Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[amc80]

amc, just wanted to tell you I'm thinking about you and wish you luck this week. I know you are so, so uncomfortable, but you are almost there!! Just a few more days and then you can rest in the hospital (which is a joke, but only partially). I can't wait to hear about how this all goes down and see some pics!! GOOD LUCK!

Thanks, NEL! It's funny, my OB said I could possibly go home after two nights if everything goes well. I told her no thanks, I'm staying until kicked out.

 

[Huff26]

Delurking for a moment...


Lol amc80 to the hospital comment. I'm so sorry you are miserably pregnant at the moment and I am sure you are looking forward to some time away from your toddlers before the crazy world of 3 under 3?

 

[evergreen]

Congrats, Bling, on your little dude! LC, I'm jealous of the baby-girl-clothes shopping, though... I found this Burt's Bees line of baby clothing (I have a *thing* about honeybees -- if I ever got a tattoo, that's what it would be!) and while the little boy stuff is fine and the unisex stuff is cute, the little girl onesies? ARGH SO CUTE. I am vehemently opposed to clever sayings on babywear ("clever" as in "Daddy's little slugger!", not clever as in "Chisquareatops" which is AWESOME https://www.etsy.com/listing/197148316/chisquareatops-childrens-t-shirt-or?ref=shop_home_active_4 ) and finding things that are cute and special but not cutesy/trying to make babies into little men/actual logos of companies isn't so easy. My mom is up to the task, though.

Like this. SO CUDDLY AND BEES!


I'm pretty sure it's silly to feel "better" about it being made of organic cotton, like what really is the evidence there, but I do.

A couple of resources I found helpful for choosing stuff (yes, totally overwhelming!) -- babygearlab.com , Consumer Reports, and a book called "Baby Bargains" by Denise Fields, which one of my good friends - who just had her 2nd baby - sent me. I read it practically cover-to-cover; it goes over a lot of good detail about manufacturers, features that are helpful and those that are just fluff or become annoying, etc., and what a baby ACTUALLY will need, compared with the stupid registry lists that try to get you to BUY ALL THE THINGS.



Obligatory belly shot. I swear I'm actually bigger than this, but being long-waisted is also really helpful. Gained 22lbs so far which I think might technically be a little ahead of the curve but nobody's called me out on it... it has almost all been within the last 8 weeks, too. This week, in the OR, everyone finally felt comfortable commenting on my belly (kindly, with enthusiasm!) despite the camouflage magic of scrubs, so there's really something there.

I was on a family trip last weekend and this is definitely the "good" stage of pregnancy -- yes, I can't comfortably spend time doing things to my toes and am therefore starting pedicures, preferably the sort that involve a massage, and I groan every time I roll over in bed or get up from a chair or couch or whatever, and I'm tremendously awkward squatting to apply polyurethane to the feet of the dresser I COMPLETELY HAD TO REFINISH ( but now I'm committed so it's too late...) but I fit in clothes and breathe OK. (Except when I'm wearing the organic solvent respirator for the polyurethane. I sound like Darth Vader but with more whining.)

Speaking of refinishing dressers, anybody else doing nursery things?? Ours still looks like a hybrid between random-extra-bedroom and storage-closet-for-baby-things but NEXT weekend we will be rearranging furniture so it can look like a nursery! I'm very excited to start puttering around in there. The dresser is going to be flippin' fabulous.

Good luck getting through the weekend, amc, and best wishes Monday!!!

 

[ladyciel]

Evergreen, we've actually been referencing babygearlab and the baby bargains book quite a bit! We found both pretty early on - I forgot to mention them before, so I'm glad you brought them up. They're both great resources, although we're finding they can be frustrating because they don't consider ALL the options. That is particularly true for babygearlab, where they have to limit themselves to testing only one or two models from a particular manufacturer. I think maybe the best part is that together they get you thinking about what is important to you, what features to look for (or maybe you don't need), and general indications of quality. I really appreciate babygearlab's safety testing, especially for things like strollers. They did controlled tests for tip-over risk, etc, and some of those results really go against the general trends of of strollers our friends have and love. I'm thinking specifically of the City Mini and Mini GT, which have lots of pros but pretty unfavorable scores for tipping backward easily.

For anyone who is interested, we went round and round on strollers so long that we've decided for now to just get the Chicco Caddy for our Keyfit 30 carseat. It will get us through the first 6 months to a year, is only 40 bucks more than the adapter needed to attach the carseat to any other stroller we were considering, and it lets us postpone the bigger stroller purchase until we have more information. i.e. How big is she, does she prefer to face us vs the world when we're out and about, where do we find ourselves taking her, how long are we out, etc. It fits the immediate needs, because it fits the carseat, is SUPER light and easy to fold/unfold with one hand, and has a big enough storage area that I can use it as a shopping basket for quick grocery stops (the type I'm most likely to make on my own with baby in tow).

Our nursery sounds like yours, Evergreen - it's definitely part closet/storage at the moment. That has to change, TODAY, because our lazboy glider gets delivered tomorrow (Yay!! It's SO comfy). I need to hit Sherwin Williams on the way home today to get sample pots of the colors we're considering. The crib is in pieces, leaning against the wall, and the dresser is still on order. I think the key things will be getting the room emptied today and hopefully painted next week - once those are done, I can actually start puttering and finding accessories to decorate and organize in there. I really want the dresser to come, too, so that I can start washing and putting away things we've gotten or received as gifts so far. OH! I saw the burt's bees collection at Target the other day - lots of adorable options, many with bee prints, of course.

 

[amc80]

Hey all! Just a quick update to say Cooper arrived yesterday (38w), 9lbs13oz, 21.5" long. Full head of dark hair. So far he's a great baby- latched right away and is feeding like a champ. And sleeping as well!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Congrats on having Cooper, amc!! No surprise that he's a big boy--sounds like you've got an easy baby on your hands, which is fantastic. Get lots of rest!

 

[ladyciel]

Congratulations, AMC!!

 

[SMC]

Hey all! Just a quick update to say Cooper arrived yesterday (38w), 9lbs13oz, 21.5" long. Full head of dark hair. So far he's a great baby- latched right away and is feeding like a champ. And sleeping as well!

Congratulations! Best wishes to you and your family!

 

[April20]

Congrats AMC! I know you're thrilled to be NOT PREGNANT!!

 

[evergreen]

Congratulations, amc!!! Welcome, Cooper!

LC, true, they don't evaluate all the options but I have deliberately closed my eyes to the options that don't make it onto, kinda, "everyone's list". We are going with the City Mini and the adaptor for the Chicco KeyFit, DH keeps trying to push for the Mini GT but I hate the tip-over warning from BabyGearLab (and tbh he ONLY LIKES IT because it has a single wheel in the front which is "cooler"). Because of his I-want-a-tripod-stroller attitude, the Chicco caddy was vetoed out of hand but the cargo space, light weight, etc is definitely better than the City Mini.

Of course, this could all change tomorrow.

Throwing out another big question/decision: Diapering? I started off thinking disposables were way easier but way worse for the environment and $$, and now after reading a ton and considering our circumstances (no time, old washer/dryer that uses tons of water & takes a long time to dry, reluctance to deal with poop as intimately as required by cloth diapering with home washing), our realistic options are:
1. Compostable disposables, bought through a service that will compost them: $$$$ / ++++ environmentally best, probably, but it is like $0.50 per diaper plus a $30 monthly composting fee!
2. Cloth diapers, with a diaper service: $$$ / +++ -- This is about $0.30/diaper, $30 monthly delivery fee, and you buy your own prefold covers - probably $100 or so up front.
3. Cheap disposables: $ / +++ (the most comprehensive/reliable sources I've read have said that, once you factor in the huge water use of cotton, the laundry energy & water use & fuel costs of a diaper service, etc, disposables actually don't come in worse than cloth! ) -- but with this option, I am frustrated by the lack of information on "how safe are those mystery absorbant chemicals and synthetic linings stuck up against your baby's damp butt for 2.5 years?"

Anybody else mulled over this extensively? There are, like, infinity webpages about YOU MUST CLOTH DIAPER OR YOU HATE THE EARTH but really that doesn't seem to be true, or PLASTIC DIAPERS GIVE YOUR BABY CANCER but there is no real evidence, or - my favorite - YOU ARE A LAZY MOTHER IF YOU DON'T SEW YOUR OWN CLOTH DIAPERS AND MAKE YOUR OWN LAUNDRY DETERGENT... and it's frustrating to sort through the dogma. What DOES seem to be true is that cloth diapering has improved a lot over the last couple of decades and no longer requires accidentally stabbing your squirming baby with safety pins, 30-step origami folding, diaper changes every two hours, poop escaping from every angle, etc.

 

[ladyciel]

Evergreen, for some things we've also closed our eyes to products not making it to all the lists (e.g. crib mattress), but for some other things I quickly realized I needed to broaden my search if I was going to find something that was best for us (like the diaper bag). Between the mini and the GT, I really preferred the hand brake on the GT, but I can't stomach the tipping risk. There are also little things I've preferred on other brands, like magnets (quiet!) + mesh VS the velcro + plastic used on the baby joggers for the peek-a-boo window. I'm sort of hoping that in the year we're putting off the bigger stroller purchase maybe baby jogger will come out with an updated, less tippy, version, or a competitor will find an equally awesome folding design.

I'm interested in and open to the idea of cloth diapering, I've done some research, but we haven't made any decisions yet. We're actually attending a "cloth 101" class this Saturday at a store in town that specializes in cloth. I'm sure it will be a "cloth is the best!" environment, but I figure it's a good way to get educated on what is available and a chance to ask all kinds of questions. I'm ok with the idea of having to deal w/ the poop, but I know DH will probably be icked out. We have HE front loaders which means less money and water spent on the extra laundry, but I've also heard warnings that HE washers don't always do the best job getting the poopy diapers clean. It sounds like it can take some experimenting to figure out what settings work the best, and some people go so far as to run them through two cycles back to back. We'll see how the class goes on Saturday, but my thought right now is maybe to buy disposables for when we first get her home, a few cloth diapers of different styles to try it out once we have a bit of a routine down, and make the final call based on how it works for us. We've already confirmed that our daycare is willing to do cloth, but their rate actually INCLUDES disposable diapers (and there's no discount if you provide your own diapers). So, once I'm back at work and she starts daycare, that actually puts a huge dent in the financial argument for cloth, assuming the diapers they use work for her (no allergic reactions, etc). One reason I'm researching cloth is that both DH and I have somewhat sensitive skin, and my niece and nephew both get rashes from certain brands (one of them is either Pampers or Huggies, I can't remember which, but they exclusively buy the other brand to avoid issues). As for the environmental impacts, we live in an area that gets plenty of rain (droughts are quite rare), so I'm less concerned about the water usage. Disposables, compostable or not, require lots of energy and materials to produce, and the non-compostables end up in a landfill. At least the cloth diapers can last for more than one kid, the pre-fold inserts make great cleaning rags long after their use as diapers is up, and there is a decent resale market for covers/pockets/all-in-ones. For us, I think the decision will probably be made on a balance of environmental impact/guilt (cloth probably being better, overall, if for no reason than avoiding so much landfill fodder) and being honest with ourselves about whether or not we have the ability to juggle the upkeep and laundry.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Congratulations, AMC, on the arrival of Cooper! And holy cow, what a big guy for 2 weeks early! Can you imagine if you had tried to have him naturally at full term? He could've been like 11 pounds or something crazy!

 

[amc80]

Thanks, everyone! Cooper is a great baby and we are adjusting to being a family of 5. He is an amazing latcher/eater and it's the first Tim I haven't hated BFing. He's sleeping in 3 hour stretches at night, which is way ahead what the other boys were doing at this point. My recovery is ok. Much less sore than last time, but I definitely have to stay on top of my meds.

I'm so glad they let me go at 38w instead of 39. He would have been well over 10lbs. I'm so so so happy to not be pregnant anymore. I can't wait to heal and be able to work out and not feel fat for the first time in 4+ years.

Here's a pic of Cooper.

 

[amc80]

And here's a pic of Cooper and Tucker. I can't believe how much they look alike. They are only 18m apart, so it will be interesting to see how alike they continue to be. Cooper is on the left.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Cooper is such a cutie!! C & T could absolutely be twins. It will be so interesting to see how different they look as time goes on. So glad you have a good eater and sleeper, that makes a world of difference. And I'm sure it's nice to be back home and settling in as a family of 5.

 

[bobbin]

Hi everyone

I've been lurking de most of my pregnancy but thought I would update that Oliver Matthew arrived on 12th August. He was 9 days overdue and I was scheduled to be induced that day but went into spontaneous labour the day before! I managed to go completely pain relief free and had no interventions and no internal examinations! I had very supportive midwives who assisted me in achieving this. I was pressured into interventions which led me to choose an epi with my daughter's birth in 2012 and this birth has been very healing for me. Oliver was 55cm long and a huge 10lb1oz!

He has been feeding like a champ which is a huge relief as I had a lot of trouble establishing breastfeeding with my daughter. I also cannot believe just how quickly I went back to feeling human after having insomnia and irritable uterus all pregnancy!

 

[ladyciel]

AMC, Cooper is a cutie-pie, and definitely the spitting image of his big brother!

Bobbin, you're a real trooper, making it so far past your due date with that incredibly unhappy ute of yours. How wonderful that you were able to achieve the birth experience you really wanted, and with a 10lb babe no less! Thank you for delurking to share photos of Oliver - he's adorable and it makes me so happy to see baby pics on this thread.

AFM, I had my 28wk checkup yesterday morning which included an US to check growth and the 1 hr glucose. They just called and said I passed the glucose with flying colors, which is a nice relief! Dorah is measuring on the smaller side now, circa 30th percentile, but the doc isn't worried at all. It is probably for the best if she is on the smaller size of average, because right now my fibroids are sitting really low, where they're more likely to get in the way for a vaginal birth. All we can do is watch and wait, hope they move up a bit as my uterus continues to grow, and if they don't just pray she can move past them to drop and engage properly. They're on the outside of my uterus, not in direct contact with her. Doc says she's seen babies born past fibroids you'd never think they could squeeze around and others get stuck when it wasn't expected, so she's been hesitant to make any guesses, especially this far ahead. I would really prefer to avoid a c-section, but healthy baby and mom are the most important outcomes, regardless of how we get there. They're planning at least two more growth scans before I deliver, and I start appointments every 2 weeks now instead of every 4.

At 28 weeks my office also gives out prescriptions for breast pumps so you can start the process to get them ordered through insurance. They suggest a particular medical device company that only operates in a small cluster of nearby states (vs one of the national distributers), but they are under my insurance and seem to offer pretty much all the major pump brands, including Spectra. I'm really hoping they come back and say my insurance will pay for a Spectra pump. It's a closed system, which really appeals to me. I sent in the prescription form and my insurance information - they're supposed to check eligibility and then call me to go over which options my insurance will pay for vs possible upgrades I can pay for myself. Fingers crossed. Has anybody else researched breast pumps? I did a bunch of reading ages ago, when I was researching how to juggle going back to work while breastfeeding.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Yay for all of the healthy babies and moms!

Ladyciel I own and have heavily used two spectra pumps, the S2 and the 9 plus. Neither are so expensive that if your insurance won't cover it you shouldn't get one. The S2 is fairly large but not overly so, since I exclusively pumped I used this at home, it has very customizable pump settings, very easy to use and fairly quiet. The 9 plus has less settings but it's so portable and weighs NOTHING, I actually found the suction stronger and more effective. I originally bought it to keep at work and eventually used it around the clock. It's my preferred pump for sure. I'd be more than happy to take comparison pics if you'd like.

The biggest thing I learned with using any pump is that the flanges are the most important part. I was not impressed with the spectra flanges or the medela. Through extensive research I learned that you can adapt the spectra pump to take medela parts and use pumpin pals flanges (the best) for the most comfortable experience. This still maintains the closed system of the spectra. If you want more info just let me know and I'll post all amazon links. Also, pumping bra. I know people like to try and save money (I tried it wasn't worth it), just buy two, simple wishes are the best. If you want links or pics just let me know!

 

[ladyciel]

Thanks, AHL!! Yes, all of those things pretty closely match what I've read about the Spectra pumps. I've been considering the S1 over the S2 (has the rechargeable battery), because I haven't been able to confirm yet whether or not I'll always have access to an outlet at work. The flanges always seem to be the biggest complaint in reviewes, but I wasn't too concerned since I'd seen so many women swapping them out for whatever worked better for them, like you did. I saw there are actually adapters sold on Amazon now to connect different brands to the spectra, so you don't have to do a bunch of cutting/modification of your tubing kits if you don't want to. I hadn't heard much about the 9 plus, but it looks like they might have discontinued it, or at least don't sell it in the US anymore. It's nowhere on the US Spectra site, and it is only available from a third party seller on Amazon. I might be able to get my hands on one, but it doesn't look like it'd be with the help of insurance (and they're charging 375 for it - I don't know what it would normally go for). Shucks. Do you have any good pics of the S2 that show its size? I've seen some real life pics, but it's hard to really judge how bulky it is to lug to/from work.

I just looked at the prices on the Spectra site, and the S1 and S2 pumps are on sale for under 200 (for the pumps only, not including extra accessories like tote, extra bottles, cooler, etc). I haven't price hunted elsewhere, but it would definitely be doable even if insurance refuses the Spectra brand for some reason. I'm still crossing my fingers. I can't think of why they'd throw a stink about brand when the cost is comparable, but who knows.

 

[ladyciel]

Wanted to add - we finally got good profile views of her face at this scan. Here she is.

 

[baby monster]

I hate pumping pal flanges. Biggest waste of money for me. Super uncomfortable and hard to use. Wish I could get my money back but amazon doesn't offer refunds on bfing stuff so I'm stuck with 35 dollar pieces of cheap plastic.

As far as pumps go, I recommend getting 2 and keeping one at work instead of dragging it back and forth. I'm using Medela PISA the second time around and still happy with it. Easy to get parts and compatible with the bottles.

 

[amc80]

Just a quick post to say I got the spectra s1 and like it. It's very very quiet and seems to work well.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

The S1 is even heavier than the S2 because of the battery, I wouldn't want to lug it back and forth since you'd likely need a separate bag. I would've had to carry mine up and down 9 flights of stairs daily so I opted to buy a second pump.

Videos are best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqcyf7DuKM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfZiZ0bia0g

Honestly I would call them about the 9 plus, I was that happy with it and I could have easily used it as my only pump. I got my S2 for $130 on amazon and my 9 plus for $115 from a medical supply place.

All I used to adapt the spectra to medela was one adapter, so easy, https://www.amazon.com/Maymom-Breas...71998045&sr=8-11&keywords=breast+pump+adapter I also used all aftermarket parts as replacement parts and they were cheaper and better than the spectra IMO.

FWIW amazon might not accept returns on breast pump parts (like the pumpin pals flanges) but I've found that if you contact the companies directly if you're not happy they will accept a return anyway (I did this successfully with spectra flanges).

Pumping was by far the most difficult part of baby care for me (lots of challenges with supply) so I'm more than happy to pass along the info!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I hate pumping pal flanges. Biggest waste of money for me. Super uncomfortable and hard to use. Wish I could get my money back but amazon doesn't offer refunds on bfing stuff so I'm stuck with 35 dollar pieces of cheap plastic.

As far as pumps go, I recommend getting 2 and keeping one at work instead of dragging it back and forth. I'm using Medela PISA the second time around and still happy with it. Easy to get parts and compatible with the bottles.

I'm so sad they didn't work for you! I had to fiddle around with the sets and find the correct sizes to use (medium on the right and small on the left) but I love them to pieces! Did you try to contact them directly? I wasted quite a bit of money on things from BRU and they wouldn't take back at all but I was able to return flanges on amazon after contacting the company directly.

 

[evergreen]

Haha, aww, amc, those are some robust little baby boys!

Congratulations, bobbin! Thrilled that you got the birth experience you were hoping for, and that feeding is going so well! Is Oliver holding his head up in that photo?? (Can they do that so young??) I love the name you chose.

LC, glad to hear the glucose test went well. I switched OB practices right around the time the glucose test was required, and I am SO glad I didn't do it with the "old" practice because they ordered a 2-hour test that I'd have to stick around for! My new practice has me do all my labs through the hospital WHERE I WORK so I gulped down the 1-hour glucose solution, went to a meeting, and went back to the lab for the test. So much better (and ugh, why start with a 2-hour?). And I passed, too, so yay!

I think 30th %ile is PERFECT. I mean, that's so profoundly within the range of normal and yet why have them be bigger than necessary?? (shout out to amc who is a real trooper!) Not to mention your particular situation with the fibroids. She still has a good bit of growing to do, fingers crossed the fibroids scoot away & all continues uneventfully!

Thanks all for the info about breast pumps. I was planning to go with the Spectra S1, one for home & one for work - but I've also heard good things about the Medela PISA & don't know what my insurance will cover just yet. AHL, really interesting to hear about the Spectra 9+ -- since it's not available anywhere I can see, I hadn't heard of it. At work, my priority is going to be PUMP AS FAST AS POSSIBLE so it's especially interesting to hear your experience with the 9+ was that it pumps stronger than the S2. But I think the S1 is supposed to be stronger than the S2. Spectra does seem like a fantastic brand, though, with a lot of good options. Since I work at, like, 5 places (counting OR locations) I am going to have to do a separate pumping bag and plenty of dragging the pump around... it's a bummer that the S1 is heavy & bulky but I can't do a pump that doesn't run on battery & have to have good speed since each pump break while I'm assigned to an OR requires that a colleague take over for me temporarily -- 20 minutes is probably OK, 30 is not.

I've got some conflicting plans on flanges/etc -- I'd like to try the Freemie cups since it sounds so easy to strap on the cups & pump and go about your life (in the house, or the privacy of an office) without bottles hanging off your chest - pumping bra notwithstanding - but I also want to try the Kiinde pump-directly-into-storage-bags system for the simplicity of not transferring milk while at work.

This might be a weird question, but are there any visual defining characteristics about breasts that make them more suitable for one flange style vs another? I figure I'll buy the pump parts a month or so into my maternity leave, so my breasts will have settled down into whatever the heck shape they're gonna be, but do you basically just try what comes with your pump and then just guess on the next set of flanges to try, if the default flanges aren't good? Or is there assembled wisdom somewhere about what flanges work with which breasts?

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Haha, aww, amc, those are some robust little baby boys!

Congratulations, bobbin! Thrilled that you got the birth experience you were hoping for, and that feeding is going so well! Is Oliver holding his head up in that photo?? (Can they do that so young??) I love the name you chose.

LC, glad to hear the glucose test went well. I switched OB practices right around the time the glucose test was required, and I am SO glad I didn't do it with the "old" practice because they ordered a 2-hour test that I'd have to stick around for! My new practice has me do all my labs through the hospital WHERE I WORK so I gulped down the 1-hour glucose solution, went to a meeting, and went back to the lab for the test. So much better (and ugh, why start with a 2-hour?). And I passed, too, so yay!

I think 30th %ile is PERFECT. I mean, that's so profoundly within the range of normal and yet why have them be bigger than necessary?? (shout out to amc who is a real trooper!) Not to mention your particular situation with the fibroids. She still has a good bit of growing to do, fingers crossed the fibroids scoot away & all continues uneventfully!

Thanks all for the info about breast pumps. I was planning to go with the Spectra S1, one for home & one for work - but I've also heard good things about the Medela PISA & don't know what my insurance will cover just yet. AHL, really interesting to hear about the Spectra 9+ -- since it's not available anywhere I can see, I hadn't heard of it. At work, my priority is going to be PUMP AS FAST AS POSSIBLE so it's especially interesting to hear your experience with the 9+ was that it pumps stronger than the S2. But I think the S1 is supposed to be stronger than the S2. Spectra does seem like a fantastic brand, though, with a lot of good options. Since I work at, like, 5 places (counting OR locations) I am going to have to do a separate pumping bag and plenty of dragging the pump around... it's a bummer that the S1 is heavy & bulky but I can't do a pump that doesn't run on battery & have to have good speed since each pump break while I'm assigned to an OR requires that a colleague take over for me temporarily -- 20 minutes is probably OK, 30 is not.

I've got some conflicting plans on flanges/etc -- I'd like to try the Freemie cups since it sounds so easy to strap on the cups & pump and go about your life (in the house, or the privacy of an office) without bottles hanging off your chest - pumping bra notwithstanding - but I also want to try the Kiinde pump-directly-into-storage-bags system for the simplicity of not transferring milk while at work.

This might be a weird question, but are there any visual defining characteristics about breasts that make them more suitable for one flange style vs another? I figure I'll buy the pump parts a month or so into my maternity leave, so my breasts will have settled down into whatever the heck shape they're gonna be, but do you basically just try what comes with your pump and then just guess on the next set of flanges to try, if the default flanges aren't good? Or is there assembled wisdom somewhere about what flanges work with which breasts?

Seriously call spectra and see what's up with the 9 plus, it's so small that I would put it in between my boobs in the pumping bra and I was able to do just about anything while pumping (within reason).

About the Kiinde, I bought these originally intending to directly pump into them. And then I learned (by weighing the milk) how freaking inaccurate the volume markings on the bags are. Also, one your baby starts drinking higher volumes of milk (my guy drinks at least 6 oz per meal), one boob is NOT going to fill 6 oz in one pump, hardly ever if ever. So your going to be unscrewing and rescrewing these bags to adapters and adding to and all of it is a serious pain in the ass. The only times I ever spilled any milk was messing around with those freaking bags. I used them anyway so my Mom wouldn't have to wash bottles while she has him during the day. I found it much easier to just pump into bottles and then I poured the milk into the open bags on a kitchen gram scale so the milk measurements were accurate. I followed the "rinse your parts and refrigerate" rather than fully washing every time and never had any issues, I would wash parts fully once per day.

You really can't predict how your body will respond to pumping until you try. For timing it all depends on how long it's been since you pumped, how many let downs you can encourage, so many variables. Same with flanges. Start with what comes with the kit and work from there. Sometimes you need different sizes for each boob, it all pretty much depends on nipple size not necessarily breast size. I heard of freemie but never had the need to try it since I teach and was able to pump in private (not at an office desk).

Breast massage and manual expression go along way too, it helps to prime them up before you pump and you can often get out more after. There's just so much to it, lol. I can also tell you where/how to get domperidone if needed, I've been through it all!

 

[amc80]

I did Kiinde for a while with T. I had the same issues as mentioned- if you pump directly into a bag, you will never get accurate measurements. So then I was pumping into a bottle and dumping that into the bag. I do like their bottle system (very light and nice to just pop on the nipple). I emailed them about my concerns and they suggested weighing the bags and determining volume that way. Too much work for me. For me, the price just wasn't worth it.

Follow them on FB- they often have promo codes. I think I got a starter kit for around $10 or something.

 

[amc80]

Evergreen- I think 30%ile sounds lovely! I went to a BF support group today and all of these women had 7-8lb babies. It's amazing the difference a pound or two makes on a newborn!

 

[baby monster]

I don't understand pumping into bags unless they are going directly into freezer. Can't feed from those bags so it's a big waste of plastic IMO. I pump into bottles and feed from them then bottles go into dishwasher.

As far as flanges, they are sized by nipple diameter not cup size. I don't think there's a guide for which flanges will fit you best. It's trial and error. I use the standard ones that came with medela pump and they work best for me. Btw, I much prefer the seamless ones instead of the ones that separate into two parts.

 

[amc80]

I don't understand pumping into bags unless they are going directly into freezer. Can't feed from those bags so it's a big waste of plastic IMO. I pump into bottles and feed from them then bottles go into dishwasher. As far as flanges, they are sized by nipple diameter not cup size. I don't think there's a guide for which flanges will fit you best. It's trial and error. I use the standard ones that came with medela pump and they work best for me. Btw, I much prefer the seamless ones instead of the ones that separate into two parts.

The Kiinde system allows you to put the bag into a holder thing and attach a nipple. So no bottles are used.