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Breastfeeding
Low Supply Check-In
This is a weekly check in where ladies who are dealing with a low supply of breastmilk can share their successes and get support for their challenges and difficult days.
If you are looking for supply boosting ideas here is a link to a great post that JenniferJaneC posted rating all of the supply boosters she has tried. Here is a recipe for lactation cookies and here is a recipe for lactation banana bread.
Here is the link to the Motherlove webpage. They are the makers of More Milk Plus and More Milk Special Blend. There is also a store locator on their site so you can find the closest place to you to buy it.
How are you doing this week ladies? Any successes that you need to brag about? Challenges that you need to vent about?
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Re: Low Supply Check-In
Ladies~
It is with great joy in my heart I get to write this post today! It is my 6 month anniversary of breastfeeding. Over the past few months we have struggled with low supply. I've seen doctors, nurses, lactation consultants, herbalists, chiropracters, and pharmacists working to get my supply up. I've taken drugs, power pumped, massaged my breasts, eaten cookies, drank so much water I'm floating, It has been a long journey but I'm proud to say that it's working for us. It has been so rewarding to make it to this milestone.
What I really need to say though is thanks to you gals. The days that I was really down, someone was always around to say, don't quit today, shoot for the end of the week, and of course by that time I was feeling better. I honestly believe without the guidance and encouragement I got on these boards I might have quit. I can think of two times in particular when you guys were the exact thing I needed to keep going.
Thanks so much. And, if you are new to breastfeeding and struggling, I'd say stick with it if you can, it is so worth it!
Things are okay. I did a power pumping session over the weekend and I don't feel like it did anything noticeable. I'm going to try again this weekend.
I'm continuing to pump 4-5 times a day. DD2 is nursing longer and seems more satisfied, so I feel good about that. From my sessions, she takes a six-ounce bottle once a day (at that feeding she just gets the bottle, and I pump to get more milk for the next day's bottle) on top of all the nursing she does.
But every time I feel like I'm starting to gain ground, something happens so I can't get ahead. I think she's going through a growth spurt right now, so after I pumped at 9 p.m. last night, she was up at 10:30 and I hadn't filled up enough to satisfy her. So she nursed, then got 1.5 ounces of milk I had just pumped, which puts me a little behind on getting enough milk for tomorrow's bottle.
I was having some GI problems drinking multiple cups of mother's milk tea per day, but I'm really considering giving fenugreek or one of the tinctures a try.
DH and I have both noticed that DD2 seems to be putting on some extra weight and that her rolls are getting rolly-er, so that's the good part (although she was growing fine before I started doing all this). But man, I'm tired of pumping so much and washing bottles!
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
I've noticed a very slight increase (like .5oz) and I guess that's from the extra pumping session that I added.
I also am thinking of trying the Mothers Milk Special Blend. I tried Mothers Milk Plus, but didn't feel it gave me much of an increase. That, or I may go back on the fenugreek.
We hit the 8 month mark yesterday - and I can't believe we've made it this far. I'm still loving the bond that nursing gives, but I'm ready to get rid of this pump I feel like I spend most of my day attached to it!!
Hey there - is this daily check in? I'm new - my supply tanked over the weekend and I'm fighting to get it back. My LC recommended relaxation and rest over anything else, but it's so hard not to want to pump around the clock to get enough milk to feed him.
I'm currently pumping 1/4 of what I was pumping last week. It makes me want to cry, but I guess things could be worse. I'm on oatmeal and fenugreek - which has improved things a tiny bit, but it's hard.
teamsweet, make sure you're drinking enough water and taking in enough calories. I found that my calories were low and that contributed to my supply tanking.
I'm here as a success story. My supply tanked when DS was 6 months old, and I was supplementing 6-8 oz a day. We're now not supplementing and I'm getting ahead of him. I would also like to thank the ladies here, you were my support on my bad days, even when I didn't post.
What worked for me: oatmeal for breakfast every day, one cup of mother's milk tea, TONS of water, getting a bit more sleep, and making sure my calories were there. Power pumping helped some, and I made the cookies a few times.
i'm a new poster. dd is 7 weeks old and my supply has been low from day one. i've been pumping for about 6 weeks now, taking mothers milk plus and fenugreek. over the course of the last few weeks, dd has gone from getting 6 oz of bm a day to about 8.5/9 oz of bm a day - which is roughly half of her intake. i hope to be able to really increase that soon.
i tried taking reglan but it made me crazy loopy and fatigued. i have ordered some domperidone and hopefully its arriving in the next few days.
i've finally just started to relax after being so depressed that i had to give dd formula and i do think that has helped a bit in my increased supply.
New here. For the past two weeks my supply has truly dipped. Normally I'm pumping 6.5 oz at a time. LO eats 5 oz each feeding, so I was able to stash some. I have completely gone through the freezer stash and have had to supplement at times. I am only pumping about 3 oz a session. By the way, I work FT and I feel even more obligated to produce what it takes for him to be satisfied while I'm in his absence.
This has stressed me out and I feel really sad that I am not producing enough for my baby. I am drinking the tea and taking the fenugreek but I can not tell any difference. I plan to use this weekend to work fiercely to get back on track.
Thank you all for the great inspirational stories. I look forward to being a success at this.
Hearing the success stories has really been helpful. I think I'm eating enough (i.e. not losing any weight) and I'm trying to drink more. I'm seeing a counselor tomorrow for ppd. I was having some emotional stress (thanks mil) and then my supply going down just made me 10x more sad.
It's hard b/c I didn't have issues before - so I know my body is capable of making more milk, I just wish I knew how to get it back.
New here. I have no idea if my supply has ever been where it should (DD is 5 1/2 wks) but at any rate it is low. My morale is pretty low today. We took DD to the pedi today for a weigh-in and she was only up 3 oz. from one week ago. Which they said was adequate but on the low end. My pedi wants me to put her on more of a schedule (the other night I had her on the breast like crazy and she ended up spending virtually six hours there--nibbling a lot of the time, but still...) and supplement if she is still hungry after 45 minutes. So I'll pump while supplementing. Am power pumping right now. Sigh.
I'm also on day 10 of Reglan, just upped my fenugreek dosage and yesterday added fennel and blessed thistle into the mix. Waiting for domperidone to arrive and I'll start taking that instead of reglan. And am eating oatmeal, have had beer a few times this past week, water intake is good. Honestly, I'm really not seeing much of a difference yet. Now I usually get 1 1/2 oz. from both breasts combined in a pumping session (15-20 min), that is up from 1/2 to 1 oz. prior to starting all this.
I'm desperate to get back to EBFing and hope to be successful. Am trying to stay positive and this board helps so much towards that. Thank you ladies.