I'm curious about nutrition for breastfeeding mamas. How often are you all eating? What are your favorite snacks? Do you snack in the middle of the night? Are you counting calories and protein?
I'm eating my three normal meals with snacks in between as needed. I snacked a lot in the middle of the night at first but with fewer MOTN sessions, I don't have the urge to snack then. I feel like I'm hungry all the time during the day though. I read somewhere that ebf moms need 60+ grams of protein a day which seemed like a lot to me. And I am gluten and dairy free now (gluten for my intolerance and dairy for baby) which makes nutrition tricky.
I'm dairy free for the same reason.
For snacks I like jicama, nuts (cashews or almonds) and the chia packs from Costco. They're like a liquid chia that you suck out of a little pack lol. In the morning eggs or toast with peanut butter and then lunch is usually leftovers. We make a lot of paleo recipes so that makes it easy to avoid dairy and carbs.
I'm curious about nutrition for breastfeeding mamas. How often are you all eating? What are your favorite snacks? Do you snack in the middle of the night? Are you counting calories and protein?
I'm eating my three normal meals with snacks in between as needed. I snacked a lot in the middle of the night at first but with fewer MOTN sessions, I don't have the urge to snack then. I feel like I'm hungry all the time during the day though. I read somewhere that ebf moms need 60+ grams of protein a day which seemed like a lot to me. And I am gluten and dairy free now (gluten for my intolerance and dairy for baby) which makes nutrition tricky.
I'm not a calorie counter, I just eat when my body says I needs it. I do snack a bit throughout the day but stoppeddoing it at night after the first week.
Since I'm doing the whole dairy-free thing, I drink almond milk to replace my morning milk and bought my favorite protein/vit. powder to mix with it or with smoothies (not that I've had the time/energy for smoothies). Other than enjoying a lot of straight up dairy pre-kiddo, I don't cook with it often so it hasn't been as tough as I thought it would be in that aspect.
I do the usual 3 meals a day as well but it has been really hard having a semi-decent lunch since my son has been a bit of a handful these past few weeks. Things got better this past week so I was able to make legit sandwiches for myself. Breakfast is cereal these days but a friend of mine gave me an overnight easy oatmeal recipe that I want to try out. Dinner this week took a hit because of being too burned out so I ate dairy-free homemade ravioli a lot (a friend made it for us!) and more sandwiches. I cooked one night though, which felt great (love cooking; maple glazed pork chops with sweet potato and broccolini).
Snacking is a lot of fruits, berries, melons, etc. but that's always been the norm. I do indulge with chips periodically but I try not to eat the whole bag.
I'm curious about nutrition for breastfeeding mamas. How often are you all eating? What are your favorite snacks? Do you snack in the middle of the night? Are you counting calories and protein?
I'm eating my three normal meals with snacks in between as needed. I snacked a lot in the middle of the night at first but with fewer MOTN sessions, I don't have the urge to snack then. I feel like I'm hungry all the time during the day though. I read somewhere that ebf moms need 60+ grams of protein a day which seemed like a lot to me. And I am gluten and dairy free now (gluten for my intolerance and dairy for baby) which makes nutrition tricky.
I have been a my fitness food calorie tracker for a couple years now. I realized that it has become obessive and I was weighing and measuring every piece of food I would put in my mouth. I decided to stop all of the madness and try to enjoy food and stop obsessing it's very hard. I was also binging at night more often while breastfeeding because I was starving. I've ordered a book for intuitive eating. I eat my 3 main meals and a snack between each on so I'm eating about every two hours I keep my meals pretty small. I eat tons of grilled chicken put it on a salad or wrap. Lots of fruit, turkey and cheese, boiled eggs, nuts, whipped peanut butter and honey on an English muffin, protein bars and Greek yogurt. I'm hungry a lot and try to keep my Calories close to 2,000 but I don't beat myself up anymore if I go over. I also get lots of protein in at least 100 grams daily. I quit eating during the middle of the night after the first couple weeks.
Anyone have their breastfed baby go from mustard yellow poops to green, slimy poops? My 4 week old just started making green stools that have some mucous in them. She has no fever and she is acting fine (albeit a bit fussy, but I think that's pretty typical!) and she is peeing normally. I feed from one side at a time, in the attempt to get her both the fore and hind milk. Any idea why the sudden change in color (and sort of texture, too)?
Anyone have their breastfed baby go from mustard yellow poops to green, slimy poops? My 4 week old just started making green stools that have some mucous in them. She has no fever and she is acting fine (albeit a bit fussy, but I think that's pretty typical!) and she is peeing normally. I feed from one side at a time, in the attempt to get her both the fore and hind milk. Any idea why the sudden change in color (and sort of texture, too)?
a sign that baby has an illness. Babies with an intestinal virus or even a simple cold will sometimes have green, mucusy stools. Teething can also bring about green stools due to increased saliva (can also cause tummy upset)
a lot of green vegetables or something with green food coloring in mom’s diet.
If baby has started solids, that could also account for the change in color (this is normal with the change in diet).
Wtf, it ate my post. Trying again. nope, it won't let me paste in my post. It pastes but won't save. Grrr.
Tried again, it just shows the first sentence. Maddening! I don't want to retype the whole thing. Finally... It didn't like a sad face emoji apparently.
God help me, I got mastitis again!! I was fine yesterday and woke up this morning to a sore left nipple and redness on that breast. Then the body aches kicked in and a fever of 101. Called the on call Dr and they sent in a script for a new antibiotic. I'm in so much pain when she nurses on that side, I burst into tears last time she latched. I know I'm supposed to continue to nurse that side to help it, but it is the most painful thing, ugh. Poor DH is on daddy duty all day so I can rest between feedings. The body aches are horrible and ibuprofen and Tylenol just aren't doing the trick. This is misery. Anyone else get recurrent mastitis? I think I got it this time because DD kept getting upset and pulling off during an entire feeding yesterday afternoon. I think she had gas/had to poop and she made my nipple really sore. Not sure how to deal with her when she has to eat but gets the fussy angry cryfest from gas/poop. This is a new thing where feedings and bm's are at the same time and it's brutal.
I'm curious about nutrition for breastfeeding mamas. How often are you all eating? What are your favorite snacks? Do you snack in the middle of the night? Are you counting calories and protein?
I'm eating my three normal meals with snacks in between as needed. I snacked a lot in the middle of the night at first but with fewer MOTN sessions, I don't have the urge to snack then. I feel like I'm hungry all the time during the day though. I read somewhere that ebf moms need 60+ grams of protein a day which seemed like a lot to me. And I am gluten and dairy free now (gluten for my intolerance and dairy for baby) which makes nutrition tricky.
I've been eating quite a bit, almost always 3 meals a day. Sometimes I miss breakfast but that's more of a timing thing than anything else. Breakfast is usually some combination of yogurt, granola, fruit, or an English muffin with peanut butter. For lunch I'm usually eating leftovers, and I try to make sure dinner has a protein and a green vegetable. We've been eating a lot of chicken. We're trying to cut down on the take out now that we're getting into a more comfortable routine. That has been our biggest vice, and we don't usually eat healthy when getting takeout. My main snack foods are trail mix, mixed nuts, and fresh fruit, but I do eat a bowl of ice cream pretty frequently after dinner. The one thing I haven't done is snack at all in the middle of the night. Sometimes I'm hungry when I get up to nurse, but sleep always wins out over eating
Anyone have their breastfed baby go from mustard yellow poops to green, slimy poops? My 4 week old just started making green stools that have some mucous in them. She has no fever and she is acting fine (albeit a bit fussy, but I think that's pretty typical!) and she is peeing normally. I feed from one side at a time, in the attempt to get her both the fore and hind milk. Any idea why the sudden change in color (and sort of texture, too)?
We had this happen around 3 weeks old. And the green poops lasted for about 2 weeks. Our pediatrician said it wasn't anything to worry about unless she was extra fussy, which she wasn't. He said we only had to worry if her poops were red, black or white. I didn't do anything to change my diet and it jut eventually went back to the mustard color poops and has been like that for 3 weeks now.
Great news everyone!! DS has had a huge improvement the day three days. Very little pain/clicking/air intake!!! Finally I get to see the fruits of our labor and I'm starting to enjoy breastfeeding!!!! Thank God for the LC, dentist and occupational therapist who helped us figure this lip and tongue tie thing out!!
Well Saturday night was brutal. I couldn't shake the fever. I woke up at 10:30 with the chills and couldn't stop shivering, so I got up and put on a polar fleece and socks and finally feel back asleep. Woke up at midnight to feed her soaked through everything in sweat (disgusting!!!) And still had horrible body aches. Finally woke up at 3 to feed her and my fever broke and the aches subsided. Now today I still have a lot of redness and tenderness on that breast. I might be hashing back to the doctor if I don't start seeing more progress. Mastitis is the worst!!
Now I'm trying to piece together why I keep getting this. I think it might be partially because as I mentioned in my previous post she got fussy and kept pulling off the breast and caused some inflammation and soreness on the nipple. But I think she may have gotten fussy at that point potentially because she had gss or had to poop but now I'm starting to wonder if I was having a really strong let down. She's continued to have several really funny episodes at the breast and she keeps pulling off crying and getting angry. I have been pumping in the morning after I fed her and draining both breasts. But I didn't do that Thursday and Friday and so I'm wondering if that created an oversupply and therefore strong letdown that led to her being fussy. Does this sound like I'm on to something? I'm trying to figure out how to start pumping again and how much so that I can avoid this from happening again. Thoughts anyone?
Well Saturday night was brutal. I couldn't shake the fever. I woke up at 10:30 with the chills and couldn't stop shivering, so I got up and put on a polar fleece and socks and finally feel back asleep. Woke up at midnight to feed her soaked through everything in sweat (disgusting!!!) And still had horrible body aches. Finally woke up at 3 to feed her and my fever broke and the aches subsided. Now today I still have a lot of redness and tenderness on that breast. I might be hashing back to the doctor if I don't start seeing more progress. Mastitis is the worst!!
Now I'm trying to piece together why I keep getting this. I think it might be partially because as I mentioned in my previous post she got fussy and kept pulling off the breast and caused some inflammation and soreness on the nipple. But I think she may have gotten fussy at that point potentially because she had gss or had to poop but now I'm starting to wonder if I was having a really strong let down. She's continued to have several really funny episodes at the breast and she keeps pulling off crying and getting angry. I have been pumping in the morning after I fed her and draining both breasts. But I didn't do that Thursday and Friday and so I'm wondering if that created an oversupply and therefore strong letdown that led to her being fussy. Does this sound like I'm on to something? I'm trying to figure out how to start pumping again and how much so that I can avoid this from happening again. Thoughts anyone?
I'm so fearful of mastitis! So sorry you're going through this, it sounds absolutely awful I know that if I accidentally skip a breast when feeding (he only feeds on one breast per session), it will become super full and once he does feed on it....it's like a friggin' geyser just spraying everywhere once the letdown happens. My son is used to a pretty forceful letdown so it doesn't bother him too much but I usually take him off and let it spray a bit into a burp cloth or something until it calms down. I could understand if he got fussy over it though.
When I pump to relieve engorgement/fullness, I just pump to comfort rather than fully drain. It usually just takes a couple of minutes on the pump for me. In the scenario above, which has happened a couple of times because...well I dunno...sleep deprivation or something, I've done a "comfort pump" prior to the next feeding so that my son has an easier time with it and so I'm not uncomfortable in the meantime.
Well Saturday night was brutal. I couldn't shake the fever. I woke up at 10:30 with the chills and couldn't stop shivering, so I got up and put on a polar fleece and socks and finally feel back asleep. Woke up at midnight to feed her soaked through everything in sweat (disgusting!!!) And still had horrible body aches. Finally woke up at 3 to feed her and my fever broke and the aches subsided. Now today I still have a lot of redness and tenderness on that breast. I might be hashing back to the doctor if I don't start seeing more progress. Mastitis is the worst!!
Now I'm trying to piece together why I keep getting this. I think it might be partially because as I mentioned in my previous post she got fussy and kept pulling off the breast and caused some inflammation and soreness on the nipple. But I think she may have gotten fussy at that point potentially because she had gss or had to poop but now I'm starting to wonder if I was having a really strong let down. She's continued to have several really funny episodes at the breast and she keeps pulling off crying and getting angry. I have been pumping in the morning after I fed her and draining both breasts. But I didn't do that Thursday and Friday and so I'm wondering if that created an oversupply and therefore strong letdown that led to her being fussy. Does this sound like I'm on to something? I'm trying to figure out how to start pumping again and how much so that I can avoid this from happening again. Thoughts anyone?
I'm so fearful of mastitis! So sorry you're going through this, it sounds absolutely awful I know that if I accidentally skip a breast when feeding (he only feeds on one breast per session), it will become super full and once he does feed on it....it's like a friggin' geyser just spraying everywhere once the letdown happens. My son is used to a pretty forceful letdown so it doesn't bother him too much but I usually take him off and let it spray a bit into a burp cloth or something until it calms down. I could understand if he got fussy over it though.
When I pump to relieve engorgement/fullness, I just pump to comfort rather than fully drain. It usually just takes a couple of minutes on the pump for me. In the scenario above, which has happened a couple of times because...well I dunno...sleep deprivation or something, I've done a "comfort pump" prior to the next feeding so that my son has an easier time with it and so I'm not uncomfortable in the meantime.
Anyone on a 3 hour schedule during the day? If I follow the eat play sleep routine, he goes 3 hours between feedings and even then I have to wake him up. In the evening he is still fussy so he eats more often and doesn't sleep much except for a cat nap around 6. Then he goes down for the night around 930, up around 3 to eat and right back down until 6 or 7. So I'm afraid if he only eats every 3 hours during the day that he's not getting enough. plenty of diapers so it seems ok but just wondered if anyone else had stretched their feedings out this much yet.
Anyone on a 3 hour schedule during the day? If I follow the eat play sleep routine, he goes 3 hours between feedings and even then I have to wake him up. In the evening he is still fussy so he eats more often and doesn't sleep much except for a cat nap around 6. Then he goes down for the night around 930, up around 3 to eat and right back down until 6 or 7. So I'm afraid if he only eats every 3 hours during the day that he's not getting enough. plenty of diapers so it seems ok but just wondered if anyone else had stretched their feedings out this much yet.
I started doing it more so for the nap schedule but during the day DS can go 3 hours no problem. I just stick with about 2-2.5 to avoid the starve and stuff.
He will take some amazing naps on it so I don't want to stop, it's just a struggle to get him down once he's ready and when I finally do get him down I don't wanna turn around and wake him up.
We're not on any particular schedule, i just feed our LO when she's hungry, but she was on a roughly 3 hour schedule and longer at night. So we were only getting in 7 feedings but her weight gain was good at the 1 month checkup and plenty of wet diapers. Her pattern has changed, lately she's been cluster feeding but then sleeping even longer at night so still only 7 feedings. I just let her go.
My I usually nurse LO right when she wakes then right before she goes back down for a nap. Usually it's only 1.5-2 hrs between but that way she's getting more feeding a during the day and I can let her have a long nap or two without feeling like I need to wake her to eat. Other than that we don't follow any schedule besides me making sure she is up by 6pm so she will be ready for bed.
talked to the Dr at his 2 month appt today, he said 3 or even 4 hours is fine as long as he's not acting hungry. He was 7 13 at birth and is 12 12 now so no problems with weight gain haha. This makes me feel a lot better
So I had a scare yesterday in regards to my milk supply...I did a pumping session earlier than what I normally would in the early evening yesterday and barely got half of what I normally would out of each breast! I am guessing my supply was normalizing to my pumping schedule, but I still try and feed my little one at the breast at least once a day and the last two days he was just so unhappy at the breast, screaming and pulling off all the time, and initially I figured it was my heavy let down, but then after some research I am thinking the milk wasn't coming fast enough . Anyways in hopes to get it back up to where I need to it to be and to ensure that I can keep up with his demand I breast fed him every chance I had yesterday and have now switched my pumping schedule to every three hours, also pumping the other breast after he eats. If enough time has elapsed I do still produce enough where he can eat off of just one breast per feeding. I am hoping this helps. I will be sad if after starting off so good with my milk supply I end up having to supplement.
Any other suggestions? I can only breastfeed during the evening since I am at work all day.
Were you relaxed when you went to pump? I know if my LO wakes up early while I'm strapped to a pump and starts screaming the session is pretty much a wash because my stress level makes it so I hardy get anything.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
So I had a scare yesterday in regards to my milk supply...I did a pumping session earlier than what I normally would in the early evening yesterday and barely got half of what I normally would out of each breast! I am guessing my supply was normalizing to my pumping schedule, but I still try and feed my little one at the breast at least once a day and the last two days he was just so unhappy at the breast, screaming and pulling off all the time, and initially I figured it was my heavy let down, but then after some research I am thinking the milk wasn't coming fast enough . Anyways in hopes to get it back up to where I need to it to be and to ensure that I can keep up with his demand I breast fed him every chance I had yesterday and have now switched my pumping schedule to every three hours, also pumping the other breast after he eats. If enough time has elapsed I do still produce enough where he can eat off of just one breast per feeding. I am hoping this helps. I will be sad if after starting off so good with my milk supply I end up having to supplement.
Any other suggestions? I can only breastfeed during the evening since I am at work all day.
Make sure you're well hydrated, eating enough protein and try oatmeal, lactation cookies or fenugreek tea. I may be crazy but I swear when I have a lactation cookie, oatmeal or even a beer I get more milk that day
Thanks for all the ideas ladies. I was feeling a little stressed pumping that particular moment, but breastfeeding had been getting a little rough there for a couple of days, so that probably didn't help either. I had a protein shake this morning and my first two pumps at work have been what I would definitely call successful. I will keep at it for awhile, but I was really hoping to only have to pump twice a day at work . Trying to keep hydrated and I have been contemplating the lactation cookies, however we have some corona at home, but me and beer just don't mix. Light weight does not even begin to describe me when it comes to beer. Too bad vodka tonics don't work...
out of curiosity I just counted my freezer stash. Currently have 60 bags all with 3oz each, so 180oz. Sounds like a lot but then I realize she eats about 10 times a day (on average) and around 3oz at each feeding (last time we did a weighed feed) so if I all of a sudden lost my supply or couldnt breastfeed any more I would be out of my stash in 6 days! Eap! Im down to just one pump a day, usually to replenish anything she MIGHT take from a bottle and to keep transferring from fridge to freezer but I almost feel like pumping at least twice a day, just to keep the stock pile up.
I also havent had to use anything from the freezer stock (if she bottle feeds we just use whats in the fridge so we dont have to defrost anything and risk her not actually taking a bottle) and I sometimes worry that I will get a bag of milk out and defrost it and it will be horrible or not useable or something. Fearful my pumping will go to waste, but not ready to give it up!
out of curiosity I just counted my freezer stash. Currently have 60 bags all with 3oz each, so 180oz. Sounds like a lot but then I realize she eats about 10 times a day (on average) and around 3oz at each feeding (last time we did a weighed feed) so if I all of a sudden lost my supply or couldnt breastfeed any more I would be out of my stash in 6 days! Eap! Im down to just one pump a day, usually to replenish anything she MIGHT take from a bottle and to keep transferring from fridge to freezer but I almost feel like pumping at least twice a day, just to keep the stock pile up.
I also havent had to use anything from the freezer stock (if she bottle feeds we just use whats in the fridge so we dont have to defrost anything and risk her not actually taking a bottle) and I sometimes worry that I will get a bag of milk out and defrost it and it will be horrible or not useable or something. Fearful my pumping will go to waste, but not ready to give it up!
How did you get that much already! I only have enough for the next day but I figured if I lost my supply I would just use formula. It is what it is. I'm guessing most people don't have that much when our babies are only two months. Awesome for you!
out of curiosity I just counted my freezer stash. Currently have 60 bags all with 3oz each, so 180oz. Sounds like a lot but then I realize she eats about 10 times a day (on average) and around 3oz at each feeding (last time we did a weighed feed) so if I all of a sudden lost my supply or couldnt breastfeed any more I would be out of my stash in 6 days! Eap! Im down to just one pump a day, usually to replenish anything she MIGHT take from a bottle and to keep transferring from fridge to freezer but I almost feel like pumping at least twice a day, just to keep the stock pile up.
I also havent had to use anything from the freezer stock (if she bottle feeds we just use whats in the fridge so we dont have to defrost anything and risk her not actually taking a bottle) and I sometimes worry that I will get a bag of milk out and defrost it and it will be horrible or not useable or something. Fearful my pumping will go to waste, but not ready to give it up!
How did you get that much already! I only have enough for the next day but I figured if I lost my supply I would just use formula. It is what it is. I'm guessing most people don't have that much when our babies are only two months. Awesome for you!
My LO is 6 weeks and I only have 2 bags in the freezer!!! How do you have so much?? I seriously need to add a pump session every day to start my stash!
She was having a terrible time latching at first and I had to use a nipple shield. The LC said the nipple shield causes the nipple to not get as much stimulation and could hurt my supply so for about a week or so I was pumping after every feeding session-so between 8-12 times a day. I started pumping when she was 4 days old and pumped religiously for about 8 days then cut back and was pumping once in the morning and once at night for the next 3 weeks and then started to where I was pumping once a day, either in the morning or at night. Some days I skip pumping but usually dont go more than one or two days between pumping sessions. Now I only get about 3-5oz each day, so storage has really slowed down. It also helps that after she was about 13 days old she really hasnt taken many bottles so she hasnt dipped in to the stash much yet.
I haven't taken the time to count mine, but my story is similar to @June2016BabyW. I had to start pumping in the hospital and I had to keep pumping from there so that LO wouldn't drown from the milk. Now that i am back to work I was pumping 4 times a day, but I don't have a good schedule down with feeding and daycare, etc. Since we are still feeding basically on demand. Since I have noticed a decrease in my output I have upped pumping to 5-6 times a day.
I just put six bags in the freezer tonight that were between 4-6 oz. Overall I probably have over 100 bags with an average fill of 3oz. I probably worry about my milk supply for no reason, but at this point I feel like it is my main connection with my LO since I have gone back to work and it would break my heart of I lost it.
At each feeding what is the average amount of time your baby spends eating? Mine eats an average of 11 times a day and averages 27 minutes for a feed. She is 8 weeks tomorrow. This seems like a lot but I'm not sure.
DS eats about 9-10 times per day and each feeding is about 10 min. Mind you, my flow is fast so he fills up quickly and he goes at least one 6 hour stretch at night.
At each feeding what is the average amount of time your baby spends eating? Mine eats an average of 11 times a day and averages 27 minutes for a feed. She is 8 weeks tomorrow. This seems like a lot but I'm not sure.
Is 27 minutes on one breast? My LO is a lazy eater throughout the day. I usually have to wake her up by stimulating her feet or back. She can take up to 45 minutes if she feeds on both sides in one session. Having said that, the first feed after her 5 hour sleep is way more efficient and she usually spends about 10-15 one each breast.
I would love if her feedings only lasted 10 minutes! This is her 4th feeding and she just spent 24 minutes actively sucking on the right side, complained when I switched her to the left and is now actively sucking there for 5 minutes already. Her shortest feeds are middle of the night, usually 8-10 minutes each side.
I would love if her feedings only lasted 10 minutes! This is her 4th feeding and she just spent 24 minutes actively sucking on the right side, complained when I switched her to the left and is now actively sucking there for 5 minutes already. Her shortest feeds are middle of the night, usually 8-10 minutes each side.
I honestly wish DS would slow down and eat from both sides at night but nope, at night it's like 5 min and he only does one side per feeding so I get so painfully engorged at night and leak through my nursing pads, bra and clothes.
@June2016BabyW is she really drinking that whole time? My lactation consultant and pediatrician both said i could take her off after 15 minutes on each side of she's kind of passively feeding off and on. I don't pull her off if she's actively feeding, and I massage the breast to encourage her to take more in, and rub her feet or hands to wake her up and keep her interested. But if she's just off and on nibbling I pull her off after a while. I'll always give her the 2nd breast too. (I try to wake her up in between!) Like @cdnrunning these lazier feedings are during the day. She is more determined at night bc she usually goes longer between feedings. She does about 7 feedings per day.
27 minutes is for a combined feed. Sometimes she is more on one side thank the other and sometimes she only takes one side. So 27 minutes is average for each is the 11 feeds. I do take her off if she is just playing with it but if there is milk in the nipple shield I try to encourage her to finish. She lets me know if I take her off too early (loudly let's me know).
My kiddo ranges from 6-12 minutes these days. We mostly hover at the 10min marker though and he still only takes one breast per feeding. I only get engorged if I'm an idiot and forget which breast I'm supposed to give him and give the same one twice in a row (I have an app and I use a hairband to remind me buuuut I dunno why I mix them up). I know that his fast drinking contributes a great deal to his gas problem but nothing I've done will slow him down. At this point, I let him do as he pleases and we use remedies to deal with the gas.
So I need to vent!!! And you breastfeeding moms are the only ones who will relate. My mom never gets any time with LO because my DS is obsessed with her and won't let her hold LO and she spends all her time with him (fine with me). So she asked me to come spend time with LO and I took DS to get ice cream and run some errands. I nursed LO twice before I left and was only gone 1.5 hrs. I told my mom she's very tiered but won't need to eat while I'm gone. I get home to two bags of defrosted breastmilk and my mom saying she wouldn't take the bottle, I'm so freaking frustrated that 1.) she wasted BM and 2.) she didn't listen to me. She's supposed to watch LO when I go back to work(just two days a week) in September. I'm grateful to have free childcare but if she won't listen I might as well hire someone. Ahhhh wasted breastmilk makes me stabby!
So I need to vent!!! And you breastfeeding moms are the only ones who will relate. My mom never gets any time with LO because my DS is obsessed with her and won't let her hold LO and she spends all her time with him (fine with me). So she asked me to come spend time with LO and I took DS to get ice cream and run some errands. I nursed LO twice before I left and was only gone 1.5 hrs. I told my mom she's very tiered but won't need to eat while I'm gone. I get home to two bags of defrosted breastmilk and my mom saying she wouldn't take the bottle, I'm so freaking frustrated that 1.) she wasted BM and 2.) she didn't listen to me. She's supposed to watch LO when I go back to work(just two days a week) in September. I'm grateful to have free childcare but if she won't listen I might as well hire someone. Ahhhh wasted breastmilk makes me stabby!
Ooooh that's so irritating!! I wonder what she was thinking. I totally understand your frustration over the wasted milk and the fact that she didn't listen! Hopefully this won't be a reoccuring issue when you go back to work.
Re: Breastfeeding Support
For snacks I like jicama, nuts (cashews or almonds) and the chia packs from Costco. They're like a liquid chia that you suck out of a little pack lol. In the morning eggs or toast with peanut butter and then lunch is usually leftovers. We make a lot of paleo recipes so that makes it easy to avoid dairy and carbs.
Since I'm doing the whole dairy-free thing, I drink almond milk to replace my morning milk and bought my favorite protein/vit. powder to mix with it or with smoothies (not that I've had the time/energy for smoothies). Other than enjoying a lot of straight up dairy pre-kiddo, I don't cook with it often so it hasn't been as tough as I thought it would be in that aspect.
I do the usual 3 meals a day as well but it has been really hard having a semi-decent lunch since my son has been a bit of a handful these past few weeks. Things got better this past week so I was able to make legit sandwiches for myself. Breakfast is cereal these days but a friend of mine gave me an overnight easy oatmeal recipe that I want to try out. Dinner this week took a hit because of being too burned out so I ate dairy-free homemade ravioli a lot (a friend made it for us!) and more sandwiches. I cooked one night though, which felt great (love cooking; maple glazed pork chops with sweet potato and broccolini).
Snacking is a lot of fruits, berries, melons, etc. but that's always been the norm. I do indulge with chips periodically but I try not to eat the whole bag.
Consistently green stools in the breastfed baby can indicate:
Tried again, it just shows the first sentence. Maddening! I don't want to retype the whole thing. Finally... It didn't like a sad face emoji apparently.
God help me, I got mastitis again!! I was fine yesterday and woke up this morning to a sore left nipple and redness on that breast. Then the body aches kicked in and a fever of 101. Called the on call Dr and they sent in a script for a new antibiotic. I'm in so much pain when she nurses on that side, I burst into tears last time she latched. I know I'm supposed to continue to nurse that side to help it, but it is the most painful thing, ugh. Poor DH is on daddy duty all day so I can rest between feedings. The body aches are horrible and ibuprofen and Tylenol just aren't doing the trick. This is misery. Anyone else get recurrent mastitis? I think I got it this time because DD kept getting upset and pulling off during an entire feeding yesterday afternoon. I think she had gas/had to poop and she made my nipple really sore. Not sure how to deal with her when she has to eat but gets the fussy angry cryfest from gas/poop. This is a new thing where feedings and bm's are at the same time and it's brutal.
Now I'm trying to piece together why I keep getting this. I think it might be partially because as I mentioned in my previous post she got fussy and kept pulling off the breast and caused some inflammation and soreness on the nipple. But I think she may have gotten fussy at that point potentially because she had gss or had to poop but now I'm starting to wonder if I was having a really strong let down. She's continued to have several really funny episodes at the breast and she keeps pulling off crying and getting angry. I have been pumping in the morning after I fed her and draining both breasts. But I didn't do that Thursday and Friday and so I'm wondering if that created an oversupply and therefore strong letdown that led to her being fussy. Does this sound like I'm on to something? I'm trying to figure out how to start pumping again and how much so that I can avoid this from happening again. Thoughts anyone?
When I pump to relieve engorgement/fullness, I just pump to comfort rather than fully drain. It usually just takes a couple of minutes on the pump for me. In the scenario above, which has happened a couple of times because...well I dunno...sleep deprivation or something, I've done a "comfort pump" prior to the next feeding so that my son has an easier time with it and so I'm not uncomfortable in the meantime.
When I pump to relieve engorgement/fullness, I just pump to comfort rather than fully drain. It usually just takes a couple of minutes on the pump for me. In the scenario above, which has happened a couple of times because...well I dunno...sleep deprivation or something, I've done a "comfort pump" prior to the next feeding so that my son has an easier time with it and so I'm not uncomfortable in the meantime.
Any other suggestions? I can only breastfeed during the evening since I am at work all day.
Baby #2 Due 3/7/20
Has anyone inventoried their freezer stock yet?
out of curiosity I just counted my freezer stash. Currently have 60 bags all with 3oz each, so 180oz. Sounds like a lot but then I realize she eats about 10 times a day (on average) and around 3oz at each feeding (last time we did a weighed feed) so if I all of a sudden lost my supply or couldnt breastfeed any more I would be out of my stash in 6 days! Eap! Im down to just one pump a day, usually to replenish anything she MIGHT take from a bottle and to keep transferring from fridge to freezer but I almost feel like pumping at least twice a day, just to keep the stock pile up.
I also havent had to use anything from the freezer stock (if she bottle feeds we just use whats in the fridge so we dont have to defrost anything and risk her not actually taking a bottle) and I sometimes worry that I will get a bag of milk out and defrost it and it will be horrible or not useable or something. Fearful my pumping will go to waste, but not ready to give it up!
Baby #2 Due 3/7/20
I just put six bags in the freezer tonight that were between 4-6 oz. Overall I probably have over 100 bags with an average fill of 3oz. I probably worry about my milk supply for no reason, but at this point I feel like it is my main connection with my LO since I have gone back to work and it would break my heart of I lost it.
Eta: he's 8 weeks today
Like @cdnrunning these lazier feedings are during the day. She is more determined at night bc she usually goes longer between feedings. She does about 7 feedings per day.