...thanks for the fenugreek suggestion.
I have been on shatavari for the past few days, lots of unsweetened milk since I came home, porridge, lentil soup....the works.
And baby girl gained a smashing 90 gms in the last 10 days. :-(
Lola had a cardiac arrest on Jan 16, 2011 which she did not survive. I was kept in the dark.
I could not get fenugreek pills, so I had tea. Also anise, fenel, caraway, lemon verbena and balm (I translated them from German, I have no idea what they look like). Also some yeast based sweet stuff.
ReplyDeleteCluster feeding should help with the increase of supply.
Perhaps a midwife can help you better than I...
Pump and domperidone (never did figure out where you live, going to ASSUME it's the states). It's commonly used here in Canada and can be compounded by your pharmacy, it will for sure up the supply, the dom and the pumping and your supply will bounce back.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, I'm pretty pro formula, our twins had both breast milk and formula for the first 6 months and they are super healthy, never got sick until recently at 21 months. But if you want to just BF, ask your doc about dom.
We used MotherLove products and that helped (I was still only able to BF the twins until 3mo, but that was because the 2nd round of mastitis killed my supply and nothing brought it back). But the MotherLove stuff was great. We used the More Milk Plus and the More Milk Special Blend. http://www.motherlove.com/category/breastfeeding.html
ReplyDeleteSo she did gain weight, even just a little! Is she pooping and peeing enough during the day? That is the TRUE measure.
ReplyDeletedon't worry, the fact that she's gaining at all is a good sign! i know how hard it is not to worry but you are doing a GREAT job mama :)
ReplyDeleteThere are recipes for breastmilk cookies (to increase supply, not made w/it!). If they help, yay, if they don't, they are still cookies! :) Make sure momma eats, drinks, & is merry. The little miss IS gaining, and you have very recently changed settings. Maybe still getting into the swing of things there. Being a baby is VERY hard work if you think about it. So much growth, so many changes, nerves connecting & branching, EVERYTHING is a learning experience. The whole womb to outside is just insane w/all the changes that happen in an instant. Even just the noises go from being muffled to WOW, eardrums!! Perhaps she is petite, or perhaps she is working on growing that brain & growing long. A happy, healthy, hydrated baby is the goal. I think you are doing pretty darn well!
ReplyDeleteDon't feed bad! Sometimes it just happens. Lots of women recommend Fenugreek, so hopefully that will help you out. I've been trying to power-pump and pump more frequently to increase supply... it's not helping me, but it seems to help a lot of others.
ReplyDeleteI've been having to supplement since day one. I was just doing 1-2 ounces a day, but this last week my supply tanked and I've been doing 7 ounces a day of formula :( So I can relate. I feel like my body is letting me down, but I keep reminding myself... baby is eating no matter what form it takes, and that's all that ultimately matters.
Hopefully your supply will pick back up though, keep at it mama! Good luck hun.
http://kellymom.com/ This website is the best resource too. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGaining is good. I hope you find whatever works for you, but most important...don't make it a huge stressful worry. It will be OK.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing everything you can, that's the main thing. I was pumping and K was mostly formula feeding from day 1 because she had lost so much weight and just wasn't producing enough. It was so tiring and stressful. There are lots of tricks to produce supply. Some might work, others might not. But I'll also tell you what my paediatrician told us when I was slowly losing my mind over it all. I felt like a failure. I was stressed, it hurt (thank you fibro) and baby still would get barely anything. At one appointment he looked me straight in the eye and said: "It's okay to stop at some point if it's really not working". No one from the lactation consultant to the community health nurse ever reminded me I had this option. I not saying you should stop, just that it too is an option. You need to do what works for BOTH you and Figlia. End of story. Mama is just as important as baby. :)
ReplyDeleteStressful situation, I know. I agree with a commenter above that the number of wet and poop diapers is the only way to measure milk intake. Watching the scale on a regular basis is too stressful and can be misleading. But unfortunately most pediatricians do so, and the second it stays the same or decreases, they recommend supplementing. If you are exhausted and miserable, supplement away! It's okay! If you can handle increased nursing, put her to the breast more often. Either way, the most important thing is for mama to be happy and rested. I remember oatmeal, water and fenugreek helped me the most when I feared my milk was low.
ReplyDelete