Giveaway from The Parker Project Blog and KidTeez

My friend and fellow mommy blogger is doing her first giveaway on her blog The Parker Project! Who doesn’t love to win free stuff!?!?!?

Stop by and check it out here. GOOD LUCK!! Winner announced November 6!

Back to School

Wow… where did the summer go? In fact.. where did September and October go? I just sat down to catch up on the blog and realized that I didn’t say a word about the first day of school!?? Shame on me. Perhaps its because I have been adjusting to this new wake up time of 6:30am!! For a night owl like myself, caffeine is my new best friend.

So off to Kindergarten went my daughter… and off to preschool went my son. And surprisingly, it was much more heart wrenching to drop off my son. Maybe because he’s my youngest… my baby… my last one. Or maybe because it was so streamless as he just gave me a hug and kiss and walked off without even looking back? *sniff* whatever it was… I had a little “moment”.

As they both started a new chapter… so did I. A new routine for all of us. And even a little downtime in the morning a couple days when they are off at school and I don’t have to work until a little later. ahhhhh. Kind of nice. What will I do with myself!?!?

Hello… are you there?

Hello readers… followers… and anyone who just happens to stumble across this tiny piece of neuroticism that I share with the world.

So I realize that I’ve been bad about keep up with the blog lately. Real bad. So sad. So busy. busy busy busy. But that’s no excuse. So I apologize up front. In any case… outside of the every day things that I am personally going through as a parent to now 5 and 3 year olds…. what else can I offer to you on this blog? What else would you like to have a schedule or plan for? haha. Is it even possible to plan anything else outside of sleep and feeding? 🙂

Ask and you may (If I can conjure) receive.

Breastmilk Pumping & Freezing – Followup

I love the response that I get from people to come across my blog and use it as a resource as they begin their boob juice factory venture! Recently, I had received a message from a friend who had some additional questions after reading the Pumping & Freezing post. I decided to post our convo here as a follow-up in case anyone else had similar questions. Feel free to leave a comment if you ever want clarification on my neurotic ways. 🙂

Here’s the convo:

Fellow Mommy: I was reading up in your blog about the number of diapers I would need for P. I ran across your blog entry re: pumping and freezing…wow! I wish I read it sooner

Such good info! I nurse and pump right now but will be going back to work in a few weeks. I wanted to ask you how you collect to freeze. Did you get 4oz. At each pump session? More? Less? If less, did you refrigerate and then collect the 4 oz into the bottle?

I wish I had known to ask to pump at the hospital for the extra parts! They’re super $$$! Oh well…I’ll remember to ask next time 🙂 oh and those bottles! What a great idea. I’ve been buying the medela bottles and bags. Hate the bags but didn’t know there were inexpensive bottles out there. Again, wish I read your blog prior.

I’m already 2 months pp. I don’t have milk production like you. Do you think if I try to pump more, the volume would increase? I’m thinking about EP’ing now since I’m going back to work, except for late night/early morning feedings. I don’t want my supply to drop. Instead I would love for it to increase. Right now, if I pump in place of a feeding, I’m only getting an average of 4-6oz.

I’m going to follow your advice and start him on the frozen bm to get him used to it.

Mommy Neurotic Response:

First off… I was a pumping maniac… so I would total about 46oz A DAY when I was in my prime. hahaha. I usually had 6 or 8oz bottles attached to my pump, and would then pour them into 4oz increments (my freezing bottles) to store.

When I started out, it was less than 4oz, and i actually froze in 2oz incredments to start cuz baby wasnt taking much in one sitting anyways.

Later on, when it was definitely at least 4oz per feeding, then I only froze in 4 oz increments.

In that case, if I pumped less than 4oz, I would put in fridge to cool it down. And the next pumping, I would put in fridge to cool down, and then merge them together into a 4oz to freeze.

Yes! I didn’t like the bags… some leaked, and I found them harder to thaw standing up in the fridge. Plus the bottles you can reuse – and you know I reused them through 2 kids and THEN sold them and got a third of my money back on those bottles. hahahhaah.

YES! If you pump more – you will produce more… its all about supply and demand. Did you read the blog post on “increasing your supply” yet? 🙂 How many times are you feeding/pumping per day right now? that will give me a better idea.

Sometimes, if P does not suck all the milk out of you, then slap the pump on to clear it all out. Make sure you clear all your supply out with every feeding. 🙂

I think I used to get like 46oz total from about 4-5 pumping sessions. I only fed the kids 25oz a day… so the rest to freeze.

and YES! Do start him on the frozen stuff…. just one bottle a day… keeps him used to it… and also helps to funnel out the older milk as you put newer stuff in freezer.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I’d be happy to answer them. Pumping and sleep schedules are usually what people contact me for. hehe