Well, I tried weaning myself from pumping at work, but I'm not so sure it was a great idea. For the first time in what seems like A-G-E-S, I had a plugged duct this weekend. I was trying to come up with imaginitive ways to describe the excruciating pain to Nate. It's like a baseball stuck in your boob. It's like having a ginormous zit that is too deep to pop underneath your armpit. It's like sticking a pin in your bottom lip. It's like...
...okay, well, enough for now. Suffice it to say that I was a little grumpy this weekend. (And a little angry that the Booby Monster returned.) Eden eventually worked it out (I spent several delirious hours on Saturday dreaming about the phrase "worked it out" in this application and wishing it would be my happy luck) and all is better now. The sun has returned to the sky. The earth is once again spinning on it's axis. The planets have all realigned.
So you might wonder why I tried weaning myself from pumping at work. (Or maybe not. But I'm going to tell you anyway.) See, I love having a break at work, but I've pretty much stopped producing milk while I'm away from Eden. Our bodies are crazy smart this way. I used to absolutely obsess about keeping my milk supply up when I first came back to work and was a breastfeeding newbie. For the first three months or so (or maybe it was five-ish months? hm, don't remember) I would pump three times a day at work, and eventually worked up to bringing home about 10 ounces.
Ten ounces of pure gold. Precious, precious drops that took a lot of care and attention to extract from my being.
After Eden had been on solids for awhile (and now that she is old enough to drink cow's milk if she wants it) I cut back to one or two pumpings a day. Some days I would get busy and forget to pump at all. Eden still nurses four to six times a day on days I work, so I knew she was getting plenty of milk. And on the weekends or random days off she will nurse six to eight times or more, and I still have plenty of milk. So it seemed my body, the incredible milking machine, just knew when to turn production on and off.
I'm not really sure why this weekend was different. Maybe it was because Friday started off a little emotional for both of us; perhaps I made more milk because of that? Maybe I subconciously didn't offer her that side often enough since a little scratch from her sharp little fingernails had made it a little sore? Whatever the reason, it was painful enough that I think I'm going to pump at least on Mondays and Fridays now, to give my body a little bit of "easing into" the work week.
That, and I should probably pay a little bit more attention to my warning signals, e.g. IF IT HURTS, PUMP IT OUT. (You'd think I would have heard those warning bells on Friday, but No-ooo-oooo!).
In other news, I'm excited because this week I have a guest post published on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.hobomama.com/. I found Hobo Mama awhile back while trowling around online searching for explanations about some personal parenting choices of mine that modern society seems to raise an eyebrow at. (Things like sleeping together as a family, extended nursing, baby wearing, and the like.) If you're visiting my blog as a result of that, welcome! If you're one of my regular readers, be sure to check out Hobo Mama's site, too!
5 comments:
Hey Molly, I just found your blog. Never made the connection before--that you are a Hobo Mama reader, and you didn't leave your URL when you commented on my blog, and I always like to go visit anyone who comments on my blog!
Anyway, plugged ducts suck! It's a good thing you got to it before it developed in to something worse...like mastitis! I hope you get the pumping/not pumping thing at work figured out, I think sometimes our bodies need a little help adjusting.
Hi Lisa -
I was still on the fence about sharing my blog when I commented on yours, but now that I've made the leap I promise I will leave my URL. :) I'm glad you found me! I love reading your blog. Maybe the "Eden" connection makes it extra-special? :)
If I had a daughter I'd be tempted to call her Eden. It's such a beautiful name!
For a while I was on the fence about whether or not to make my blog "public" but then I realized that I got way more support from total "strangers" than I did from my own family and friends. It was hard to do, but worth it.
Ouch, sorry about the plugged duct. I was able to avoid pumping after my first couple of weeks back at work when my daughter was 12 months, but every mother is different. I can understand why you would want the breaks, but I'm sure it's not worth risking a plugged duct. I hope you're able to find a schedule that works for you, Eden, and your body.
Yowch — I'm going to keep your post in mind if someone needs a metaphor for what a plugged duct feels like! Milk supply can be so mysterious, can't it? Hope you get a new, less painful rhythm worked out!
Thank you again so much for guest posting on my blog! I really appreciated your perspective and am glad it's inspired you to open up your blog a little more.
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