After lots of hormone injections, multiple inseminations, a puncture and 2 transfers, we became parents to our beautiful daughter Lexi Elisabeth in January.
Lydia's NurtureGoods experience (Instagram @wiesjevdtoorn).
After several tough years, our dream is finally a reality
I am Wiesje and have been wish parents for 5 years. After lots of hormone injections, multiple inseminations, a puncture and 2 transfers, we became parents to our beautiful daughter Lexi Elisabeth in January. A true dream come true!
I always thought it would be great to be able to feed my baby with breast milk, but due to a problem with my nipples, I wasn't sure beforehand if breastfeeding would actually work out. That's why I decided not to put any pressure on it. Very nice if it works out, but if not that's okay too.
Because I had placenta previa totalis during my pregnancy and I had multiple bleeding episodes during the pregnancy, it was finally decided to deliver Lexi by cesarean section at 35 weeks and 3 days. At less than 2,300 grams, she was a very small girl coming into the world. To our surprise and that of the hospital staff, she immediately drank very vigorously at my breast. Considering her term, this is quite exceptional. Unfortunately, my breastfeeding just didn't get going right away. I ended up putting her on 1 breast every 3 hours, then I started pumping and what came out of that, Lexi got from my husband via finger feeding. She was still too small to drink completely from my breast, because she fell asleep fairly quickly each time and therefore additional feeding was necessary. It took more than 2 days to pump enough food for the supplementary feeding, but I was so glad that I finally succeeded. I found and still find it a very cool feeling to be able to feed my baby this way.
After 3 days in the hospital we were allowed to go home. Secretly quite exciting with a baby that was not yet 36 weeks old and weighed less than 2200 grams. You will understand that feeding was our priority and we did this strictly! Every 3 hours we breastfed her, pumped her and then fed her so she would gain weight as soon as possible.
Once home, I started using the Nurture Goods pump. And let me be honest. I found it took quite a bit of getting used to. After 3 days of using the pump from the hospital, I had to try a new pump again. At first, I was a little reluctant because I knew exactly which settings I liked on the other pump.
Fortunately, that getting used to it went very quickly and with a day I had found what settings were right to pump enough. What I especially like about this pump is that it is battery-operated. This means you don't have to be near an electrical outlet and you can pump really anywhere. And in case you're wondering how long it lasts? You can easily manage at least 4 sessions of 20 minutes, even after that I still had enough battery left. Also the fact that you can pump 2 breasts at once is very nice.
I ended up pumping for about 2 weeks after breastfeeding and during that time I got 1 drawer of my freezer full of breast milk. After that, I decided to feed only live, because supplemental feeding was no longer necessary by now and I wanted to leave some room in my freezer for things other than just breast milk, hahaha.
So currently I only use the pump occasionally. For example, last week when I had a small outing alone for the first time and the little girl stayed behind with Daddy. I had pumped formula beforehand so she could get that from daddy during my absence. How long I plan to feed my daughter with my breast milk I do not know yet, but as long as it remains a pleasure for me and the little girl, we will continue. Should that include when we go back to work, of course the pump will go with us!
Plus points of this pump for me are that it is nice and compact and therefore easy to carry around. Tip for Nurture Goods is to design another storage bag that can easily hold the pump. That way it stays together easily and that might also be more hygienic. Furthermore, it is so nice that you can pump multiple sessions on one charged battery and pump 2 breasts at the same time. That again saves time! By the way, you can also very easily switch to pumping 1 breast. Just what you want! Furthermore, it is good and easy to clean and easy to take apart. The silicone sleeves on the breast shields are highly recommended! Almost like your breasts are getting a massage, hihi.
Thank you to Nurture Goods for allowing me to try out this pump! You definitely have one more fan!
Much love, Wiesje
Would you like to know more about Wiesje? Then follow her on Instagram @wiesjevdtoorn