Pump up the jam!

Everyday I hear Technotronic. I hear them 7-9 times in a 24 hour period. That is the frequency in which I pump milk for Camilo to eat.  It's exhausting, mind numbing, and sometimes painful. And I desperately need more songs that involve "pumping" to get stuck in my head and to get me through the next 12 months of this!

I love Technotronic!

But let me back up a bit and tell the story so far of our feeding saga... When Camilo was born, he came with a great sucking reflex and he was able to "latch on" and nurse right away. This was a HUGE surprise and we celebrated and congratulated ourselves constantly. We breast fed for 2 full days in the hospital, where everyone marveled at the little cleft baby who could nurse. We were learning together, and little by little, every feeding was better and better. Unfortunately, the docs were still concerned about the cleft and him losing too much weight so they talked me into a combo of pumping into a bottle and breast feeding. I just KNEW that this would be the end of breast feeding for us, but I agreed to try this approach. Well, after that first go around with the bottle, Camilo realized how much easier eating can be and from that moment on, he has wanted nothing to do with breast feeding. I was pretty devastated at first, but quickly realized that the important thing is that he gets enough food.

In recovery and nursing about 30 minutes after Camilo was born.

Right away after switching to a bottle, Camilo started to gain back his birth weight. It was a slow gain at first (we were told he needed to be drinking about HALF of his actual needs), but once we started to force feeding him like a goose destined for foie gras, he has been gaining weight like a little monster! At his 2 week check up, he was already 4 kilos!  I don't think we'll be having any problems getting to the minimum of 5 kg for the lip surgery in December!

This is the double electric pump I use. It doesn't hurt too badly anymore, but I certainly couldn't survive without my "hands-free" pumping bra!

So now I pump [up the jam] full time. Luckily I have what is called an "over supply" which means I produce a lot more milk than Camilo is drinking. Practically, this means our freezer is already bursting at the seams. Eventually, this means that either I can quit pumping before the year is up OR give Camilo breast milk for a lot longer than I had originally hoped - we'll just have to see how long I can hold out.

The freezer stash after 2 weeks... I'm saving almost a liter of milk a day!