9/19/11

Feeding Continued

It's time again to up Jake's milk amount, as he is barely going two hours between feedings.  I am going to go from 3 to 3 1/2oz and see how long that will last.  I'm sure he'll be at 4oz within a week or two.
While he is increasing his demand, my milk supply is dwindling due to the difficulty I've had finding time to pump as regularly as I need to.  For the past 3 days, though, I have done every two hours during the day and once over night.  This is supposed to help increase the supply, so I hope it works if I keep it up.  Until it does, I'll give him what I am able to pump plus the little bit of stored breast milk I have and will go back to giving him formula at night.  I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things what he gets as long as he's fed and healthy, but breastfeeding was such a priority for me.  It was hard to swallow not being able to nurse and it makes me nervous to think that I may not even be able to get it to him by pumping if I can't get my supply up.  He did nurse for a few minutes the other day which made me happy if for nothing other than the bonding.  I'm sure he didn't get a full meal, so I gave him some pumped milk afterwards.
The main obstacle to me pumping regularly is Jake crying and wanting to be cuddled.  This is the main obstacle to me eating enough food to maintain my supply as well.  I can't resist him, but I think it's going to come down to me letting him cry it out a little while I pump and eat.  He may not realize it now, but I'm doing it for his own good.  I hate to let him cry it out at all this early on, but if that's what we have to do, then we'll do it. 

3 comments:

Shelby said...

You're not really letting him cry it out as in letting him cry himself to sleep. Rather, you're letting him air out his lungs and have a little alone time in his crib. That is good for him and good for you and not detrimental to him at all.

Love you!

Cameron said...

Miss you, Jake, and John soooo much this weekend! Give Jake a kiss for me, and i'll come visit soon!! Love you!

Brooke said...

I read your post yesterday and wanted to email you when I got to work today--but I can't pull up Gmail at work and so don't have your address!
I had issues with supply too around 2 months. A friend told me to either pump 10 minutes, every hour for 8 hours OR pump for one solid hour. I found it easier for me to do the 8 hour thing...so that's what I did and it worked for me. I still do it every now and then to help. Ellie's pediatrician also told me to get Fenugreek. I can't say it helped by leaps and bounds, but it did help somewhat.
Also, I started the mini-pill at my 6 week appointment and had to get off of it due to my supply dwindling to nothing. As soon as I got off of it, it resumed to normal. I now have an IUD and have had no issues at all.
I have also had better luck with my supply since being back at work--I think because I have more time to eat and that truly does help. Drink lots of water, as I think that helps too.
Hang in there! It gets EASIER, not harder with time! Just keep pumping and your supply WILL increase!! :) Good luck!