The Stash.

I am now taking back my last blog entry.  I no longer love the Tommee Tippee breast pump.  I still love the system, the pods are great the pump was comfortable, but the motor began to die.  As my breast milk stash dwindled down, I felt less like a good mommy because I couldn’t make it even two months before I dried up.  Then I realized, it wasn’t me, it was the pump.  

Online reviews showed a lot of women had the same problem.  It was around ten o’clock when I realized this.   I still had the manual pump that the hospital gave me so I started to pump in bed next to Lloyd.  It flowed like crazy.  Lloyd, still on his iPad, found reviews for another one that were sold at Wal-Mart for a good price.  He then put on his pants, and went to Wal-Mart to buy it, even though I told him he didn’t have to.  He got the last one they had.  It’s the First Years MiPump, this time it’s a double pump.  It’s no where near as comfortable, I lose a lot more milk in transfer and droplets that get stuck, but it takes me half the time to pump and my stash built back up in no time.  

Because Angela rarely nurses directly, I pump all the time, and the stash has become an obsession of mine.  I have six four ounce pods that I keep in rotation in the fridge.  It took me a while to fill all six of those, but I finally did, I then froze two pods worth in a breast milk storage bag and tried to keep filling.  This was right when the pump went out, so I wound out thawing out the the bag and putting the milk back in the rotation. It took almost a week to build my stash to what it was before the pump gave out, in fact I just put some back in the freezer this morning.  I drink as much water as I possibly can, I also drink Mother’s Milk tea, and I take an herb that helps with lactation.  I’m not sure if it helps at all, but something does.  

The stash is up, but I want it higher!  A friend told me that she had a deep freezer full of breast milk, and fed her twins for six months after she stopped pumping!  I would love that.  I am trying to avoid spending money on formula if I can possibly help it.  Plus every time we give her formula, she seems to get some tummy trouble.  I don’t want to have to do it much.  

I suggest all pregnant women get on the mailing lists for all of the formula companies.  I have formula stashed in the cabinet that the companies sent me for free, and I still haven’t made it through the first cans of it!  I’m hoping that I can donate what is left to the food bank, but we’ll see what happens when she can switch to whole milk.