My Nemesis-The Pump (and a distracted baby)

 It's been about 4 weeks since I've had to use my pump on a regular basis. It's been a glorious 4 weeks. Now, after I've gotten my hopes up thinking I'd never have to touch the evil thing again, I'm staring it in the face due to my distracted, possibly teething baby boy. Shall I back up?

I started a new job 2 weeks ago. Before that I had 2 lovely weeks home between jobs. During my time off, I never had to pump. Amazingly, and by the grace of God, we found a babysitter who is 1.5 miles from our house, and only 4.5 miles from my work. This means it's actually more time effective for me to go to her house and feed Peanut than to pump. Praise God! It's been amazing. Not only do I get to skip pumping sessions, I get to spend 15 minutes cuddling my baby boy during the morning and afternoon. To top it off, no washing pump parts or bottles every night. That assembly line has been shut down!

I actually had to pump for my morning feeding this past Monday. Peanut was at his Grandma's which is too far for me to drive. At first, I was almost eager to pump, it was like greeting an old friend. I was excited to see how my supply was looking (something you have no idea of when you're not pumping). After only a few minutes, I remember that I despised the thing.


On to my current problem, the past few days, breastfeeding has been a struggle, a wrestling match shall I say. I barely am getting 4 minutes from him on each side (if that!). It is SOOO frustrating. I just want to lie and the floor and throw my own fit, however my little man has claimed it already. He's way too distracted or could be teething (I hear they don't like latching on when teething). He's pulling off, looking around, or the worst- pinching my nipple and pushing it away! I can't feed him if my husband is anywhere near because all he wants to do is smile at Daddy (cute, but annoying). After getting some advice and talking to my lactation consultant, I realize that I may need to start pumping again during the day-since he eats decently at home. I gave him my chap-stick this afternoon while he was nursing which seemed to help, he also will play with my necklace, so maybe I'll throw on a colorful necklace and see if it helps. I'm going to keep trying the next few days-especially with the weekend ahead, I may be able to make more progress with him. I'll keep you posted, wish me luck.