What should I do?

[Sopdet]

I know I'm not BF or have BFd and the women above have given some amazing advice.

One thing, have you looked at the reflexology points on your feet?

The point corresponding with your breasts is located on the soles and tops of your feet.

Soles: apply pressure first between your largest toe and the toe next to it, allowing a slight space below the toe & apply pressure below your 3 middle toes. Stop just where the arch starts.

Top: apply pressure from one side of your foot all the way across to the other side of your foot below all five toes.

[Kmn]

"Letdown isn't too bad now, still a bit of a wait (30 sec to 1 minute) but that's fine. I used to get letdown in the time between unclipping my bra and DD attaching lol. It definitely feels like the quantity. "
If the initial letdown is that much slower then the same thing has probably happened to the other letdowns as well (there's lots of them during a feed, not just at the start). And if I was a baby and had gone from instant gratification to 30 second waits in the middle of my meal I would not be impressed.
I would swap sides when she gets grumpy - and keep swapping them. More enthusiastic initial sucking = more letdowns and more stimulation = more milk.

[peanutter]

you can also get fenugreek as a tea - it tastes kind of feral, so I chuck more fennel seeds in there with it ... just make up big pots, and drink it during the day.

obviously, avoiding any caffeine, etc ...

eat the lactation cookie dough raw, and you can chuck the brewer's yeast into other stuff (even just in some OJ or whatever, and skull it...)

and if you have time, and DD likes it, have a leisurely boobie-and-bath morning or afternoon, just with tons of skin-to-skin and suckling. a bit of soothing music, a great big tumbler of pre-made fennel tea, a big blob of the cookie dough to munch on, boobies, and bub ... cloths to put in the warm water, and then put on your boobies, to keep them warm and circulation going between suckles, and tons of cuddles.

and take whatever assistance you can to reduce those stress levels ...

and hopefully you'll get to sunshine soon, to get some strategies in place, to reduce your stress overall so that the rest of these things end up being completely redundant.

[Smoke Jaguar]

I can scan the article and send to you if you don't have Essence - maybe speak to ABA on phone to see what their opinion is on the pumping.

Ummm, I think a certain article with a photo library pic accompanying it may be of some assistance? Or, at least, some inspiration

[~me~]

How did you go today PZ?

A GF of mine was having trouble with let down and she was advised to hold a picture of her DD next to her just before and during BF, it helped alot.

[~mamaspice~]

PZ, google The Mummy Shake for Breastfeeding Mums and see if you think it might be worth your while trying it. Full of awesome natural stuff. I had a full unopened tub left over that I could have sent you but it went out of date back in August. If you decide to try it call them and order that way so they know the urgency and you get it quicker.

[k4t]

:hugs: Sounds like a horrible stressful time for you.

I don't have any advice to offer on the bf front but just thought I'd suggest making sure you're doing what you can to help deal with the relationship stress side of things.

I don't know anything about your personal situation so I apologise if I'm wide of the mark with this advice.

If you're not already, maybe some personal counseling could help. It's really easy for all sorts of mother/wife/guilt issues to get all tangled up in your head and compound each other. Also make sure your taking some time out for yourself to clear your head and focus on the positive things in your life. Remind yourself that no matter how things turn out you will have a healthy daughter who's mum has done everything she humanly can for her.

[PumpkinZulu]

Thanks guys. I got aktivite, brewers yeast and LC ingredients, BF tea and a BF supp of plain fenugreek and blessed thistle. I'll keep you all updated on how I go, there was no improvement today so hopefully with taking these there will be.

[Kmn]

Is Isla still not weeing well? Think about taking her to the doctors, because if she has milk and food and water available but is still not weeing then it's not your milk supply that is to blame.
It usually takes a couple of days for any supplements to work - and just a warning, fenugreek can give some babies awesome wind, so if that happens over the next couple of days then cut the fenugreek out again.

[PumpkinZulu]

Isla is already a stink bug so that'll be interesting! Her nappies are good for the first half of the day, bit drop right off around when my boobs just cannot keep up with her in the afternoon. I figure it's just because she's not getting much. Oddly enough, in the last few days she has started waking for a feed at around 3am, I wonder if that's because she's hungrier now or unrelated.

[HotI]

i was wondering whether adding a night time feed would help, or whether it would create its own issues (my dd fed overnight til 15 months so different situation). I guess your LO knows what she needs and just go with the flow.

[PumpkinZulu]

i was wondering whether adding a night time feed would help, or whether it would create its own issues (my dd fed overnight til 15 months so different situation). I guess your LO knows what she needs and just go with the flow.

It's funny you say this cause for the last probably 4 nights DD has woken up around 3am, sometimes again at 5am for a feed! Haven't been in this position since she was 5 weeks old! I'm just going with what she wants, and if that means booby-snacks during the night, that's a-ok by me.

I rang the ABA yesterday too, and they were really nice and helpful. Suggested similar to a lot of you. So today I'm having a breastfeeding holiday Lots of skin to skin, feeding and cuddles.

[Barb Glare]

No, your milk doesn't dry up when your sick but your are super sensitive to *everything* and your perception is altered. Everything seems worse than it is. Take a deep breath. women breastfeed through this stuff. Your little one is unsure of what is going on around her. She picks up on the stress. But her constant is you, and when she is on your breast she knows you are right there for her. Of course if she is on 15 times a day you feel empty - you would be amazed at the amount of milk she is getting. Regroup, take care of yourself, keep breastfeeding. Don't doubt