Help! Help! I need some pumping advice

[babyike2011]

My brand new peanut, born 2-1-13, was early and has a hard time staying latched. She's also under bili lights so I can only hold her a short time for feeding, so I have been pumping every 2-3 hours. One of my nips is broken aka inverted and after a few pumps I had some weird stringy stuff after I pumped. My big problem is, my poor Tara's don't seem to be emptying all the way. I pump for 20min, should I do it longer? My hospitals LV wasn't much help so thought I would reach out here first

[Stamina]

Congratulations on your new little one mama ! Hope her bili levels normalize soon. As for the pumping, are you engorged now? If you are, the swelling can prevent milk from flowing freely through the ducts. If you feel like certain areas of the breast aren't emptying, you can try to apply a warm compress and massage those areas while pumping. The heat makes a huge difference for me when I pump. I also used ibuprofen to help with the swelling and pain.

I hope someone else with preemie experience will chime in. If you do happen to be engorged and frequently pump to empty the breasts, you could end up with an oversupply issue. I have awful oversupply problems and wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially if baby isn't able to latch yet to help you out. How much milk are you able to pump in your 20-min session?

[nursemama23]

Congrats on your new peanut! How premature was she? My DD3 was a 32 weaker, spent time under the bili lights, I nursed her without them every 3 hours and whenever she was out otherwise we used a bili blanket but tried to limit that to 1-2 episodes of k-care daily. I pumped every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night for the 3 weeks she was in the nicu. I use massage and compression and would use warn compresses if I felt like I wasn't emptying. We used a nipple shield for the first 4ish months so I had to continue to pump even after she came home (had quite the nice freezer stash by the time I went back to work). I had a great LC in the nicu. You can PM me if you have any questions/concerns

[babyike2011]

She was 36+5. She was born super fast, labor was 4 hrs and I did one teensy push and she was out. She could be tongue tied and we told them at delivery and still nobody has checked. I was only getting a teensy bit and today I have been getting 1/2 oz (and that's combined). With my last pump I got an ounce! My left nipple was very inverted and with almost every pump I have this stringy stuff that comes out, it's usually whitish or the same yellow as the milk. I am definently becoming engorged, I will try warm washcloths at my next pump. They just feel so full but the milk stops flowing I'm not giving up though!!!!

[mibarra]

When I EPed I think I was told to pump until nothing came out for like a full minute or something...

[nursemama23]

Originally Posted by mibarra When I EPed I think I was told to pump until nothing came out for like a full minute or something...

I always pump for 2-3 minutes after the milk stops flowing.

[mibarra]

Originally Posted by nursemama23 I always pump for 2-3 minutes after the milk stops flowing.

Yes this. My preggo brain couldn't remember!