I am seriously at my wits end trying to get this whole breastfeeding thing under control!!
My DD is 5 1/2 wks old today (my first child), and we are currently breastfeeding and supplementing. Everything was going great at the hospital, my milk was already in by the time we left the hospital (we were there for 3 days). The day after we came home (day 4) we went to the Breastfeeding Clinic to have the followup, and the nurse gave me a nursing shield because I was engorged and DD couldn't latch as well. Apparantly I wasn't getting enough stimulation to keep my supply up. Combine that with lack of help at home and trying to be supermom, I wound up overly tired with not enough milk (at least I thought). DD acted extremely hungry (now thinking maybe a growth spurt), and of course as a new mommy I just wanted to make her happy, so I gave in and supplemented with formula (hindsight is always 20/20!!) In combination of the nipple shield, and her wanting to not work as hard for her meals, my supply all but disappeared. I had been trying to pump to keep up my supply, until I discovered that my Evenflow pump was a piece of garbage, and eventually quit working altogether. After going a few days with no pump, I did get my hands on a Medela hand pump, but kind of thought too little, too late. During this time I continued going to the clinic, where they discussed ways to get my supply back up (including ditching the nursing shield).
They had me do all kinds of things, including: eat oatmeal everyday, drink non-alcoholic beer, pump (now have a Medela Lactina that I am renting- my 4th pump BTW), drink plenty of fluids, take More Milk Plus pills, and now on Reglan. Let me pause here to say that I am the "all-natural" kind of mom. I didn't want to use any drugs whatsoever (wound up with emergency c-section), so the idea of being on any medication drives me crazy, let alone one that is now center stage for the lawsuit commercials. I am trying to get things back on track, and have seen some improvement, but not nearly enough to stop supplementing. I now get about 1 1/2 sometimes almost 2 ounces in 10 minutes worth of pumping. I try to pump at least 4 times a day after DD feeds. I am continuing to eat oatmeal, take the MMP pills, drink TONS, get sleep (riiiiggghhtt) and (gasp) Reglan.
DD has a virus, and had to take her to the doctor on Wednesday. Being a new mom, not thinking and overly tired, I forgot my pump. Mind you the doctor is 45 minutes away, and in the same town as my parents, so I went early, stayed the day with my father, then had the doctor's appointment. During this time DD decided to sleep. I tried waking her to eat a little, but she wasn't interested, so I didn't get much stimulation. Now my supply seems to be a little lower (maybe an ounce during a pumping session). Did I ruin what little I had gained??
DD isn't really on a feeding schedule either... Part of this due to daddy and aunt "helping" feed her. I didn't realize/catch this until about a week ago- but when daddy is home (he is on the road 5 days a week), and he gets up with her, his idea of watching her is to stick a bottle in her mouth everytime she cries. Same with aunt- who loves to watch her, but hates changing dirty diapers, so she tries feeding her to keep her satisfied until mommy is done doing what she is doing. She now uses the bottle for comfort, especially while she isn't feeling well, and doesn't like to work so hard to get her meals by breastfeeding. I try to always put her on the breast first, but have still had a few instances were that just wasn't possible. I have definitely noticed the formula usage decreasing- maybe an ounce or 2 after feeding instead of 4 (should I mention here that she has gained 3 lbs. over birthweight?). At night we almost exclusively bf, though sometimes she does get maybe an ounce of formula. I am still trying to pump, but since she isn't on a schedule, I'm not on a schedule.
I really need and have to go back to work, but don't think a boss is going to like my "leaking so have to pump" schedule I'm on currently. Any suggestions? I am still going to the nursing clinic once a week, but have a few problems with that...
1. There are about 20 women to about 5 nurses, and the free hours are only from 10-noon
2. Half of the nurses in there are fresh out of nursing school, or have no children of their own- so can only tell me what they have learned from the books (ummm... did anything happen like the books told me it would??)
3. It is EXPENSIVE to drive my crappy gas-mileage car 45 minutes to and from all of the time when I am not working
So I guess my questions are (and I do have a billion of them):
1. Does anyone have any suggestions to get her on a schedule?
2. Would it hurt to just eliminate the bottle all together for a couple of days and just have a few hell days? Do you think we would come out on top? (maybe not sane, but at least fixed?)
3. Should I slowly wean her off of the formula, if so, how? Or should I wait until we are on a schedule? (BTW-daddy now knows to look for cues that she is hungry and full, instead of trying to get her to eat a whole bottle- the reason she ate 7 ounces in 1 hour one day)...
I know this is probably very confusing, with lots of extra and missing info. I don't have any family to go to, as none of them breastfed (or at least not for very long). Their only suggestion is to quit, but it is so important to me to give her what I believe is the best thing for her. I want so bad to be off of the Reglan (been on it for 8 days, the MMP for about a month). This is sort of a last resort, so any help would be so greatly appreciated! Thanks a million!
