Hope this makes sense as I just did 16 hours in the NICU and am going back
for 12 more hours! Mom gave permission to post.
Mom with 26 weeker now 4 weeks old. Has always had a good supply. Two weeks
ago mom developed plugged duct and advice that she wasn't pumping "until
empty" for the cause. She had been pumping every 3 hours with hospital grade
pump. Plugged duct resolved but mom had been told to pump every 2 hours, day
and night to "empty" breasts. Is very conscientious, did as was told. Now can
barely get passed two hours, breasts huge, sore, waking every 2 hours at
night in pain. I have advised to slowly start cutting back time as tolerated
to get to more manageable 3-4 hours for her. Using ice, cabbage, Tylenol for
pain, has all been tried before. Suggested some of those again in more
orderly fashion. Encouraging mom to pump to comfort only, at night. Try some
sage. What else would you recommend for her? We don't want to hurt the
supply, just make it more manageable for her. She is now headed into her
fourth freezer at home as well as NICU freezer. The baby has done extremely
well, extubated on day 2, no feeding intolerance, and growing well, thanks to
breastmilk! Doing some hindmilk work with her with such a great supply.
Thanks for your help and suggestions. Back to work, did I really leave?
Lisa Enger RN IBCLC
Boston, MA

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html