My boy

My boy

5 1/2 weeks

5 1/2 weeks

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Milk Supply is Declining

I've been a slacker this last week. I haven't pumped every 2-3 hours like I should. It's starting to have a negative impact on his feedings. Breast milk is all about supply and demand. When he was in the hospital and I nursed him, it was enough. He was full. The first few days he was home it kept him full for 2 -3 hours. Now there's not enough. He's still hungry right afterwards. It's much harder than I thought it would be. It's not as easy to put him down after bottle feeding him and then pump to keep up the supply. Sometimes he just screams and cries when you put him down, so I continue to hold him and don't pump. Other times, I'm just so tired, that I sleep through a pumping just so I can get some rest. I take a Tylenol PM so I can actually sleep for 4 hours straight without hearing everything. Rest is essential with a newborn (adjusted age = -1 week). This doesn't help the milk supply either. But I think that sleep for me is the better choice sometimes.

All of my girlfriends were able to do it for at least 9 months. I thought that I could too. It's been 9 weeks today that I have been pumping and/or breastfeeding him. I'm down to 50 cc's of milk in the fridge. That's enough for one feeding (mixed with half formula) and a dose of vitamins. I'm frantic now and am pumping every 2 hours. I'm hoping that even though I'm not eating enough, not drinking enough water, not sleeping enough; that my body will produce the milk anyway. I had to give him 30 cc's of just formula on Monday, it upset his stomach more than usual and he cried and cried afterwards. I don't want to do that to him again.

Are there any other alternatives to breastmilk other than formula that would be better for his digestive system? I feel like I'm failing him in the food department.

No comments: