Sorry - another questions

Eventually I hope to get the hang of this.  I wanted to start pumping and nursing in a day.  I would like to get out of the house more often and feel like it is very stressful to do so when only breastfeeding.  I spent one too many times sitting in the back seat of my car in a parking lot nursing my baby.  I want to pump so I can go more than 2 hours away from home to nurse.  I had a dentist appt today so I pumped so I could have a little extra milk in my diaper bag "just in case" and good thing cuz I needed it.  It sure did beat nursing in the back seat since the temps here are in the single digits...I would freeze my nips off literally.  

So this morning when I pumped (right after a nursing like the LC told me to do) I got 6 oz of milk in about 8 minutes.  I was so thrilled that it took such a short time.  Then I decided to pump again after the 4pm nursing and got 2 oz of milk in about 15 minutes.  Why such a change?  I want to start pumping exclusively in a few months and am worried it wont work since my output varies so much.  Is it normal to have less milk in the evening than the morning?

I just want breastfeeding and milk amounts to stop running my life.  I stress about it constantly.  It is making me crazy.  I cant even enjoy my son cuz I am always dreading the next feeding....is this all normal?  How do I get to the point that I feel confident that I am making enough for my little man?  I am slowly losing my mind about silly milk.  I want to spend a day not staring at the clock and planning my day around nursing.  I fear I will never be able to leave my house again...I will not nurse in public so that is not an option.  Help me.

[SunWorshiper_26]

Your baby will take different amounts of milk through the day. Often times a baby will sleep longer at night so pumping first thing in the am produces a lot of milk and yes early morning we have more milk for some reason. But mill is supply and demand if your baby needs it your boobs will make it. When they are empty it signals to increase the supply.  Your baby can get more milk than a pump ever will. You also have a variety in milk amounts due to fatigue, water and food intake. You need a lot of water and high protein to keep your milk supply and of course sleep but who gets enough of that ;)

[tiredbuthappy]

My morning pumps were always bigger than evening pumps.
Honestly, it sounds like you have a good supply. Being able to pump even just 2 oz after nursing in the evening is impressive. Have confidence in your supply. As long as you continue to nurse and pump regularly, it should be OK. If you switch the exclusively pumping, you may need to do different things and watch your supply, but you are doing great.

When going out, take advantage of the long shelf life of milk- it can be kept at room temp for several hours. I would pump before going somewhere and just take the fresh bottle at room temp. It was always ready, no need to warm it. Everyone's milk is different, but in cool or cold weather, my milk was always good for at least 5 or 6 hours. In the summer, i tried to keep it to a max of 4 hrs unless the AC was really cranking. At night, when we let the rooms get cool, my milk was good at room temp 10-12 hours. Made it easier once I cut down on pumps. I pumped before going to bed, and would just wake and feed the ready milk whenever the baby woke. After feeding, i just pumped the next feed and had it ready.
If you do consider exclusively pumping, know that it is A LOT of work, and it requires a good pump. It is possible, and I did it long term, but I didn't enjoy it.

I never really stopped obsessing about ounces. It comes with pumping. However, since milk varies at different times in the day, I looked at totla ounces in a day rather than at each session.

[RBarron]

I exclusively pumped and bottle fed my DD for the first 3 weeks. She would not latch because of time spent in the NICU with bottles of formula. It was so hard. I felt like I was attached to that pump. I couldn't make enough milk for her with the pump and often had to give her formula and I had an anxiety attack every time she got formula. I was much more fatigued as well. You have to pump every time they eat to make enough milk, but I just never could get enough with the pump. When I switched to exclusively breastfeeding I felt sooo much better.

If you are worried about breastfeeding in public maybe try investing in a good nursing shawl? There are brands called hooter hiders, etc that are basically like an apron that goes around your neck and cover the nursing baby. It makes public feeding much easier. But, if you are not comfortable with public feeding pumping once or twice per day should build you enough stock to feed in public. I freeze my breast milk for my husband to use if I am not around. It can last up to 4-6 months in the freezer.

There is a handy equation I learned for how much a baby should be getting per feeding:

Baby's weight * 2.5 / 8 = oz per feeding

They may get different amounts throughout the day that add up to a constant total, but this is the equation I use to tell my husband what to feed her when I am gone. It is almost dead on to satisfy her hunger. I have bags full of different volumes in the freezer and my husband will sometimes thaw two and mix them together for a feeding. It's ok to mix the milk if it's at the same temperature - or so I've heard.

[need_answers_from_someone]

Thanks ladies.  I quit pumping for a couple days and my supply has been plentiful again for the little guy.  He is on an eating frenzy again so I am guessing the 6 week growth spurt is about to begin.