By I can’t believe how many times I’ve been asked, “is he a good eater?” Yes. The kid loves to eat. He is especially interested in nursing, which is why we’ve continued to work so hard on increasing my supply.
We’ve had approximately 1 million visit with doctors, nurses, and lactation consultants. We’ve tried supplements, prescription medications, oatmeal, Gatorade, lactation cookies, lactation tea, Ovaltine… you name it and we’ve tried it.
The most important thing for us has been that He continues to gain weight and is healthy. But since he enjoys nursing so much we have continued to pursue any and all options that may help increase my supply. Last month I met with a nationally renowned specialist in breast-feeding who shared some interesting ongoing studies with me. Since the studies are on going there aren’t any results to share at this time. But she wanted to try a new medicine that is being used in one of the current studies and see how my body reacted.
This seemed like our last shot. I met with her to see if there were any other options or if we should say it is what it is. I don’t feel like she gave me any false hope. And she was very down to earth as we chatted about where I was with my thinking. We had reached a sustainable point where I could nurse him and give him an ounce at a time and then follow up with a bottle and also pump several times a day. It seemed like a lot in the beginning but we’ve now gotten into a routine. That being said, I was certainly up for trying one more thing to see if it helped.
I’ve been on the medicine for about two weeks now. I also started religiously taking Go-lacta, Brewers yeast, and a combination pill of blessed thistle and Fenugreek, in addition to eating oatmeal every morning and having a glass of Ovaltine every night. I’ve also been very diligent about having at least 100 ounces of water a day.
Yesterday I pumped 2 ounces! And then I had two more pumping sessions where I got 45 mL and 50 mL! We had recently noticed that he wasn’t always finishing his bottles after nursing but we hadn’t even considered that my supply had increased so much!
While 2 oz is nowhere near enough for a full feeding, and nowhere near what ‘normal’ moms get, it’s a huge accomplishment for us and double what I had been getting. We did a pre and post weight appointment today with our lactation consultant and confirmed that he transferred 45 ml (1.5 oz) at that feeding.
We’re talking with the doctor now about next steps. Do we continue the medicine? For how long? Do we increase the dosage and see if that increases my supply? For now though, we’re happy. Everyone (the medical professionals we’ve worked with) has been so impressed and surprised at how much he loves to nurse and so supportive and helping us continue that journey. We are grateful and excited for this new milestone!
Part one of our breastfeeding journey can be viewed here.
Chapel Hill Baby 