Sweet Preslee is 11 days old now. What a blur these past 11 days have been. But, we are getting there. We are getting there dealing with the 3 kiddos as well as everything else on our plate. Well…not everything. My house is a disaster! I do things here and there, but seems like I have time to do something and then one of the kids has to eat, or Preslee has to nurse again, or…on and on and on.
But, the reason for this post. Nursing. Yes, for those of you who remember, I had challenges with Adalynn at first too. A shield fixed our situation there. I was able to nurse her for around 7 months. Lili and I had issues too. She wouldn’t latch correctly so I ended up pumping for 6 months with her. No one told me about a shield with her. So we endured cleaning and washing bottles for 6 months. Ugh! But worth it 🙂
Well Preslee was being uber fussy for about 3 days. I was beginning to question EVERYTHING I was doing with her. Did I know what I was doing? Could I do this? In the back of my mind, I thought it may be food, but a Mom never wants to second guess the fact that they may be starving their child. Honestly I can say, I think I was. eek! It wasn’t until I heard from like 3 people, you should pump and see what you are producing? I had that thought from the first time she was fussy, but didn’t want to have to deal with the pumping again. It just seemed super hard to do in addition to caring for Lili and Adalynn. We would nurse for about 30 minutes and then she would still require more food. I had no time to do anything it seemed like.
Finally, I did. And low and behold, I am producing enough, however she just needs more! So, now we are pumping. For how long? I really don’t know. Breast milk is best so I am going to do my best to increase my food and water consumption to attempt to tackle this so she gets enough and we don’t have to supplement formula. But for now, pumping I go.
6 Comments
Breastfeeding was a major challenge with me as well. So stressful! Caleb was hospitalized shortly after he was born with very severe dehydration. So severe they poked him 3 times in each hand and each foot trying to get an IV in him but his veins were collapsing. Finally the IV went into a shaved part of the side of his little head. I pumped for a while and then just gave up. It was too much for me. Kudos to you for continuing despite challenges twice before! Having problems the first time around made even trying the 2nd time that much more stressful and it didn't last nearly as long because of fear of a repeat situation.
I breastfed my 2 and now my 3rd. I had the same issues… you could try Mothers Milk tea from a health food store. It taste like anise (which I am not a fan of…). My dr ended up prescribing me Raglan to boost production… I have also heard drinking a beer can help but never tried that one. Pumping sucks (literally!). Had to do that for my 1st so I could thicken it for reflux. Love that you're so dedicated. to giving her the good stuff 🙂 — Rose Graham
Had same issue and shield has saved me with both babies. Despite supplements and milk cookies I just baked up recently I can't keep up but i do the best and then thank God for formula to supplement. Not my ideal but it works for us. GL!
You can always call a lactation consultant. I got some wonderful advice to pump after feedings. This will give you some milk as a supplement feeding as well as triggering your body to make more for Preslee. Good luck – I think nursing is the most unnatural natural thing EVER! I also did the Raglan thing with the first. I used the mothers milk tea and took the fenugreek pills this time around and have a good supply.
I was just going to suggest this too….pump after she nurses….it will make your body think it needs to produce more milk. I did that for a while with macy…you don't have to do it long just so your body thinks it needs to. Yeah I wouldn't want to start formula only if truely needed…Looks like you are getting alot from pumping. that's great…except for the time it takes…
I also used Nature's milk drops…http://www.simple-momreviews.com/2010/09/native-remedies.html it worked well….
I actually liked pumping for my girls and giving them the bottles. The whole process went a lot faster and that was important to me (and my hungry babies) when I had so much to do. Whatever you decide to do or end up doing will be wonderful, you know Preslee's going to turn out just as wonderful as her big sisters. 🙂