I have always known that I wanted to pump along with Breastfeeding. It really is the only way to for the mom to leave the baby for more than 3 hours. Which sometimes is necessary for sanity. What I didn’t know was how confusing I would find it.

I originally thought I would start pumping and introducing the bottle at 2 weeks (which is when lactation consultants recommend to reduce nipple confusion), but when the time came to start I found pumping on top of Breastfeeding to be overwhelming so I waited till around 5 weeks. At that point I decided it was time to bite the bullet. Actually, what really pushed me to start was when one day I left our little guy home with my mother in law to go get a much needed manicure and pedicure. She was generous enough to watch him, and I fed him pretty much right before I left so I thought I’d be safe. But on that particular day, the little man decided he was going to be hungry early. I pulled my car into the garage to hear him SCREAMING! (he does this when he’s hungry..gets very cranky like his daddy when hungry) I rushed inside and quickly gave over the boob. My MIL almost called me cause there was nothing she could do to sooth him. When he’s hungry there really is nothing to do but feed him to make him stop crying. Had I pumped, there would’ve been milk ready to give him and she wouldn’t have been put in that position. I felt bad.

When I spoke to my doctor about the dynamics of pumping she gave me a few options.

1: Pump after every feeding: This would give me just a little, but over the course of the day should give a full bottle. This option seemed overwhelming! Not only do I sit and feed..I then have to sit and pump after?

2: Feed on one breast and pump from the other: For some reason this sounded confusing to me. My routine is to feed from both breasts? I don’t get how he’d get enough from one breast? Do I just feed longer on that breast? What happens when he pulls away? That’s normally when I know he’s finished on that side?

3: When a bottle is given pump to replace the feeding: This one works well, but that means I have to already have a pumped bottle ready. And then I am building no stock. This would give me just enough?

So what’s the best option? Currently I do a mixture of two of them. Mostly I pump after every feeding, but it really is daunting. Feed…then pump..then clean the pump (which is the worst part). Or, I pump when The Captain gives a bottle. I still haven’t gotten how to feed on one side and pump from the other.

Some people also will get up before the baby to pump. I just can’t imagine giving up even a second of sleep to do that. But is that the only option? If you pump what works for you? I really would love to build a stock in my freezer but how? Help!