Start pumping without my Dom or herbs??

Where you have so little time, it would be fine to start pumping now, if you want to, although not necessary. Just don't get discouraged if you don't see anything until after the dom comes and you have been on it for a week or so. In the "old days", when there were no medications to take and only breast stimulation to start lactation, lots of moms pumped in advance. Few saw more than drops from that and many got discouraged and gave up before they even got their babies, thinking that what they had seen from a pump was what all they could produce for a baby. I had a similar experience, with my first baby. I hadn't even seen a breast pump before he was born, let alone pumped in advance, but a LLL leader sold me a cylinder hand pump, a few days after we got him. I thought I wasn't producing any milk at all for him because I couldn't get so much as a droplet from the hand pump. I didn't know about hand expression yet. Looking back, I am sure that I really was producing some milk for him, judging by the breast changes I had, and my experiences with later children. Had I known that, I think I could have found the courage to keep going longer, with him. Anyway, sorry about the tangeant, but I corresponded with lots of moms, back in the 90s, who had pumped in advance, without domperidone. The general consensus was that pumping didn't usually create a milk supply, but was still beneficial. One way was in breast preparation, for being able to nurse without nipple problems when the baby got there, and the other was that moms felt that their milk probably came in a bit faster, once the baby came, than it would have if they hadn't pumped. In the time you have, I would go ahead and start the pumping, but start out easily, and increase gradually. Some moms don't need it, but others can get very sore with a pump if they start out with too much too soon. Nipple and areolar tissue can become very elastic, but trying to increase that too fast can do damage and set you back. Bio moms generally don't need it because theirs enlarge and become more elastic from the hormones of pregnancy. I have also found it important to lubricate the breast with something for pumping. Once you can hand express drops of milk, the best thing to is to express a few drops and rub it around. Before that, you can use an unscented, hypoallergenic cream or lotion, or just water. Have you ordered a Lact-Aid kit? You can nurse exclusively with that, whether you need to supplement a lot or a little. With most of my kids, I had very little notice, like just a few days, or even less than 24 hours. I just started out cold nursing with a Lact-Aid. I produced about 12 ounces a day of milk, just from doing that. When I added herbs, with my fifth baby, I was able to up that to about 16 ounces a day. Please post your progress here and good luck with the placement! Is the baby a boy or girl? Noelani PS What kind of herbs are you getting?

Sarah, how are things going now? I apologize for taking a whole week to reply. Has your domperidone arrived yet? One thing I just thought of that I found helpful, by way of preparation, was to use a pump just to help increase the elasticity of the nipple/areola area. I did that during the ten days between the time we were told about Thomas, and when he was discharged from the NICU and we could bring him home. I'd had a great deal of nipple damage and pain with my first baby, starting out with no preparation, and that was one of the problems that contributed to my limited success with him. I started out at low suction, just for a few minutes, until it started to get just slightly irritating. I increased the suction and the amount of time, gradually, and it made a huge difference. I also wore a nursing bra with the flaps down. I remember what one mom wrote to me, once, about how nice it was to be able to nurse her adopted baby. She said, "You can give anyone's baby a bottle, but you only nurse your own!" I am sure anyone whose path to motherhood has been exceptionally long and painful can relate!

It you put gentle tension on the skin, the cells will proliferate where, if you injure it, it will produce scar tissue so, while it may seem that going at it harder would help more, it could really work against you. The most important thing you can do in a short time is help make it so that you can spend lots of time nursing the baby without pain. Have you gotten the domperidone yet? Unless you have started taking dom, I wouldn't expect to see more than maybe droplets from less than a week of pumping. You might, but just don't get worried if you don't. Good luck getting through the coming week! The days you spend waiting to get the call saying the baby is born can seem to be a month long, each!