Finally back! Baby born Aug. 10, 2009,

Her name is Kennedy, I will post pics soon, she was 7.4, 21 inches, and just as cute as can be!  So far I have been very lucky, only gained 24lbs total and after less than 3 weeks only have 5lbs to lose.  At first it was fast now it has stalled.  BUT she is awesome.  Breastfeeding is better now but I swear, sometimes she wants to be on my breats eating non stop. 

If anyone knows about pumping please let me know.  I will not do it till she is 6 weeks and I start back to school, but so far it is frustrating.  When do I do it?  She feeds every 2.5 to 3 hours for 20 minutes to an hour and I feel like by the time it rebuilds she is ready to go again.  Will this change the bigger she gets?  It is a hospital grade double electric pump and I have tons of milk it seems but maybe I am just doing it wrong.  Any suggestions?  I am dead set on breast milk only for 6 months.

Thanks!

She's beautiful! Congratulations!!

Congrats!!!

Congratulations! What a pretty little thing!

I am currently pumping milk for my almost-11-month-old son. It kind of helped that I pumped for my daughter who is now 4. Even though I had pumped before, I was pretty clueless the first time around so I did a ton of reading on the subject when my son was born.

Firstly, my son was a cluster-feeder at first. When I came home from work, he wanted to nurse once an hour until he went to bed. It was fine by me because it really helped increase my milk supply.

At this point, your milk supply is hormone-driven and will be until 3-6 months post-partum. After that, it becomes supply and demand. The more you pump/nurse on a regular schedule the more succesful you'll be in maintaining your supply.

Women make the most amount of milk first thing in the morning. If you can, pump one breast while your daughter is taking her first feeding of the morning on the other breast. I could usually get 4 ounces+ during that pumping session.

As she starts to sleep longer periods at night, take advantage of that big break in nursing to pump. My son typically goes to bed at least 2-3 hours before I do which is plenty of time to refill.

As she gets older, she will become more efficient at nursing. She won't take as long to nurse and will be able to go longer periods (most likely--my son STILL nurses every 2-3 hours except at night). The best time to pump at first is right after a feeding. If you can pump for 15-30 minutes after she's finished nursing, it will help increase your supply. You won't get much milk at first but the more you pump, the more you'll get. She'll get the milk she needs. She's much better at emptying a breast than the pump is. Plus, your body makes milk as she's nursing in addition to making milk for storage.

Sorry for the novella! Check out KellyMom.com. They have so much helpful information for breastfeeding and pumping. It really helped me when I was first starting out and actually still helps me out!

ETA: It's not unusual to have an oversupply of milk until 6-9 months postpartum because of the hormone regulation. Take advantage of it while you can! I wish I had.

Congratulations!  It is amazing how quickly the body recovers.  I have those same 5 lbs but I haven't started to really watch  my eating or get back to a regular exercise routine.  My daughter is 6 weeks old and I started pumping at 3 weeks and introduced a bottle then too so DH could help with the night feedings.  I started pumping after the morning feeding and started out with just an ounce.  I kept it up and for the first week I hardly had a surplus and was concerned I wouldn't get enough to store.  after the first week of pumping my supply increased a lot and I started saving 4 oz after the morning feeding and could pump 8 - 10 oz at night when DH fed her the bottle.  One thing I learned is to make sure she finishes one breast before switching to the next and you may not have to switch if you make enough. I was switching too soon and she was filling up on foremilk and not getting enough hindmilk leading to some undesireable digestive changes :) I had an oversupply problem

Oh her precious cheeks! Congratulations on the baby and the weight loss!

she's gorgeous!  enjoy every second of your time with her!

Congratulations! All the best to you and her!

Congrats!  That's the day my little guy was born too (he was due on August 5).  I'm a few pounds out from my pre-preg weight too, but I swear my boobs make up the difference! I'm so happy that your little one finally arrived!