One (breast) pump at a time with Ameda

Breastfeeding can be a beautiful, natural, bonding experience with your baby. I’ve such pride in seeing my daughter happily nurse and look up at me and smile. It’s also really easy to soothe a crying baby in the middle of the night and it tends to help baby weight melt away.

The buzz kill is pumping. It isn’t natural. It’s uncomfortable, and you feel really unattractive doing it.

But there’s a lot of anxiety associated with breastfeeding, too, like is she getting enough? Why is she cranky while she is nursing? Did I drink too much wine? Am I helping her sleep at night if I let her nurse all night? How can I bank enough milk before I go back to work?

The challenges of pumping at work

When I returned to work after eight weeks I dutifully brought my pump to work and set my mind on pumping two to three times a day. That lasted about a week. Between conference calls, meetings and events, getting time in to pump quickly became a pain. And, well, let’s just say that pumping isn’t an experience you look forward to. It’s downright annoying sometimes when you spend 15-20 minutes pumping and only get one to two ounces. It’s so disheartening.

I had two pumps that I was using – both donated to me from other Moms. I kept one at work and one at home. As I was getting to my breaking point of pumping (and ran out of my freezer stash), I heard from my babysitter that my daughter was refusing formula. She was spitting it out, throwing it up and crying. We tried mixing formula and breast milk – that worked OK, but she still wasn’t happy.

Getting some helpful tips on breast pumping

So, giving up is not an option. I must persevere and get back in the groove of pumping. I talked to my new blogger friend, Danielle Friedland about it at an event. I was just complaining really, but she really encouraged me to continue.

No matter how much you think you’ve read on breastfeeding and pumping, you still need specific advice along the way. I know I need to drink more water, have less stress and eat protein. Danielle also suggested that maybe my pump was too old. Pumps give out after about a year of use. I had no idea and I just thought it was me not making enough milk.

Danielle also directed me to the Kelly Mom website. It’s packed with tons of great advice. For example, you may only get two to three ounces per session. I was thinking I should be getting four to six -6 ounces – which was making me feel like a failure each day.

Evenflo’s Ameda Purely Yours Ultra Pump

I contacted my friends at Evenflo to see if they could help me out. They kindly sent me an Ameda Purely Yours Ultra Pump. It’s considered “hospital grade” and is packaged well for a working mom. The motor is also about one pound, which encourages me to take it wherever I go. It’s in a discreet black purse that’s large enough for me to put my wallet, keys and Kindle in. (Reading during pumping is also key to persevering!)

So many women have told me stories about pumping in bathrooms and storage rooms. But what if there isn’t a plug? The Ameda Purely Yours pump uses 6 AA batteries – brilliant! So in a pinch I can duck into a bathroom stall and use it. It’s also fairly quiet, which helps me feel not so self-conscious.

Another big surprise for me is how I’ve been using my pumps. I put them on the highest, fastest suction and just winced through the whole session. Actually, it’s the opposite. Once your milk is flowing, you want the slower speed. Plus, it should be comfortable and not like sucking through a straw.

I started to take note of my baby’s sucking rhythms and I now adjust the speeds and suction to match her exactly. And it works! I’m not getting a ton more milk, but I’m less inclined to quit after each pumping session because I’m in pain.

Now that I’ve used the Ameda pump for a couple of weeks, I’m feeling a bit more empowered to continue nursing and pumping. I’d love to make it to six months, but why not a year? I’ll let you know how it goes.

Michelle is a blogger and business developer for Mom Central NYC.

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Disclosure: Michelle received an Ameda pump to facilitate this post.