My son was in ICU when he was first born, so we had alot of complications with breastfeeding when we got home. After much work with a lactation specialist, I decided that pumping would be the best alternative. I use a medical grade breast pump two to three times a day for about an hour (for 7 months now) and I am able to produce enough milk. My question is...am I causing any harm to my breasts for pumping so long/so often? I have noticed that I have what appears to be spider veins on my breasts. Is that normal?
My daughter (now 2) wouldn't nurse at all when she was a baby. I pumped for a year straight for her as I wanted her to have the best milk. I know my boobs are not the same as they were before her birth but what woman's are. I found that it was totally worth it and don't see any reason for you not to keep going. I pumped five times a day.
You can get spider veins from your breast getting to large to quick. I got spider veins in my breasts when I was pregnant and they became more visible when I was nursing. After I quit nursing they went away. Not sure about the pumping because I only pumped a couple of times.
Looks like you need some advice from some expert moms!
Pumping/breastfeeding:
I belong to a LOT of Yahoo groups- when you join one, click the option for 'Daily Digest" this way you get the day's posts right to your inbox of your email to read- if you want to post a question/response, then you go to the web address, log on & post there...
groups to join:
PumpMoms http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PumpMoms/
breastfeeding and working mothers: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bfworkingmoms/
hi, my name is M.. congrats on your determination and dedication. i have a 15 mth old and he was also in the nicu for a while. i decided to pump also b/c i was unsure if my son would be getting enough b/c i couldn't see the amount he was taking. my routine was (at 7 mth.) was to pump every 4-5 hours for 15 minutes. i also had a hospital grade double pump. the lactation specialist at the hospital were my son was born at informed me that the key is how often you pump not how long. he ONLY was given breastmilk from birth 4/23/08 up until may 4 2009. i began to transition him to formula b/c i would decrease my pumping and stopped june 13 2009. he still continues to get breastmilk in combination with formula. i still have frozen breastmilk and will continue to give mixture until we run out of breastmilk. about the spider veins i really don't know i pumped for 14 mths and don't have them. but every situation is different. keep up the awesome work and dedication.
M.
M. Gil
###-###-####
Work for yourself, not by yourself!
www.maketime4family.com
