hitting a rough patch

Peanutz21 · September 2014

we went away with LO to california and i didn't bring my electric pump with me. pre-trip our routine would be something like this: LO wakes up, feeds 1 side and is full and i proceed to pump the untouched side and get 3-5 ounces. i wouldn't pump any extra during the day, just every 3 hours while at work and LO is at daycare. i was doing fine;keeping even, heck sometimes even getting more than what she was getting at daycare - enough to freeze for a stash. i'm worried that our trip messed up my supply...

i brought a hand pump with me with the intention of pumping the unfed side for stimulation. i didn't end up doing so because the time change (3 hours) affected LO and she ended up feeding at very odd hours of the day where i didn't fine my breasts needing to be pumped. in hindsight i'm thinking i should have but now i can't change anything about that.

the last 4 days with BFing have been rough. for one she is 4.5 months and at the stage where she likes to chew on everything. i'm finding it difficult to know when she's still feeding or just hanging out because she likes to chew. over the weekend i kept our sessions on the long side. pre-california our sessions were topped off at 30 min at the most. over the weekend i think she ate for an hour total each time mostly because i didn't know if she was chewing or eating. the last 2 days i've noticed a dip in my supply. in the AM i end up feeding on both sides and don't end up pumping. then the last 2 times i tried to BF her today i had the feeling she wasn't getting enough because she would latch and then unlatch quickly and cry. over and over again. i ended up giving her some BM from the bottle and i've dug into the stash for daycare.

i don't know if maybe it's a combo of things- the trip, not pumping in the AM anymore, work stress, ? growth spurt, ? maybe my cycle is coming back. also my wonky work schedule doesn't help either. i'm not on a set 8-5 schedule or anything. i don't know but i'm having a ton of ANXIETY now. i threw in an extra 2 pumping sessions today but didn't get much out of it 1-2 ounces total each time.

any thoughts on lactation cookies? tell me they work! i'm thinking of making them but had to special order the brewers yeast from amazon...

hitting a really rough patch. DH thinks i'm crazy... thanks for making it this far...sorry so long

24Trishap · September 2014

I recently had a dip in my supply, and I started drinking Mothers Milk Tea and it really helped! I drank it 3x a day and gradually over 2weeks I noticed an increase in my supply. Good luck!

Peanutz21 · September 2014

@nursedesi i work in a hospital and i just started using the hospital grade ameda elite in the lactation room the last 2 days - output is about 2-3 ounces total each time

. before this i was toting around my medela PISA (what was i thinking)

@24Trishap - no i haven't tried Mother's Milk.... maybe i will give it a go

@Casey78 - thank you for the advice. i'm not sure whats going on... the cookies i am going to make have extra thick oats with flaxseed meal along with the brewer's yeast so hopefully that'll work. i just resumed my calcium supplements. i really don't know if my cycle is coming back. i was having some mild pre-menstrual like cramps last night. it's so hard to narrow down what it could be thats causing this. it doesn't help that all these factors seem to happen at the same time...

i may try some power pump at home. i wish my work schedule wasn't so erratic. i thought i was going to stress about trying to get LO on some type of schedule and here i am just trying to figure out a pump/nurse schedule first

hopefully LO becomes very adaptable!

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