Wow, big dip in supply thanks to stomach bug....help!

[Pandme]

I've always had problems with TOO much milk, this is new for me.

Thanks to a horrific stomach bug, I've basically lived off Gatorade for the last 55 or so hours. Yesterday I did try to eat some oatmeal and some soup, but no dice. Last night was the first time I've actually been able to keep down water.

As a result, my supply has taken a horrible hit. Boy, does it happen fast. Im nursing as much as I can (I'm thankful that for the 10 hours I was unable to move, let alone nurse, I had some pumped BM for DH give him) but I dont feel the letdown I always used to feel before getting ill and my breasts are extremely soft and saggy. I need to boost this back up immediately.

Problem is, its day 3 now and I still don't have an appetite and my stomach cramps up at any food intro. Should I just suck it up and force myself to eat? I'm going to get some Fenugreek as well. Anything else? I'm nursing as much as much as he wants, which is alot in the past two days.

[mowilli3]

Eat wht you can and drink broths. When you feel well, try a Guiness extra stout and nurse as much as you can. Your supply should come back.

[quirkylayne]

Your supply will come back as you are able to eat and drink. Start with easy things like bananas, apples, crackers.

[Pandme]

Oh, good. I ate an apple and an English muffin this morning. I also got some Fenugreek just in case. I'm nursing and nursing as well.

What a relief to know I didn't screw up nursing!

[RootSnort]

If you can stand it, drink Pedialyte instead of Gatorade. You need something formulated for being sick - the extra sugar in the Gatorade could worsen diarrhea. I find the Pedialyte Freezer pops to be easiest to stand.

[Pandme]

Originally Posted by RootSnort

If you can stand it, drink Pedialyte instead of Gatorade. You need something formulated for being sick - the extra sugar in the Gatorade could worsen diarrhea. I find the Pedialyte Freezer pops to be easiest to stand.

Oh yeah, I tried that. It made me retch worse. But its OK, I havent had any incidents in over 24 hours.

[RootSnort]

Originally Posted by Pandme

Oh yeah, I tried that. It made me retch worse. But its OK, I havent had any incidents in over 24 hours.

I understand! That's why I like the popsicles so much. They seem less.....viscous. Your milk should come back soon!

[nonnymoose]

I had a similar thing happen, only my 9mo son got the bug too, and only wanted to nurse - no solids. Went on for about three days. My supply went through the roof!

[tarablesue]

I lost my supply when Sully was 4 mos old becasue of a really bad illness. i was down for almost a week, i nursed but not often, and i cannot say enough about fenugreek. i took 9 capsules a day and by day two i was feeling my letdown again ( oh i pumped every 2 hours too!) hope your feeling better soon!

[timneh_mom]

My supply took a dip recently too, not from a stomach bug but because we had strep throat! And I just couldn't eat/drink as much as usual, and didn't feel like it either! I found out really how dependent my supply is on the amount of food I eat in a day. I started making myself eat more 1 1/2 days ago and my supply is back to where it needs to be... although I didn't really eat dinner last night and I could tell by the way my DD was nursing that there wasn't the volume of milk there that she is used to. Even DS must have noticed a difference because he's been asking to nurse a lot more lately... probably to help bring my supply back up.

Probably why I can't lose weight while nursing either.

I agree, just eat what you can and let your babe nurse as much as he wants... and your milk will come back!

[Pandme]

I'm really getting concerned. My breasts still feel so soft and empty and while I can get milk out, Im sure he's not getting enough. His wets and dirty diapers have gone down. He nurses alot but I noticed last night most of it is comfort sucking which I don't think is stimulating enough. Why does he not fuss more for food? He refused a bottle of expressed breastmilk last night (after nursing). I'm just getting really panicked here.

To make matters worse, BEFORE this happened, when my supply was actually excellent, we found out he only gained 6 ounces in month 4-5. (He had the stomach bug first and was vomiting for a full 24 hours before we took him to the doctor's and Im sure that made a difference, but still). My ped said we would check again at his next WBV in four weeks, since he was always such a great gainer. I dont know what's happened. His output was OK before this as well, at least I think it was. He usually had 1-2 dirty diapers a day and several wet diapers.

I'm terrified of what could be wrong. And so guilty and frustrated that I have nothing to give him because I got sick too. Ive been eating more regularly today, but I just feel like I should be stuffing my face all day and my stomach still doesn't feel right.

[Swirly]

I EP, so I know my production levels, and when I had the stomach virus a month or so ago, I lost 50% (!!!!) ofmy milk. It took a week or more and lots of pumping and fenugreek and blessed thistle to get it back, and it never came up as high as it had been. My baby won't nurse though, so yours should be a bit easier to get back to normal.

[mrswilson]

I just went through a similar illness and my supply is slowly increasing back to its normal levels. I pump 2x/day at work, and I would get about 11oz total before being sick and now am back up to 7.5-8oz in two sessions. It is coming back. When I nurse DD, I seem to have enough to satisfy her. I called my LC to make sure I was doing all I could. She recommended drinking to thirst (not overdrinking), eating what protein I could when I felt better, and getting as much rest as possible. As soon as my stomach returned to normal, I made up a bunch of chicken and just ate it throughout the day. I also have eaten oatmeal 2x/day since feeling better.

Hang in there, it's amazing how our bodies adapt and rebound.

[Pandme]

I am starting to feel small letdown, so that's good. Also, DS had one enormously dirty diaper today (to make up for having none yesterday, I guess). I'm still a bit concerned about his wets, but he did pee all over the changing table this morning.

HIs mood seems good enough, though. Perhaps it's OK. I'm down to just one packet of expressed breast milk in the freezer, so I'm hoping we don't need it.

Let me say, I will be building up my freezer supply diligently after this. I'm glad I had one, but it was too small. Never again will I be caught off guard....this was way too scary.

[timneh_mom]

I'm glad things seem better! Last night I felt like my supply was a bit low, she did a lot of comfort sucking and wouldn't sleep... I know she was getting milk because her diaper output has been OK but it's not the copious amount she is used to. It's kind of a sinking feeling! Your son's comfort nursing is probably his way of stimulating you to make more milk and it sounds like it's working... if he's happy that sounds really good.

I was surprised at how much my supply is dependent on how much I am eating. I am significantly overweight and I've always had TOO much milk, so I am always surprised that I need to eat that much to make enough. But it appears that I do. I can't just digest my body (too bad!)!

I am glad you are doing better!! What a relief!

[Pandme]

Originally Posted by timneh_mom

I'm glad things seem better! Last night I felt like my supply was a bit low, she did a lot of comfort sucking and wouldn't sleep... I know she was getting milk because her diaper output has been OK but it's not the copious amount she is used to. It's kind of a sinking feeling! Your son's comfort nursing is probably his way of stimulating you to make more milk and it sounds like it's working... if he's happy that sounds really good.

I was surprised at how much my supply is dependent on how much I am eating. I am significantly overweight and I've always had TOO much milk, so I am always surprised that I need to eat that much to make enough. But it appears that I do. I can't just digest my body (too bad!)!

I am glad you are doing better!! What a relief!

THanks! The letdown is starting to become painful again, which is the way it was before. He is pretty much nursing like a newborn though (although last night instead of being up every two hours, he only got up once). I don't mind, but I had forgotten about sore nipples. Yuck.

I also can't believe how important food is. I finally have my appetite 100% back and I am eating like there is no tomorrow. It's nice to have an excuse!

[timneh_mom]

I'm back to normal now too as far as supply. But I've really had to make myself eat at least every couple of hours the past few days. Whether I'm hungry or not! But it worked. I'm really, really happy you are doing better too... stomach bugs suck and I'd rather have strep throat personally!!

DD was nursing like a madwoman recently too, nights and everything. It doesn't help that she's probably heading into her 3 month growth spurt. Even DS was nursing a couple more times a day than usual. But between everything, I'm back to spraying her in the face again. Poor thing!

Glad you're better!

[prettypixels]

Originally Posted by mowilli3

Eat wht you can and drink broths. When you feel well, try a Guiness extra stout and nurse as much as you can. Your supply should come back.

Beer is not recommended for boosting milk supply. Hops are! But alcohol has been shown to decrease the amount of milk a nursling receives. Please see Kellymom under supplements "H" for hops.

[RootSnort]

Originally Posted by prettypixels

Beer is not recommended for boosting milk supply. Hops are! But alcohol has been shown to decrease the amount of milk a nursling receives. Please see Kellymom under supplements "H" for hops.

Well, it depends on who you ask. I have heard pros and cons, and I decided to have beer sometimes, just once a night some nights, the darker the better. But you could probably take hops capsules more often than you can drink a beer, what with the need to operate a car and function and all.

There are some who feel that a nursing mom should never drink, and some who think it's OK in moderation. I think everyone needs to look at the data and make their own decision, because it's not super clear-cut.

[sepschooler]

stomach virus questions & beer comment

Hi! This is my first time posting. I've got four kids: three boys, ages 8,5,2.8, and a girl born 12-29-06. co-sleeping, NFP, homeschooling, on and off CDing, no vaccinating, yaddayaddayadda
First, I have heard that most beer is pasteurized (not keg beer, though--so if you live where you can get beer from a bar, that'd be best--AND you can sing the Hank Williams song, "Well my bucket's got a hole in it, I can't buy no beer"), thus not nutritious. However, I have heard that the brand Chimay, which is made by Trappist monks (thank you, Jesus!), is not pasteurized. It just happens to rock the house, as well! According the the excellent book, Nourishing Traditions, there's a fine line between bread and beer.
As for my question:
I've had a stomach bug that keeps coming back every 10 days or so since my DD was 2 mos. old. It usually starts with sleeplessness and can also include extreme anxiety/panic. I'm up right now because I feel queasy and it's been 10 days since the last episode. I've been going to the chiropractor daily this week, taking something called Virastop (recommended by one of the chiro's patients who is a distributor of natural supplements), and saw a naturopath this week. Also, I've seen the chiropractor the day after each episode, and those times, as well as this week, she's said my ileo-secal valve (sp?) was inflamed.
The naturopath gave me a homeopathic remedy she didn't want to name, lest I go look it up and have a psycho-somatic response.
Anyway, my food intake has been bird-like, because I have very little appetite, and I want to have less for my body suddenly to decide to evacuate. Baby, though only 4 mos. old reaches and strains and protests stridently because we won't let her eat what we're eating (my first kid who has done that!).
A. Has anybody ever heard of a stomach bug like this, recurring every 10 days? If so, any suggestions?
B. What do I do to keep my breastmilk nutritious? What gives me the most bang for my caloric buck?
(humorous quote from The Devil Wears Prada "Do you realize I'm only one stomach virus away from my goal weight?")