1. < Employees and Learners Lactating

Welcome to the Nursing Mothers group on Mayo Clinic Town Square

Posted by Amber Caron @ambercaron, Mar 1, 2017

Welcome to the Nursing Mothers group on Mayo Clinic Town Square.

This is a welcoming, safe place where you can meet others who are or have been a nursing mother.
Here we can connect and share stories, offer tips, encourage each other in the breastfeeding journey. This is truly an open forum for all kinds of connections and conversations.

I'm Amber, and I'm the moderator of this group. I am a mother of 2 boys (4 year old & 1 year old). I moved to Rochester 11 years ago with my husband who is a Rochester native. I enjoy connecting with others who are in the middle of the crazy world of parenting.

I look forward to getting to know you and introducing you to other members.

Let's chat. Why not start by introducing yourself?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Employees and Learners Lactating group.

Jayne Schulte-Whiting | @jbob0316 | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @jostby "I'm Jill. I have one daughter who just turned one last week. We live in Byron..." + (show)
@jostby

I'm Jill. I have one daughter who just turned one last week. We live in Byron and my husband is a 4th grade teacher in the community. I commute to Rochester and I am a Pharmacist at the clinic. Both my husband and I are from Fargo and we have been living here for almost 6 years. The hardest thing for us is we have no family in town, so whenever we have visitors we try to take time away for a date night! I am very fortunate I have been able to exclusively breastfeed my daughter. Due to symptoms of possible dairy intolerance I cut dairy from my diet since my daughter was 8 weeks old. Thankfully she has started eating dairy with no issues herself and I have introduced it back to my diet. Yeah cheese! We are working on the whole milk transition now. My daycare provider thinks mixing whole milk and BM is gross and thankfully daughter is taking whole milk fine and I am still sending breastmilk to use up the small freezer stash I have. I am having mixed feeling about stopping. I am VERY ready to be done pumping at work. Recently I cut down to 1 pump session, and still nurse AM before work and evening to sleep. Incredibly thankful for a supportive work unit and access to a lactation room! I hope Mayo and the Rochester community continues to support nursing mothers. This has been one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have done. I agree with everyone the work life place is incredibly hard. My poor husband I admit I don't make enough time for him and have been at times obsessive over our feeding schedule. I am looking forward to more relaxed schedules and not having the constant feeling of when will I pump/nurse. I don't think my daughter is quite ready so we will see how the transition goes and will continue AM/PM for awhile. I couldn't have done this without supportive family, friends, and coworkers. I hope other moms use this thread to find help in their breastfeeding journey's and know they are not alone in the joys and struggles it brings!

How do you guys fit in working out? I admit I used pregnancy and then breastfeeding as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted and not work out but really want to fit this back in my schedule. Working full time and wanting as much time with my daughter as possible I don't know how to find the energy to fit this in.

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I am feeling the same way! I used to work out 4-5 days a week pre and during my pregnancy. I tried keeping that up on maternity leave as much as possible but it's been a challenge to work out now that I am back at work. On my lunch break, I eat and pump then the last half I walk in the subway to the DAHLC and back. I just found the stairwell by the Gonda elevators and am going to attempt that this week! I heard they even play music in stairwell. Even just a quick 20 minute walk, I feel energized. Do you have time over your lunch at all to walk or climb stairs?

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Jocelyn Webb | @jjwebb | Mar 22, 2017

I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was born and raised in Rochester. My husband is from Clear Lake, Iowa. We lived in Iowa for a couple years and I teleworked for Mayo. When we found out we were pregnant, my husband took a job at Mayo so we could move back to the Rochester area (Byron). As a new mom, I am excited to be a part of this group and connect with other nursing moms!

REPLY
3 replies
JOstby | @jostby | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @jostby "I'm Jill. I have one daughter who just turned one last week. We live in Byron..." + (show)
@jostby

I'm Jill. I have one daughter who just turned one last week. We live in Byron and my husband is a 4th grade teacher in the community. I commute to Rochester and I am a Pharmacist at the clinic. Both my husband and I are from Fargo and we have been living here for almost 6 years. The hardest thing for us is we have no family in town, so whenever we have visitors we try to take time away for a date night! I am very fortunate I have been able to exclusively breastfeed my daughter. Due to symptoms of possible dairy intolerance I cut dairy from my diet since my daughter was 8 weeks old. Thankfully she has started eating dairy with no issues herself and I have introduced it back to my diet. Yeah cheese! We are working on the whole milk transition now. My daycare provider thinks mixing whole milk and BM is gross and thankfully daughter is taking whole milk fine and I am still sending breastmilk to use up the small freezer stash I have. I am having mixed feeling about stopping. I am VERY ready to be done pumping at work. Recently I cut down to 1 pump session, and still nurse AM before work and evening to sleep. Incredibly thankful for a supportive work unit and access to a lactation room! I hope Mayo and the Rochester community continues to support nursing mothers. This has been one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have done. I agree with everyone the work life place is incredibly hard. My poor husband I admit I don't make enough time for him and have been at times obsessive over our feeding schedule. I am looking forward to more relaxed schedules and not having the constant feeling of when will I pump/nurse. I don't think my daughter is quite ready so we will see how the transition goes and will continue AM/PM for awhile. I couldn't have done this without supportive family, friends, and coworkers. I hope other moms use this thread to find help in their breastfeeding journey's and know they are not alone in the joys and struggles it brings!

How do you guys fit in working out? I admit I used pregnancy and then breastfeeding as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted and not work out but really want to fit this back in my schedule. Working full time and wanting as much time with my daughter as possible I don't know how to find the energy to fit this in.

Jump to this post

I just dropped my last pumping session this week and now have a full hour lunch to myself! My plan is to use half of it to walk around the skyways downtown. Just got back from doing so and now I could use a nap 😉 I just joined a weekly challenge a friend is putting on through facebook for 5 min workouts each day. Day 3 and still sore from Day 1 of doing squats and lunges haven't done in 2 years. Ouch! But it is a start!

REPLY
JOstby | @jostby | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @jjwebb "I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was..." + (show)
@jjwebb

I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was born and raised in Rochester. My husband is from Clear Lake, Iowa. We lived in Iowa for a couple years and I teleworked for Mayo. When we found out we were pregnant, my husband took a job at Mayo so we could move back to the Rochester area (Byron). As a new mom, I am excited to be a part of this group and connect with other nursing moms!

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@jjwebb We live in Byron too! I see your last name is Webb, I think your daughter may have just started at our daycare where we send our newly turned 1 year old. Would love to connect! 🙂 Hope the transition back to work has been going well! I am in the process of weaning from pumping/nursing and finding more time for myself, or trying. So nice to see this group and not feel alone with the nursing journey even though I am coming to the end of it!

REPLY
Jocelyn Webb | @jjwebb | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @jjwebb "I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was..." + (show)
@jjwebb

I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was born and raised in Rochester. My husband is from Clear Lake, Iowa. We lived in Iowa for a couple years and I teleworked for Mayo. When we found out we were pregnant, my husband took a job at Mayo so we could move back to the Rochester area (Byron). As a new mom, I am excited to be a part of this group and connect with other nursing moms!

Jump to this post

@jostby That is crazy. I would love to connect and get to know a daycare family! My transition is going pretty well, my work unit is great and supportive. I'm still adjusting with fitting my pumping in between meetings but so far it's working out. I'm definitely exhausted by the end of the day. I'm still pumping after her bedtime nurse and before I go to bed. I'm struggling with this pump and wanting to drop it, so I can go to bed earlier, but I'm afraid if I drop it my supply will decrease. I love nursing but not so much the pumping! Good luck on weaning, I imagine it's a bittersweet feeling!

REPLY
JOstby | @jostby | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @jjwebb "I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was..." + (show)
@jjwebb

I'm Jocelyn. I am a first time mom, my daughter is almost 15 weeks. I was born and raised in Rochester. My husband is from Clear Lake, Iowa. We lived in Iowa for a couple years and I teleworked for Mayo. When we found out we were pregnant, my husband took a job at Mayo so we could move back to the Rochester area (Byron). As a new mom, I am excited to be a part of this group and connect with other nursing moms!

Jump to this post

@jjwebb Have you been able to pump enough at work for the next day usually? I know its also hard in the beginning figuring out how much baby will eat at daycare so always worrying about pumping enough. My daughter ended up staying at three 4oz bottles ever since I went back to work and still at this. Trying to stop bottles now, always a new transition 😉 I would say try dropping that pump and if you feel your supply dropping pick it up again. When you are more stressed and not getting rest your pumping goes done, so if this relieves some stress for you may actually help some of your other pumps! I almost always pumped just enough for the next day, there was a stretch I was putting more in the freezer and now I stopped pumping and we still have enough milk for at least another month. I never did pump at home, just the 3x at work, and then nursed AM before work, when got home from work, and then at bed. I didn't mind nursing but HATED pumping, so I never wanted to do extra at home if I didn't have to. Weaning is definitely a bittersweet feeling!

REPLY
JOstby | @jostby | Mar 22, 2017
In reply to @chengel "I'm Cyndi. I have two daughters, one is 2 years old, one is five months old...." + (show)
@chengel

I'm Cyndi. I have two daughters, one is 2 years old, one is five months old. We live near Winona and both my husband and I commute to work--I drive to Rochester and he drives to Wisconsin. I breastfed my oldest for a little over four months before I stopped due to a needlestick exposure, but continued pumping to maintain supply. My supply eventually dwindled and I stopped three months after the exposure. Once I got the all clear from my doctors, we reintroduced the pumped breastmilk. I've had a much easier journey with my second! I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding but I find it very, VERY difficult to balance working, pumping, driving, spending time with the family and still having time for myself.

I'm looking forward to chatting with other moms on here! Anyone else have the same issue with balancing work/family life?

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I agree I don't know how you do it with a drive?! Do you pump while your driving? I see many posts about that on other blogs to multitask, but obviously BE CAREFUL! What really saved me pumping at work was using the Kiinde system. I was able to pump right into bags. I pumped one side into bag, the other into a bottle and combined into the bag after the pump. I then used a new bag and the same bottle for the next pump. I pumped 3x a day for a verryyyyyy long time. And then at the end of the day would have 3 bags of milk I would portion into her three 4 oz bottles for work the next day, using those bags. Any extra I would freeze or save for the next day in case didn't pump enough. I would have WAY less bottles and parts to wash at night then in the morning I just drop off the bags at daycare. My daycare provider had the holder and nipple, would just pop in the bag and give bottle. After bottle finished bag is thrown away. No bottles to pick up at end of day and no extra bottles to wash!!! The bags are a little bit pricier but would look for deals on Amazon and Target.

I felt the hardest nursing session of the day was when I got home from work. I felt so stressed to make sure to get home in time and then it felt like the night would go so quick by the time nursing and eating myself was done. After I dropped that pump a few months ago that really made me feel like i was freer and had more time. I don't make a Target stop after work as much as I should!

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Amber Caron | @ambercaron | Mar 23, 2017
In reply to @jbob0316 "Hello, I am Jayne. I have two sons, one 13 years old and a 5 month..." + (show)
@jbob0316

Hello, I am Jayne. I have two sons, one 13 years old and a 5 month old. This is my first time nursing as it was unfortunately unsuccessful with my first born. I have lived in Rochester since 2007. My husband was born and raised here and is a realtor with Keller Williams. I was excited to see a group like this available, so thank you for creating it!!

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@jbob0316 Welcome to the group! Excited to have you join!

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Amber Caron | @ambercaron | Mar 29, 2017

Just wanted to say Hello to all the my mommy friends and hope you are having a great week!

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Jennifer Reiman | @jmreiman | Apr 14, 2017
In reply to @chengel "I'm Cyndi. I have two daughters, one is 2 years old, one is five months old...." + (show)
@chengel

I'm Cyndi. I have two daughters, one is 2 years old, one is five months old. We live near Winona and both my husband and I commute to work--I drive to Rochester and he drives to Wisconsin. I breastfed my oldest for a little over four months before I stopped due to a needlestick exposure, but continued pumping to maintain supply. My supply eventually dwindled and I stopped three months after the exposure. Once I got the all clear from my doctors, we reintroduced the pumped breastmilk. I've had a much easier journey with my second! I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding but I find it very, VERY difficult to balance working, pumping, driving, spending time with the family and still having time for myself.

I'm looking forward to chatting with other moms on here! Anyone else have the same issue with balancing work/family life?

Jump to this post

@jostby I also use the kiinde system and pump into one bag and a bottle. I agree so much less to wash up. Luckily I have a very supportive husband who does most of the pump part washing up on evenings which is a time saver and less stress. The thought of more washing was stressing me and decreasing my motivation to pump 3x per day.

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