Two weeks postpartum, no milk?

[Tracy11360]

(I posted this on the breastfeeding forum, and just noticed this forum for breastfeeding challenges, so am cross-posting.)

I gave birth two weeks ago and am still producing what looks to me like colostrum. It's yellow and I produce it in small amounts. I'm pumping and feeding my baby at the breast using a syringe and small plastic tube that fits in her mouth (along with my nipple) so that she'll get formula along with whatever little bit of colostrum (or could it be yellow breast milk?) that she can get from my breast.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Is it possible to continue producing colostrum indefinately without breast milk ever coming in? Could I just be producing very small amounts of yellow breast milk? (sometimes as much as one ounce per twenty minute pumping session, sometimes quite a bit less than that)

Any feedback would be well appreciated!

[FullMetalMom]

You should consider whether you have retained placenta. If you have even a little bit your body could think it's still pregnant and your horomones would not shift. *I* would call my hcp and get checked out asap, just to make sure.

[Tracy11360]

My mom had mentioned that it could be retained placenta. I've been trying to find out what the symptoms would be. So far my body seems to be returning to its pre-pregnancy state pretty quickly, so I'm thinking it's unlikely. I don't know what else I'd be looking for. I'm hesitant to go in for a check at the OB's office 'cause it's an hour away, and I'm finding long trips away from home to be very draining right now. It feels important to recharge my batteries after these last couple of very trying weeks...

[marge234]

At least call your OB--or some other care provider. Retained placenta is very serious. A friend of mine ended up with a terrible infection that was really rough on her and made nursing very difficult.

[sahmmie]

I had to pump and feed my babies for a variety of reasons and I froze milk each day for the future. When I was done pumping I started using the milk I had frozen over a six month period and I noticed that the earlier milk was much yellower than the milk from later months. And this was not the milk from the first two weeks because I did not start pumping until my babies were at least two weeks old. The milk does change as the weeks go by.

[tiny529]

I'm with you...

I'm sort of in the same boat as you. My baby was born on 7/29, but I'm still not producing well at all. My midwife ruled out retained placenta, saying that I'd be doubled over in pain if there were any in there. She also ran blood tests to be sure that I wasn't anemic or had thyroid problems. Everything came up fine there. My milk is also yellow, but the lactation consultant that I've been seeing says that in the early weeks, we're making transitional milk that still contains some colostrum. I'm feeding my baby through a syringe part of the time and nursing the rest, but she's such a sleepy baby that I'm not sure how much she's actually getting when she nurses. She had to spend some time in the NICU for severe jaundice, so I'm sure that isn't helping any with my supply. I am taking just about every milk booster under the sun (fenugreek, Mother's Milk tea, brewers yeast mixed in my oatmeal, AND a prescription called Domperidone), but I'm only getting 1.5 to 2.5 ounces every 3 hours. =(

[MindfulBirth]

By ten days pp you should be making full milk with no more colostrum. Please go see your OB/MW and have them LOOK for retained placenta.

[ZoraP]

One other note: don't judge the amount you're making by how much you can pump. Some women produce plenty of milk but don't let down well to the pump. Base your judgement on how well the baby is gaining weight and how much formula you're supplementing with.

[Paladin]

I had a retained placenta for 3 months (!) they just managed to get it out last week. It was about a third of the placenta (I had placenta accreta) that was left in there after I had a manual removal and 3 D&C's to try and remove it.

I never produced any milk, had colostrum all the time. I pumped and tried to get baby to latch for 11 weeks, then gave up as it was getting me down.

It was painful while it was in, but not doubling over kind of pain. It was more painful when it detched itself at 3 months, that really hurt.

I wouldn't rule it out, even if you have a tiny bit in there, you probably wouldn't know and it would stop you producing milk. I have been told that this will probably happen again to me and I may have to have a hysterectomy next time in order to get it out and be able to breastfeed.

I hope you eventually get some milk

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Tracy11360

(I posted this on the breastfeeding forum, and just noticed this forum for breastfeeding challenges, so am cross-posting.)

I gave birth two weeks ago and am still producing what looks to me like colostrum. It's yellow and I produce it in small amounts. I'm pumping and feeding my baby at the breast using a syringe and small plastic tube that fits in her mouth (along with my nipple) so that she'll get formula along with whatever little bit of colostrum (or could it be yellow breast milk?) that she can get from my breast.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Is it possible to continue producing colostrum indefinately without breast milk ever coming in? Could I just be producing very small amounts of yellow breast milk? (sometimes as much as one ounce per twenty minute pumping session, sometimes quite a bit less than that)

Any feedback would be well appreciated!

I had basically this three times over. I never produced milk with a single one of mine spontaneously. However, with the help of a kick ass LC I induced supply for all three and the last two were nursed quite successfully. I did use domperidone with number 2 along with an amazing blend of herbs that I drank about 2 quarts of each day. With number three I didn't need dom, but I did use a lot of the herbs along with artificial oxytocin (a nasal spray) and that's all it took. My 2nd stopped at 4, my youngest is 3+ and still going. Do not give up hope! There are people out there than can help.

For the other poster...how much dom? How much fenugreek? There are a lot of ways to take these incorrectly, and I'm not assuming you are, but it can make all the difference. Also, it's almost always better to use several galactaogues with different actions at once. They all work in slightly different ways so if you can hit several points at once you are more likely to see a better return on investment.

Mother's milk tea is often also not used in nearly enough quantity. The tea I have mothers drink now uses 1/4 CUP of herbs per quart. That's a whole box of mother's milk tea and my herbs are far fresher and more potent than theirs.

Anyway, just saying that there are often ways to tweak programs and optimize their ability to help us (and yield better results!) I have worked with countless numbers of mamas since my own ordeal in tandem with an IBCLC and I have seen how just using things differently can help. Best of luck!

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Paladin

I had a retained placenta for 3 months (!) they just managed to get it out last week. It was about a third of the placenta (I had placenta accreta) that was left in there after I had a manual removal and 3 D&C's to try and remove it.

I never produced any milk, had colostrum all the time. I pumped and tried to get baby to latch for 11 weeks, then gave up as it was getting me down.

It was painful while it was in, but not doubling over kind of pain. It was more painful when it detched itself at 3 months, that really hurt.

I wouldn't rule it out, even if you have a tiny bit in there, you probably wouldn't know and it would stop you producing milk. I have been told that this will probably happen again to me and I may have to have a hysterectomy next time in order to get it out and be able to breastfeed.

I hope you eventually get some milk

Ditto to this. Clear, physiological causes need to be ruled out.

[pumpkinseed]

Its been two weeks since you posted-how are you doing?

I have had retained placenta with all three of my pregnancies-and needed D&C's after all of them.

My 1st was a miscarriage. My second and third were healthy girls. My older daughter I had a horrible supply-non existent really-my milk never really came in. Despite trying everything-there was nothing after 3 months-even after continual nursing, pumping, supplementing. She also had a broken collarbone and a moderate-severe tongue tie-that was finally clipped at 3 weeks.

My youngest daughter-I had placenta accreta-and needed multiple D&C's after her. I was so scared that I wouldn't be successful at bf her either given what happened with my older dd. However, my milk finally came in at day 5. She had a mild tongue tie that we did not clip.

The one big indicator for me was that I had constant bleeding after all three pregnancies that did not let up after what should have been a normal amount of time. It wasn't that painful though-so I disagree with your midwife there.