am i not making enough???? newbie here!

[tzs]

i'm not sure i'm producing enough...
my daughter is a week old and nurses like every hour. when she;s done her mouth will have milk in it but when i try to express i just get a little ooze. she's healthy and gaining weight but shouldn't i be gushing the stuff? or leaking? or feeling engorgement pain? a friedn of mine was over yesterday and telling me that when her daughters nurse their kids the other breast shoots out! i'm not even shooting out of the one i'm using
am i ever going to be able to pump if she's eating so often?
i just have this feeling she's on the breast ALL the time because nothing is coming out.
sorry if this seems liek a dumb question but i have no clue...

[_betsy_]

Congrats on your new baby!

Sounds normal. Newborns eat all the time. Every hour is normal for the first month or more. Be prepared to be sitting with baby latched on a LOT inthese early days. It's better for your supply in the long run to let her nurse 24/7 now if that's what she wants.

Not being engorged or leaking is normal for many women. They still manage to pump when necesarry, for the most part.

When she gets a bit bigger, the feedings will space out.

I start pumping around 2-4 weeks, because I've had to go back to work at 7 weeks with DD1 and 11 weeks with DD2.

Try not to worry! If she's growing, and has a normal amount of wet and dirty diapers, you're doing great!

[hotharmony]

I agree, I never got engorged and I never shot milk at anyone. I didn't even leak unless it had been more than 4 hours, which never happened at the first 4 months.

Your doing great, if you are concerned ask you doctor if you can come in just to weight the baby and if she isn't gaining 5-7oz a week than talk to a lactation consultant.

But your probably producing plenty and everyones body is different.

[Diyan]

You are producing great! As long as she is growing and is peeing and pooping, she's getting plenty of milk.

I didn't have engorgement or leaking in the early weeks (I did later, after he went through a growth spurt nursing 4 times a night all week and then sleeping 7 straight hours). It sounds like your friend who is gushing milk has a strong let-down, which can actually be a problem for many newborns who can't handle the milk coming that fast.

Why do you need to pump? If you need to pump now, you can pump from one side while she nurses from the other side. But if you don't have an immediate need for expressed milk I wouldn't pump now.

[tzs]

thanks everybody!
she did gain 5 ounces from sat to tues so i know she's doing fine....
seems like she's on constantly though and wasn;t sure it was "normal" (whatever that is)

[lifeguard]

Somewhere along the line we were all given this ridiculous expectation that babies bf every 3-4 hours. Well, not for my guy. For the first few months it felt like all we did was bf.

I never shot out. The baby is more effective than a pump or hand expressing at getting milk.

[Adsullata]

Sounds totally normal. I did leak all over, but that has little to do with the amount of milk and more to do with a strong/fast letdown reflex, which was hard for dd.

Also, there is a very strong belief in our society that infants *should* only eat every so often, or when the *parent thinks* baby's hungry- so not true with bf babies. It's quite healthy for a newborn to be nursing every 1-2 hours. In fact, if your baby were not nursing as often, and sleeping thru past 3 hours, it's recommended that you wake them to nurse so they don't go longer than 3 hours. My dd nursed every hour, sometimes 2 for the first 6 months, and it was usually for 45 minutes, so yeah, I sat, but I got a lot of reading done- once I relaxed about it, it was sorta cool.

Spend some time reading at Kellymom.com. I can't recommend that site enough. Everytime I've doubted if I was nursing *right* (whether amount, at night, for nap, etc.) that site has solid info that reassures that our society's norms are not really *normal* and responding to baby is best.

Congratulations on your new little one! Savor and cherish every moment! (not that you won't, just wishing you the best )

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by tzs

thanks everybody!
she did gain 5 ounces from sat to tues so i know she's doing fine....
seems like she's on constantly though and wasn;t sure it was "normal" (whatever that is)

YAY! Sounds like you guys are doing great! The constantly on the breast thing is perfectly normal. Happy Babymoon, Mama!

[Shy0717]

DS is 3 months old and even working with babies as a baby nurse I went through the "my child is starving" worries. Even went so far as to cave to offering him a bottle of formula at 3 days of life and he spit it back at me (goes to show me lol). I didn't squirt milk but did have a full feeling though not everyone does. Also I think the hardest adjustment for me with a new little one was realizing that he was permenantly attached to me the first 2-3 months. He's just now getting better but it drove me insane at first. I think in our society we're taught that babies are independent and will work around our life and this just isn't the case. It's completely normal for you to grow an extra appendage (your baby) after that little one comes . Just follow your little ones cues. She knows what she's doing ;-). Also wtg on the weight gain. Sounds like she's doing great.