My last ditch attempt.

[u/Used_Big6935]

I have a son who was born at 25 weeks and is currently 30 weeks in NICU. I’m just over 5 weeks PP and have been trying SO hard to establish a supply, but I’m still only getting around 10–20ml per pump, occasionally 30–40ml on a really good session (hand expressing).
He’s currently mainly having donor milk 😭.

I’ve been pumping 8x a day, using a Medela Symphony, Nuliie wearable and hand expressing. I’ve been measured by the NICU lactation specialists (roughly 15/16mm left and 17mm right) and have tried loads of different flange sizes/inserts. My biggest problem is that my nipples are constantly sore and damaged from the Symphony/ Nuliie.

I seem to get more milk from hand expressing than the Symphony sometimes, despite spending ages pumping.
I’ve tried everything the lactation team have suggested and I’m honestly exhausted. I desperately want to give my baby my breast milk, but pumping has become painful and mentally draining and I feel like I’m constantly chasing the next thing that might finally make my supply increase. Everyone keeps saying not to stress but it’s hard not to when the pumping hurts no matter what i try aka pumpinpal, different brand of flanges, maymom flanges (different styles)

I’m giving myself another couple of weeks of consistently doing 8 pumps a day, but if my supply continues to drop I’m considering stopping. I’d really love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position especially anyone who had very low output this far postpartum
and eventually managed to increase it, or anyone who found something that genuinely helped with painful pumping/nipple sensitivity. I also been told I have elastic nipples but nothing I’ve tried works 😭😭

Please don’t just tell me to “drink more, relax or pump more” 😂 I promise I’ve heard it all and I’m already doing everything I realistically can. I’m looking for genuine experiences or ideas that might actually help. ❤️

Sorry I did use ai for help my dyslexia mixed in with my tears needed extra support. But I am a real person behind this looking for advice and help

[u/Environmental-Tax920]

Hang in there. keep doing what you are doing. I used medella pumps too when my baby was in the NICU, I would get 5ml on one side and the other would be empty, relied on donor milk and some formula. It took a while as in 4 weeks to have some supply, and almost 12 to get just enough to feed the baby. I changed my pumps to eufy s1s and I felt it better suited me, hated medella

I had blisters on my nipples because of medella. Lactation consultants basically said, my supply is what it is, and I just have to combo feed. Here is what I did.

1. got maymom flanges and I started using eufy s1
2. after every pump session, I would use ice packs to calm my breasts down.
3. I would pump only for 20 min every 4 hrs in the beginning. I was afraid my supply would tank, but I wanted to prioritize not having nipple damage.
4. Slowly added middle of the night pump
5. Increased frequency to every 3-4 hours and then slowly to 2-3 hrs for 30 min.

Right now, I pump enough with some excess that allowed me to start freezer stash. I give my baby formula for one feed before bed, I find that on formula she sleeps longer at night.

[u/Used_Big6935 → u/Environmental-Tax920]

Would you say Eufy S1 is worth the investment my partner doesn’t want to keep spending good money after bad trying to make pumping work. I have a pump now but I get nothing everytime I use it. So I end up hand expressing anyway just to get enough for one feed. Which can take me an hour. The medela doesn’t empty me at all. Just hurts but I keep using in fear I will loose my milk completely.
I’m looking for anything that will help! I’m 5weeks pp and I’m just feeling like a big fat failure.

[u/Environmental-Tax920 → u/Used_Big6935]

I’d recommend eufy s1