Hey Ren... Hope you can get Ava back on the BB's today. I'm looking forward to hearing what the LC says.
I know it's hard to express while trying to settle Ava. I recommend putting her straight into her rocker/bouncer after you feed her, & look at her whilst expressing. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this to you but it is FACT that you WILL express more milk if you are looking at your baby. They say you can even look at a photo, but I didn't find this as affective. When BJ was in the SCN, if I expressed at his crib, I would get so much more milk. Once I got him home, when I fed him in the middle of the night, I would pop him into his bouncer while I expressed. It is really good for their digestion too. To keep them upright and still for 20mins or so after a feed.
I will mention again, that I lost all my supply in my right breast when I had mastitis. I would express for 15mins and only get 10mls. It took alot of dedication to get my supply back. It took nearly 3 weeks of 2hourly pumping. Heat packs first, and loads of massage.... This really helped too. Maybe while your DH is home, on weekends, you can focus on expressing while he settles Ava. I'm sure this will help. Once you see your supply building up more, you will get so much more motivation to keep going.
I will also mention again, YOU ARE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB..... YOU SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS & DEDICATION *hugs*
Last edited by Georgi; March 7th, 2009 at 05:56 AM.
: Added something
You can get Fenugreek from health food shops, but not all of them will have the 1000mg capsules. I can't remember what the brand is, but the bottle has a dark green lid. I think you can take it with Maxalon, you certainly can with Motilium.
TBH, I would only give the Maxalon 7-10 days before ditching and trying Motilium. Even that will take a little while. I expected an immediate difference, but it took a couple of weeks.
I really, really wish I had not been so hell bent about expressing and simply put DS to the breast more often. He wasn't up to it in the early days, but later on I could have. How many feeds is Ava having? I know you know that the more she has, the better it is for your supply.
Something that is good for your supply is feeding at night. Lots of feeds overnight. I don't mean to kill yourself sitting up and feeding all night, but getting 3 or so feeds in is great. Something that is GREAT for your supply is co sleeping, feeding lying down in bed. It has the added benefit that you get more sleep too Nobody actually told me that, and we didn't co sleep for months. Once we did I couldn't believe the difference in my supply! Of all the things I did to increase my supply, that was the thing that worked the best BY FAR. You really just need to rely on good old hormones to do the job for you, but sometimes they need a little bit of help And the night time snuggles are lovely I would guess that between co sleeping and frequent feeds, your supply will be rocking in no time.
BUT......obviously you know best what's going on in your home, and you have your LC who is the expert. If none of these suggestions sound right to you - then don't try them. Or check with your LC. You need to choose very carefully who you take your advice from, and make sure it's right for you and Ava. (I'm sure you are already, just thought I'd mention it ).
Ava was weighed today and she's put on more weight! She was 3.78 on Monday and is now, today 4.11kg!! Woot!! My little girl is putting on weight.... she is way past her birth weight now.... yeaahhhaa! That's thanks to combination of feeding on L side only, plus EBM plus formula feeds.
LC came to visit and she helped me to attach on the right side (the painful damaged one that's been healing for 5 days) and it didn't hurt!!!!! Yay. She corrected my attachment (once again) and has advised me to now b/feed 10 mins one side, 10 mins other side and then feed Ava EBM or formula (if not enough EBM) if she wants more. Only 10mins each side because we don't want her to get lazy again if she's on too long.... which was happening before and affecting my supply.
That's the new plan at the moment.
Wish us luck with the next feed!!
Already, I've noticed my milk supply has increased. The GP told me Maxalon can take 2-3 days to kick in, sometimes longer. Guess it varies for everyone huh?! Once I run out of tablets (i have 28) I will go to Motilium if I feel I still need it.
Thank you once again for your ongoing support girls. It means the world.
Georgi - I usually put Ava in front of me and express but sometimes she'll be crying as she wants to be held after her feed.... is this ok for milk supply? lol To see her crying? It sometimes stresses me out so I have to make sure I'm relaxed..... you are a champion for expressing 2hrly. Wish i could! I have been doing 3-4hrly.
I can express R side and get 50ml in 10mins lately. Whereas few days ago I was only getting say 20ml in that time.
Thanks for info on Fenugreek girls. Will check at the health food store tomorrow about it.
WOOHOO so fantastic Ren!!!!!!!!!! It totally rocks your world to get news like that, hey? Good on you
Like with any galactologue, make sure you wean off it slowly, rather than stopping suddenly. So allow for that when you know you're getting near the end of the script.
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Nobody actually told me that, and we didn't co sleep for months. Once we did I couldn't believe the difference in my supply! Of all the things I did to increase my supply, that was the thing that worked the best BY FAR. You really just need to rely on good old hormones to do the job for you, but sometimes they need a little bit of help 
And the night time snuggles are lovely 
I would guess that between co sleeping and frequent feeds, your supply will be rocking in no time. 
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