MM what is her weight at now? Can you do a weighted feed somewhere? They offered them at the hospital here and I know there are midwives that will do them too. I strongly recommend you do one - hopefully you'll come out and know everything is fine but if there is a problem you should go see an IBCLC consultant. They are SO much more knowledgeable than the people at the hospital.
Pumping is NOT indicative of what a baby gets. Trust me. Babies are crazy efficient at getting milk out and pumps are only sort of efficient. So don't think that you're under-producing just based on pumping.
I started out exclusively pumping because Falon fell asleep ALL THE TIME. It was super frustrating. We went through a whole list of things to get her to stay awake and eat.
- Make her naked
- Tickle the back of her neck
- Rub her back/shoulder/any part of her
- Diaper change (especially effective with cold wet wipes)
- Touch with a cold bottle (made me feel like we were torturing her but it was very effective)
This sounds like cluster feeding. It's normal, it sucks, and it's for the sole purpose of increasing your supply. Honestly, the first couple weeks of a new baby's life make yours revolve around nursing/pumping/feeding. It feels like an endless cycle but it gets better I swear.
You can try a lot of skin to skin time to help your milk come in - I did it a ton because Falon wasn't nursing and we weren't sure pumping would establish my supply.
If she goes more than 2 hours between feedings, I pump. And I get MAYBE a half ounce of milk.
If I nurse her, she does ok - she latches correctly and drinks, but falls asleep constantly and has to be prodded awake.
- Make her naked
- Tickle the back of her neck
- Rub her back/shoulder/any part of her
- Diaper change (especially effective with cold wet wipes)
- Touch with a cold bottle (made me feel like we were torturing her but it was very effective)
She'll nurse for up to 15-20 minutes on each side. She doesn't empty my breasts. Then she screams about 20-40 minutes later for more food.
You can try a lot of skin to skin time to help your milk come in - I did it a ton because Falon wasn't nursing and we weren't sure pumping would establish my supply.