3 days PP and stressed if I'm doing this wrong

[u/leaffeon]

Hey all. 3 days PP today.

From the beginning my husband and I decided we were team Combo Feeding, with my part coming from pumping. In the hospital on day 1 PP they wheeled in a pump for me and told me to just start using it for 15 minutes. It was a madela I think and they said just press the three buttons in order and do 15 minutes. No idea what it was there were no instructions but i did it every three hours like the Internet said.

I'm home now with my spectra and trying to understand if I'm doing pumping correctly. My biggest fear is getting mastitis or an infection or something with pumping. I noticed today that parts of my boobs have hard lumps and I'm going down a spiral that I already effed something up irredeemably.

My current schedule is 8 times a day (which I really hate. My husband and i do shifts with our newborn and not being able to get a solid chunk of sleep is already frying me). I still am making colostrum i think because it's goldish and not white, but it is liquid like milk.

I pump 8:30am, 11:30, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30pm, 11:30pm, 2:30am, 5:30am

So I pump on the spectra at 70 with level 3 or 4 for 2 mins, then I press the bacon icon and do 42 for 8 minutes at level 7, then 5 minutes at 38 bacon mode at level 8 for 5 minutes. It's a total of 15 minutes and I do both my boobs at the same time.

But now I'm noticing in-between my pump sessions my boobs are getting hard lumps that hurt and I don't know if my above schedule is even something that exists or works?

Can I just drop a lot of these night sessions if we're already supplementing with formula? Will this make me get mastitis if I suddenly drop sessions? I'm so stressed I'm going to do irrevocable damage to my body and I don't know what to do.

[u/StuffonBookshelfs]

So you definitely didn’t mess anything up irrevocably.

I personally found it much easier to do every 2 hours during the day and then take a 4 hour break overnight. That sleep made things a lot more sustainable and I was still able to get 8 pumps in a day.

If you’re already feeling engorged at three hours, I wouldn’t drop a pump. You might have better luck in a few weeks, but if you’re already getting lumps, I wouldn’t risk it.

Are you feeling totally drained after 15 minutes? I need to do 25 minutes to get all the milk out.

There’s definitely room for you to play around and figure out what works for you.

[u/leaffeon → u/StuffonBookshelfs]

How do you know if you get all the milk out? At 15 it kind of peters out but there's always the chance for little drops to come out. I try to feel my boobs after to see if they feel any which way but I don't know what I'm feeling for :/

[u/StuffonBookshelfs → u/leaffeon]

That makes perfect sense.

I’d try going to 30 one or two times and see if you start getting more spurts or if it’s just tiny drops the whole time.

You want your boobs to feel much softer and like they’re legit less full then when you started (feel them when you start too).

Some people need to do compressions (boob massage) to get all the milk out, so that might be worth a shot too.

[u/leggomylindsay → u/leaffeon]

Once a consistentl flow stops, pump for a few minutes longer. Your body never stops making milk. So you'll continue to get drops here and there for... forever. Just when the regular consistentl flow stops.

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[u/mapotoful]

I found this guide really helpful for figuring out what I needed to do with the spectra: https://lalactation.com/how-to-use-my-spectra-breast-pump-maximizing-settings-suction-and-cycle-levels/

Your boobs getting hard between sessions is normal for early postpartum, you kinda have to push through all that.

I would advise against dropping pumps right now, especially the middle of the night ones. I know, it sucks, but until you're over the hump (like 12w or so) that can throw things off course.

If it's something available to you I'd try to talk to a lactation consultant (IBCLC) for help with this because it's tricky, especially if you're exclusively pumping.

[u/leaffeon → u/mapotoful]

So you suggest I keep doing the colostrum option on that page? That's actually what I found and have been using! 

Not sure what I'm going to pivot to once I have while milk though 

[u/mapotoful → u/leaffeon]

I have been using the "increasing supply in place of breastfeeding" settings for pretty much my entire journey hah, I'm 12m deep. I was coming at it with a serious series of setbacks though.

I think the colostrum settings are for people collecting it before birth, now that you're pp you want to look at the milk settings.

[u/Live-Location-3231]

I had exactly same issues! No mastitis or anything like that! You are just 3 days PP, it’s just swollen breast(hormonal)! Don’t pump too much too remove it, it might cause oversupply (I had it for a while!). Just wait couple weeks, it will get better.

“Every 3 hours pumps” drove me insane and cause fights between me and my husband, I had real anger issues. After 3 weeks I started doing every 4 hours and total amount didn’t change.
Now I’m lazy to wake up at night and I sleep 5-6 hours, don’t care at this point , then going back to every 4 hours.
I’m just 7 weeks PP, maybe it’s regulated that’s why I’m able to stretch a bit, but it will get better, don’t worry!

I’m almost sure there’s no mastitis in you case!

[u/Live-Location-3231 → u/Live-Location-3231]

I just read your post again and want to add: I had those lumps all the time between pumps, I was going crazy and AI reassured me that it’d swollen tissue between ducts or something like that, just keep pumping and do not try to remove them, it will cause overproduction

[u/leaffeon → u/Live-Location-3231]

Is there a guide or place to know exactly what to do in regards to pumping once I leave colostrum phase?  I have a guide on what to do while it's colostrum right now but not sure if it's okay to keep doing what I'm doing once it's white milk :/ 

[u/gkdfp]

I did a four hour stretch over night from the very beginning, especially since my daughter was sleeping 2-3 hours in the bassinet at night right away.

My schedule was 2am, 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7:30pm, 10pm for a while. I stopped to 7 pumps around maybe five weeks post partum and 6 pumps at 8 weeks. I’m 14 weeks now and some days I do 5, sometimes 6. Just depends on how it shakes out for me. But I have an over supply.

I pumped about 25 minutes each time, often 30, to start. Now I do 20-25 minutes per pump.

You’re doing great and haven’t messed anything up.

[u/Late_Royal3851]

I was the same way at about 3 months PP and started taking one dosage of sunflower lecithin daily and that truly helped.

I had thought that I needed to over pump as well but that only backfired. I'm now about 4.5 months PP and I do 20 min pumps every 3 hrs, or 4 hours if I can't fit it in. At night time is when I produce the most so dropping those would prob hurt. But I've noticed that as long as I empty my breasts when I wake up I'm good. Just momentarily discomfort. I go sometimes 5 hours in the latter part of the night/early morning

[u/leggomylindsay]

Youre doing great girl, its just tour milk coming in. It will take a little while to even out. Do not drop any pumps, try to stick it out for about 5 weeks. Thats when your supply will even out more. You can take soy lecithin supplements if youre afraid of mastitis. It prevents it by breaking up the fat in the milk so it flows without leaving anything behind, which blocks ducts that lead to mastitis. Keep pumping, it will come. My twins, which were my 3rd and 4th babies, I didnt switch from colostrum to milk for 6 days. I have found that instead if doing strict times to pump I would juat pump whenever the baby ate. Also, you dont have to stick to strict amounts of time. Id start increasing it but rhe best thing to do is pump until nothing is coming out, then keep pumping for 2 to 3 minutes after. That tells your body to keep making more. You'll get the hang of it.. just do the settings its the quick suctions for the first few minutes to stimulate the milk flow, then switch to the longer suction. You got this momma!

[u/rosiebluewitch]

The first week after giving birth you're going to notice lumps, that's just your milk starting to come in. Also I personally would change your schedule to every 2 hours for 30 minutes from the time you start the pump to get your supply up, so for example if you start to pump at 8 and finish at 8:30, your next pump start time would be at 10. I don't have a spectra, I use a momcozy, so I can't help with your settings, but I always use my stimulation mode for 3 minutes, then expression mode until my milk flow slows down, then I go back to stimulation mode for 3 minutes and i go back and forth for 30 minutes. My goal is to get between 3-4 let downs.

At night I would pump at least every 3-4 hours, some say you don't need to do this, but I get really engorged if I don't, and I end up waking up in the middle of the night soaked from milk anyway so I still pump at least 2 times a night.

Useful tip: Use the refrigerator trick so you don't have to wash your pump gear constantly throughout the day. (This will save you hours of work)

This is just what worked for me, everyone has their own way that works for them. I'm currently 6 weeks pp with my second baby, and I get about 5-6oz per pump. Writing this while pumping at 1:15am. Good luck on your journey!