Thread by @ellingerlocke

Adding my voice to the "breastmilk isn't free" conversation around the formula crisis we're suffering in case my story is at all helpful to others. #breastfeeding #pumping #formulafeeding 1/🧵

My child was born prematurely in January and spent his first three weeks in the NICU. Premature babies and NICU babies frequently have difficulty latching, and my child is no exception. 15 weeks postpartum and I have never been able to get him to latch without a nipple shield. 2/

Thus I have become an "exclusive pumper." This was not the plan, I was excited about bonding with my baby through nursing. But that quickly became impossible. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia with severe features, and had a traumatic labor and delivery. 3/

Btw, May is #preeclampsiaawarenessmonth and if you don't know the symptoms of this deadly disease, read up! It's been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. And rates are climbing. 4/

EPing--exclusive pumping--is HARD work. Before you "regulate" you have to pump every 2-3 hours around the clock for at least 20 min at a time, often much longer. There are many people pumping for an hour at a time. /5

This means you are often waking up more times a night than your actual baby. And after you pump, you need to label and store the milk and then wash and sanitize your pumping gear. By the time you finish, it may be time to pump again. /6

Pumps and pumping gear are expensive. I was lucky to get a discount through insurance, bringing the cost of my Spectra from $220 to $80. Add in flanges, bottles, inserts, nipple cream, duck bills, tubing, and other pieces I'm forgetting right now, the costs quickly add up. /7

The thing about pumps is that some people's bodies just don't respond well to certain types of suction, you need a different pump. And there is not a pump library where you can go check out different pumps and find which works best for you. These are medical devices after all. /8

Thus many people buy several pumps in hopes of finding what works for them. I loved the Medela Symphony pumps at the hospital, but they retail at above 2k. There are places that will rent them to you, my hospital just wasn't one of them. /9

EPers are tethered to a machine most of the time. We have to stick to a strict schedule and make sure to fully empty. Especially if you're an "undersupplier," as I started out, or a "just enougher" as I eventually became. There's A LOT of jargon in the EP world. /10

Getting properly sized for pump flanges can be a huge challenge. I eventually resorted to appealing to the kind moderators of an EP facebook group who sized me all the way down to a 13. Pumps generally come with two flange sizes--27 and 24. /11

The lactation consultants at the hospital sized me at 20. LCs are certified through the IBLCE, an international body that does little to educate LCs on EPing. There is a massive gap between hospital LC info and properly pumping, a common reason people end their journey early. /12

This is not to denigrate the lovely LCers who provided me support, but they are taught about nursing and relatively little about pumping. They view pumping as a way to assist nursing, not as a primary vehicle for feeding of the breast. /13

I'd like to draw attention to my language choice there--pumping is breastfeeding, it's simply not nursing. And there are so many reasons why people choose not to or cannot nurse. But feeding a baby breast milk in a bottle is breastfeeding, by definition. /14

Many people in my life pushed me to drop EPing early on, "fed is best" I was told, formula is just fine. This is 100% true, and we did rely on formula for about 60% of our baby’s diet at first. But over time, as I pumped and pumped and pumped, I slowly increased my supply. /15

I am so happy I stuck with it because of the crisis so many caregivers are facing right now, and my baby is one less mouth that needs formula. But I am just a couple of pumps ahead, and we are one power outage from needing formula, so it's precarious. /16

I'm one of the luckiest breast feeders in the country. I have excellent insurance, 20 weeks of paid parental leave, an astounding partner committed to supporting the process. And it's still SO HARD. I'm exhausted all the time, and that's not including other baby care. /17

There is more to say about all this of course, but I think I'm done for now. After all, I need to go pump. /end