Tag Archives: postpartum

All Pumped Out

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21 Months. 8 Pumps. 5 Freezers. 37,934 Ounces.

When I started this exclusively pumping journey the morning after Parker came shooting out into the world 6 weeks early, I never expected it to blow up as much as it did. I had a rough go that morning, a bad experience basically, and I didn’t really want even try again. I blew off the second lactaction specialist, but apparently the third time was the charm. Emily came in riding on a rainbow, landing into a pot of gold, exuding the most positive spirit. She was wonderful, upbeat, supportive, and gave Travis a lecture about washing pump parts since I was doing the hard work. now, Travis never did, but I know she said that to every dad and hopefully the rest followed along.

During those first few days, maybe weeks, especially since Parker was so early, the team would give me little syringes to pour my pumped milk into since I wasn’t producing much just yet. One morning my session was just drops and I poured it out. No use wasting a syringe I thought. Wrong. My team of supporters scolded me for pouring that liquid gold down the drain. I also may not have known much about colostrum in those early days. But then during an overnight session, I had a really good pump (well what I thought then as a really good pump), and I showed off my syringe to the Mother/Baby nurses on my way to the NICU. I still remember the cheering. That support kept me going.

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World Human Milk Donation Day

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3 Milk Banks. 2 Private Donors. 26,583 Ounces.

I can’t believe we’re still here for a second year celebrating
World Human Milk Donation Day!

If you ever wanted to breastfed your baby, whether that was at the tap, pumping or both, but struggled, I do this with you in mind. I knew I didn’t want to feed from the tap, I was fine with pumping. But I also knew I’d be okay if I wasn’t able to provide. This is a hard moment for so many moms. How much or little you are able to produce is nowhere tied to your worth. You are a great mom no matter how you feed your baby. Fed is best. I would say that even if the roles were reversed and I had to utilize formula. Which, I actually did. Since Parker was a preemie, she needed fortified breastmilk to help grow quicker. Every time I think about quitting, I remember all the moms who wanted to and couldn’t. I sadly imagine them glaring at me for giving up a blessing. I hope they wouldn’t, we need to be each other’s cheerleaders, support systems, villages. But when you’re a stay at home mom, you spend a lot of time in your thoughts. Too much time. Alas, I’m getting off subject.

Basically, I just want you to know that as your read my posts regarding pumping, please do not compare yourself to me. My milk supply is abnormal. Extremely abnormal. It may look so amazing and some may think they’re jealous. Don’t be. You’re not missing out. This has taken over my life. It’s exhausting. It hurts. It’s annoying. I’m tired. Normally I would hate to complain about this gift, but another mom who was a “just enougher” who received a private donation from me said exactly this: that while everyone would comment wow, she felt so bad for me because she understood the time it took from me behind the scenes.

I’m so glad Parker’s NICU nurses and the lactation team told me about breastmilk donation. Without Parker being in the NICU, and being there the day another baby ran out of donor milk, I’m not sure how we would have ended up on this journey. I also think I was such an abnormal overproducer because of the twins, like this is part of their stamp on the world.

I have always been big into volunteering. That slowed down when I was pregnant. I managed to perform at Dancing with The ARK’s Stars and held my annual traffic control cheerleader position at Race for The ARK, but I had to skip out on a few other things. Then with Parker on the outside, I’d almost completely stopped volunteering. I hated that the only thing I could do was share opportunities to my volunteer group, hoping that someone else would pick up the slack.

But then someone reminded me, breastmilk donation is only a shift in how I volunteer. I’m just showing up in a different way for awhile. That realization made me feel so much better. Now, there will come a day when I will come back full force, with Parker by my side, helping the community. For now, we continue to pump and bag milk to ship off until the weaning process is done.

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World Breast Pumping Day

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Still Pumping Along…

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I’m supposed to be weaning. I’d planned to complete my journey and publish this as my final blog post wrapping up all the details in celebration of World Breast Pumping Day. Well… not everything goes according to plan.

As I was retrieving some data for this post, I signed into the wrong milk bank portal. When I was initially researching paid banks back in November 2024, I’d also signed up with NI-Q but they weren’t actively accepting applications. I checked in a few times over the first few months and then forgot about it. Till now. And as I logged in, a big pop up came across the screen stating: “Open for Donations!” Well, okay! Why not? So I applied. If I got in, cool. If I didn’t, I’m okay to end my pumping journey.

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Registry Must Haves: One Year Later

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Now that I’ve been in the throes of motherhood for a whole year, I’ve been thinking back to what I’m glad I had on my registry, what I had to race to buy after the fact, and what I wish I would have never added to my registry in the first place. There is so much out there that you don’t even really need. Third time’s the charm on this blog post topic and I think I’ve got it right this time. If I knew then what I know now, this is exactly what my registry would have looked like from the start.

You can check my previous write ups here:

Also make sure to visit my ShopMy page
which is continuously updated with baby gear

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Udderly Unstoppable (One Year of Pumping)

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As Parker turned ONE yesterday, today marks one year of my exclusively pumping journey. And quite a journey it has been. 8 pumps. 2 extra freezers. 2 milk banks.

And to think I wanted to quit in the first couple of days when it was such a struggle just to fill up the tiny syringes the NICU nurses would give me. 

Based on the data: I have completed 2417 pumping sessions, totaling ~1,184 hours (that’s almost 50 days) and producing 27589 ounces of milk. According to ChatGPT, that equates to 551,780 calories burned and can be estimated to be worth $110,000. My personal record is pumping 38 ounces in one session.

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Happy World Breastfeeding Week

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Before we dive into World Breastfeeding Week—as well as National Breastfeeding Month—let’s start with two important reminders:

First: Whatever feeding journey you’ve chosen for your family is valid, and it is enough. Whether you’re breastfeeding, pumping, using formula, or some combination of all three—you’re doing what’s best for your baby. And that makes you a good mom.

Second: Pumping is breastfeeding. There’s been a lot of chatter on social media lately questioning whether exclusive pumping “counts” since it’s not straight from the source. Let’s be clear: it absolutely does.

Based on the data: (as of yesterday), I have completed 2110 pumping sessions, totaling 1,034 hours (that’s 43 full days) and producing ~23,894 ounces of milk. According to ChatGPT, that equates to 477,871 calories burned and can be estimated to be worth $28,672.

So far, we have donated 9,145 ounces of our stash to the Mother’s Milk Bank of SC to help fellow NICU babies just like Parker. This has helped feed 370 NICU babies. 

We have also given 1000 ounces via private donation and we’ve been paid $5,665 donating 6,071 ounces to Tiny Treasures. 

More recently, every single day I’ve wanted to quit. I could just stockpile the rest of my stash to get Parker through her first birthday. But then I think of every mom who wanted to breastfeed and couldn’t. I think of every NICU baby that we are helping with our donations. And I think about how great it has been to bring some financial support to my family after losing my identity to being a stay at home mom. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I feel feel comfortable in my body for the first time in a long time. So I’m going to keep trucking along until the tap runs dry.

Check out my other two pumping posts here:
Squeezing Out Success
Milk It for All It’s Worth

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Squeezing Out Success

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As Parker turned 6 months old yesterday, today marks 6 months into my pumping journey. I didn’t start using a tracking app until the third day, but the numbers are still pretty exceptional. I’ve come extremely far from my weak attempts just to fill up the tiny syringes the NICU nurses would give me that first week. 

Based on the data: as of right now, I have completed 1,250 pumping sessions, totaling 617 hours and producing ~13,420 ounces of milk. According to ChatGPT, that equates to 268,400 calories burned and can be estimated to be worth $20-40k.

So far, we have donated ~6,550 ounces of our stash to the Mother’s Milk Bank of SC to help fellow NICU babies just like Parker, with another ~1,300 ounces packaged up and ready to go in an additional freezer. Earlier this month, we learned that from our donations processed so far, we have helped feed 228 NICU babies.

Most of my process that I wrote about in Milk It for All It’s Worth is still the same but I have new favorite products, especially since I’ve stopped using my Medela pumps and made the full switch to wearable pumps from Momcozy. Now I’m just saving up for the new Air 1.

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Milk It for All It’s Worth

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Remember: FED is BEST. 

You might be thinking: “Really? Another disclaimer?” But I feel it’s so important. In this new age world of social media, there are too many unnecessary comments and opinions flying around. Every single pregnancy is completely different for every single woman. I want to do what I can to stop the comparisons and the ugly comments. As long as you are taking care of your baby, you are doing fine mama. 

I also find it important to acknowledge the mamas who really wanted to breastfeed their baby but struggled and switched to other options. I am so sorry it didn’t work out for you. Just know that you did not fail, you did not give up. You did what was best for yourself and your baby. I’m no clinical medical professional, but I remember seeing a mom in the NICU who was so adamant about only breastfeeding her baby for every single feed (even overnight — but rarely made it on time when the baby was hungry), that I felt it was actually delaying that baby’s progress. Meanwhile I didn’t have a choice with Parker. She was IV & tube fed from birth to mid-October. From then it was a mix of bottle and tube feedings. My breastmilk also had to be fortified to 24 calories so she could get the extra protein needed to help grow. At one point, the nutrition team needed to increase her protein intake more and was hesitant to suggest one formula-only bottle per shift, instead of increasing to 27 calories which did not work well previously. I looked at the whole team and said, “Look, I’m not a crunchy breast-only mom. If she needs a formula bottle to help her, give her a formula bottle. 

And finally, this blog post will not offer any advice in regard to physically pumping, how to increase supply, etc. I am not a lactation consultant. Everybody and every body is different. I will leave the advice up to the trained professionals. This blog post is to share the pump organization process of a Type A new mom, just in case my tips and tricks can help anyone else. I also hope you’ll share your tips & tricks with me and readers in the comments. 

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The Must Haves

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While this blog post does not mention the various outcomes of pregnancy, I still want you to know that if you are struggling with any of the topics covered in my pregnancy series, please know that I see you. I hear you. I am with you. I have been there, as you are learning through this series. Just know that I think about you every day and I hope that you find a way to grow the family of your dreams. 

As a new mom who grew up an only child and never babysit, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I definitely turned to my village for help. I did polls on Instagram to find out what everyone’s must have were, along with what items were really a waste. And then there was ChatGBT…. If my ChatGBT threads were ever released, someone would come and take Parker from me. But I’ve really learned how to use AI in a way people don’t think about (thanks to my friends at GCM). For example, I asked it what the average number of diapers a baby went through of each size so I had a baseline number to register for.

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