Persevering Momma

Taking The Day One Spoon At a Time

Don’t Shame Moms For How They Feed Their Babies

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I rarely got backlash when feeding my first son. I nursed him for 26 months and often did it in public without a nursing cover. I’m thankful that I never got told to cover up or stop even when I was nursing him when he was two years old, but I can’t say it has been the same with my second son.

Anyone who knows me knows that I had all the plans to nurse Gideon for just as long as Raiden, however things didn’t go as planned this time around.

I fought. I struggled. I cried. I bled.

And yet I just couldn’t nurse my son. He got a lip tie revision. He got a tongue tie revision. We went to two different lactation consultants for two months. Week after week. I tried pumping. I tried power pumping. I tried every type of milk boosting tip I could find. But I couldn’t get my supply up.

I was going crazy. I had a starving baby.

Yes, he got formula, too. That wasn’t even working.

I felt like I had failed my son and he was only 2 months old.

I felt like I had failed him because people were still pushing me to nurse him. I wanted to nurse him oh so desperately. I just couldn’t do it. I was stressed. I barely slept. I cried the days away. I would try to tell everyone I was done nursing and pumping to only get told to keep trying because my baby needed my milk. I knew this and people just didn’t want to listen.

Then Covid-19 hit and as odd as it sounds it was a blessing in disguise. I didn’t have to hear everyone tell me to nurse. Doctor appointments became fewer and more spread out.

Gideon started to really thrive. I was able to breathe again.

Things aren’t perfect now, but at least he is doing so much better. He has gotten the help he needs and now I can show people that he is doing so much better without my milk.

He is growing and thriving on his medicine and his special formula. He is thriving and hitting milestones because his has his momma back. I’m no longer beating myself up for something that was out of my control. Instead I am happy and helping him to keep growing in our own way.

Prepping For Breastfeeding a New Baby

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Prepping to breastfeed your new baby can mean a variety of different things to different moms. New moms often feel lost and overwhelmed by everything that is out there. Even seasoned moms can feel overwhelmed by everything that is out on the market for nursing moms. It has been 3 years since I have shopped for breastfeeding supplies and I have done a lot of research as to what I will need this time around.

A Good Breast Pump

A good breast pump is a must have item for any new mom that plans to be away from their baby for an extended period of time. Most US health insurance plans offer a variety of different breast pump options for free. If you are low income and are on WIC this is also another way you can try to get a breast pump. I would recommend picking one with a closed system as those are easier to clean. In addition to an electric breast pump you might want to look into a manual hand pump or something like the Haakkaa breast milk collector. This works great to catch milk off of the free boob while the baby nurses on the other side. 

Milk Storage Bags

If you are pumping then you will want to look into milk storage bags. I liked the Kiinde Twist bags when I had my son 3 years ago because they stand up nicely. If you aren’t planning on having a big milk stash in the freezer then I would recommend these because you can pump directly into the bags with ease. However, if you plan on having a freezer stash I suggest you choose bags that freeze flat to help conserve space in your deep freezer. There are a lot of different breast milk storage bags on the market so you will want to do your research to see which ones work best for you. I liked the Lansinoh bags. For freezing your milk flat you will also want to look into the MAMMaway Freeze It Flat. I would recommend splurging and getting the double version so that you can freeze two at a time. If you will be pumping a lot then you might even want to invest in more than one of these to help speed up the freezing process.

Baby Bottles

Most people think of baby bottles for formula fed babies, but these are important to have if you plan to be away from baby at any time. We tried a million different baby bottles with my son and this time around we are going to try some different ones again. The Comotomo bottles are highly rated as great bottles for nursing children as they help to mimic the shape of the boob. We will also be trying the Evenflo Feeding Proflo Venting Balance bottles.

Nursing Pillow

A good nursing pillow is ideal for at home nursing because a nursing baby gets heavy after a few minutes. So, if you plan to nurse sitting up I recommend getting a nursing pillow. There is quite the variety of nursing pillows out there. I used the Boppy Nursing Pillow with my son, but I am looking into a couple of other options this time around. The Boppy was a little snug on me last time so I want to see if there is something that will fit around my plus sized curves better this time around.

Commemorating My Breastfeeding Journey With Precious Mammaries

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This is a sponsored post about my breastfeeding journey thanks to Precious Mammaries.

Nursing our children is something that many women do without a thought. It is not always an easy journey and sometimes the journey can be a stressful one. Because of all of this I really wanted to commemorate my breastfeeding journey with my son.

I nursed my son for almost 2.5 years; it was a long 2.5 years and there were many times I considered stopping sooner because I was stressed, touched out, or just wanted to feel like I was more than just a good source to my son. However, looking back I am so thankful to have waited until he was ready and allowed him to wean himself from being nursed instead of forcing him to stop when he wasn’t ready.

Turning My Breastmilk To Stone

Deciding how to commemorate my nursing journey wasn’t very easy. I knew I wanted to do something, but I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do until I came across Precious Mammaries. I knew that I wanted to turn my breast milk into something and that is when I decided to get both a bubble necklace and a leaf crown ring made to commemorate my journey with Raiden.

I love the idea of always having my breastmilk close to my heart. I will always remember nursing my son and how much it meant to me as well as to him. I couldn’t have asked for better snuggles than the ones I would get while he nursed in my arms and in my lap.

Precious Mammaries takes a sample of my breastmilk and does her magic to turn it into a gorgeous stone. Her time and passion goes into making each individual piece of jewelry. You can see how much it matters to her thanks to the quality of her jewelry.

I’m so thankful for my necklace. It is a simple bubble jewel piece with Raiden’s initials on the back, but that doesn’t stop it from being extra special to me. I love how simple it is because I am not one for anything more than simple jewelry.

The fact that every piece is unique and custom made just makes it that much more special. In addition to all of this she also provides you with a nice little certificate to go with the jewelry.

review of breast milk jewelry from Precious MammariesIt’s more than just a piece of jewelry.

The necklace and ring that I got is so much more than just jewelry to me. Some people don’t understand why I wanted my breast milk turned to stone. It means so much more to me than any one could know.

While my nursing journey wasn’t as hard as some others journey’s it was a long and tiresome road for me. I nursed my son for 27 long months. I never planned to nurse that long and I never expected it to last past a year, but I didn’t feel right forcing my son to wean when he wasn’t ready.

I kept nursing him despite the fact that I was completely touched out. I’ll admit that I’m not a big cuddler and I can only stand so much touching before I just want to run away screaming. I know there were plenty of times when I snapped and lost my cool because I was all touched out. I still pushed on and gave my son everything he wanted and needed despite the fact that it ended up changing from being a task that I enjoyed to something I dreaded.

I got this jewelry as a way to remember the good times and the painstakingly trying times because I wouldn’t change it for anything. It helps me to remember that I can and will push my issues aside for my son. I can be strong for him even when I normally wouldn’t feel strong.

Know When to Pump While Exclusively Breastfeeding

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As a new mom it’s hard to know just when is the right time to pump. If you are exclusively breastfeeding they’re really isn’t a reason to pump.  That’s what everyone has told me, but I’ve noticed that this isn’t true. If I never pumped I would never be able to be away for my son for more than an hour or two. He nurses too often. That is why I figured out a good schedule to pump do that I have a small supply of milk in the freezer for my son.

Why would you want a frozen supply?

Having a frozen supply is great in case you get ill and your supply dips for a few days. I got sick the first month off my son’s life and my milk supply dropped drastically got a couple of days because I was unable to eat or drink anything for a day. I wish that I had a stash so that I didn’t have to introduce formula, but that wasn’t the case.

I kept my son fed by giving him a couple of formula bottles when I was unable to produce enough milk. After this incident I began pumping once to twice a day.

When should I pump?

Deciding when to pump can vary for many people.  If your child only eats off one side at a time then you might want to consider pumping the opposite side while your child feeds.  My son eats off both sides so I don’t use this method.  Instead I make sure I stay awake for a few hours after Raiden has gone to sleep and I pump then.  The second time I pump is in the morning before he wakes.

If I pump twice like this I can usually get a good two to three bottles worth of milk labeled and frozen a day. If you only plan to be away from your child once a week for most of the day this supply should be more than enough, but if you plan to be away more you will need a different pumping schedule.

Are you exclusively breastfeeding and pump like me?

If you are exclusively breastfeeding and pump as well then I feel your pain.  Choosing to pump when it isn’t a necessity is just as difficult as pumping exclusively because you need to create a schedule and not miss a beat.  I personally have found it difficult because I am often home alone with a clingy baby and pumping just isn’t always a reality.  I struggle with finding the perfect times to pump.  In this last year I have learned that the best times to pump are during naps and sleep time.  When he was small I was only able to pump twice through the night while he slept.

I could only pump during his night-time sleep because it was the only time that he slept for longer than 30 minutes.  When my son was young (0-3 months) he ate every hour-hour and half during the day.  This made pumping impossible because it felt like he was always on the boob.  The benefit to this was the fact that he very quickly began sleeping for 3-4 hours at night.  This gave me the opportunity to pump once or twice while he slept.  Even as he has gotten bigger I still only pump during the night hours because that is when I am the fullest and rather uncomfortable.

Why would you pump while exclusively breastfeeding?

If you a first time mom who is wondering why I would pump when I am a stay at home mom and I nurse on demand then let me tell you a little something I learned very early.  Your milk supply will fluctuate during your breastfeeding journey.  When Raiden was 5 weeks old I got sick with the flu and was unable to keep any food or drink down for over 24 hours which caused my milk supply to become nearly non-existent.  I cried so hard that day because I did not have any pumped milk for my son.  I had to give him formula and that was not something I was quite ready for because it was not in my plan.  I was thankful to have a very supportive family who provided us with samples of formula to fill my son’s belly.

Everyone knows that “fed is best”, but if you want to try to only give your child breast milk then I recommend you pump when you can because you never know if something will cause your milk supply to dip for any amount of time.  Pumped milk in the freezer is also great if you want to get out for a date night with your partner.

Free Breast Pumps – Not Really Free for Everyone

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(Edit: Most of this piece was written before the birth of my son, but somehow went unpublished until now.)

As many pregnant women have found out the Affordable Health Care Act made it possible for women to get a free breast pump through their health insurance.  Unfortunately, there are loop holes so that not all women can actually get a free breast pump through their insurance.  Some insurance companies are grandfathered into the Affordable Health Care Act and are not required to actually include this option in their insurance plans.  For someone like me who is on Medicare there is no coverage what so ever.  I tend to blame it on the fact that Medicare was made as an insurance for the elderly versus one for people of all ages, but really I don’t know the official reason as to why it is not covered through Medicare.  In addition to Medicare I do have Medicaid due to my low income from being on disability.

Medicaid does cover my pregnancy though when it comes to getting a breast pump covered by insurance they make you jump through a million hoops.  Based off of everything that I read and have been told it could take months to actually get a breast pump through them because they like to deny them as much as possible.  I assume it is because breast pumps are so very expensive and they are already paying out for all of your other medical expenses which adds up very fast while one is pregnant.  In order to get approval for a breast pump through my insurance I have to prove that my child cannot breast feed and I cannot manually pump milk from my own breast.  Everything is black and white to them.  That is why I was so very thankful when Medela stepped up to the plate and offered me one of their breast pumps to review.  Before I move on to tell you about the breast pump that I received from them I wanted to share with you that you can look up your insurance on Medela’s website to see just what breast pump is actually covered for you.

Medela Freestyle Breast Pumps

As you know breast pump’s are not cheap and the Medela Freestyle Breast pump Deluxe Set is not any different.  To purchase one out of pocket it costs $429.00 according to Medela’s website, but if you scour the internet you can often find it a little bit cheaper.  I personally always check Amazon prices before I make a big purchase because I might be able to save a little bit of money.  This set comes with additional accessories so that you do not have to but them separately.

What’s Included

  • 1 – Freestyle pump
  • 1 – Lithium ion battery – rechargeable
  • 1 – AC adaptor/charger
  • 1 – Double pumping kit – includes: (2) breast shield bodies, membranes and back caps, (1) set of tubing
  • 1 – Set of 24mm and 27mm PersonalFit Breastshields
  • Instructions

Additional contents within the Freestyle Breast pump Deluxe Set

  • 4 – 5oz/150mL breast milk bottles and lids
  • 1 – Portable microfiber carry bag
  • 1 – Medela cooler system including cooling element
  • 1 – Free Easy Expression Bustier voucher (redeemable at medelabreastfeedingus.com)

This kit does come with many accessories though you might still need to purchase some more for you to use.  While the kit comes with both a set of 24mm and 27mm Breastshields you might need a different size depending on the size and shape of your breasts and nipples.  In addition to possibly needing a different size for your breastshields you will need to redeem your Easy Expression Bustier voucher if you want to be able to do some hands free pumping.   The Easy Expression Bustier is similar to a strapless sports bra that wraps around your torso.  The difference is that this one has two holes in front that will hold the breastshields in place while you pump so that you do not need to hold them up to your breasts.  They don’t provide you with one in the box to ensure that you get the right size for you.

I am loving Medela thus far and everyone I know that has used breast pumps has told me that I would want a Medela pump because they are top of the line.  After doing even more research I came across their breastfeeding guidance; if you are like me and this is your first time breastfeeding you will want to do as much research as you can before the baby arrives.  I plan to know as much as I can about breastfeeding as well as pumping to make transitions between the two even easier.

What breast pump do you use?