ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake???
I am a FTM who is exclusively pumping. My baby is 4.5 weeks old and her wake windows/sleep schedule/feeding schedule are starting to shift. Up until her 4 week mark, she was pretty much on an exclusive 2.5-3 hour sleep/feed cycle. She has always been a heavy sleeper and we have almost always had to wake her up to feed. It was easy to plan pumping while she was sleeping. Since her weight gain has been good, our pediatrition is now telling us that it is safe to let her sleep/eat/and stay awake on her own schedule instead of waking her up and basically forcing her to eat. While I love this (because it might mean we get to sleep longer at night and I HATE forcing her to eat) it is also making it incredibly difficult to pump since this also means her wake windows are much longer and it overlaps with my pumping schedule. I purchased a Eufy S1 wearable pump last week so I can wear it while taking care of my baby, but it still is not the easiest to hold/play/change her, let alone make myself a hot meal. I am also worried that it will end up tanking my supply if I use them too much.
I am working so hard to establish my supply. I am currently pumping about 33% more than what she needs daily so I can build a small freezer stash and I would hate to ruin it by using the wearable too much or not being able to pump so often.
I'd love and appreciate any advice on this! I really don't want to have to give up pumping becuase I can't figure out how to take care of my baby (let alone feed myself) while pumping at the same time!
For some extra information, I pump 6x per day (5x between 7am and 8pm and once between 1am and 3am). I have been wearing my wearables for my MOTN and first morning pump, and then using a spectra 1 (blue) in the evening when my husband comes home from work and I can sit and massage my breasts while pumping to prevent clogged ducts. The other daily pumps depends on if my baby is sleeping or not (if awake, I will wear my Eufy).