Sigh-Annual appointment with OB

V. wrote:
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...

I really like the guy overall-he's been wonderful through two very
difficult
pregnancies, but shouldn't an OB be more supportive of mothers nursing?
Now, maybe it's just that he doesn't see much extended nursing in his
practice (he does accept Tenncare, and seems to have a lot of young
patients), but still...

I would have thought so, but then I was surprised to find this week that a
friend who is in this area (medical doctor, but currently studying for a
Ph.D., she's more into cervical cancer, but has done lots of the baby
stuff as well) planning to go back to work full time 3 months after her
baby is born, she doesn't seem at all bothered about breastfeeding, which
surprised me.

Anne



Are you assuming that she isn't going to continue breastfeeding after going
back to work or did she actually say that? I'm planning to go back to work
when the baby is 3 months old and planning to breastfeed and pump for
EBM....just wondering if you think working full time and breastfeeding are
mutually exclusive and why? ('cause I've never done this before and if
there are things I'm overlooking I'd like to know ASAP so I can plan for
them)


I've gone back to work at 3 months with both my girls Amy. DD1 had a
little formula her first week of life then never again. DD2 has never
had formula. DD1 nursed until she was 26 months. DD2 is still nursing
at 15 months. I had no trouble pumping and having them fed EBM
while I was gone. (I pumped until they were 12 months old, then
I introduced cow's milk and stopped pumping, but they nursed when
we were together after that)

Lots and lots of women do it,Amy, but if you have trouble, come back
here for help.

Nursing is a great way to reconnect with baby after being away
from her all day. Good for you for planning on doing it!

Mary W.

"V." wrote in message

Are you assuming that she isn't going to continue breastfeeding after
going back to work or did she actually say that? I'm planning to go back
to work when the baby is 3 months old and planning to breastfeed and pump
for EBM....just wondering if you think working full time and breastfeeding
are mutually exclusive and why? ('cause I've never done this before and
if there are things I'm overlooking I'd like to know ASAP so I can plan
for them)

Amy -

I went back to work when my baby was nine weeks old (way too early
psychologically, by the way. I won't make that mistake again. I think
three months would have been much more tolerable, although in a perfect
world I would take even longer than that). DD has only had breast milk,
with solids starting at a little after six months. I plan to pump until she
is twelve months, and nurse only afterwards. Pumping and everything that
goes with it takes effort, especially with a demanding job, but once we got
into a routine, it hasn't been too bad. I think working full time and
breastfeeding can definitely be compatible.

I would suggest building up a freezer stash in advance. That takes some
pressure off of you if you have a bad pumping day. What I did is about a
month before going back I pumped once a day, every morning after feeding
her. This helped build up supply and helped me get used to the pump. I
couldn't get a lot at first, but soon was able to get quite a bit. We used
a little of that for practice bottles, and the rest we froze. By the time I
went back, we had a good amount saved. In the early months, I would try to
get an extra pumping session in on the weekends to get milk to save,
although I don't do that anymore. I also found I had a lot of extra milk
early on, since I was pumping much more than she would eat during the day
while I was at work. At eight months, I now am able to pump only a
fraction of what I could before, but now that she has started solids it's
enough for her during the day, especially with occasional supplementation
from the freezer stash.

Sarah
DD 3/1/05

"Donna Metler" wrote in message

I had my yearly with my OB/GYN-which in my case is also the "See if
everything has healed correctly before even considering a next pregnancy".
And as far as the appointment was, everything went well. However, when I
was
asked about my menstrual cycle, I commented that I hadn't had one yet, but
was still nursing (didn't see a need to go into nursing vs. pumping)-and
my
OB made a comment to the tune of "So, you're going for the record?". My
response was "Well, I'd like to make it at least to the year point the AAP
recommends".

That's ridiculous. One year is great, but it's not a record by any means!
My endocrinologist is the same way, though - last week he was discussing
wanting me to have a thyroid ablation, which involves radioactive material
that obviously can't be given during nursing, and he said, "How much longer
are you going to do this?" as if it were ridiculous that I was still
nursing. I'm a doctor myself, and it still amazes me how clueless a lot of
doctors are about breastfeeding.

I will cut a little slack for the 80+ year old attending that I work with
occasionally who asked what my breast pump was - "What do you have in such a
big bag?" When I told him, he said in his thick Italian accent, "Why do you
not feed the baby directly?" I had to explain to him that 10-12 hours was a
long time for a baby to go without eating. The concept of a breast pump was
a little foreign to him, I think. He's a sweetheart, but the whole thing
may have been a bit much for him.

Sarah
DD 3/1/05

Actually for us breast cancer was a big decider for us in having a child
straight after getting married, as there is a link between the later you
have you first child the higher the risk. As my grandfather and my mother
(his daughter) have both had breast cancer it's a moderately big issue
for us. Actually my mum was breastfed and breastfed 2 children and got it
pre menopausally aged 43, so she was really unlucky.

As I understand it, breastfeeding protects against post-menopausal breast
cancer, not pre-menopausal. I think that pre-menopausal BC is mainly
genetically determined, though factors like smoking wouldn't help.

actually my mum was given all the info, and there were 7 main risk areas, of
which she has none, she has never smoked, or been overweight, she started
her periods in the normal range of time (I think younger than 10 or older
than 16 was what increased the risk), she had a baby at 22, basically
exceedingly low risk, accordingly she has had a full genetic screen, which
came back blank. The only thing that makes people think it could still be
genetic is the fact her father had it, in his 50s, male breast cancer seems
to be considered to be a very high indicator of genetic links, so when I had
a breast lump and gave my family history, the dr promptly paniced.

Anne

Some career tracks make it very difficult to shelve for a year and then
return at the same level. You're either full time or you're not in it at
all.

Oh yes, I know that, I've been there myself, Nathanael was born in the
middle of my Ph.D. but in the end I delayed going back due to breastfeeding
and eventually decided not to go back at all, but going back full time after
a years break would have been doable. But from talking to her that it
doesn't seem that because of that she is not bothered about breastfeeding,
it's more she was bottle fed, she is fine, it's not really all that
important.

Anne

Are you assuming that she isn't going to continue breastfeeding after
going
back to work or did she actually say that? I'm planning to go back to
work when the baby is 3 months old and planning to breastfeed and pump for
EBM....just wondering if you think working full time and breastfeeding are
mutually exclusive and why? ('cause I've never done this before and if
there are things I'm overlooking I'd like to know ASAP so I can plan for
them)

no, not at all, her work plans were really irrelevant in my comment, she
just doesn't seem particularly bothered.

However, she is in the best position for pumping, her lab is right next to
the postnatal ward!

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...

Are you assuming that she isn't going to continue breastfeeding after
going
back to work or did she actually say that? I'm planning to go back to
work when the baby is 3 months old and planning to breastfeed and pump
for EBM....just wondering if you think working full time and
breastfeeding are mutually exclusive and why? ('cause I've never done
this before and if there are things I'm overlooking I'd like to know ASAP
so I can plan for them)

no, not at all, her work plans were really irrelevant in my comment, she
just doesn't seem particularly bothered.

However, she is in the best position for pumping, her lab is right next to
the postnatal ward!

Anne



Ah, that's reassuring, thanks! Thanks to Mary and Sarah for their advice
too. I'm feeling like it's pretty doable for me if anyone can do it...I
have a private office with a locking door and extremely flexible schedule so
I can actually go and nurse directly once or even twice a day (assuming baby
and I can coordinate our schedules) . I haven't even bought an electric
pump yet, just a manual Isis one since I might be able to get away with that
if I nurse directly during breaks to cut down on pumping/bottle feeding
sessions. We'll see how that goes!


Amy

Ah, that's reassuring, thanks! Thanks to Mary and Sarah for their advice
too. I'm feeling like it's pretty doable for me if anyone can do it...I
have a private office with a locking door and extremely flexible schedule
so I can actually go and nurse directly once or even twice a day (assuming
baby and I can coordinate our schedules) . I haven't even bought an
electric pump yet, just a manual Isis one since I might be able to get
away with that if I nurse directly during breaks to cut down on
pumping/bottle feeding sessions. We'll see how that goes!

I doubt you'll get away with an Isis to be honest, I can get good production
from one, but using it too frequently gives me sore nipples, I imagine 2* a
day 5 days a weeks would be too much for most people, you could even get RSI
like injury to your hand and wrist. You may only need a basic double
electric, eg. Ameda Purely Yours. I'm not sure if you can get varying size
flanges (the bit you pop your nipple into) for that one, because if you are
pumping at all frequently they need to fit you well, too big and you will
get poor yield, too small and you will get sore. I've found recently putting
vaseline around the edge of my areola significantly improves things.

Anne

"V." wrote in message
Ah, that's reassuring, thanks! Thanks to Mary and Sarah for their advice
too. I'm feeling like it's pretty doable for me if anyone can do it...I
have a private office with a locking door and extremely flexible schedule
so I can actually go and nurse directly once or even twice a day (assuming
baby and I can coordinate our schedules) . I haven't even bought an
electric pump yet, just a manual Isis one since I might be able to get
away with that if I nurse directly during breaks to cut down on
pumping/bottle feeding sessions. We'll see how that goes!

That sounds like a great setup, Amy. Perfect, really, for the working,
breastfeeding mother. It's also great that you will be able to see your
baby during the day.

Sarah
DD 3/1/05

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...

Actually for us breast cancer was a big decider for us in having a child
straight after getting married, as there is a link between the later you
have you first child the higher the risk. As my grandfather and my
mother (his daughter) have both had breast cancer it's a moderately big
issue for us. Actually my mum was breastfed and breastfed 2 children and
got it pre menopausally aged 43, so she was really unlucky.

As I understand it, breastfeeding protects against post-menopausal breast
cancer, not pre-menopausal. I think that pre-menopausal BC is mainly
genetically determined, though factors like smoking wouldn't help.

actually my mum was given all the info, and there were 7 main risk areas,
of which she has none, she has never smoked, or been overweight, she
started her periods in the normal range of time (I think younger than 10
or older than 16 was what increased the risk), she had a baby at 22,
basically exceedingly low risk, accordingly she has had a full genetic
screen, which came back blank. The only thing that makes people think it
could still be genetic is the fact her father had it, in his 50s, male
breast cancer seems to be considered to be a very high indicator of
genetic links, so when I had a breast lump and gave my family history, the
dr promptly paniced.

((((Anne))))

That sucks. Statistics are meaningless when you're on the wrong side of
them.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/