn different nursing positions with Calvin. He would not latch for more than a couple sucks and she just told me to keep trying, maybe he was too hungry and upset about being hungry in that moment, so he wouldn't latch.
The next morning the lactation consultant came back. I told her Calvin wasn't latching and she pretty much just told me to keep trying. So Calvin never latched in the hospital. The first time he actually latched was at our first out of hospital pediatrician's appointment, the nurse suggested a nipple shield. She had me put it on right then and there, held Calvin up to the breast, and he latched right onto it and I was so happy! I got all teary-eyed to see him finally drinking milk right from the boob!
We made it, obviously, but we struggled a lot and perhaps a lot of trouble could have been avoided had I talked with an expert. I watched videos about nursing and read a lot of articles before he was born and in those early days. I had all this knowledge in my head but just couldn't seem to use it in real life! I thought I knew what we were getting into, but apparently not.

10. Not nursing right after birth
I pushed for two hours, after one hour of laboring down before they decided to do the c-section. They told us we'd have an hour with the baby before he had to go to the NICU. So even though we discussed beforehand and had decided we didn't want everyone to be there at the hospital ASAP, because of the NICU news, Justin called our immediate family when we were about to start pushing. So everyone was there waiting on us for hours to see Calvin. I felt guilty that they waited so long, so I wanted them to be able to spend time with him, so I didn't try to nurse him.
This is one thing I will not budge on next time. I don't care what my family has to say. Me, Justin, and new baby will spend at least one hour together all alone as soon as they're born.

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I know this post seems overall pretty negative, so I thought I'd include a couple things that have been good for us:
1. not giving up!
It sucked. The first like two months sucked. Cal's latch problems were very difficult. The plugged ducts and mastitis sucked. The simple fear of getting mastitis sucked! When I got two plugged ducts in one week I felt my first bout of desire to give up, but I am legit so happy we didn't give up. It is literally second nature to us now.
"Don't quit on a bad day!" That is excellent advice.
I am not going to pass on praising myself for pushing through! I am in no way judging formula feeding families, but I'm proud of myself and I deserve to feel proud.
2. teething hasn't been bad
Calvin went about a week when his teeth first started to get big where he would bite me. I would set him aside, put the boob away for a couple minutes and tell him no, that he hurt me. After a couple minutes, we would resume. It took about a week. I'm not sure if it was Calvin learning that he hurt me or if it was just a particularly hard point in his teething experience, but we've been really good since then.

I really hope this helped someone!
Thank you for reading!
I love you guys,
Alaina

Sample 9 Month Old Breastfed Baby Boy Schedule

Here's a sample of Calvin's feeding/napping schedule during the day at 9 months old.

I'm home with Calvin on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, so here's a sample of our schedule for days I get to spend home with Calvin:

6:00 am - Calvin wakes and we nurse
7:30 am - breakfast for Calvin
8:30 am - nurse to nap
9:00-10:30 am - nap
11:00 am - nurse
12:00 pm - lunch for Calvin
1:00 pm - snack - (this is the nursing session we are currently cutting out)
1:30-2:30 pm - nap
3:00 pm - nurse
5:00 pm - dinner for Calvin
6:00 pm - nurse
7:00 pm - bedtime

Breakfast examples: 1/3 egg & 1/3 banana, or 2 oz yogurt & 1 oz fruit
Lunch examples: 2 oz cottage cheese & some bites of our lunch, or 2-4 oz baby food
Dinner examples: 2 oz baby food (usually a veggie) & several bites of our dinner
Snack: handful of puffs & yogurt bites & water - this Wednesday I placed them all around the coffee table and he just walked around in a circle eating them

He doesn't always seem to eat a lot, but will still stay content until a nursing session. He especially struggles with veggies at dinnertime. He would rather eat what we're eating. Seasonings (garlic, onion, ginger) help sometimes. He also seems to like it better when you feed him by hand instead of with a fork. I guess that's just a quirk of his lol. Our pediatrician has recommended cutting out purees and giving chunkier foods and what we're eating. I send chunky purees to the grandmas, but we do try to incorporate more grown-up food while we're with him.

I am away from Calvin from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm Mon and Tues, 5:30-5:30 Thursdays, and 5:30-4:30 Fridays. My pumping schedule has been the same since I went back to work at two months postpartum.

Here's a sample of my schedule for work days:
5:00 am - wake Calvin and nurse
7:00 am - start work
8:15 am - pump 15 min
11:00 am - pump 15 min
2:30 pm - pump 15 min
4:00 pm - off work
5:00 pm - feed Calvin dinner
6:00 pm - nurse Calvin
7:00 pm - Calvin's bedtime

All babies are different. My little boy loves to nurse, but I'm intentionally trying to wean us down to just a couple feedings after he turns one, so that's the schedule that's been working for us.

He was at 6-7 feedings, but we're working on 5 per day now. The plan is to spend the month of March working on 5 feedings, April down to 4-5, and May 3-4. His birthday is May 27, so hopefully by then we'll be down to about 3. That way I'll only have to pump on my lunch break at work until we get down to 2 sessions and I can stop pumping at work (summer is our busy season, so it will be harder to find time to pump too). Plus Justin and I want to start trying for Baby #2 around Calvin's birthday. If my period isn't back/I'm not prego after a couple months of two nursing sessions per day, I might have to consider weaning Cal completely. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Nap times are not super regular. Usually he has one good 1.5+ hr one, then the other will be short like 30-45 min. Usually the good one is his morning nap, but not always.
Mr. Baby sleeps all the way through the night like a good little boy these days.

So that's it, I hope this was helpful!

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

New Year Breastfeeding Goal?

I want to be that mom who doesn't care about whipping out her boob to feed her baby. Her hungry baby. Her whiny baby. Her tired baby. The boob really is the best for fixing most of baby's problems.

I am much more open about breastfeeding on social media. I don't have a problem with posting pictures of me and Calvin breastfeeding on Instagram in particular. I post links all day on my personal Facebook about breastfeeding, but I haven't posted a picture of us there. I don't have a problem feeding him with my close family around: my sisters, nieces, mom and dad, but when it comes to attending a birthday party for Justin's side or shopping at Walmart, I bring a bottle.

Sometimes I feel guilty about bringing a bottle. Why can't I just feed him like usual? Why am I not brave enough? I feel guilty because it seems like Calvin eats so much better at the breast. He seems to calm down better and relax more. If he's also tired, it helps him rest or fall asleep.

I want to be able to just whip it out and feed my baby no matter where we are or who is there. My main worries are douche-face people who have dumb-ass comments to make, making people I know uncomfortable, and now that Calvin is older, him not being able to focus and showing my nipple off to everyone haha. The number one of which is making people I know uncomfortable. I just remember when Cal was a very tiny baby, Justin's brother came over. I knew he was coming, so I put a nursing scarf on to cover up. His brother walked in and said, "oh, is this a bad time?" It made him uncomfortable even when I had a cover on. And we don't use a cover like ever. So what happens if we go to a birthday party for one of his kids and I whip it out to feed Mr. Cal with zero cover on?

Then I think, next time I'll do it differently. Next baby I'll not give two craps from the very start. I'll have a crazy toddler to worry about too, I won't have time to pump and make a bottle before we go somewhere, or pump when we return to make up for missed feedings or whatever. Next time it will be different.

And then I think to myself, why wait?

It's the new year, might as well come up with some kind of resolution, right? And God willing, we're only about halfway through with our breastfeeding journey anyway, we still have plenty of time to get used to feeding everywhere, plenty of time to take advantage of it, it's not too late. I pray we have many more months of breastfeeding to go!

So here it is ladies and gentlemen: we are on our journey toward breastfeeding everywhere! I don't see this as an overnight change, but a gradual transition, and hopefully putting it there for the internet to see will help keep me motivated and feel accountable.

I love you guys!
Alaina

Sample 6 Month Old Breastfed Baby Boy Schedule

I have a big, healthy, growing baby boy and he still eats A LOT. Here's just one example day in our life.

2:00 am - wake to nurse
7:30 am - wake up for day and nurse
8:00 am - breakfast - 2 ounces baby food
8:45 am - nurse to sleep
9:00-9:45 am - nap
10:30 am - nurse
11:50 am - lunch - 3 ounces baby food
12:00-1:30 pm - nap
2:00 pm - nurse
3:45 pm - nurse
5:15 pm - dinner - 2 ounces baby food
6:30 pm - nurse to sleep
7:00 pm - bedtime

Yes, I still nurse Calvin to sleep. We always nurse to sleep at bedtime and sometimes for nap time. If he seems to be getting tired but fighting a nap, I'll nurse him to sleep. If he seems to be getting tired and starts humming to himself or talking to himself, I know he can probably fall asleep on his own and I'll just put him in the crib. I know there is some controversy surrounding the topic, but this works for us. To me, I don't see it as any different than giving a baby a binky for naptime and I am fine with being Cal's binky for the time being. And he is great about going to bed at bedtime. Even if he nurses but is still awake when he finishes, we can put him down in his crib and 99% of the time he's asleep within 10 minutes, no crying or fussing. He really is a great baby about bedtime, naps can be hard some days, but bedtime is awesome.

At this point, we probably could feed him larger amounts of baby food and perhaps he wouldn't still be needing to nurse every two hours, but we're working our way up to the 3-4 ounce mark. He seems to get restless in the evenings and doesn't like to eat more than 2 ounces for dinner. If he's in a good mood for breakfast and lunch, he'll eat 3 ounces or more.

When he was a newborn I loved to Google "how often does a ___ month old nurse." I was so ready to be done with nursing every two hours, but Mr. Calvin is still at that every two hour mark most of the day. Really the only nursing times we have given up since he was a tiny newborn are one around midnight because he only wakes up once (usually between 1-3 am) in the night to eat, and another feeding around 5-6 pm because we have replaced that one with baby food instead of nursing because it is quicker and easier during our dinnertime. I used to immediately come home from work and have to feed Calvin while Justin made dinner. I'd end up either eating my dinner cold or trying to maneuver it to eat over Calvin. It was relaxing to get to immediately come home to that most days, I'd think about it after a long day at work, how I just wanted to be home nursing my little baby boy, but other days I just wanted to eat my damn dinner! Lol.

So Calvin still nurses around seven times per day, for 20-30 minutes at a time too, longer if he's tired.

Now don't get me wrong, every baby is different, I kept hoping we'd have significantly reduced our nursing sessions by now, but that's just not the case with us personally. I just wanted to put this out there for any moms who are in the midst of the newborn stage wondering if it's ever going to be better. It does get easier, it does get to be part of your routine. But don't keep hoping for the future, enjoy the moment you're in and get used to it if you want to be in it for the long haul. :) It's true when they say time flies.

Love,
Alaina

Tips For Pumping Breast Milk at Work

Here are some of my tips for pumping at work. Every workplace is different, but I hope at least some of these can help you!

Watch the video here!

Now Calvin and I sure have had our breastfeeding struggles, but thank God I have been blessed with an easy pumping experience. I have always had enough milk and respond well to the pump. I even had a bit of oversupply in my early days pumping.

First of all:
Do not skip pumping sessions! No matter how busy you are. No matter if you are feeling judged by coworkers. If you do it once, you could do it twice, and if you do it too much you will let it become a habit and your supply can suffer! I have to remind myself of this almost every day. Summertime is our busy season and it has been hard to return to work in the middle of it all.

My son is three months old and I pump three times each day at work for 15 minutes each (setup and cleanup add an extra five minutes to my sessions). I am away from him for 11-12 hours a day. I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. My supply is still holding up really well after being back to work for over a month now, I pump exactly what he's taking at Grandma's during the day, sometimes an ounce or two more. To me, it's really so cool how that works out! I feed him about an hour before I leave for work, then as soon as we get home most days.

MY WORK ENVIRONMENT

I work with a bunch of dudes, I am literally the only chick in the place. I think this both helps and hinders the whole pumping breast milk at work thing. On the one hand, they don't understand it really. They may think I use it as an excuse to take a break, when in reality it's necessary in order to keep my supply up and keep my breasts from being super uncomfortable. Also, probably for fear of the unknown, they don't really comment on it, they don't know much about it and they don't want to offend me.

I am also very lucky to work in the place I do. We have a fridge and a sink in our little kitchen area and we have a couple mostly unused offices in the back. And those assets really help in the pumping department.

MY MATERNITY LEAVE FREEZER SUPPLY

Even though I'm making almost the perfect amount of milk for him on the daily pumping at work, I did store up a nice little bit of milk in the freezer while on my 8 week maternity leave. However, looking back, I made a lot of first time breastfeeding and pumping mom mistakes in that time, so I'm not going to recommend exactly what I did, instead here's a more reasonable plan...

To build a little backup supply, I would recommend to pump right before bed, maybe an hour after he falls asleep (this helps with overnight engorgement too) and in the morning sometime (because you'll produce the most milk then, take advantage of it). The pumping session before bed was easy because my husband was home to help if my son got upset for some reason, he could comfort him and I could pump. The morning pumping was more of a challenge, the time would vary every day, but as long as it was sometime in the morning, I was happy with it.
EXAMPLE: Based on this little schedule... say you get 2 ounces per pumping session (very reasonable goal in my experience), that's 4 ounces per day, 28 ounces per week, 168 ounces in 6 weeks - that's 12 days worth of milk at the babysitter (based on Calvin's average 14 ounces per day with Grandma) and that's a great little head-start to make you less worried about not being able to keep up when you return to work!

WHAT'S IN MY PUMPING BAG?

Pump - duh.

Extra pump parts - I carry tubing (in case bad, bad mold appears! That's a big ole fear of mine) and extra membranes because they say those wear out the quickest.

Lanolin cream - I apply it before I pump for comfort.

Hands-free pumping bra - I find strapless works well, then you don't really have to do too much wardrobe modification.

Storage baggies - I used to use the up&up Target brand (they're nice and thick and feel very sturdy, double zip), but discovered the Lansinoh brand is actually cheaper (they feel thinner, but they have a fancy easy-pour feature, double zip too).

A fine tip sharpie - to write on the storage bags

Spare lids - in case you run out of baggies, you can just cap the bottle that you're pumping into. This has already come in handy

Cloth - to clean up any drips, protect your lap, wipe down shields, etc.

Re-usable nursing pads - just in case... maybe the pump breaks or you forget an important pump part at home and you gotta get through the day without your boobies leaking through your shirt, who knows?

Binky disinfecting wipes - just in case you drop something and get it dirty, forget your cleanup cloth, in a pinch, etc.

RELAXING

Find a room with a lock. Hopefully you have one at your workplace! It will really help you relax and not be so nervous.

Wear nursing appropriate clothes, like a nursing tank under your regular clothes, then you at least feel mostly covered when you're pumping.

Face away from the door if you can. Again, just in case! Helps you relax better.

Make yourself a door sign. Mine says "Please do not disturb... or else this will be mortifying for all parties involved." Perhaps the humor won't be respected in your workplace, but at mine, I think it lightens things up.

If you have trouble with relaxing enough for good let-down be sure to store many pictures and videos of your little one on your phone so you can view them while you're pumping. Videos are my favorites, especially the ones where he's making noises. I found relaxing was hard the first week or so, but it definitely gets easier.

CLEAN-UP & STORAGE

Store your bottles in the fridge between pumping sessions so you don't have to clean them after every time. The leftover milk inside stays good because it's refrigerated. Then I just rinse after my last pump of the day and actually clean them when I get home.

Store your milk inside another container so the weirdos you work with don't comment on it. (this goes back to the whole working with dudes thing, nobody has made any weird comments yet, but just to be safe...)

Let the pump go on high while you clean up everything. This way any moisture left in the tubing will dry right up and help prevent bad, bad mold!

Bring a burp cloth or old school cloth diaper for clean up. I lay this on my lap when I remove the shields and bottles, just in case there's a drip, it lands on the cloth, not my pants. I also use it to wipes the milk off the shields.

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But keep in mind ladies - it's not as scary as it seems!

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina