On the Road

Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!

Happy Father's Day! Fathers are important. I miss my dad. I have no idea what he would have thought of this blog. He probably would have been proud and embarrassed all at once. He was a chemist, and I'm sure with all the research I could have thrown at him, would have respected my breastfeeding and child led weaning. But the idea of his daughter talking about boobs all the time might have challenged his notions of proper conversation. I know he would have loved the house we just bought. We're in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by trees and hills and kids and pregnant ladies. It's perfect for us. He would have enjoyed sitting on the back deck with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, watching the "traffic" go by. We joke that it's rush hour when two dogs go by at once. And he would have gotten a huge kick out of Matt's fancy stereo, which is linked up to the computer, or maybe a couple of computers, I can't keep track. There's an "Apple TV" involved and I haven't had my orientation training yet. But Dad was a sterophile, and also totally cutting edge on the computer front. We had a TRS-80 at home. Yep. If you don't need to Google that you are a geek.

My business trip was a rousing success! I brought a little hand pump (it's an Avent, sort of hard to find so I wonder if they're not making many of them anymore?) because of the horror stories I had heard about business trips with pumps breaking. I booked the trip to be as brief as possible, not quite doing the math about the part where that meant I would get 3.5 hours of sleep. But then that saved me from getting up in the middle of the night to pump. I talked to the flight attendants and my seat mates about pumping on the plane, and my meeting hosts found some spots in their offices for me to pump. I don't tweet so I posted to Facebook as I went. Here's how it went:

I don't tweet so I'm going to play by play my business trip on this post. To start I'm at PDX, pumping in an internet kiosk. Only other person in the "service center" is a female employee on break eating a snack. Next challenge will be pumping on the plane. Goal is no bathrooms.

On plane to Salt Lake City. Had seat next to middle-aged man. Switched seats and got a mother of six who natural birthed and breastfed all of 'em. Used hand pump during descent.

Smaller plane for Kansas City. Fancy hat lady next to me. We'll see. Loving the hand pump though. Smaller, easier to be discreet.

Hat lady was great. Told her the deal and she said, "You sat next to the right person!" even though she doesn't have kids. Now FB friends with the mom of six.

In my hotel room with Beulah, pumping before bed. I have to get up in four hours. Groan.

So after a cozy 3.5 hours of sleep (downside of the "fast as possible" trip plan) I woke up fairly full, which surprised me. Ran downstairs to get breakfast and the freezer inserts for my coolers, which Nice Front Desk Man stuck in their freezer for me since my cute little 1ft^3 fridge has no freezer cubby. Ate while pumping. (In my room. That didn't seem terribly clear.) Still pumping.

Due to meetings will have to go about three hours from end of this session to start of next one. Have hearty pumping bra and breast pads... Although come to think of it that's rather like a normal business day... Also, just pumped for 53 minutes. Phew. Okay, quick shower and toss all my stuff back together!

Meeting one. Then pumped in "wellness room," converted phone cubby. Lovely, on par with the rest of this swanky manager's fancy office. Meeting two. Tried to put me in the bathroom. Pointed out, gently, that it's food, you wouldn't make a sandwich in there. "I hadn't thought of that." After declining one office with a glass door and no blinds, I'm in a file room that's long and narrow enough that I can't be seen from the door. Which doesn't lock but I pushed a heavy box against it.

I am noticing that I'm more full and have a sore spot in the right breast. I'm glad I don't have to do this often.

Seated on flight to Seattle. Pumping w electric pump at my seat while they load the plane. I got the window in the last row, which is perfect, and asked the flight attendant, and pumped before the door closed. Now I can just sit!

Pumped again of flight because uncomfortable. Lost suction, thought battery was done, got all disassembled, realized a valve had fallen out. Sigh. But had pumped a decent amount. Still have hand pump clean for next flight if I get uncomfortable.

Almost home!!!

Standing by for half hour earlier flight to Portland... Cross fingers!

Got the earlier flight!

She's conked out. I made Matt come far me and Erick babysit and I don't even get to nurse until I get home. I could have expensed a cab. Sigh.

Home! Nursing! We made it!!!

Oof. Nursed ouchier side first while hand pumping the other. Now on second side. My little nursing champ did a great job on the first side.

----

Hope that's useful for someone!

Much love,
Suzi

Career Advice; Shipping Liquid Gold

Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!

So, when you were in the career advice office of whatever school you most recently attended, getting advice on your resume and identifying possible future employers, remember how the counselor told you, "Now, young hopeful, be sure, when your organization merges with a large bank, to talk to your new c-level executives at the closing celebration about your cheeky breastfeeding blog. That will surely advance your career interests most effectively."

No? Huh. Well, this guy is either the most gracious person in the world or genuinely interested, because we had a lovely conversation about it, and he pointed out the presence of a neat breastfeeding calendar which I must acquire.

So on to more immediately practical topics. Shipping breastmilk. There are several sites out there explaining methods of doing it - kellymom.com and eats on feets, for starters. Most of these suggest using dry ice. I don't know about you but I am too busy (lazy?) to go find dry ice to ship milk around. I used a cold shipping storage box I found on Amazon (was made by RNC Industries - they recommend their 12x12x12 box) and bought extra cold packs. These are just those gel packs you freeze yourself and much like you find in a picnic cooler. I found the best packing method was two gel packs on the bottom, one on each side, and two on top. We put the frozen breastmilk (in the storage bags sold by Lansinoh in this case) by the half dozen or dozen into larger ZipLoc freezer bags (this is important in case one of them has a leak in it) and put the freezer bags into the box inside the frozen gel packs. If they don't fill up the storage space, put the top gel packs on top and then use bubble wrap or something to fill up the rest of the space inside the insulating liner of the box. Tape it up but good! I used FedEx Standard Overnight, that delivers at 10:30 in the morning and this worked like a charm. It's not cheap but this is liquid gold we're talking about here. Also check if you can use your employer's account and reimburse them - they might get a better deal. (Someone pointed this out to me after I did this three times. Ah well).

My sister in law shipped her stash this way for part and let UPS pack the other half, moving house from NY to MI. The friend on the other end who received the goods for her said the box she packed by my method was still frozen solid and the UPS box was thawed, but still refrigerator cold. I asked her to find out how UPS packed that box but no word back yet. So again, I'm not an IBCLC or a FedEx employee or anything fancy like that, so follow my advice at your own discretion. But it worked for us.

Hopefully that is useful to some of you! Let me know if you try it and how it works for you.

Much love,
Suzi

Flying the Boobjuice Friendly Skies?

Hello dear Boobjuicers and Friends!

First and most importantly I hope every one of you had a lovely Mother's Day, or caused one to be had by your favorite moms. If not, I say fair to declare a do-over!

Secondly allow me to provide the recent Time magazine cover all the attention that it is due. Okay, done now.

And thirdly, help me out folks. I have a business trip in June, which I am planning to take by myself, just me and Sukie the Breastpump, so being away from nursling Jackie for about 30 hours. I'm totally wigged. I mean, I have had dreams about it, I've woken suddenly from half naps worrying about it, it's chasing me around. This seems ridiculous. The mamas at my work who serve in the client-facing capacity all had to travel right when they got back from leave. (And so far most of them have told me some horror story where the pump breaks overseas and they're miserable. Can we get a holla for hand expression? At which I am still totally incompetent, by the way?) There's currently plenty of milk on the freezer (more on that later but no I have not found the miracle to increasing supply although I did get a marginal bump for a couple hours out of asparagus.) Matt can take care of two kiddos at once. It's 30 hours. It should be fine.

I totally want to take her with me. I'm ready to chuck my "always buy them a ticket and strap them into the seat" rule out the emergency exit, carry her in my lap, drop a couple hundred on local child care through an agency, and give up on the idea that as the breadwinning boobjuicing blogger I should really set an example of how doable this is and do it myself. I don't want to. What if my pump breaks? What if pumping on the plane is totally miserable, the other passengers harass me, the flight attendants try to prevent it, or the battery runs out? What if a tornado strands me in Kansas (yes I'm going to Kansas and yes I've covered the Dorothy and Toto comments quite thoroughly thanks though) for an extra day? What if my heart crumbles from missing her too much? What if I'm too dramatic and my business acquaintances have me committed? I could lose my supply in the length of time it takes me to explain to the mental health workers that I'm really not crazy and just need to be put on the next flight to Portland please. What if I do take her with me and the child care person shows up drunk, and I can't go to the meeting? What if the child care person steals her and I never see her again?

Can we all just take a moment and marvel at how patient and sweet my husband is now that you have a clearer idea what he is dealing with? Although come to think of it all you people know is that he's still around. Well, I can hear him now, saying "COME BACK TO US! You have gone to The Bad Place! You must chill! I have hidden! your Firebird! keys!!!"

Anyway back to the trip. Anyone who wants to give Matt a hand talking me off this ledge please proceed. I'm at a bit of a loss.

Much love,
Suzi

Sukie and Bessie Throw Down

Hello gentle readers!

Hm, I can't quite pull that off like Ms. Manners could.

So lately the question of pump comparison keeps coming up. Many of you will recall that with Robert, I had Bessie, a Medela (which the lady on their help like pronounced meh-DEE-la, not me-DELL-uh) Pump In Style, and now I am using Sukie and Beulah, twin Hygeia EnJoyes. I will give a quick review, as best I can from my memory of Bessie, who is out to pasture, below. I would dearly love to have a new Pump In Style, a Lansinoh pump, and the PJ Comfort pump to compare properly. I have some ideas for how to go about effecting this experiment without slapping down a cool grand for pumps, but I'm open to suggestions. (Any of my readers work for these fine companies and want to send me one? I promise to donate the extras [as permissible by type of pump] when I'm done!)

So. My primary reasons for selecting the Hygeia were (1) it is a closed system, with the pump itself being shielded from any moisture or breast milk by a bacteriostatic filter, and (2) of pumps that can make that claim, it is the one sold by my dear sisters in lactogeekdom at the Nursing Mothers' Counsel of Oregon. So their endorsement and familiarity, and willingness to bring me one, was a non-trivial factor. I have, in previous posts, gone into rather unsavory detail on what can happen to a not-closed system and why one really should not pass along the Pump In Style to other mamas, which I know happens all the time. But suffice to say, with my battle with yeast in recent memory, I wasn't interested in risking it by reusing Bessie. (I intend to dissect her and make a video but I've been a tad busy lately...)

Overall I am quite satisfied with Sukie and Beulah, and I would happily recommend them to another mama. I like a lot of things about the EnJoye, and other things I think want improvement. The most important question is, am I getting as much milk? I think I am, but this is the specific question I would be better able to answer if I had several pumps to compare. That said, as compared to my memory with Bessie when Robert was a nurseling, I am getting at least as much milk with Sukie and Beulah.

They work about the same, and if you are familiar with one you will have no trouble using the other. The EnJoye has a continuously variable speed setting, which I like. I remember the Medela starting at speed A and then slowing down to speed B, and that while you could toggle it back and forth, you couldn't set A or B or tell it to stay on A indefinitely. I think the variable speed is a help for trying to get the pump to mimic the baby as closely as possible (although neither of them are very cuddly).

The version I purchased has an internal rechargeable battery, which is appealing to my little treehugging heart as compared to a brick o AA's, for travel. That said, I'm still experimenting with this but the two pumps seem to differ quite a bit in how quickly they wimp out when run just on battery power. I think it has less to do with the batteries and more to do with how they are used - Sukie goes three or four times a day at work, and sits plugged in between sessions. Beulah sits at home not plugged in, and I usually run her plugged in but that's just for half an hour or so. So I think Beulah's battery is never getting a full charge. So periodically I leave her plugged in to charge overnight or for a full 24 hours. I should probably switch who is home and who is at work, too, and see if that makes a difference. But all that said, I'm not entirely comfortable assuring mamas that you could rely on that battery for more than a couple rounds between charging. So a really long plane trip (like the one I've got scheduled in June, gulp) could be a problem. But I don't know yet, it could be fine. How's that for non-specific? One cool thing though is I have used it while carrying it over my shoulder in its bag and walked around the kitchen to make breakfast for my son. Multitasking mama!

The EnJoye is pretty loud. Now, I don't care. I think you want the pump that is the most comfortable and helps you produce the most milk. And further, since it's not built into its bag (another advantage, in my opinion), we don't really know if it's louder or just less muffled. One can perfectly well set it up, turn it on, and gently put it back in its bag, which muffles it quite a bit. I have also tossed a fleece blanket over it in my office so I could pick up the phone without turning it off. That might not be the greatest thing for the motor, but so far no major problems. But if you are pumping in a cubical in a male filled office (which you shouldn't have to, by law, but I understand we aren't all there yet) then this might matter to you.

A minor thing which I really like is that the tubes connecting the boob apparatus to the pump are longer and softer/more flexible, so if you are pumping and reach for your tea or to pick up something you dropped, you are less likely to yank the shield off your breast or the pump off the table. I also feel a little less like cattle when I am slightly less "tethered."

The shields feel about how I remember the Medela shields feeling, and in fact I'm told they are interchangeable, although I'm skeptical, because they are a little different. The Medela shields come apart from the elbow joint that connects them to the bottle. The Hygeia ones do not. This is probably for some very sensible reason, but I find it annoying because it makes them harder to clean. But that is more than made up for by the valves. The Hygeia valves are one piece, a little white soft plastic thing that looks kind of like the end of a lipstick. No tiny flappy thing that can slip out of place or get lost in the dish water. HUGE improvement.

Since the Medela is by far the most popular pump, it has the advantage of convenience - if your kid flushes all your valves and you have to run out at 9 pm to replace them, you know you can get the Medela parts at Target, BabyRUs, etc. Hygeia isn't quite there yet. I'm told, though, that they're super about sending you a loaner pump if yours has to be sent in to be repaired, and the times I have called them for support they have been friendly and helpful.

That's what I can think of to comment on right now, but please fire questions at me, I'm sure I forgot something. And if you work for Consumer Reports and want to do a thorough study, by all means do holler.

Much love,
Suzi

Lactogeek Experiment

Good Morning beloved Boobjuicers and friends!

Man this pump is loud. Not that it matters, alone in my dining room in our new house (Eeep! A house! Wow!). Is your pump loud? Does it bother you? Have you ever tried a different brand? Longer-suffering readers, oops, I mean, long-time subscribers will recall I had a Medela Pump In Style for Kid 1, and am now slinging not one but two Hygeia EnJoyes, thank you health insurance for the second one. (So before anyone gets jealous, I paid for one out of pocket. I have good insurance, not miracle insurance.) I have my likes and dislikes about it, but it's hard to really compare because Bessie the Medela has been put out to pasture, and so we're comparing now with three years ago. To really compare these things well, I would have one of each, bought around the same time, and compare them alternately and write about it. And just to be really thorough, I would get the other major brands too.

So, obviously my good but not miraculous insurance isn't going to pay for that. Lactogeek though I am, I'm not in a position to go buy a Medela, an Ameda, and the PJ Comfort (anyone used that? What did you think?) as an experiment. But I think it would be useful, for a lot of us, if someone had done such a study. So of course I thought of Consumer Reports (been hitting them a lot recently - washer, dryer, car... no one can say we are not doing our bit to stimulate the economy. Hence the unwillingness to fund my own experiment...) They have a decent article on their site which I am still working through. I bet I might also have some luck with a mommy magazine. Which ones are your favorites? Which ones do you regard as most informative and well researched? And of course, the logical question - do any of you work for one of these fine organizations?

Remember my husband is a film maker! If we can figure out a way to make a movie about this without getting me fired for plastering the ladies all over teh interwebs, we could do a good, good thing!

Let's get this experiment funded ladies!!! Send me your ideas!

More soon about the house, the milk maximizing pumping ideas, and how mama friends are my sheros and have rescued me and Jackie.

Much love,

Suzi

Random Thoughts of a Monday Morning

The sun is streaming through my office window. (Yes, really. Yes, same office, in Portland. No, I'm not dreaming. I know because I'm pumping. Yes, with the sun streaming in the window. It's reflective glass.)

There's enough breastmilk in the fridge at home for Jackie for the whole day, so I can just sit here and work (and blog) and pump and concentrate and not run home in the middle of the day or get all over-planny about when to pump versus when Jackie is going to be hungry that is closest to a reasonable lunch time.

I got three ounces this morning - new trick is get up, as soon as possible pump 15 minutes, then stop, fix breakfast, do something else (yoga? Prep a chicken for roasting? Trader Joe's has local all-natural chickens for cheap - works out to like $7 per chicken. That's dinner. Yum.) then pump again for 15-20 minutes. Usually works out that I get significantly more on the second round, but if not it's also usually pretty obvious that it's not going to happen and I can move on to the shower.

We had chocolate croissants for breakfast (also courtesy of Trader Joe), which were yummy.

Matt took the kiddos to the dentist (presumably they won't demand much of Jackie since she's 6 months old). Robert is convinced that our dentist is going to break a window with a stick and has been saying so for months. I'm excited to hear if he asked Dr. P. about it - should be entertaining.

We're buying a house - we move in 23 days. Not that anyone is counting.

I have a beautiful, happy family and awesome, wonderful friends.

I have a lot to be grateful for today. I will try to be present in today, rather than worrying about tomorrow. (Ooo - sun went behind a cloud JUST as I typed that! Spooky!!!)

(Okay now it's back.)

Much love,
Suzi

Plugging along...

As in this freaking duct is plugged AGAIN. It's like a weekly thing. Same spot. Same visible plug on nipple. Same stream of profanities issuing from Mama Suzi. Same routine trying to find someone who does therapeutic ultrasound for plugged ducts. (Trip to Canada, Ms. Jackie?) So I'll keep at it, me and the hot pads and the advil and the phone. Will report back as events warrant.

Still doing the dance of the dwindling freezer stash. My lactation consultant had great suggestions, the biggest one of which is, pump more. Pump here, pump there, pump everywhere. Pump for five and pump for ten. Take a break and pump again. It's tiresome, dear readers. But I think it's working. The trick is, just because one gets no more at first, doesn't mean it isn't helping. The ladies ramp it up in response to demand, but it can take a few days, as anyone who has spent hours trapped under a squirmy little growth spurting nursling can attest. So five minutes before running out the door is worthwhile even if it yields just a teaspoon. And I have noticed that when I have several lots of puming days in a row, I do start to get more yield with each session.

The problem is, every time I make progress, something mucks it up. Plugged ducts reduce output (temporarily). Plus we've all been sick - we picked up a nasty cold and an intestinal bug while visiting a preschool a couple weeks ago. Seemed like a great preschool so we're choosing to chalk it up to "all preschools are petri dishes," rather than that this one is particularly germy. But we should look at a couple more, probably. And I digress. Again. Really, me. No, it happens, don't be so surprised.

So while it's sort of tiresome to pump so freaking much, I've turned it into a sort of game. How many times can I pump at work? (Four.) (Really.) Can I sneak in a pump while Matt is changing Jackie's diaper and singing the Jackie Bean song (a Matt Dada Composition)? Can I pump one breast while Jackie nurses the other? How about pumping ten minutes, then showering, then pumping again, do I get more that way than pumping for the same amount of time in one sitting?

Meanwhile I've begun to investigate breastmilk sharing. Yep. I have a dear and wonderful friend who has offered to pump some for me after she has filled up her own freezer. I'm also looking at Eats on Feets (like meals on wheels - get it?) and trying to decide if I can get comfortable accepting breastmilk from a stranger. It's funny, I would totally donate if I were the one with the surplus, but when the shoe is on the other foot, it ain't so comfy.

And while all this is going on, Jackie is thriving and gaining weight and filling up diapers and otherwise acting like a baby who is getting plenty to eat. It was like this with Robert, and somehow we made it work. So I'm trying to live in the day rather than in the worrisome maybe future, trust that I will make it all work somehow, and just enjoy this sweet, wonderful time with my beautiful, happy baby girl.

I hope you are all so blessed as well!

Much love,
Suzi