Pumping post-mortem:
I spent 2 months with a hospital grade pump before going on vacation with my family. I maxed out at 5-6 oz/day plus nursing, but life became too complicated while I was away and I all but lost my milk. With a potential return to work looming a month away, a PIS instead of a hospital grade pump to use, a daughter who is on solids and doesn't seem to appreciate nursing the way she used to (i.e. is too easily distracted), and another trip on the calendar this weekend I didn't think it was worth spending another few months trying to regain lost ground, so I have decided to give up. I feel somewhat resentful that the decision was taken out of my hands and am heartsick that it didn't work and that I am giving up, but it is probably for the best.
Was this whole experiment worth it? Probably not. I never built enough supply to just be able to nurse, which was what I was hoping for. Before we left for vacation I was to the point where I could comfort soothe her back to sleep at night, but that's about as far as it ever got. Nursing was supposed to make my life easier, not harder, and the (literally) thousands of dollars spent on medications, doctors appointments, etc are not insignificant either. I am also sick of fighting with my husband about this.
Would I recommend attempting to induce lactation for someone else? Potentially. Reading through the posts there seem to be some who have had success, but my guess is that those who did not tend to disappear so the sample is biased. However I think that I held on longer than I should have, and kept on pushing when it should have been abundantly clear to me that it was a failure.
Will I kept up nursing with the lact-aid? Absolutely not. My husband seems *shocked* that I don't want to keep going with the lact-aid and the pills, but as I kept repeating on vacation, without the pumping there is no reason to bother.
