* waiting to pump until right before i go back to work (im going back at 6 weeks) so 3 weeks she suggested.
* mothers milk tea (i can't remember the exact name :)) 4-5 cups a day, drink when i start to pump
* have the baby skin to skin as much as possible (she said that they did test with mothers who pumped with the baby touching them and some with out baby in the room and all the mothers that had the baby's next to them produced more milk and fat with the baby next to them)
* make sure i eat healthy and a lot :) she said that i should be even more hungry then when i was pregnant :)
* lots of water
* when the baby sleeps i need to sleep (when your stressed your milk goes down)
* when i'm working she said that when the baby is eating (a bottle) i need to pump around the same time and just as frequent as baby eats....it's the whole supply and demand
Im praying that i have Patience to keep with it. I was talking to Ruth Ann and she was saying that she wishes that someone would have told her how hard it was going to be and how much work it was going to be......i think that until you really go through with it we will never no.....so please pray for us and that i can keep with it even though it's going to be tougher then i can imagine!
Oh, do we need to talk! :) All I'll say here is that PLEASE don't worry- it's not as bad or as hard as it's sounding! :) There is a lot of misinformation on breastfeeding out there, so you really need to be careful who/where you get your information from. :) I LOVE to encourage and help mamas in any way I can when it comes to breastfeeding. I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot already and know of some really wonderful resources to help with troubleshooting and breastfeeding questions. I love ya! I'd love to help you out with this one!!! :D
ReplyDeleteThe mothers milk tea is kinda icky, but its not terrible and you get used to it...also try fenugreek, its an herbal all natural supplemt tablet you can take to increase your supply!! (using it right now to try and get my milk supply back up!) I'll have to try having him skin to skin while I'm pumping because I'm not having the best of luck with it increasing :( Once you get into the swing of nursing, it does come much easier than expected, it just takes patience!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned is that allowing the baby to nurse during the night REALLY helps up your milk supply! It's best to either co-sleep with your baby in bed with you (so nice- you can nurse while laying down and both of you can fall back asleep- so much less sleep deprivation!), or to have the baby in a crib or bed near your bed so you can nurse them on demand through the night. It's a hormone thing- the more the baby nurses at night, the higher that certain hormone can get (prolactin, I think?), which really increases your milk supply. Fenugreek works well for a lot of women too- the only caution I would give about the Mother's Milk Tea is NOT to take it if you are allergic to anything in the ragweed family (one of it's ingredients in in that family- can't remember which). I am, and when I drank it to increase my supply it completely dried me up! But, if you don't have allergies, go for it! :)
ReplyDeleteDont worry about going back to work and pumping. I always had more than he needed
ReplyDeleteIt will be worth it, the efforts in breast feeding. And yes the more skin time you have with the baby the better for everyone. Max literally naps on my breast many days. And nights. All of the boys did. The mother's tea is like MAGIC. It tastes terrible but works like a dream. And yes water lots and lots of water.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it...it's one of my most favorite things. I feel like it has bonded me to our boys like nothing else could have.
lmk if you need a pump. I was going to craigslist mine, it was new with Max and I think I used it twice at the beginning when I was engorged.
It IS all worth it! If you are able to take a pump to work with you and pump a few times (every two/three hours -- just like if you were nursing) there will be no issues with milk supply. I pumped for 15 months, so you need some advice with that - lmk ;-)
ReplyDeleteI will be praying for you every morning!
elizabeth koziel (followed your fb link)