Last time I told you I was leaving my baby for a whole week and was planning on pumping to sustain the production of milk – in the event that she still asks for it when I see her again.
After a 4 hour drive we finally arrived at our destination when it dawned on me -my breast pump was still in the closet at home!!!
After cussing and crying I decided that I was going to make this work – and I did a LOT of cussing! My tot is almost 17 mo so I refuse to spend any more money on pumps (whether that be rental or settling on another cheap manual pump) and I made myself a commitment to try manually hand expressing milk.
I had never really tried it before because I always had a pump so I didn’t really know where to begin. I still haven’t Googled any tips – I just decided to try it.
I found the best way to get things started is with a nice warm shower – but a hot washcloth works ok too. I know I’m not emptying all of the milk bit it’s certainly releasing the build up – and keeping the production up. It’s now been 3 days and I still have milk!
I have to give a huge shout out to my Twitter pals for listening to me whine this weekend as I freaked out over my dumb ass mistake! You ladies totally rock!
I am with my husband and our best friends and they don’t really understand why (or how) I want to keep this up. It would be so much easier to just let it go – and dry up. I don’t really know my why, there are a few reasons. 1) she’s my last baby ever! 2) I want her to decide when to stop – within reason (no preschool nursling here). 3) I didn’t plan on stopping yet. 4) just because I can – and it’s good for both of us!
Anyways – I will be reunited with my pump before I’m reunited with my tot and I hope that I can make it a few more days. Its gonna really bite if she doesn’t ask for the milk when I see her again. But at least it will be her decision.
More later – I’m going back to my balcony overlooking the ocean to listen to the waves crash.
*note – typed on my iPhone so please excuse any errors.
Glad you're having a good time. Kudos on keeping up the hand expressing and the long post on your iPhone!!
Good for you! Cubby woke up in the middle of the night again and DH went into the “we HAD him weaned in November! This is all your fault!” GRR! Anyway, he doesn't get it – but I get it. I want it to be Cubby's decision to stop… :))