Warning: This will be long.

I'm 6 weeks postpartum and started pumping this week to build a bit of a stash for daycare. I'm going to continue pumping at work 3-4 times a day when I go back in 6 weeks, but wanted to have some in storage as well. I've been really disappointed and frustrated with my output, especially given all the posts I see about people pumping 4, 8, sometimes more than 10 ounces in a single session.

The past 3 days, I have managed to get 1.5 ounces per session.

I have tried:

- Pumping in the morning, after DS' morning nursing session and once he goes down for a nap. It had been about 30 minutes since DS last ate. This netted me 1.5 ounces in 15 minutes before DS woke up.
- Pumping in place of a nursing session while DH gave DS a bottle, which netted me 1.5 ounces while DH fed him 3 ounces. So that was obviously a huge fat waste of time. It had been 2 hours since DS last ate so I though I'd get more but... no.
- Pumping in the afternoon after DS went down for a nap. This was about 30 minutes after DS last ate. This netted me 1.5 ounces.

I'm using a Medela PIS. The suction seems more than adequate as I'm pumping at a 1.5 and it's barely tolerable.

I have tried different sized flanges and know I'm using the right one (the smaller one pinches, the larger one is too large for my breast so I lose suction).

I have tried angled flanges.

I have eaten oatmeal. I have guzzled water. I have tried relaxing. I have tried massaging my breasts beforehand and letting them hang a bit to "help the milk come down."

And each and every time I get 1.5 ounces. 1 ounce from one breast, .5 ounces from the other.

I know my milk supply is more than adequate -- I leak, DS is satisfied after feeding, I hear him drinking, and he's gaining weight like gangbusters (9 ounces in the past week alone).

I've done the math and if I continue to pump 1.5 ounces at every session while I'm at work -- assuming my supply doesn't decrease, which I know it often does for WOHMs -- that's only 6 ounces I'm pumping while DS will eat about 9.5 while he's away from me at daycare. Pumping 1.5 ounces each day for the remainder of my maternity leave will give me 60 ounces in the freezer. If I add that to the 6 ounces pumped at work, that gives me enough to exclusively provide DS with breastmilk for... 17 days.

I'm not opposed to supplementing with formula, but I hate pumping so much that it feels like a failure and a waste to have to do that at the end of the day. To do this thing I hate, and get 1.5 ounces. While everybody else is overflowing their bottles and buying chest freezers to store the overabundance of milk at their fingertips (I know that's not everybody but it's how it feels).

I've read that I should just pump after every nursing session and get an ounce each time and build up a nice little stash. That's not really realistic because after I nurse, I have DS to tend to. If I pump each time he naps, that often takes up his entire naptime as many of his naps each day are like 30 minutes. I don't want to be pumping all day every day with no time to do anything else.

As for pumping at night after he's gone to bed, as an additional session -- he's still only doing a roughly 3-hour stretch at the beginning of the night, and I hate the idea of missing out on that sleep because after that he's up every 1.5 to 2 hours. And frankly, if I have 1.5 ounces in the morning, I'm not holding my breath for much more at 10 p.m.

As for waking up early to pump, well, at that point he's been eating every 1.5 to 2 hours so it's not like I'll have a ton left in me. And I'm frigging exhausted.

I know I've pretty much decimated all advice there is to give, but I'm still asking -- what am I doing wrong? Why am I not pumping barely anything? I don't want to take supplements because I don't want to end up with an oversupply if my supply is adequate, but maybe that's what I need to do?

ETA: what will typically happen is I'll get a letdown and will be spraying milk and then after a couple of minutes it just stops. Sometimes it continues to drip, but not for long. If I press on and adjust the flanges I can get some spray but then it stops again. I'm using a hands free simple wishes pumping bra. I need to be able to pump hands free at work.