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Saturday, May 10, 2008

To Pump Or Not To Pump

One of the privileges of being a new mom is nursing your little one. Unfortunately, Victoria has not ever nursed very well, so my feeding her comes in the way of pumping and feeding via a bottle.

Ah … pumping! Those of you who have done it know exactly what I mean by that. Is there anything worse than feeling like a moo cow having the life sucked out of you? I think not. There is no other experience like it in the world.

And, what about the experience of having to manually pump while riding in a vehicle? You are not just having the life sucked out of you by a machine anymore. No. You are sucking the life out of yourself! Now you are inflicting pain on your own body. Plus, what about all those cars riding beside you? Your pumping arm is moving so much that the blanket draped over your shoulder almost flies off and exposes you to the world. So, you are riding in your vehicle pumping with one arm, holding the bottle with the other arm and praying that your blanket doesn’t fall off so all the cars around you see what you are doing! Do our children know what we go through to provide nourishment for them as infants?

In the end it’s worth all the pain and craziness to see my little baby grow and develop. To know that I can provide this one thing for Victoria makes me very happy. With everything being provided by a hospital staff these days, it’s nice to know that I can be her momma and feed her like only I can … blisters and all!

PS – I was blessed by UAB with a brand new Medela Pump In Style Advanced! That is a gift worth around $360! I praise God because I had been needing a new pump! Also, I thought you might enjoy seeing a few pictures. The first picture is of my new pump in the lactation room at UAB hospital. The second picture is of ONLY my face right before I started pumping in the lactation room. The third picture is of ONLY my face right after I started pumping. Hope you enjoy and have a little laugh!


PSS - While I write this to you ... I am PUMPING!!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

From one old pumper to another, "You are a mess, girl"!I have been there and I am with you girl!Keep up the good work, it is soooo worth it. Now that everyone is feeling all yucky,,,,GET OVER IT! Love you all, Jan

Anonymous said...

I'VE NEVER DONE THAT OWWWWWWWWW LOOKS LIKE PAIN

Anonymous said...

Yes I know exactly how you feel!! The car rides, blisters and everything. I often worried if blood getting into the milk was OK or not???? It's not so pleasant sometimes. Thank God for the creams. We love yall and miss you very much. Courtney Haupt

Anonymous said...

Like I said last night, I am praying for you to have a quick recovery from your "BPBs" (Breast Pump Blisters and Bruises). I was always thankful for Lansinoh and Acidopholus!
Still giggling over our conversation....Praise God for the "shake"!he, he
We love you guys!!!!
Love, Andrea

Anonymous said...

you are awesome, Heather. If you didn't have this pump, I was going to send you MINE! Because, as much as you are pumping, it really is helpful! Get some of those "Soothies" things from the hospital. They really help cool the area so it is not so painful!! Also, sweet oil helped me. Hang in there!!!!!! -ginger