to keep pumping or not?

Katie, I'm sorry, I can't help in this department. I dried up like the Sahara desert due to stress. I would ask your neo d's tomorrow....leave a note or call them directly and ask. I would assume keep it and keep pumping...but I really don't know.

I'm very excited for you for Friday. Happy Holidays and please keep us updated after you get your precious girl home.

Love and light, liz

Honestly, this is kind of a personal decision you need to make. I pumped while my daughter was in the NICU and she also had reflux. She would desat after feedings and throw a lot of it back up. So frustrating!

I kept pumping for a while, because I was told over and over and over how important it was for her to get breast milk. I tried so hard and she was not a great nurser, so when I got home, I still had to pump to keep my milk up. I finally decided I would just nurse her to give her what I could and supplement formula for the rest. I was so frustrated - she would constantly pop on and off my breast and would not stay latched (turns out later, I probably had such little milk that she wasn't getting much). Anyway, one day my husband came into her room while I was feeding her and sobbing, and he said "Enough! I know you want to give her milk, but this is beyond stressful to you and she's doing fine! She needs a happy mom more than she needs your milk." And you know what? He was right.

I kept feeding her a few times and day but added more and more formula. My milk slowly dried up and one day, we just never nursed anymore.

So please follow your heart. While we all know breast milk is best, a stressed out mom is nothing to gloss over either.

Hugs,
Jackie

As jackie said, this is a very personal decision. I pumped while int he NICU but never got alot. Abigail was good at latching and nursing but if she was really hungry, she would not latch, just scream. I could not deal with it and I got really upset. I don't think I ever really produced alot and her weight was so low that they said I had to give her a bottle after nursing every time just in case and we were so tired, we just couldn't keep it up and she liked the bottle so we went with it. I felt guilty for a long time but I don't think she was any less healthy for it.

Good luck and we are here for you regardless of your decision.
Ellen

Thanks all! My daughter is so used to the bottle and does wonderfully with it I may just keep it at that as weight gain is important and extra stress is not needed for me. I really appreciate everyone's advice; this is so great to have all of this support. I rested up last night and have long days ahead of me; the excitement has kicked in and the nervousness is gone; I'm ready for Friday!! Happy Holidays to all

Katie, I felt the same way. All anyone talked about was how important breast milk was but I had a very low milk supply and Nathan never ate by mouth. The pumping just got to be too stressful when we hit month 4 in the NICU. I agree with Jackie, a happy Mom is more important than breast milk.
Laura

Hello, I wanted to share my breastfeeding story with the hope that it may help another mom. My daughter, Mary, was born at 34 weeks with a heart defect. She would latch on ok, but she would almost always fall asleep. I too was told how important it was to keep trying, that breast milk was the best. So, that is what I did and after we got home and she wasn't maintaining her weight we discovered that it was just too much work for her to breastfeed. I started pumping and my husband and I would feed her my breast milk from a bottle. This worked so much better for Mary and she started to put on weight. I actually had a lactation consultant tell me that pumping and feeding from a bottle wasn't the best thing to do. She made me feel guilty, like I was doing Mary a big disservice. Yes, Mary and I didn't get the bonding that comes with breastfeeding, but she just couldn't do it. I wanted her to have breast milk, so I did what I had to do. I agree with the other moms in that it is a personal decision whether to breastfeed and/or pump or formula feed. Babies grow whether they get breast milk or formula. The best advice I can give is to decide what is best for you and your baby and don't let anyone make you feel guilty for it!
Jennifer

Mary's mommy, hi and welcome to SYS! Thanks for sharing!

I chuckled a little while reading this, remembering how awkward the lactation consultant and some of the nurses would make me feel after I would pump for 40 minutes and come back with 4-5 cc's. 3 months after birth, they were still telling me try longer, you can do it, drink water, stop stressing...blah blah blah. I even went as far as going on Reglan to help produce milk...still nothing.

My boobs just stopped working, I couldn't control it.

I agree with you, decide what is best for you and don't let anyone make you feel differently.

Love and Light,
Liz

Mary's mommy - Welcome and thanks for sharing. I'm glad that you could find what worked for you and follow what you believed in. I had to pump with my first while she was in the NICU for a month. After that long, it just became routine and I continued it after she came home. Its definitely something that is different for everyone.
Hugs
Chris