Is 5 weeks too late to start?

[Arimeh]

Thanks Amy - I have another cheer squad.. yay... lol

Well not going so well here - its hard to find the time to actually express!!! Yesterday was pretty good, but so far today.. OMG.. its hopeless.. last express was at 10.30 last night (2.2ml) and then DD woke up at 2am, DH asked if I wanted to express - seriously I was so tired I couldn't get out of bed or keep my eyes open so I said no toooo tired - and then DS was a TURD this morning so I couldn't do it until 10.30am!!!!

Thats 12 hours between them!!!

BUT - on the plus side - my bbs did feel a bit uncomfortable - and weird like - so I'm guessing something could be happening - and I got another 2.2ml out that time. Hopefully my children are nice to me and I can express again at around 1.30(ish)

Both are sleeping at the moment - but that won't last long....

[thepixie]

That's OK Mel, you're doing great! Just keep up doing it when you can. My dad was saying last night that even a woman who has never had a child can breastfeed, it just takes persistence - actually what he said was "if you keep at it eventually you'll have a baby with a smile on its face and a woman with sore nipples" PMSL!
I never knew that! but it sounds like you're doing great so if you keep it up your supply will gradually increase.

[Kmn]

Mel - when you can't find the time to do a proper express it would still be helpful to quickly hand-squeeze out what you can (even into a face-washer), so that the "need to keep making milk" message gets through.
Glad it's going well!

[chocolatecatty]

Oh wow, just found this thread. How exciting you can start up the milk supply after 5 weeks of not feeding! Our bodies are just amazing!

Aktavite (it's like milo) is good for helping with breastmilk supply....and good for just snacking on too! Win, win situation really.

Congrats again! How fantastic (ha, you've got me all excited about a baby getting EBM for the first time!)....

[Arimeh]

Cat - i'm glad i could help lol

Well after not being able to express all day..(I tried at 1.30 - they both woke up about 2 mins after I started) and then been run off my feet all day with a newborn that WON'T sleep - and a toddler hell bent on destroying everything in the house - I finally managed to express again tonight - at 8.30.

Got about 2.5ml.. so not sure if thats because it was so long between them, or I'm starting to make more? I didn't pay any attention to the pump, just surfed the net and stuff like that - then I looked down - and there was a little bit of milk there.. woohoo!!!

I think I can actually feel when milk comes out - like, it goes all cold... like i stuck my nip to a piece of ice.. lol

So I *guess* thats progress?

[Janie]

MASSIVE progress Mel, that's huge! The cold, hard reality is that the more you express, the better your supply will be, there's no way around that. BUT, even managing to do it a few times a day will help. Like I said earlier, once you have things established it may be that you don't need to express as frequently. As much as it's good to have set expressing times, maybe you could just try expressing whenever you have five minutes. If it's only been an hour since the last session, that's okay, it's better than leaving it six hours before getting time for another go. You might not get a heap of EBM after an hour, but it will send the message to your boobs that they need to be making more milk IYKWIM. So what I'm trying to say is that you don't *have* to space the sessions out evenly.

It sounds to me like you'll make a really good cow , so with a bit more work, you'll likely have a decent amount of milk Remember, don't expect instantaneous results, it can take a little time. But you will get there

[paradise lost]

HA! i can finally contribute something useful! There's a woman in my toddler group who threw up a LOT during labour, feels sick during sex/after Oing and was so nauseous during BF she stopped after 3 days with #1... Her midwives reckoned she has some peculiar sensitivity to oxytocin which drops her BP and makes her feel sick.

Fast forward to #2, she BF's/FF's/pumps and she wears sea-bands, the type you wear for sea-sickness, and it really helps. She said she still has to swallow hard a few times during the initial bit and let-downs, but it's getting easier and she doesn't actually throw up any more. She also finds when she actually BF's (which makes her feel worse than pumping, which makes a lot of sense if it's oxytocin related) if she lies on her back with her legs raised above her head it stops the dizzy which lessens the nausea.

So try some sea-bands hun? And consider your bahookie officially kicked by ME for being hard on yourself over the whole BF/don't BF thing. Is your baby getting your milk? Um...YES!

Bx

[Gigi]

I gave her all the BM that was in the fridge - so bout 10ml...lol... thats like a days worth of expressing... doesn't seem like much!!!

honey, why do you think breastmilk is called "liquid gold"?

there's so little of it (in quantity) but the quality is there!

BTW breastmilk IS very sweet, my bub starts giggling and jumping about when she knows she's about to be fed, so i conclude it must be yummy!

I think virtually every mum, no matter what happened on your particular mothering journey, finds SOMETHING to beat ourselves up about, "i let my bub down cos i didn't do X", then there's all the unsolicited advice we get (!!!).

I hope you realise, deep down, when you're having a good day, and both kids are settled, that you ARE doing the best you can for them, and you ARE a great mum. None of us are perfect, we do what we can, we love them to bits, we try to keep everything ticking over, not much more you can do.

Good on you for trying something outside your comfort zone.

i totally agree, there is alot to being a mum. How your child is fed is ONE aspect of being a mum, but there are MANY aspects to being a mum.

we all have shortcomings and sometimes it's not easy to come to terms with those - for whatever reason. I still get sad that i was unable to use babycarriers/wraps etc to bond with bilby, carry her. I'm not a bad person for not using them, just a person with a bad back and stuffed wrists - but i haven't always been able to think as rationally about that shortcoming - cos i so badly wanted to do that for bilby.

WTG for having a go Gudie. no matter how long you do it for, one hour, one day, one week wotevah, it's more BM than your bub would otherwise have gotten. so you can only succeed.

[Arimeh]

OMG OMG OMG

JUST EXPRESSED ----- 5 ML... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Jennifer13]

Yay Mel!!!!! WTG!

You will probably find you'll get more in the morning - so I hope both of your little ones cooperate and give you a chance to express then! You are doing really well - just think how far you've come already.

[Aimz]

Way to go Mel!!!!!



Go Mel....... Go Mel....... It's your birthday....... It's your birthday.......

[{sarah}]

Woohooo Mel!!! You're going so well

[thepixie]

WAY TO GO MEL!
You're doing so well! Good stuff!

[Beach Mama]

WHOOOHOOOO MEL!!!!!!!! You are doing an AMAZING job hun!!!!! Don't doubt that for a second and what a huge increase sweets!!!! Very happy for you!

Janie - I have to spread the love hunny but your advice here for Mel and others is just so great babe! Good on you!

[MantaRay]

OMG Mel - that is AWESOME!! Woo hoo hun!!

You are a milk making machine hun - well done.

[Nelle]

Alright! Yay Mel, that's great!! What a great effort.

Hoob that is so interesting re: oxytocin levels and nausea.

[kelebek]

honey, why do you think breastmilk is called "liquid gold"?
there's so little of it (in quantity) but the quality is there! ....

...Good on you for trying something outside your comfort zone.

...How your child is fed is ONE aspect of being a mum, but there are MANY aspects to being a mum.

...no matter how long you do it for, one hour, one day, one week wotevah, it's more BM than your bub would otherwise have gotten. so you can only succeed.

Here here Gigi, I think this sums it up very nicely


oh &

yay Mel 5ml go... go go Mel

[Janie]

YAY MEL, WOOHOO FOR YOU!!!!!! Wow, such an improvement in so little time, well done! I am seriously bursting with pride and happiness for you, I think you're amazing