My little man doesn't like milk that much either - there's lots of other calcium sources though. How is she with ricotta or cheese or yoghurt or broccoli?
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My little man doesn't like milk that much either - there's lots of other calcium sources though. How is she with ricotta or cheese or yoghurt or broccoli?
Fleur - you've done such a wonderful job :hug:. I too mixed EBM and cow's milk, slowly shifting the ratio to more cow's milk as I started to run out and he did start taking it with less and less EBM, so hang in there, hopefully little Pie will start to get used to it soon.
Belle - as Fleur said, I can also relate to finding it so stressful and it was SO not working for us. So saying, I'll be quite honest and say if I had my time again, I would have tried more as DS got older/bigger and hopefully better at feeding. If you can manage it, finding a good LC can be a huge help, and there are many strategies that can help ease the stress for you both. Your bubba is still little so you still have time to try later (I hope this doesn't feel like a lecture, I just want you to feel that you have options). With 20:20 hindsight I didn't realise just HOW much work it is to express - so that's just some food for thought. Some of the things you can do is to bath together or just have skin to skin time without there being pressure to feed - enjoy being able to bond and snuggle as IF you decide to try BF'ing again, that closeness is not wasted. And even if you don't try to BF again, well you still get to enjoy snuggling your beautiful bubba.
Equally, given bubba hasn't been attaching, you also need to find a way to feed your baby that works for you both!! I can totally understand you feeling redundant, there's a lot of grief in the realisation that you can't feed your baby (at this stage) the way that you had hoped to. Depending on the timing, you may find it's better for you to express after you put bub down? that way you can be involved in all those activities and then just express for the next feed after bub is asleep - I think it's really important that you still get to feel like mummy! As surprised said, dont' be afraid to put your foot down. It can be really difficult when extended family come into the mix with their opinions and judgements (I had many snide comments about my desire to express!), so stick to your guns - your body, your baby! And as always, the other ladies have given you some great info & advice (double pumping is sooo much more efficient).
surprised - ooh well done to you! :clap::clap: Do you mind if I asked from when you'd been trying to BF, and from what stage it really started to work? Like Fleur, I'm really interested to hear about the journey from someone who made it "back" so to speak!
starangel - I didn't ever use a manual pump but I always got HEAPS in the morning and then it trailed off during hte day, so I wouldn't be surprised that you get more just from a timing perspective. Sounds like you have a good set-up for you, well done :hug:
Kmn - as always, you have such great info & wise advice :clap:
Quick update from me given I'm not EE anymore! Bubba #2 is arriving next month and I'm GD+insulin again... so this time I'm approaching it quite differently. I've already engaged an LC, we're trying to express colostrum pre-birth (as GD bubs often get given FF from a bottle - happened with DS). We're hoping that even if she doesn't attach then she'll get my colostrum before my milk comes in... there'll be a sign on her crib - no bottles, no dummies - as hopefully that will improve any chance of her attaching. Maybe it won't make a difference, but I feel the need to try it. I don't know if I could EE again, with an active little 2yo fellow in the scene, so my goals are two-fold.
1) do my darndest to BF.
2) enjoy my baby.
I went to an ABA BF'ing class the other day and got some great ideas - looking back there was some things I didn't do with DS that I'll do this time, in particular really trying to keep that closeness/skin-to-skin/baths (without pressure to feed) and not getting stressed to the point I can't face BF'ing... but to keep the door open in case we can get better at it as she gets bigger.
Loves them all :):
The issue with milk isn't so much a dietary one, but she has a bottle at night before bed & snacks overnight still. I suspect we could probably wean the bedtime one before the midnight one! There are times when she wakes & it's the only thing that settles her. I would hate to be stuck in the middle of the night without it!
Belfie - :o look at your ticker! Sounds as though you are off to a great start, and I really do think you will have the advantage of hindsight this time, I know there are so many thing I would do differently if I had my time over, (in fact if I think about it I start to get a bit sad about it & that's really pointless, lol). But YKWIM, as you said there are already things that you know you can try this time. I am wishing you all the best & feel very positive for you :hug:
Thanks for all your advise ladies, well I am still desperately wishing to BF so we still attempt it once a day or every second day just to see if we can get him on. Still no luck but at least I know I have expressed milk as back up then it's not so stressful as I know my little one will get fed. Oh and also we have now increased our feeds to 80mls every 3 hours during the day and he usually wakes me about every 4 hours on a night.
Have the in laws arriving today, hmmmm lets see what this stress does to my milk supply. I've noticed it's already started to drop, fingers crossed this visit isn't as bad as I have imagined it will be.
Hope all is going well with everyone else xo
Belle - just a word of warning/caution. Stress doesn't drop your supply, but it does screw with your let-down reflex, making it much harder to express that supply out. So some tricks to help with let-down:
really relax physically before you start pumping
warm things on boobs can help
squirt by hand a little bit to get things going and then pump
read a book (I got lots of crap-literature from the op-shop that didn't matter if it got milky)
distract yourself on-line (though typing while expressing is an advanced manouever)
express more often if you are getting less out each time
good luck!
Totally agree with KMN wrt stress & let down. I really noticed a big difference when I was stressed, I always had a great supply but actually getting it out was much harder when I was stressed. Sometimes if you're really struggling I found it better to leave it & try again an hour or so later.
Also, it's much easier said than done, but if you can try not to focus too much on it while you are doing it that helps too; which is why reading or browsing on-line is good ;) Watching the pump was another thing that actually slowed my letdown.
Hope the visit goes ok for you :)
Belle - hang in there hun. You're doing a great job! I found a photo of my DS helped with let-down in those early days. Have you been putting some nice olive oil on your pump parts (the flanges) to stop your poor nipples getting rubbed too much?
Belfie & Fleur - thanks for asking about my story... I realised it is quite encouraging to those struggling, so I wrote it out (it turned out VERY long LOL) and it's in the Breastfeeding problems and support area - "Encouragement for those having probs". https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ing-probs.html
No I haven't and my nipples are starting to feel like they are being ripped to shreds, I will go out and buy some nice oil and do that for my next pump. So that won't go into the milk, or if it does, is it safe??
It's safe - we were taught by the MCHN to use olive oil for baby massage - and they were certainly licking it off afterwards!
Wow - I didn't know that could be used either. I also used Lansinoh on my nipples and found it helpful.
How is it going so far with the visitors? I agree that being stressed may not reduce your supply... relaxing/reading and not "bottle watching" definitely helps too. And even if you get one pump here or there that's less than usual, often the volumes pop right back up before you know it - and you realise you didn't need to worry. I also found that if I took raspberry leaf (tea or tables) it seemed to help my supply (takes a few days to kick in), whereas fenugreek (another option I've seen frequently suggested) didn't do anything for me. Also, congrats on trying to attach him every day or so - I think that's a fantastic idea, and I know sometimes easier said than done... but will definitely help to keep your options open. Congrats again, I think you're doing a wonderful job and I think you should be VERY proud of yourself :hug:
Oh thanks Belfie, I have been using Lansinoh as well, but I think I need a little more as I am now expressing every 2-3 hours and it's certainly taking it's toll. I have also been taking raspberry leaf tea since I was 29 weeks pregnant so in the beginning I had so much milk it was rediculous. I am now just keeping up with his feeds as he seems to just be guzzling it down as fast as I can produce (certainly not complaining, I love knowing he is so healthy and loving his milk)
Well my visitors finally left today, thank goodness. It definately was stressful and it was very hard to be up in the room and hearing my baby crying and knowing I couldn't do anything, as much as I would have loved to have taken my DS with me to the room each time I expressed I felt a bit rude taking him away from my DP. So today the minute they left the pump got moved back downstairs and to the couch where I can be right in the midst of everything while pumping away. Thanks for all your tips on relaxing while pumping to help with the let down, they were all very helpful.
Looks like we lost some posts when the server was down... hope everyone is doing well.
Belle, how are you going?
For those who have BTDT & finished up... how low did your supply get before you finished?
I'm still pumping twice a day, getting about 30ml on the left & 50-60 on the right. I was thinking about dropping my night time pump, but not sure if 24 hours is too long at this point?
WDYT?
You can probably do that - but just in case take a couple of old towels or cloth nappies to bed with you so that you can easily hand express off a bit if you get sore.
Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if I could please pick your wonderful brains???
I'm not "exclusively" expressing as I have hypoplasia and don't have enough of a supply so bub needs formula top ups. I am expressing around 5 times a day ( all I can manage to fit in ATM with demands of bub and toddler) I am getting around 40-60mls per express, and sometimes will get about 70mls in my first morning express. I'm on 2 motillium tablets, 3 times per day and take The Mummy Shake for breastfeeding mums which has fenugreek and lots of other good stuff in it. I had hired a medela symphony for the first week when I came home from hospital, but then just started using the little Cherub double electric breast pump I bought. I'm getting to the stage where after pumping for 5 minutes or so the milk stops flowing so then I have to focus on each side individually and kind of massage my boob to help get more milk out. I'm wondering if maybe I should invest in a different pump. Not sure whether I can justify the money for the medela pump & style though. What pumps does everyone use and how do you find them? Also, do you think it might benefit me if I upped the motillium to 3 tablets 3 times a day?
Hi Mamaspice :)
I used an Ameda Purely Yours & it was great... I outlasted two of them though & am currently using some other big Ameda pump, a hospital grade on hired from the chemist.
No experience with Motillium so can't help there... I did find though that after the initial flow of milk stopped, if I kept going for a bit, maybe another 5 or 10 minutes, I would get a second let down. It might be worth keeping your pump running for another 15 minutes or so at least. even if you don'tget another let down, the extra stimulation might help?
Hi all,
Hello breastpump my old friend
I've come to pump with you again
Because my baby - he won't feed quite right
So I get mastitis in the night
So I've realised
That I'm pumping til he's one
I'm halfway done
With the sound
Of pumping
:( So I've come crawling back to the world of exclusive expressing after my 4th bout of mastitis while breastfeeding. I think I just need to accept that this is the way for us, because I can't keep getting sick.
MamaSpice I use a Medela freestyle and I love it. It's small enough that I can walk around the house with it in my hand, which helps if DS wakes while I'm pumping. I believe the PIS is being discontinued (but don't quote me on that). The Freestyle is their new 'top of the range' (well, except the hospital grade ones) pump. Don't know much about the motillium sorry - have you tried eating lots of oats? Raspberry leaf tea? Brewer's yeast (Vegemite has this) (I realise you have a medical condition where you have trouble with milk production, so I don't want to sound as though it's simple for you to address supply issues). Good on you for doing what you're doing - to be having to pump, feed EMB and prepare formula is pretty much as difficult as it gets, so you go girl!
PM me if you want the site where I found the pumps were the cheapest.
Okay....I've just broken my second motor on a pump in style at 7 and a half months EE......any tips on a good pump to replace it with.....has anyone tried both the ameda and the medela brands and can compare them? I am kinda liking the fact that the ameda has separate speed and suction control...I fin even on the top setting of the medela I don't get great suction anymore...hmm...decisions decisions....or i could just rent as we will need to wean soon anyways to get my cycle back so we can think about going back for IVF for number two......
I haven't used both pumps, Melbel, I did break 2 motors on the Ameda :lol:
One thing I found was that I went through a lot of valves, the little white things... I think they are on the medela as well as the Ameda? after a while they get little tears in them & then you really lose suction. Maybe check them & see how they are.