Undersupply Diaries; WHAT?!

yeah. how quickly things can change.

i had gotten M back on the breast for a few days and it seemed to be going very well! i wasnt feeling full so i knew she was getting enough.

Husband and i decided to take a family trip to a cabin in the mountains!

i brought my pump just in case, but no expressed frozen milk. why would i need it? i was feeding at the breast! we were an hour from home, with no cell signal. that whole day i was feeling very tender at the nips, and i had some scabbing on the left side due to friction so i decided to pump the left and nurse on the right in block nursing fashion.

first pumping on the left i got 4 ounces easily. 2 hours later i nursed on the right, she fell asleep but i thought she had gotten enough. another 2 ish hours later i began to pump on the left. i got 1 oz. i decided to pump the right side at the next feeding to see how much i was getting. i pumped 2 oz. 3 oz in 4 hours? HOW?! i had JUST gotten through a massive oversupply! i didnt skimp, or diet, or go beyond the 2-3 hour block nursing recommendation. and we were back on the breast!

my breasts were very empty feeling, and even my husband mentioned they looked like they did before i was pregnant.

this continued throughout the night.

this was Friday night.

Saturday i drove into town to get M some milk from our freezer and called an LC working at the hospital. (when im an LC i think i may have weekend hours. it took forever to get ahold of an LC on weekend!)

i made an appt for Monday (today) and the LC thought maybe the nip pain was thrush or something like that. ill get that checked. as for the supply. she isnt sure WHY my supply dropped. there wasnt any stress or anything. I mean after all we were relaxing in a cabin in the woods away from everything and everyone :)

she "prescribed" lots of skin to skin time (difficult with sore breasts!)

its now monday, and i still am not getting more trhan 1 oz in the left and 1.5-2 on the right in a 2 hour period. i started fenugreek today, 3capsules 3x a day and ill keep that up for about 10 days to start i think. M is drinking about 3-4 oz a feeding now so i just need to get back there and ill be fine!

who knows, at the rate my breasts are going, ill be oversupply again in a split second. sigh.

i wish truly that i could have my baby, painfree at the fully efficient breast.

Oversupply Diaries:

i broke myself.

i pushed the pumping too far.

and i paid for it.

oversupply. something i never thought id have nor be sad to have.

but it hurts.

i had JUST started getting M to latch and nurse, and the Overactive LetDown combined with too much Foremilk and not enough Hindmilk in her feedings...it overwhelmed her. she would cry and sputter and spit. she was getting gassy and fussy. and i couldnt pinpoint it. until i googled. and then i realized the problem. the search results all said the same thing: Block Feeding. i didnt like that answer. especially since M was refusing the breast and in what looked like physical pain when we'd nurse. i didnt want her hating the breast.

i called LC; she said the same thing.

the fact that i was pumping and there was NO information online about how to modify the "block nursing" and correlate it to pumping was not helping.

Block Nursing, for those that dont know, is retraining your milk makers. you feed off of one breast for a block of time starting usually around 2 hours. you nurse your baby as much as they want in that two hours on the left breast, and then at the next 2 hour block of time you feed off of the right breast.

the concept terrified me. i was engorged. nipples achy. and my baby wouldnt latch. sok i improvised. maybe not the best idea. i pumped, every 2 hours switching which breast and i relieved only 3-4 ounces each time. i was pumping off about 4 ounces each breast every 2 hours. this started on Monday. I did it all night, setting my alarms every 2 hours. it HURT. ice packs on my boobs all the time i waited for the sweet release of the breast pump.

Tuesday Morning my breasts, both of them, were SO engorged! i tried to nurse M, but it was NOT going to happen. i felt like there was NO progress.

i kept up the same schedule. 2 hours left, 2 hours right. it wasnt the consistent release that block nursing would provide, but i hoped it would help lower supply enough to nurse comfortably. i began to pump out the foremilk, and then change bottles after about .5 ounces. i noticed the milk fuller and creamier, thank goodness. M was staying fuller longer with those bottles and i felt slightly better. i kept the pumping schedule through the night and was relieved when i awoke this morning, Wednesday, with relief in my breasts! It wasnt completely resolved, and i fed M a bottle right off the bat since i was full and needed to pump. but 2 hours later i was able to nurse her on the other side! she pulled off and refused after a little while, but i put her back on when she was hungry again. it seems to work! i FEEL like she isnt eating a full 3 ounces like she normally does, but i know babies are MUCH MORE effective suckling than a pump and can remove milk more efficiently. she seemed full and content and when she wasnt, id plop her back on.

only downside? my nips are SORE and the repeated latching on the same side does NOT help.

but i feel confident! i think this is going to help.

im glad too because i was getting SO STRESSED. thinking that it was just one thing after another and feeling SO defeated. :(

but, seeing my girl HAPPY and FULL on MY MILK?! priceless. it hurts something fierce, but i can overcome this. they're just boobs right? :) more on that later.

even the formula peeps know its true

i went t the store to grab some extra breast pads and milkbags and they happen to be on the same aisle as the formula. i got curious. i wanted to see the packaging and see if they were pressuring women to formula feed with marketing. i was very pleased to see that some of the major formula companies did not claim that formula was "as good as breastmilk" and even stated on the packaging that breastmilk was best. they did mention the formula was designed to be modeled after breastmilk, but it wasnt so misleading. now all mothers who read packaging can know breast IS best!

i was sad to see that one major company did not follow suit, at least in the three types i saw on the shelving. hopefully Similac decides to put something on their packaging stating the health benefits of breastmilk as well...

author unknown

found this on a fb post. loved it!

Now that I've opened my eyes to see the world in which we live,
l realize now the love you have was only for you to give.
l am happy that your nourishment for me is easy for us both
I'll take as much as you can give to aid me in my growth,
but now that my tummy is so full, l'm going to get some rest.
hoping you will do the same as you take me from your breast.
Thank you Mom and you too Dad for bringing me to life.
l will do my best to give you love, free from livings strife.

love, baby.

how perfect! :)

Tongue Tie Diaries: More success amongst failures.

today M nursed almost exclusively for one feeding. what im pretty sure is an overactive or forceful letdown hindered a fully exclusive feeding.

im making about 6 ounces a sessiona nd she only eats about 2.5 so it comes out hard and fast and it was too much. she coughed, spit and sputtered and cried befre giving up. :( but she DID IT! now to fix the overactive boobies ive got. what a great complaint to have! its not her anymore its me. and im so able to fix me!

also...i finally ventured out of the house with my new Medela Pump in Style. first time being out for more than 3 hours and pumping elsewhere and i accidentaly left my supplies for the pump in a bag at my parents, 30 mins away. it was getting late so i figured id run to the store to get extra parts. i paid 25$ for a medela kit. come to find out the flanges were ONE SIZED and ONEPIECE so i couldnt use my own 30mm breastshields with the connectors :( i tried to use the stupid standard 24mm and my poor nips cried out. my hub had to go travel to the family house and bring back my supplies! good man!!

the medela has worked well to draw out more milk. im glad for it. i have to give back the other one soon and was worried about supply and such. now im left trying to figure out how to make less for the girl! ill be calling the LC FIRST thing on monday to get it figured out.

im SO thankful!

Tongue Tie Diaries: more success!

she ate from BOTH sides today!

not more than 1.5 oz id say. but she did it! it helps that my let down is a bit more forceful and like that of a bottle!

speaking of, i ordered 3 of the Breastflow bottles to try out...still waiting on them to be delivered.

we need something slower. M is clearing out a 2.5 oz bottle in the haberman in less than 10 minutes! shes gotten good at suck suck swallow breathe, but i want her to do it on the boobie!

its such a pain to pump.

on the other hand, ive got quite the supply now and have even reached out to an adoptive mom to donate some milk to her when her son comes home!

hoping for more success.

success at the breast?!

we spent a few more good minutes today at the breast.

she fell asleep after a few.

but she took some!

no more than an ounce maybe. but still!

also...very little discomfort on my nips! thank god for lanolin and nipple butter!