Post Punk Kitchen Forum

This is true. Though I heard you also have to do the twist around an open fire while sacrificing your first pet.

Clog seems to be gone - still a bit sore, but thanks for the support / advice all. It went after about an hour of hot compress and an hour of nursing last night. coldandsleepy, I totally had done the hot water / shower thing - I really wish I had one of those massage / movable shower heads though. I kind of just had to stand at an awkward angle to make it work but it felt great.

Has anyone tried expressing breast milk by hand? Aubade posted a video awhile back and I believe Poopiebitch gave it a shot. My coworker swears by it and thinks I shouldn't even get a breast pump for work. I couldn't risk not getting a pump considering it is still time consuming and I will need to be eating/drinking on my work breaks as well as making milk. But I do think there is something to it. The video encourages hand expression even after pumping. When you think about it, it makes sense. We can feel where the lumpy spots are and no pump is going to probe for trapped milk. On another note, I am still only at 33 weeks but I tried the method a few nights ago and managed to produce milk (or colostrum?) already! Pretty exciting. I haven't messed with the boobs since, because I don't want to have leaky shirts to deal with already and milk is supposed to be produced in whatever concentration of fat, nutrients, or whatever as the baby needs and I haven't given birth yet. But it makes me wonder if I couldn't get a milk supply going already if I tried.

I tried the breast compressions while using a pump, and had a slightly better result (like, 1/2 an ounce rather than 1/4 ounce), but I've personally never been able to get any significant amount by hand expressing. Everyone is different though. I didn't leak AT ALL until after poopiebaby was born - even if I squeezed, nothing came out. Much to my frustration, I can't pump more than 1/2 ounce, even if I pump for an hour, while I have a friend who can pump 8 ounces in ten minutes.

I wouldn't recommend trying to get a supply going before the baby is born, as nipple stimulation and milk let-down cause contractions, which could lead to premature labor, and you don't want that!

Oh yikes! Good point.

I use breast compression now almost every time when I finish pumping. It does get a little more out that the pump couldn't reach, but nothing like as much as it said in the video. Really it is just for comfort more than anything. Then again, I have a low supply. I've started taking 'more milk plus special blend', and now I get an additional 1/2 oz or so with each pump. Since I've seen that increase, more has come out with the manual expression too. So maybe someone with a normal supply would have better luck.

My friend who had a baby 2 1/2 weeks after poopiebaby has a surplus of pumped milk, and she's giving some to me! I cried when she offered. She isn't vegan, but she is a vegetarian, and human milk from anyone is better than formula (which he won't take no matter how hard I try, anyway).

Everyone please pray/send good vibes/etc that poopiebaby will take her breastmilk from a bottle so I can have a date with my husband!

oh, poopie! i am happy for you- please have the date. you deserve it. i will be sending thoughts and prayers.

What a generous friend! I hope poopiebaby takes to it. You definitely need a break from being the sole-feeder.

And maybe you could even get a nice long nap! Wuhoo! So happy for you. Sending good vibes that he takes it!

Date night! How exciting! I hope he takes the milk so you can spend some time with your husband.

The Emperor has suddenly decided over the past three days that he's not that into nursing. Seriously... He's gone from asking every 30 minutes or so to only asking a few times a day.

I don't know if this is for realsies or if he's just on a temporary hiatus, and I find... I'm not sure which one I'd prefer.

i use my cheap assed pump for a few minutes to get things going and express by hand after wards. i get tons of milk this way.

poopie--peter still won't take a bottle? have you talked to the pediatrician about this?

Nope. No go on the bottle front. I'm trying really hard not to feel totally defeated, but it isn't working.

Jewy: we, uh, don't see eye to eye with the two pediatricians who accept Medicaid in this area, so we haven't been going. It's kind of a long story, but I pretty much hate where I live and the 'doctors' here.

oh sweetie, i'm sorry. if i lived in memphis, i'd come over and nurse him myself. i'm still nursing fini.

move to bloomington, in. it's the portland of indiana. no-it's the san francisco of indiana. no-it's the bloomington of bloomington.

seriously, you move here and i'll nurse him so you can play.

Oh man, if I could I would take you up on that in a heartbeat. I puffy heart you.

Sorry poopie! How about alternative methods, like a cup? There's a bunch of info on kellymom that might help:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alte ... eding.html

I second the cup feeding! I used it with clients and their newborns all the time. Hopefully Poopiebaby will accept it that way so that you can get out for awhile. Greta never would take a bottle after the first two I gave her as a newborn. She went on eating strikes altogether when I left her with my mom or anyone else until she was 15 months old. I learned not to leave her more than three hours until then. I hope Poopiebaby is not as stubborn and just disapproves of the delivery method that you offered.

At 8 months, we got a Nuby sippy-cup style thing that had a soft spout; Willow was never big into bottles, but this thing works well for her. Maybe that would work for you? Is Poopiebaby eating any other solids or showing any interest in that direction at all?
Also, I TOTALLY hear you on the Medicaid-accepting doctors front.

poops, how are things going?

Do you wear a nursing cover when you have house guests?

My husband's grandmother (who has 4 kids, but it was the 50s and according to her nobody breastfed then) and his 40-year old female cousin (who has no children) will be staying with us for a week in May. My husband told me today that I "have to" wear a cover because otherwise they will be uncomfortable. I say it is my house, I do not like wearing a smock, and if seeing a quarter inch of boob while I am feeding a baby makes them uncomfortable, they can a) leave the room, or b) grow up already.

I said I would go to another room when I need to feed the baby, but I would not wear a cover in my own house. This escalated into a nasty argument in which I was told I am being a crazy feminist and that I want to flash my boobs around for attention. Clearly he has some issues regarding breastfeeding that I was unaware of. Jealousy? Insecurity? I don't know and I don't care. Am I justified in being very, very angry?

Yes you are completely justified in being very very angry. I think you offered a great compromise of just BFing in another room.

I think sometimes its easier for our partners to stand up to us than their families, so even though they agree with us, they get upset at us because they just wish we could go along with their families to make their lives easier, even though it makes no sense. We all have weird relationships with our family that send us back to being powerless 12 year olds sometimes.

You're such a lovely, calm and gentle person, I'd just avoid the topic, and once they come over, just go into the bedroom, close the door BF and it will probably just be a non-issue.

I would be really upset too. I think you should do what you are most comfortable with, it is your house too and you are the one feeding the baby. If you feel fine to go in another room, than I think that is more than a fine compromise. I also hope that it makes them feel uncomfortable that you cannot BF where you want to and that they will tell you they don't mind.

ugh, mitten. you're being totally reasonable. nevermind feminism, it's just a pain in the asparagus to try and put a boob in a mouth when you can't see either (and really that's the only time anyone else would even see anything were you coverless). leaving the room is completely generous, and i'm not sure why a cover would be necessary if they aren't even present.

He is completely out of line. It is YOUR house. But never mind that. It sounds as ridiculous to me as saying that gay people should not kiss or hold hands in public because of how it might make OTHER people feel. For all anyone knows, these older ladies are wiser now and would be proud of you for Bfing and wish that they knew then what people know today.

Thanks. Pumpkin, that is a good point. I could understand if he were asking me not to pick my nose or burp in front of company, but I don't like the implication that breastfeeding is gross or something to be uncomfortable about. If other people think it's weird, that's their issue, not mine, and I resent that my husband puts the comfort of his relatives over my comfort, especially in this situation, where I am clearly right. And I really don't like that he thinks I am trying to show off or get attention. That was an awful thing to say.

It is going to be such a pain in the asparagus to get up and leave the room every time Walter needs to eat for an entire week, though I guess it will get me away from the company and save me from making small talk.

Thanks for saying I am calm and gentle, Tofulish, because the last two days I've felt like throwing a plate at my husband's head.

i'm amazed that anyone would be offended that someone would want to breastfeed, period. why are breasts obsessed over in one context, but in the most life sustaining context it is vilified? i don't get it.
you have every right to be angry.