Here's some background on our situation:
Immediately after birth (induction with anesthesia) DS had to spend about 8 hours in the NICU because of mild respiratory distress. After he got out of the NICU the first time, he immediately had to return because of two episodes where he spit-up and turned blue after nursing. For the two days he was in the NICU we went down every couple of hours to attempt nursing but he was so sleepy, as soon as he latched on he immediately fell asleep. At this point, because he was having trouble latching, one of the nurses gave me a nipple shield to help him latch and we supplemented through the shield with formula. After he got out of the NICU the second time he had to spend all of his time in the regular nursery under the double-bank lights because he was extremely jaundiced. They brought him back for feedings every 3 hours, but for the first 3 days of my son's life I essentially wasn't ever with him.
To make matters worse, I had severe PIH and PCOS and the nurses failed to tell me that I needed to pump until 2 days postpartum. When the LC finally met with me (the hospital doesn't have a LC on the weekends...) 3 days PP my milk had "come in" but there was hardly any. I never had that initial engorgement that everyone talks about. She started me pumping every 2-3 hours with a hospital-grade pump. Initially I didn't get more than 5 ccs a sessions. After a day or so, it increased to 15 ccs. And after a couple of weeks of exclusively pumping I was averaging around 1 1/2 oz each session during the day, and somewhere between 2-4 oz in the mornings. I tried fenugreek and it did seem to help somewhat...but not a ton.
Through all of the pumping, I attempted to get DS to latch, but he was so used to having the food poured in his mouth, he'd get EXTREMELY frustrated and just scream and scream when I tried to get him to nurse. I was going to give up on everything at one point, and started let my milk dry up. I attempted to get DS to latch one more time and by some miracle he did! At that point though, my supply was extremely low. It's been a lot of work, but he now nurses around the clock...mainly for comfort, but I feel like he has to be getting some nourishment. He's almost 2 1/2 months old and he's been taking less and less of his bottle over the last couple of weeks...but I know that I'm nowhere near providing him what he needs.
After doing some research, I'm concerned that I may have hypoplastic breasts. I have a few of the physical characteristics...large areolas and pendulous breasts...plus, I never had that initial engorgement, never feel a letdown, etc... My already large breasts did get quite a bit larger during pregnancy (I also had veining, areolar changes, etc...) and I started producing a good deal of colostrum at around 12 weeks. I had my OB check out my breasts, and she said that everything seems anatomically correct. When I feel the tissue in my breast I feel like I have a good deal of it, but I don't know if it's "enough."
Here are my questions:
- Can women with hypoplastic breasts still have some engorgement and leak? Around 2 weeks PP I did have some engorgement if I didn't pump for several hours and I would leak a decent amount.
- Does every woman feel a let down? I know I have a letdown when he nurses because I notice when he starts swallowing ever 1-3 sucks.
- Is the baby supposed to swallow every 1-3 sucks for the entire feeding? DS only does this for the first 3-5 minutes.
- Is there any chance that I'll be able to have a full supply for this baby or is it too late? I absolutely hate having to feed him formula. I've been trying to nurse him very frequently and then offer him the bottle to finish the feeding. He used to eat a 5 oz bottle almost every feeding when I didn't nurse him beforehand, but now he'll only drink about 3 oz with nursing. His diaper output is still good...but I haven't really been checking his weight.
I guess I'm just mainly concerned with the possibility of having hypoplastic breasts...even though my OB said that everything looks "OK." I know it's more common in women with PCOS.
Any suggestions, advice or answers to my questions would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much!
Immediately after birth (induction with anesthesia) DS had to spend about 8 hours in the NICU because of mild respiratory distress. After he got out of the NICU the first time, he immediately had to return because of two episodes where he spit-up and turned blue after nursing. For the two days he was in the NICU we went down every couple of hours to attempt nursing but he was so sleepy, as soon as he latched on he immediately fell asleep. At this point, because he was having trouble latching, one of the nurses gave me a nipple shield to help him latch and we supplemented through the shield with formula. After he got out of the NICU the second time he had to spend all of his time in the regular nursery under the double-bank lights because he was extremely jaundiced. They brought him back for feedings every 3 hours, but for the first 3 days of my son's life I essentially wasn't ever with him.
To make matters worse, I had severe PIH and PCOS and the nurses failed to tell me that I needed to pump until 2 days postpartum. When the LC finally met with me (the hospital doesn't have a LC on the weekends...) 3 days PP my milk had "come in" but there was hardly any. I never had that initial engorgement that everyone talks about. She started me pumping every 2-3 hours with a hospital-grade pump. Initially I didn't get more than 5 ccs a sessions. After a day or so, it increased to 15 ccs. And after a couple of weeks of exclusively pumping I was averaging around 1 1/2 oz each session during the day, and somewhere between 2-4 oz in the mornings. I tried fenugreek and it did seem to help somewhat...but not a ton.
Through all of the pumping, I attempted to get DS to latch, but he was so used to having the food poured in his mouth, he'd get EXTREMELY frustrated and just scream and scream when I tried to get him to nurse. I was going to give up on everything at one point, and started let my milk dry up. I attempted to get DS to latch one more time and by some miracle he did! At that point though, my supply was extremely low. It's been a lot of work, but he now nurses around the clock...mainly for comfort, but I feel like he has to be getting some nourishment. He's almost 2 1/2 months old and he's been taking less and less of his bottle over the last couple of weeks...but I know that I'm nowhere near providing him what he needs.
After doing some research, I'm concerned that I may have hypoplastic breasts. I have a few of the physical characteristics...large areolas and pendulous breasts...plus, I never had that initial engorgement, never feel a letdown, etc... My already large breasts did get quite a bit larger during pregnancy (I also had veining, areolar changes, etc...) and I started producing a good deal of colostrum at around 12 weeks. I had my OB check out my breasts, and she said that everything seems anatomically correct. When I feel the tissue in my breast I feel like I have a good deal of it, but I don't know if it's "enough."
Here are my questions:
- Can women with hypoplastic breasts still have some engorgement and leak? Around 2 weeks PP I did have some engorgement if I didn't pump for several hours and I would leak a decent amount.
- Does every woman feel a let down? I know I have a letdown when he nurses because I notice when he starts swallowing ever 1-3 sucks.
- Is the baby supposed to swallow every 1-3 sucks for the entire feeding? DS only does this for the first 3-5 minutes.
- Is there any chance that I'll be able to have a full supply for this baby or is it too late? I absolutely hate having to feed him formula. I've been trying to nurse him very frequently and then offer him the bottle to finish the feeding. He used to eat a 5 oz bottle almost every feeding when I didn't nurse him beforehand, but now he'll only drink about 3 oz with nursing. His diaper output is still good...but I haven't really been checking his weight.
I guess I'm just mainly concerned with the possibility of having hypoplastic breasts...even though my OB said that everything looks "OK." I know it's more common in women with PCOS.
Any suggestions, advice or answers to my questions would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much!
So if it can be done on a pump than it surly can be done directly by the babe if you give him a chance to be at the breast constantly. 
: Then once your supply is up you can enjoy a more normal BFing relationship.
