March 2009 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Heather
You are EPing right?
I'm pretty much down to this because I was concerned that LO wasn't getting enough to eat. He was getting really cranky certain points of the day and it seems to be working out better for us.
I'm concerned about some of the things I read on the breastfeeding board. It seems like I can pump about 2oz every 2.5/3hrs. Do you think this sounds right? I need some reassurance that LO is getting enough to eat. I know it's still early and people keep telling me not to stress out, but I can't get it out of my head. He is pretty much sleeping through the night already, just waking up for 2 bottles overnight and going right back down so I'm assuming he is happy & full.
Re: Heather
Hey there! How are you? Correct, I am EPing (in fact, I'm doing my first morning session right now
).
I would say as long as he seems content after you bottle feed him and is not rooting or crying, then he is getting enough. I do think the babies will tell us when they want more. We've just gradually increased his amount by testing out about .50 oz more - if he keeps it all down or has minimal spit up, then we continue to give him this amount. So I would say if he seems to be hungrier faster at some point, try that. Also, I've read that growth spurts can hit around 3 and 6 weeks.
As for your supply questions, some of the best advice from a friend emailed me was this:
"I literally pumped every 2 hours (even at night) the first 6 weeks. I know, it seems like that's all you do, but it really does help bring your supply in. And I pump for 20 minutes each time....even after it looks like nothing is coming out. Eventually I get another 'let down' to totally empty the boobs. Any lactation consultant would tell you to put them to your breast. With our girl, my milk never really came "in" until about day 7, so we supplemented a little bit in the beginning with formula. I found that when I was less stressed about whether or not baby was hungry, I was able to produce more milk. And drink lots and lots of water. Like, so much you think you will float away! Also, try taking Fenugreek (3 pills 3x/day) in the beginning. It's suppose to help with milk production."
Here is my pumping schedule now (for the most part) and what I can produce:
Morning - pump first thing after I wake up. Parker is sleeping longer stretches now (anywhere from 5-7 hours), so I do not pump overnight any longer. Because of this, I get my most production from the first pumping session, anywhere from 6-8 oz. total.
The rest of the day, I pump every 2.5 - 3 hours. I usually get about 3 oz. total from each of those sessions. We do have to still supplement 1.5 oz. of formula since I'm not quite producing enough, but I'm happy that he's getting 2 oz. of breast milk with each feeding. I go back to work next Tuesday and won't be able to keep this schedule up so I'm hoping it doesn't affect my supply too much (fingers crossed).
For you, if he is at all willing to take some from the boob, try that a few times a day at least. I've heard that can help stimulate milk production. Our doula also said that this can help produce nutrients that the baby may be lacking or needing at that time?
I've also used this site for help from time to time -
http://www.kellymom.com
Hang in there, EPing is so tough but I keep reminding myself that it isn't forever and it's for the best benefit of the baby.
**sorry to butt in**
heather, is there a reason you're EPing instead of nursing? or just tell me to mind my own business!
lol, it's fine. We had latch issues, both in the hospital and at home. The hospital had me use nipple shields to help draw it out (tmi, I think I have smaller nips, making it hard for him to get a good latch) and those helped at first, but we had one really bad night at home the first week and I felt so bad because he was so upset and not nursing, which stressed me out. It was just a bad situation, so I pumped to get some milk for him and we were both so much more happier. I knew a friend of mine had EP'd her daughter, so I decided to give that route a try. Looking back, I probably should have tried putting him on the boob a few more times, but I was just so happy to be able to feed him without the stress that I never wanted go through that again.
Thanks so much for this info. I needed this today!
I have been trying to pump every 2.5 hours, but I'm going to try every 2 I think.
We just went to the Dr and he is the same exact weight. I cried the entire ride home and I'm a mess, but I refuse to give up. My hospital really pushed EBFing and I feel like the Dr kinda pushed giving him 1 bottle of formula a day to us today. I'm going to call my LC tomorrow morning and ask her what she thinks.
That was me with Amelia. We didn't have latch issues, but after a number of bad nursing sessions ending with both of us in tears I switched to pumping. For awhile I beat myself up for "not trying harder" until I finally realized I had done what was best for the two of us. I only managed to EP until she was about 5 weeks, mainly because by then I was supplementing more formula then breast milk. Good luck to both of you. No matter what happens try to remember that you're doing what you need to do to have a happy, healthy baby. And you're not a failure if that does not include EBFing.
Amelia is going to be a big sister!
Thank you!!