I've been dreading writing about this subject for a little while now, because it's still upsetting to me.
Since I found out I was pregnant I knew that I wanted my baby to be exclusively breastfeed. That I was going to do whatever I could to make it work. But honestly I never really knew how hard it was going to be, I just thought that it was something that was easy and came naturally. But boy was I ever wrong.
It all started from the day he was born. He never really latched properly and it was the most painful thing ever. I had multiple different lactation consultants try and help me. It just never seemed to get better though. But I didn't give up just yet, because I had my mind set that I was going to make it work. Sadly, we only made it to about 6 weeks before I gave him his first bottle of formula. And let me tell you, it is one of the most heart breaking things ever. Not many people talk about it but it truly is. You feel like a complete failure. At least I did. I was so upset over the fact that not only was he not latching properly, he wasn't getting enough milk that I had to give him this garbage.
That's when I switched over to pumping. I figured, if he's not going to latch then at least I can pump and feed him that way right? I was still supplementing with formula here and there which was still hard on me emotionally but he was still getting breast milk so that's all I cared about. I was somehow able to build up a small supply along the way. Things seem to be working out. Until recently.
I have started to lose my milk supply. Which is completely devastating to me. But there is no one else to blame then myself. I never had the greatest milk supply, but I used to religiously pump every 2-3 hours on the dot. Over the past few weeks, I became too busy and never really made the time to pump or drink enough water. Two very important things when it comes to pumping.
I don't want to say that thing whole journey is over yet. Because I am still willing to try and start over and give pumping my all, but I just don't know if it's too late. I feel like I have tried everything in the books to try and boost my supply. I have gone through my entire frozen stash and he is mostly on formula now, which kills me.
If you have any advice, tips, tricks or anything that could help me out in this hard time, please leave a comment below! I know that I am not the only one struggling with this and I think it needs to be talked about more.
I fortunately haven't dealt with this, in fact during my first pregnancy I went into it thinking that breastfeeding was repulsive. My husband was the one who wanted me to breastfeed for the health benefits as well as the fact it will save money. As soon as my baby was born I did a complete 180 and became in love with breastfeeding. We also had our struggles, if you can imagine I had too much milk which has it's own bad side effects to baby and to myself. I started going to a breastfeeding support group in my area and cam in contact with lots of moms with a whole bunch of different issues. I know you had said you've tried everything, so I'm assuming that you have tried fenugreek, blessed thistle, brewers yeast, and most likely have a prescription from your doctor for domperidone?? If there are any things I listed that you haven't tried then look into it. Of course pump, pump, pump. I always get the most out of a pumping session when I've had a stretch of sleep, often I will wake up before baby and pump at like 3a.m. Compressions, compressions, compressions... I swear I would never get any milk to come out if I didn't massage my breast while the pump was on. If you have a single pump then I would recommend to get the Haakaa silicone pump to use on the opposite side while pumping, it might collect some milk while the other side is having a let down. Last but not least think of your baby while pumping, no joke, the moment I put my phone down and start just thinking or looking at pictures of my baby the milk starts to come out faster.
ReplyDeleteIf there are any support groups in your area I would also recommend that as well, if anything its nice to get out of the house and meet other moms. I don't know if you are still on maternity leave, but in Canada we get a full year at home. I started going to my support group when my youngest was 4 weeks old and I went every Monday till I returned to work.
I know people say breast is best, but really fed is best! You have to do what works for you and your baby. I was 100% formula fed and I turned out alright! lol
Glad I stumbled across this post! Good luck!