***Sofia was 5 months when I wrote this
Five months is another milestone as a breastfeeding mom. I've been nursing my child since day one and gladly, I never gave up. So how did I do it? Express, express, nurse, nurse, nurse! That simple.
I was able to build stash as soon as I was allowed to pump and that was on my 6th week. I only bought my pump the day before my 6th week. I directly nursed for six weeks. They say during your 6th week, that's the time breastmilk gets stable. I think six weeks are just enough to stimulate milk and allow your breast to produce enough for your child.
I only had two weeks left for my maternity leave when I started to pump. After Sofia nursed during midnight, I'd get up and pump. I was getting fair enough of milk during those days. When we started practicing how to feed Sofia if I'll be away for work, I pumped more than how much she has consumed. That continued until a month after I came back to work. After that, I noticed a sudden drop of milk expression. But that did not stop me from expressing. What I did, I added pumping schedules and learned hand expression (though, I still can't do it properly). I pumped and then hand expressed after. I leave 15 oz of milk everyday and pump 5 times a day. That means I need to express at least 3 oz every session. I have to be very quick when I express at work, so if I already have 3 oz, I stop and pack my things and then go back at my station.
If that's the case, how come I have this stash? I express even I'm with Sofia. During weekends or holidays, I nurse and then pump twice or thrice. During workdays since I only use my pump 5 times in a day, I hand express even just 1-1.5 oz before I go to sleep from work even if I'm tired or before I take a bath during work days or simply just when I have spare time, got nothing to do. I always have this mindset that I need to produce 15 oz or else Sofia will not have enough milk EVEN THOUGH I have a lot in the fridge. And I always hope to get extra for stash or just in case Sofia needed some more. Sometimes, she drinks only 12 oz and the 3oz gets to be frozen.
Sofia still has a month before she can take solids. They say breastmilk supply goes down when that starts. Also, when your period comes back, you will really produce less during menstrual periods. I guess I'm also preparing when those days come. We have also prepared plans if there's no electricity to save our frozen milk.
Everyday, I take out one bag of frozen milk and mix it to fresh pumped milk for Sofia's day milk. Last week, Sofia drank around 18 oz of frozen milk. And then I froze around 40 oz of breast milk. I had more than 20 oz of extra milk and that's a lot! If some moms worry how to get breast milk, I worried how to fit all these bags inside our freezer. Around 3/4 of our freezer is occupied by breast milk. My husband asked me if I need another freezer but I said no, let us just donate.
When I was pregnant, I did not only have a mindset to provide breast milk to my daughter but to other babies as well. I told myself, if I'm blessed, after I have enough for Sofia, I will donate. I've given some milk to some mom friends and our goal is to donate some to a hospital. Very soon, we'll definitely do that. I'm sure, Sofia will also be happy to share her milk.
They say, drink this and eat this and that to produce more milk. Yes, they help but I'd say more than that, it's the determination, patience and prayers that really helped. Happy 5 months of breastfeeding and more milk to come!
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