"For the first 2 months, my baby refused the breast and I was an exclusive pumper. We found out around 1 month that he had tongue and lips ties that were then corrected by a dentist and only once they had healed, did he start nursing. Being an exclusive pumper was HARD, my baby wanted to be held a lot, so while I pumped at home alone during the day he cried the whole time if he wasn’t napping. Between that, constantly washing and sterilizing, and pumping on a schedule during the night, it wasn’t sustainable for me. I had a goal of pumping for 3 months, then I was going to let myself quit.
I built up a pretty good freezer stash of the extra that he didn’t need. So much so, that my husband was a bit grumpy at how much freezer space the milk was taking up. He hinted as to whether there was anything I could do with the extra milk, and then I remembered donation! It felt perfect, like there was a purpose for all the extra work I had been putting in to feed my baby (besides providing him liquid gold of course). So I became a donor! Now that he’s a nursing baby I still pump the extra for donation, because I can and it still has purpose.
I have so much respect for all the exclusively pumping moms, especially those who do it for several months or years, or while caring for more than one child. You guys are incredible!
To anyone struggling to breastfeed, my advice is see a Lactation Consultant!"