My son has been in the NICU for almost 4 weeks and just recently started eating by mouth. My milk came in right away so I've been pumping and have a ton of milk for him saved up :) I will try breastfeeding when he is ready but if he doesn't take to it I'll continue pumping!

My baby latched on as soon as I gave birth but the nurse wanted me to feed her formula because she was born 5lbs so she got use to having the milk come out so fast that she refused to drink from my breast. She will latch and suck but realize it wasnt coming out fast enough so when I came home and my milk came in I started pumping and have been for seven months now

I plan on trying soy milk. She didnt flat out rejected whole milk, but only took tiny amountsand thats it for the day.

Maybe she would like almond milk?

Thanks Mommylove.. Yes a lot of dedication and hard work. Even if i want to stop now, i couldnt as dd refused formula and whole milk. I will keep on trying to get her to take whole milk.

15 months! Congrats! That's a long time and takes a lot of dedication.

It was a decision not by choice. Since giving birth i had many medical issues( nothing related to giving birth/pregnancy) including flu, tendonitis, etc that keep coming up. The worst was tendonitis where i had to stop bf while on meds and during that time dd was on my little freezer stash and formula. I pumped and dumped for 1 month. Few werks later i started work again and baby was on bottles of bm for 12 hours. On and off my flu and fever came back frequently that i was not able to bf due to meds intake. After 2.5 mths pp, around that time.. Dd refused to latch on as she got used to the bottles and i started to give her bm

In bottles. She is now 15mths old and still on expressed bm.

I planned to exclusively breastfeed but baby girl lost 8 ounces in less than two days so I asked the nurse for formula :( and started pumping. She got usto the bottle and even though she laches on she gets frustrated with the boob. She's 6 weeks old and has now been just on breast milk for 2weeks :). It's not easy but so worth it she didn't like formula she'd drink it but wouldn't take it as fast as she would a bottle of breast milk. I pump every 3 hrs but a night I try to sleep at least 5 hrs but I usually pump twice as much once I wake up so that works out.

I planned to breastfeed since before I found out I was pregnant. I EBF for the first three days while I was at the hospital. We had a bad latch and my dd is partially tongue tied so she was gnawing my nipples raw. ?

I gave her two formula feedings and pumped/bottle fed her for the next two days trying to let my nipples heal. Once they were healed enough we tried to re-latch and she wanted nothing to do with it. I'm pretty sure the bottle was a lot easier to eat from.

My dd is now two weeks old and I'm pumping more than enough to keep up with her! I'm still waiting on my insurance company to get my electric pump here but I'm getting between 40-50opd with a manual pump! ?

I plan on pumping until we introduce solids and hopefully by the. I'll have enough in my freezer to feed her breast milk for another 6 months.

I tried breastfeeding my daughter when she was first born, but I was having major issues getting her to latch properly and the hospital staff couldn't really help me. When I got home, I was so exhausted I just gave up and started fully feeding her formula. I broke down one day because I was so upset since breastfeeding had been the plan through my entire pregnancy, and formula would just aggravate me because I couldn't trust what was in it. I began relactating and have been pumping ever since. I'm very proud with how far I've come and that I'm able to just feed her breastmilk. I pump every two hours during the day and every four at night, and my supply is continuing to increase

That is so great! So are you sending them the milk or are you donating it to a milk bank?

MamaX wow! What an amazing blessing you have given!!!! Did you know the couple you were a surrogate for beforehand?

She was 5lb 8oz 2 weeks ago at 3 weeks old. She is now 5 weeks and I'm guessing she is getting close to 6lbs.

Wow that's amazing! How much does she weigh now? And how old is she again??

Good for you going natural! I'm hoping to have a natural vbac in the future.

Iugr is intrauterine growth restriction and it's when the baby's weight drops below the 10th percentile. Dd was 4lb 4oz at 36 weeks which is actually less than 3-5th percentile depending on what chart you look at.

What does iugr mean?

Hypnobirth...sounds interesting! I also chose an all natural route and was able to stick to it thank God. My husband was an amazing labor coach. No meds, no IV, nothing. And I didn't go to any childbirth classes bc I felt it would scare me haha I think I did better bc I didn't go. I just did my deep breathing and went to my happy place and got to work!

Congrats on your miracle!!! That's amazing what you went through. What a story!

It's not easy and takes so much dedication. Especially when you go back to work. Do you work?

DGood thanks for sharing your story!

I had my miracle dd after 7.5 years of ttc, 4 mc's and 3 iui's. I had a natural hypnobirth all planned but little miss decided to make a dramatic entrance a bit early. I developed pre-e and dd was iugr and had a c section after a failed induction at 36 weeks. Dd measured 34 weeks and went straight to the nicu. I was on magnesium for 24 hrs after birth so I not able to bf at all during that time. We attempted to bf in the nicu but she would get too tired trying to latch so I pumped and bottle fed so she would gain weight. She was in the nicu for 8 days, 5 of which I was traveling 45 min back and forth from home. We kept trying to bf but I have extremely large breasts (36K) and was told I have flat nipples. I was given a nipple shield which helps but it's so hard to juggle dd, my huge boob, and the shield. After trying at home for a few weeks, I have kinda given up the dream to ebf. I cannot find a good lactation consultant in my remote area so pumping it is. We are 5 weeks pp and I pump 6-8 oz every 4-5 hrs. I have a pretty decent stash in the freezer already!

So that's my story of how we ended up exclusive pumping. It's not what I wanted but it is what it is. She needs my milk especially bc she was a iugr preemie. She is gaining weight so great and developmentally ahead for her adjusted age. She is my miracle and I will do whatever I have to do for her.

I had an oversupply prob first so my daughter would choke on my milk so then I would pump a little off first (and she also had trouble latching bc my boobs were so engorged and hard she couldn't get a good seal around the nipple) and that worked for a little bit...pumping a little off then nursing but the first month and a half her weight was down and all over the place...then I used a nipple sheild which worked for a little bit but still not great weight gain :(. I got upset and liked the idea of knowing how much she was getting at each feed...plus I knew I had to start her on the bottle bc id be going back to work in a month or so. So I started pumping and bottle feeding (plus hubby could help which was nice) and then she started gaining awesome weight. I would only nurse her like 2-3x a day. Then she started getting real fussy with nursing and I think bc it wasn't coming out fast enough for her anymore and the bottle was easier...and this happened about a week or two before I had to go back to work...so then I eliminated those few nursing sessions and just bottle fed her. And that's what I do now! Everything I pump today goes to her feedings tomm and any extra goes into the freezer. Some days I have extra some I don't but I've been able to create a nice stash! She is happy and healthy and gaining weight so well now. Pumping is hard work and takes dedication but I choose to do it for her! We still cuddle during feeds and I try to pump up in bed so I can lay her down or sit her on the bed with her toys and we can play together. I'm at 5.5 months and I'm trying to figure out how long I want to continue pumping. I've got my pumping to 5 x a day and with her starting more solids I hope to drop to 4 soon.

How about you? I don't know how active there ladies are on this board...I just joined it myself and haven't seen a ton of activity....but I hope it picks up. I figure the more we post the more people will come across it again and hopefully participate!