Breast Milk and Deer Meat....

 


  I chose to breastfeed my children for all the typical reasons.  The biggest reasons are the health and financial reasons.  I feel lucky that breast feeding has been fairly easy for me.  With my oldest, my milk came in very fast at 2 days.  I became so engorged that I needed to pump to relieve the pain and because my son couldn't get a good latch.  Because of that, I pumped and breast fed from very early on.  I didn't do it on purpose but I am glad it worked out that way because I was able to share feeding duty with my husband and who ever wanted to feed him.  I pumped and breast fed my son until he was 9 months old. My goal was 12 months so I continued to pump and bottle feed exclusively but got lazy with the pumping and quickly dried up.  Pumping can feel like a full time job!!  He had breast milk until he was about 10 months old and then we used formula until 12 months.
    Since pumping and breast feeding worked well with my first, with this little one I chose to do the same.  I had some trouble getting little girl to latch but with a couple visits from the lactation consultant, we were good to go.  **I HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of the hospitals lactation consultant.  Breastfeeding came easy with my first so when I was having pain and difficulties with my second I got frustrated and scared I wouldn't be able to.  The consultant was SO helpful and it took only a few short visits before I was feeling confident having success! She even called me a couple weeks after I left the hospital to check in.  Anyways,  knowing that I was going to be going back to work earlier with this baby, I worked hard from the beginning to build up a good supply.  What worked for me was to pump after every breast feeding to tell my body I needed more! If someone else fed her a bottle, I still pumped in place of that feeding. Even if she slept for five or six hours at night, I still woke up every three hours to pump.  Week one and two, I was freezing sometimes n five or six 5oz bags on top of what she was eating each day!!  I made a conscience effort that the first four to six weeks of my maternity leave were going to be about relaxing....and saving as much milk as I could.  I am a party animal I know.  :)  Once I started leaving the house more, and sleep seemed more necessary, the amount of milk I was able to freeze became less.  My daughter is seven weeks old this week and I am able to freeze maybe one a day.  I don't think I have been drinking as much water as I was those first couple weeks.  It is harder for me to remember and know how much water I am drinking when I am not at home.  It is definitely something I am working on.  Those first four weeks of hard work pumping and breast feeding paid off though.  I currently have over 85 5oz bags of breast milk saved up!! For an anniversary present last December, my parents bought me and my husband a deep freezer.  We are currently renting and our freezer is quite small.  My husband is hunter and so after hunting season we have about two deer worth of meat.  So although a deep freezer seems like an odd anniversary gift, to me and my hubby, it is just what we needed!! So currently in my deep freezer, there is a ton of deer meat and a ton of breast milk.  *** Don't worry,  the meats and milk are separated and sealed and can no way contaminate each other.....***

Here are some of my breast feeding tips and preferences. ( Note:  I am in no way an expert, I am still learning and this is just what worked/ is working for me!)

1. Your breast milk is supply and demand, especially those first couple weeks, so nurse or pump as much as possible.
2. Familiarize yourself with the rules on breast milk storage and usage.  That stuff is liquid gold so you don't want to waste any because it was stored wrong.
3. I love my Medela automatic, double breast pump! Link here: Medela Automatic Double Breast Pump
4. Most insurance companies now will cover a breast pump! Call your insurance company and ask!! It is worth a try! Also, I used the same pump with both kiddos but needed the accessories.  I found out that my hospital's lactation consultant actually supplied them for me!  They gave me the tubes, breast shields, and a few bottles. Hey! I'll take free stuff!
5. Something I found helpful was to have two sets of breast shields. That way if I was cleaning one or something, I always had more available. 
6. Using bottles that are compatible with your breast pump makes it easy to store.  Of course Medela has their own bottles.  That is actually what we use.  Most standard size bottles of any brand will fit the Medela pump.  I pump right into the bottles and then put some in the fridge and then poor what I need into bags.
7. Drink lots of water!! This seems to be harder than it should for me!  Do what ever you need to do, buy a cute water bottle to carry everywhere with you.  One thing I try and do is drink a glass of water every time I am nursing or pumping.  You are sitting there anyways, multi-task! You can do it!
8. That leads me to this tip: Listen to your body!  I am way hungrier while breast feeding than when I am pregnant.  Your body is working hard to produce that milk and burns more calories.  Make sure you are eating enough healthy calories so that you are producing the quantity and quality of milk your baby needs.  I eat lots of oatmeal and drink lots of milk and almond milk which I feel helps me.  I also make these cookies called "lactation cookies" or "booby bites" that help with milk supply.  I will post the recipe in a future post.
9. Be okay with a little extra tummy fat for awhile.  Your body is hanging on to some extra fat that it needs to make sure it can burn calories making milk!  Your body is working hard! No fat shaming! 
10. Enjoy the time breast feeding.  I have a toddler and a newborn so if my husband is home and can keep buddy occupied or if he is napping, I can really have some bonding time with baby girl while I breast feed.  Not to get all sappy about it, but whether you are breast feeding or bottle feeding, that is precious time to look into your baby's eyes, talk to them, sing to them, pray for them.  I love that time! Sometimes I use that time to check my instagram or emails, but I really try to focus on baby.

 

This is a picture of my bags of breast milk!  I bought a box of two gallon zipblock bags..  I wrote the date range and the numbered the bags so that when I need to use them I know which bags to start with.  From what I have read, in a deep freezer, breast milk will last 6-12 months!

That's all for now!  I am happy to answer any questions or hear any suggestions!