Nursing & working!

  So I'm writing about breastfeeding so for those of you that get grossed out at this topic one stop reading or two get over it :)) I say that with all the kindness in my heart! But really some people think its gross or makes them uncomfortable or whatever their reason my be, the way I see it is its the very best thing for your baby, makes you loose all you baby weight plus more if your lucky like I was! I gained 40 pounds with my first pregnancy! Yes I said 40! I had extra extra fluid with him so that part of the reason, but after 7 or 8 weeks I had lost all of it plus 7 pounds less then what I was post pregnancy! So it helps in that department, and its free people!!! I know some people just can't do it because of issues with there health or whatnot, but if you can its the BEST way to go! It takes some time in the beginning for your milk to come in and and it hurts like hell, you have to deal with your nipples cracking and painful boobs BUTTT its 100% worth it in the end because that's just the first few weeks then its smooth sailing from there! & I feel that's why a lot of mothers give up but its not that bad after a few weeks trust me! Just so Caleb wouldn't loose weight I gave him formula and what I could get for breast milk in the beginning, I was so worried about him being hungry!
   My way of nursing was a little different, I pumped everything! Caleb didn't nurse off my boob once, my reasoning for this was I knew I was going to have to work after I had him although I don't work long days and I can make my own schedule I knew that I couldn't always be there when he was hungry or needed to feed. I had also heard that once you have them to the boob you might not be able to get them to feed from the bottle so I didn't want to take that chance and not be able to nurse at all. For me breast milk was breast milk and it didn't matter how my baby got it from me it was the fact that he got it! When I was at the hospital this women came in and she was the lady who talked about breastfeeding to new mothers lets say I got really annoyed with her because she was saying over and over again that I should reconsider not letting Caleb go off my boob. Her reasoning for this was because she felt that the bond was so important from letting them being on your boob but for me my reasoning made more since to my lifestyle and I felt that either way you bond with them, not to mention Caleb's daddy could also bond with him while feeding him too! But most importantly I felt that he was still getting my milk and really that's what mattered most to me!
  When I first started pumping my milk came in a yellowish gold color but the more I pumped the whiter it got, it also took a lot longer in the beginning for milk to come out. I would pump for a half hour to 40 minutes at first but Caleb really didn't need that much milk so it was fine, but when time went on I could pump for 5 or 10 minutes and get a whole 10 oz of milk! I produced SO much milk that I had a whole freezer full! When you freeze your milk you have these special freezer bags for breast milk and you have to date them because they can only be frozen for 6 months until you have to throw them out so always use your oldest to newest. I had them in a tray to organize them and would put the newest at the back and keep going from there. Then when you thaw them out you can't put them in boiling water or the microwave because it actually kills the while blood cells and a lot of the nutrients in your milk so I would just run it over hot water with it in the bag and it a bowl or just let it sit out till it was thawed out. So therefore when I worked I would either pump before I would go or just thaw out some milk from the freezer, you can put breast milk in the fridge but it only lasts for like 4 or 5 days. You always knew when your milk was no longer good because one it stunk and two it would have mild chunks. Your milk always has a different smell to it but its not yucky smelling so you can definitely smell the difference! You can also test your milk with test strips when you have had a night out too, you have to pump and dump a lot till you strip tells you your safe! I drank probably 3 or 4 times within the year that I nursed because really sometimes its not even worth it but you also need that you time with your husband, boyfriend or girls so you wont go completely crazy :)
  I used a double electric pump, mine was the brand Avent it was around $300 but so worth it if this is the route your taking! Next time the only thing I will do that I didn't last time is I'm getting a hand held pump too so when I go somewhere I can re-leave myself because I remember going on date nights, weddings, tips and my boobs hurt so bad when I didn't pump for awhile. The other thing I would change is obviously starting with the bottle like I did with Caleb but trying to go off the boob sometimes at night because it was kinda sucky that after I feed Caleb durring the night I would then have to pump after putting him back to bed so if he woke up again I would have something to feed him, but I would only do it at night. Other then those two things I wouldn't change a thing! Theirs so many ups to pumping everything and one that stood out to me was that I knew the amount he was drinking so I was never over feeding him, another would be that you produce so much more milk with pumping so you can stock up! But overall off the boob or pumping your baby is getting the best milk he or she can get and that's whats important! :)

If anyone has any questions or any new mothers are thinking of pumping I know all there is to know about it so don't be afraid to ask! :)