Hi all! Just my own personal story regarding pumping. When my little one, Ben, was born last Aug., I anticipated no probs with BF, after all I'd done it once with no probs, so... Wrong! Ben destroyed my nipples because he wouldn't take the nipples back far enough in his mouth and he has a 'bubble' palate in the extreme (runs in the family, though his is the worst). Within one week left breast had serious plugged ducts and the thought of putting him on that breast was excrutiating. I took him off that breast and tried pumping with a store bought pump. It was better than nothing, but not by much. By the end of the 2nd week, the right nipple was so damaged that infection had set in. Needless to say when my OB saw my condition he was shocked. All he could say was, "Oh dear". I was told not to put Ben back to breast because of the extensive damage, to get in touch with an LC immediately and get a 'real' pump to use. I was a wreck! I found Karen Evon, who was also shocked by my condition. Left nipple was half gone, right nipple had a crater. I was in such bad shape that I could only use the hand pump by M_____ for a few minutes at a time. I soon developed bi-lateral mastitis that refused to go away. It lasted for, believe it, 5 months. I took 3 different types of antibiotics, alternately, took herbs to help my immune system, and pumed every 2 hours daytime, and every 4 at night, to avoid abcessing. I was very sick, very tired and was taking forever to heal. When I had healed to the point that we thought we could put baby back to breast, we did. Within 3 days I was a mess again. More of the left nipple was gone, and the crater in the right nipple was almost 3/8 in. deep. More pumping. I hated it but had no choice but to do it. I wanted my baby to have breast milk, and though everyone thought I was nuts, I wanted to be able to BF my kid! I met with Chele Marmet, and she figured out why Ben was doing so much damage. Then began the suck training, and finger feeding. I was overwhelmed and a basket case emotionally, but I still had to pump every 2 hrs etc. to avoid abcess. AARRGGHH! Finally at the end of Oct. (This all started 1st wk of Sept.) I was able to put Ben back on right breast. Success! With extreme caution and awareness of positioning of Ben we were able to nurse, finally, with no pain or trauma. (We were all afraid that Ben would not go back to breast because he had been taking my milk in a bottle for 2 1/2 months . Little fart had no confusion! He knew what he wanted!) After 2 days, he refused the bottle of milk I was giving him as a supplement to the BF. But I was still having to pump every 2 hrs on the left breast and nurse Ben frequently on the right because I was still fighting the matitis. By the 17th of Dec. I was able to finally put Ben back on the left breast. I was also able to get rid of that pump! The mastitis cleared up with in a week of having Ben nurse both breasts, go figure. While going through all this, I surprisingly had an incredible milk supply! Because of the frequent pumping that was necessary , I had more milk than Ben could have possibly used, and I ended up donating 1040 oz (that's 8 Gal. 2 cups) to the Milk Bank for research use. (it had antibiotics in it so couldn't be used for babies :( ) I was able to pump very effectively and would have 2-4 MER's at each pumping. However, after Ben and I became a successful BF couple, the pump's no longer worked as they had before. When Ben actually sleeps through the night, now, and I wake up extremely full, my hand pump is almost useless. I even tried an electric pump, and nothing. Thank goodness I can work at home and don't have to pump, or I'd be in serious trouble! Hand expression, for me, is a joke. I've tried and tried, but my breasts seem to say, "Yeah, right! If you think we're letting anything out of here, you're nuts!" I'm sorry for being so long winded, (or fingered) but I can relate to people who have a hard time with pumps and those who don't. And those who don't sometimes need to be reminded that everyone's situations are different, and not everyone can do what they can. Not everyone who goes through what I went through could have made it. I'm not sure I could do it a second time if put in that position again. This whole experience is what caused me to change directions in my life and want to become an LC. I want to be able to give women the support they need to BF their kids. And I'm sorry if I've gone on forever here and if I sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself. I really don't. I look at this as a learning experience, and boy did I learn a lot!. This is the first time I've been able to put this all down on 'paper' and it's really been very thereputic. As I sit here, I wonder if I should even send this out, but I think I will, the tears tell me I should. I guess I haven't really dealt with this yet. But this helps a lot. Totally off the subject of simple pumping, but.... Thanks for listening. There really isn't anyone here (as far as family and friends) who can appreciate what I went through, and those who know what I went through thinks I was nuts for being so adamant. They are the family and friends who keep telling me that BF isn't that big of a deal, and if you can't BF, so what. Formula is just as good... <sigh> Poor ignorant fools. Enough, Jay. It's late and your nose is running. :o Now hit that flashsession button and get this out there! Janet. Learning the hard way is my way of living!