What does Low-Supply Living look like in the long-term? - Page 3

[gemasita]

Hey homemademom - thanks for checking in on us!  I'm so glad you got rid of the pump too!  It's so freeing!  And more importantly, I'm glad that your LO is back to nursing full time too!  Yay!  We haven't used the nipple shield in about two weeks so we are done with that!  I'm also trying to not supplement the early morning (5 or 6 am) feeding because I do think I have a lot of milk at that time since DS goes a long stretch at night.  That is great that you have three feedings without supplementing!  I don't think we are quite there yet but I do have a question for you.  How do you know your supply has dropped?  I mean, I know it seems like common sense (your DS takes less supplement or seems less satisfied at the breast?), but I can't seem to tell.  I am weaning down my domperidone because I don't think it has ever changed my supply much but since there's not much milk there, I feel like the decrease might be too minute for me to tell a difference.  I've gone down twice on the dosage now and I have no idea what I'm doing!

It might not be that strange for your supply to be lower during the day...I have a lot of milk at 5 or 6 am but then it seems to be back to "low-normal" during the day.  So I don't feel like I have a lot during the day either.  And then, like you, maybe it picks back up in the late afternoon.  Again, my changes are so subtle because there's not much there.

We supplement about 18 oz a day so I must be making about 12 or so.   That's better than when I pumped!  I used to pump 8 or 9.

Like you, we are grateful for the milk we have and DS is starting to nurse more for comfort too (now that we are back to nursing full time!) so it's so nice for me to see that he loves his mommy time!  Even though things were SO crazy there for a while, I'm really glad I stuck with the nursing because it really is about so much more than just the milk.  I love that I can provide some of it for him and that he loves the milk and comfort.  I think later on, when he's teething or not feeling well and needs the comfort, I'll be even more glad that I stuck with it.

[homemademom]

Yay!  I'm so glad you're making so much milk.  That's great!  

About my supply, yeah, that's how I can tell--not satisfied at the breast and more ounces of formula.  On a normal day when I'm taking my Dom, he takes about 8-10 ounces of formula, which means he's getting about 20-22 oz from me (assuming he eats what is typical).  My typical pumping days yielded about 16 oz. 

I would say that when I didn't take my dom on two separate occasions, I had to supplement about 15-17 ounces, so it was a big drop for me.

I agree with you about sticking with it.  It is so worth it.  I'm amazed everyday that ds didn't forget how to nurse after all that time of only bottle feeding.  He loves to nurse!

[gemasita]

You are making a good amount of milk!  I would love to be making that much!  Thanks again for asking about me!

[gemasita]

I agree that it's amazing that our LOs remember how to nurse with all of those bottles!  DS LOVES nursing too!