Monday proved to be one of the most difficult days of my life--none of the preperatory classes we took got me ready to get up in the morning and leave this precious little bundle!
We had planned to transition Emily to bottles during the day at least over the weekend so we'd know what to expect when I went back to work; unfortunately, she has been refusing to breastfeed since about Thursday, after she was fitted in her harness. I don't think she can get in a good position, and I know how uncomfortable it must be for her to try. So the switch to bottles happened a little earlier than expected, and now she's eating 4 ounces with every feeding, and is wanting to eat every 2 hours! It makes me happy that our little girl has turned into such a piglet, but it worries me that I won't be able to keep up with her by pumping now. After only one day at work, we're halfway through my freezer stash (yes, now I realize I should have been storing milk a lot longer than I did), and it takes me at least two sessions at the pump to get enough milk for one feeding.
I've increased the number of times I'm pumping now, and hopefully will be able to increase my supply--I'm also planning on eating lots of oatmeal, which is said to boost milk volume as well. I sure didn't want to have to consider supplementing with formula this early, but I'm afraid we might soon be faced with that.
I know your concern. There are some herbal supplements that you can purchase. I ordered one from Motherlove called More Milk Special Blend. I haven't really used it, but it's supposed to help because it has fenugreek. You can also try the Mother's Milk tea (they sell it at places like GNC). A lot of people swear by that. I also read that you can pump more effectively by using the electric pump with hand compression. They did some study and the mothers who did both were able to get more milk.
ReplyDelete