Three Days Work

So here is what I have pumped and saved in three days... about 6 ounces. This will be my first milk to put away into the freezer. Thank you all so much for your support and sweet comments!

So I do have some pumping questions. I can't figure out how much I "should" be able to pump... I have read everything from 1/2 an ounce each time I pump to that I I should be pumping 11-14 ounces a day... which really seems unbelievably impossible right now! I am getting about 6 pumping sessions in a day and none at night... Most of the sites I have read recommend 8-10 times a day and at least once a night... but until school gets out at the end of the month I don't know how I could manage that schedule. I have not gone to my lactation consultant because I know that she will urge me to do more.. and frankly I am pretty proud of what I am doing so far and I don't want to get more overwhelmed by someone that *could* be a little overzealous... especially since the baby isn't even here yet. I am also not exactly sure when to change the "membrane" on the flange of the pump... nothing I have read told me.. but I know they are supposed to be changed because they sell extras... maybe they just break easily? Not sure... need help.

We did did some super disappointing news this week. I talked to the agency and they said thing were "really slow" and we should "expect more delays". I think what that means is that we don't have a birth mom yet.. or that maybe we had one that has backed out... Our agency is really small & different and runs things more like an international adoption agency... (read about it on my April or May 2008 archives). Anyway.. we knew that we would not get "the call" until a baby has been released after the 48 hour mandatory state wait... and that we would not know when we were "matched" with a birth mother. So it is all by faith right now... and prayer. But the wait is hard and the delay is scary... I can't imagine not having Finley in my arms by the end of June. And now that seems like a very real possibility.

So... again... I do need that pumping advice...

and... we NEED your prayers.

Cheering section

So I decided to pump and save for the entire day to see how much I am getting so far... Day 3 of pumping yielded a little less than 1/2 an ounce. It took me six 20 minute pumping sessions during the day to get this 1/2 ounce so I am pretty proud of it. This 1/2 ounce is a combination of the milk from both breasts... small victories right?

They say that the more you pump the more you will make... so I will keep at it. Right now I am making drops... about 1 every 30 seconds... but of course we are hoping to see a steady stream any day!

Since I am down one best girlfriend... Mr. D. has taken on the role of my cheerleader. I was really missing having a best friend tell me that I can do this and someone to oooh and aaah over the mere 1/2 teaspoon of milk I made after an uncomfortable pumping session. Soooooo my dear husband has stepped right up! It is nice to have some one cheering me on and telling me he is proud of me for working so hard and pumping so much for very little milk (so far). I am really trying hard at this... so keep us in your prayers.

Here are a couple of the cheers that can bee heard in our home on a nightly basis... especially reserved when I need a smile to get me through 20 more minutes...

"Two tits, Full tits, gonna make a bottle...

All for breastmilk... stand up and holler!!!"

and an old southern favorite

"Pork chops, pork chops, Greazy... Greazy...

Gonna make breastmilk... Easy... Easy..."

You have to admit.... my husband is pretty great."