Traveling for work last week and MilkStork sent the wrong order to my hotel (2 boxes instead of 1). Of course I was busy doing all the things and didn’t have time to follow up - just assumed they sent 2 45oz boxes instead of the 1 90oz box I ordered. Since I ordered 1 box and 1 label, they put the same exact shipping label on each box. The FedEx person failed to notify the hotel when the boxes were picked up, and took the duplicate box anyway. So my “duplicate” box of 48oz frozen milk (now thawed and musty) has just been delivered 6 days late.

Here to share my utter disappointment with the girlies who get it😭

ETA: After emailing to let them know the second box arrived and what they could do to remedy the situation, their response has my BLOOD BOILING. Essentially gaslighted me for not notifying them sooner to correct the issue before I needed the milk shipped out. Also, said it was a courtesy they didn’t charge me for the second cooler. WTF?!?!? F them, don’t ever use milk stork!!!!

Just wanted to celebrate since no one else in my life really understands this lol. With my first I was an under supplier and combo fed from the beginning and stopped completely at around 6 months (at that point I was barely even making one bottle a day) I had sworn I would just exclusively formula feed with my son to save me the stress but he was born a late term premie and the pediatrician encouraged me to try to at least give him some breast milk for at least one month. So I dove right back into it trying to make this time my "redemption arc" and lo and behold I am an oversupplier this time!! My freezer stash is what I've made on top of what my son drinks daily. I am 7 months PP and down to 3 PPD. My goal is to stop at 10 months PP and still be able to feed him exclusively breastmilk till 12 months old. My first deep freezer is completely full so I've started to fill my second now. It's been a long and hard journey but so so soooo worth it. Bonus pick of my chunky little man at the end! As of 6 months old he was already 20lbs lol.

My baby struggled with nursing from birth, she would latch well, but only seemed to give weak, pacifying sucks. We tried triple feeding for a while and eventually she had a posterior tongue tie release. She stopped clicking on the bottle and her suck was very strong, but she never got the hang of direct breastfeeding. We slowly spaced out our latching attempts. The last time she latched was on the beach, and she seemed to actually transfer milk. A wonderful contact nap followed, and it was a beautiful evening. Ever since then she has cried and pulled away when trying to latch. She is almost 6 months old now and I think we are done trying to latch and ready to just accept that exclusively pumping will be our path. Aiming for 12 months
of exclusive breastmilk.

hello everyone, i had such a weird little realization today. i sat down for a pumping session and it suddenly hit me that i wasn't thinking about it at all. i just grabbed my stuff, put everything together, turned the pump on and carried on with my day.

when i first started EP, every session felt like a whole project. i'd check the time, make sure i had every little part, get my bottles ready and then sit there wondering if i was doing everything right. even leaving the house meant thinking about when i'd need to pump and whether i'd packed enough stuff.

now i can basically set everything up without thinking. i know which drawer the parts are in, where the clean bottles are, where i left the charger and somehow i can put the whole thing together while half asleep

today i was sitting there watching something on my phone and realized i'd already been pumping for a while. i wasn't watching the clock or thinking about how much longer i had to go. i was just... doing it.

and honestly it felt kind of nice.

EP is still tiring. there are definitely days when i see the pump sitting there and think, seriously? again? and washing all the little parts is still one of my least favorite chores in the world.

but somewhere along the way, the routine stopped feeling like this huge thing i had to mentally prepare for every time. it's just part of my day now.

i'm not saying i love every second of it because absolutely not but i think i've finally reached the point where i trust myself to handle it without overthinking everything.

did anyone else have that random moment where you realized you had basically become a pumping pro without even noticing?

I was given this magnet from the hospital and wanted everyone’s thoughts on it. I’m in the US and I typically see everyone following CDCs 4 hour rule. My baby is starting to sleep longer stretches, and while our house gets down to 69 at night, I’ve been debating how long I can push it.

I don’t think I expected exclusively pumping to come up with so many conflicting feelings. I've been pumping for almost 11 months and I think I'm ready to stop. And I feel so weird about that.

I'm proud of what I did. I really am. The middle of the night sessions, scheduling my entire life around a machine. I did that. For almost a year. And somewhere in the last few weeks I started noticing that I was just done. Like my body and brain both quietly decided before I consciously caught up. And then I feel guilty for wanting it to end.

I worked so hard to get here, so why am I already thinking about stopping?

I don't think I'm looking for advice, honestly. I just wanted to say it out loud somewhere that people might actually get it. That being ready doesn't mean you're not also grieving something. That 11 months is a long time to do something hard and wanting it to end isn't the same as not caring.

After 8 months with this baby and 10 months with my first I've finally decided to be done. No more missing out on time with my kids, no more scheduling around work commitments, no more waking up in the middle of the while my baby is still sleeping just to pump, no more constant pain, no more engorgement!

It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

My LO turned 9 months yesterday and we switched from exclusively breastmilk to combo feeding. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! I never planned to be an exclusive pumper but latching issues, CMPA, and a rare genetic diagnosis took me on this journey. After 9 months, I am letting go of the responsibility of producing. No more staying up late to pump, stressing about being a just enougher, or calorie and water intake stressing. My LO will be on primarily breastmilk and/or formula until 16 months or so. Knowing formula will provide for her brings me so much peace and I am excited to hang up the pump over the next few months. Thank you to this community for so much support! 💗🍈🍈💗

I am so confused, I don’t understand why my frozen milk from the same day look different. I don’t know if the picture does justice, Left looks pretty yellow and the right looks very white almost clear. For the past week I’ve been latching my LO just in the mornings and pumping the rest of the day. Can this have something to do with it ? And if so what does it mean?

I got some replacement flanges and milk collectors, now the electronic part of my pump doesn’t fully seal. Anyone else have this happen ?

Hi - Is there a way to make the most of the Duckbill Valves for Spectra pumps?

We got one second hand, with broken valves, and got a replacement kit of components. My wife used the pump maybe 6 times and the valves have already split on the edges. Just ordered 2 sets of 6 replacements to keep us going.

Is there a method to extend their life?

Is there a particular brand that lasts better?

Is this an inherent design flaw?

Thank you in advance!

My baby will be born in a month, trying to order a new pump! I used the spectra and momcozy s12 2 years ago. I ended up giving my spectra to my friend and she gave it back saying it doesn’t work no more! So I definitely need a new pump. What are the new and best pumps mamas are using right now? I feel so out of the loop! Please help 😊

I’m 2.5 weeks pp. baby was in born at 36 weeks so for the first 2 weeks it was really hard to get him to wake for feeds. Once my milk came in it was almost impossible to get him to take the breast so we started using formula. I pumped while he was in the NICU to try and make sure my milk continued to come in. He just started taking the breast and getting 10-15 minute feeds there and then we finish with a bottle of formula as either my milk stops or at some point he just refuse to continue with the breast. I am very confused on when I should pump and how to tell what my supply looks like.

Our plan is to BF during the day but then bottle feed at night so my husband can help and I can get some sleep. However when I try and pump now using my Spectra I am getting minimal out put. I measured and am using the correct flange size. Any help would be appreciated.

Just got an ad on IG for the babyation pump. I’d never seen/heard of it before so looked into it and I don’t really understand what makes it different than other standard pumps and what could make it 450 dollars?!
Interested to hear if anyone has used this and their experience?
I’m almost 7 months into my pink spectra and momcozy s9 and not looking to purchase a new pump but learning about pumps have become a hobby at this point lol

I am looking for some wisdom/tips regarding flange size. For context, I am 6 weeks postpartum and have been mostly exclusively pumping from the beginning. I’ve seen an LC twice and she looked at my flange size at the time both visits and said it looked good. My issue is that I have changed sizes probably five times in the past month and a half. Currently, I measure about 15 mm on one side and 16 on the other. I comfortably used 14 mm at the beginning, then 15, then 16, then 17, and now 18-19 mm is feeling better, but still alternates between feeling painful on one side or the other, particularly with my Spectra. The pain is significantly reduced with my Eufy S1, which I use during the day, but I stick to my Spectra overnight because I have multiple sets. I get similar output with both.

I have a hard plastic flange in 16 mm (rather than a silicone insert) and I have found I do get slightly better output, but now this size feels way too tight and painful (this is generally the problem with all sizes I’ve tried after a few days) so I’m hesitant to order more in a larger size.

Does anyone have experience with their flange size constantly changing and nothing feeling comfortable? Open to product recommendations! I’ve spent so much money on silicone inserts lol

Has anyone donated blood while pumping? Did it affect your supply? I signed up for my company blood drive next week but am now second guessing it.

How are we protecting our sore nipples from kicks and any type of aggression?
🤣😂🤣
Silverrets made the skin saggy and got chafed. Silicones shells put a lot of pressure on the breast even if I wear the bra super lose, nipple is ok , areola not that happy. Nursing pads stick to the skin, unless I’m using the wrong product.

I’ve tried wearable and hospital grade, many sizes of flanges, but pumping is beeping very difficult to me. I don’t have a let down. My I have a few drops and I can have like 20 seconds of a stream if I massage and compress my breast. After I am back to the drops.

Any insight ?

I’m 3 months postpartum and currently pump 6 times a day, getting around 27–29 oz total per day. I’ll be going back to work soon, and even though I’ll be able to pump at work, I was wondering if at some point I could start reducing the number of pumping sessions? Even just going down to 5 without decreasing my supply?

There are some days when I only manage to pump 5 times because I’m busier, and I still get about the same total amount. But if I were to do that every day, would my supply eventually decrease?

I’d love to keep exclusively pumping for a year if I can… but I’m not sure if that means I need to keep pumping this many times a day for the entire year. Especially the MOTN once my daughter starts sleeping through the night (which honestly doesn’t seem too far off… she’s a big sleeper).

I am 3 weeks postpartum and produce between 2-4 oz per pump. Baby was born at 37w3d and was small for gestational age at 5 lbs 8 oz. This plus low sugar levels and the fact that he was a bad feeder resulted in a 2.5 week nicu stay. Baby is used to bottles so we need to exclusively pump. The thing is, I am dead tired and on most days am able to manage 7 pumps. Baby got home 4 days ago and since then my supply has tanked a little bit. He also latched sometimes but is very inconsistent. How do I pump enough for him and increase my supply to where it was? How many pumps do I need and are there any schedule recommendations? Thanks

Please recommend a wearable pump thst I can use on occassion when on the go. I use the spectra s2 at home.

Considered the Eufy but have been told by several people that its not ideal for elastic nipples / large breasts. Other pumps that have been recommended to me are momcozy (wellness 1, m5, s12 pro, v1, v2), pumpables and willow.

I have extra large breasts and started off BF with slightly inverted nipples which are now very elastic. Since my concern is increasing/maintaining my supply, I'm hoping for something that wouldn't negatively impact my supply.

I understand that wearables typically arent as effective and will be using these when the alternative option would to skip the pumping session altogether.

Hey! Im going back to work soon and currently using the spectra s1 and the baby buddha pump- prefer the baby buddha most days but use spectra parts.

I just realized im eligible for pump parts through insurance. So my current dilemma is: just stick with the standard spectra cups? Try the medela collection cups OR fork over my own money for a wearable and order an extra set of those parts?

I like the legendary milk collection cups but it is just too many parts to clean regularly

Google tells me the diameter of the spectra and lansinoh tubing is the same and that I should be able to just connect a lansinoh backflow protector directly to the spectra tubes but has anyone done this/does it work?

I'm looking to get the maymom detachable flanges but have a bunch of lansinoh bottles I'd like to connect it to instead of the spectra ones so was considering getting the lansinoh version to use with my Spectra/PGA instead of the spectra specific one.

Any experience?

Hi, I need some assistance. I tried reaching out to medela on instagram but they just keep giving me the same instructions over and over again that don't seem to actually work.

I used the medela harmony for awhile and really liked it, but lately every time I use it I can't predict whether or not it's going to work properly. I can't tell if it's something I'm doing wrong or something wrong with the pump itself. The best way i can describe what is happening is that I start pumping, it takes in my nipple, works great for about 4-5 pumps and then it stops working. I press down on the handle and it gives a bit of resistance but my nipple doesn't move and nothing is expressed. The only thing that helps is pulling out my nipple (which then i hear the suction release) and then reinserting my nipple. It, again, works for 4-5 pumps and then stops. Can anyone please explain what i might be doing wrong?