I pump breastmilk while at work, usually twice a workday (occasionally just once, at mid-day, if meetings are back-to-back), and I kept a photolog of the past two weeks' worth of pumping. Just because. Why not. And here are the pics!
From what I've read, I'm pumping more than many woman may expect to pump. From
Kellymom:
...Many moms think that they should be able to pump 4-8 ounces per pumping session, but even 4 ounces is an unusually large pumping output.
It is quite normal to need to pump 2-3 times to get enough milk for one feeding for baby (remember that the pump cannot get as much milk as a baby who nurses effectively)...
As you can see from the photos, I am easily expressing more than 4 oz each pumping session, though that's most because of my right breast; my left provides much less, especially on the second/afternoon pumping.
What's with the way more (crazy lots more) milk on the right side? I have no idea.
I try and put Ilse to nurse on the left side often. And I pump on that side as often (if not even a little bit more, for a few extra minutes) than the right. But, for whatever reason, most of the milk pumped comes from my right breast. If I weren't pumping I wouldn't even know. I don't look/feel uneven, and overall there's plenty of milk for the baby, so I'm not complaining. It's just... a little strange, maybe? I don't know if it's really that I make less milk on that side or whether the let-down on that side just refuses to relax for the pump (but might be just fine for my baby while nursing?).
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| Milk-powered! |
Whichever side she's getting her milk from, it's workin' for her. And me. I'm so so glad we haven't had any
nursing troubles like I had with Uli. Such a relief. There might be something to giving things a second chance.
