Re-lactation, Induced Lactation and Adoptive Nursing Tribe - Page 11

[BRmama]

Hello everyone just checking in!

raqmykds Welcome! Unfortunately I don't have a lot of advice to give I'm in a different situation because I have my baby but nonetheless If I were you I'd be pumping a lot now.

So today I'm really happy. No milk yet but I changed a few things around here and hopefully now I should be getting some. Anyway I'm really happy because I went to visit a friend of mine who had her baby. We met here, she's a mdc mama and because her newborn was nursing she had a lot of donated bm mostly from her sister that she didn't need anymore so she gave it to me. I'm so happy! Anyway just wanted to share that. Now, I know this sounds totally dumb but I hope he accepts it. I gotta go on asklenore to find out how to thaw it to the right temperature and things like that.

[SundayCrepes]

Put it in a bowl of warm water. I don't worry about the temp. Actually, if it's cold you can sometimes feel it on your nipple when you're using the lactaid and it's good to know milk is actually flowing.

I had all my donors get tested for diseases as recommended on www.milkshare.com

[BRmama]

Thanks Mybabysmama. So obvious I should've thought of that. I guess I'm a little nervous using it just because I'm not sure if he'll like it (I know dumb reason) but I trust the source. Plus I haven't been really happy with his formula lately because he is getting fussy and showing signs of constipation and gas. I don't understand I mean he was doing good before (not that I liked him being on formula) but didn't have any signs of gas and was having two poopy diapers everyday. Now he goes several days without a poopy diaper. Anyway sorry for the rant.

Out of curiosity tho when you had your donor's tested did they send you a copy of their tests they had done or how did that work? I guess I need to go to milkshare and find out, thanks for the link.

[SundayCrepes]

My first donor had been donating to lots of moms so sent me her results when she offered to donate to me.

The second donor gave me a copy when I arrived to pick up milk.

The third donor had results with her for me to look at, but didn't have a copy for me.

The fourth donor would have had to drive across town (an hour each way) to get either the results or to sign an okay for her to send them to me. In my paranoid moments I've wondered if she really got the tests, but I believe she did.

The recommendation is for lot of tests in addition to the normal prenatal tests. When I donated after my bioson was born I had the tests done even though the adoptive mom didn't require them. I felt better getting tested.

[BRmama]

Thanks Mybabysmama . I still haven't gone on the site yet. Lack of time around here....lol.

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by BRmama

Lack of time around here....lol.

I understand that. Two is more than double the work that one was.

[SundayCrepes]

My baby will be one on Monday. She has had 2 ounces of formula...both before I could get to her at the hospital. I am still tandem nursing her and my son and will continue to do so until they each wean themselves.

We are going to LA for just under a week. I was making plans to take frozen milk with us. I only use 1 to 3 ounces a week, but was going to take much more. Then I decided to not take frozen milk. I will just buy some whole milk when we get there and keep it in the room fridge. IF she needs supplementation, I will give her that with the lactaid. It won't make that big a difference in the scheme of things and will be so much easier for traveling. (I am always a basket case when I carry frozen milk so far away.)

Of course, I'm now fretting my choice.

Okay, I just gave her some milk in a cup. She drank it okay. At least she seems like she'll take it if needed.

Any thoughts on this? Anything I'm not considering?

[BRmama]

How exciting one year! Sometimes I can't wait till mine is one.

Is your daughter okay though? I'm sorry they gave her formula, I'm glad she still prefers to be breastfed. My plan is to bf my son till he self weans too.

That's good that she'll take that in a cup if needed. I think you should do that if you absolutely have to, but continue to use the lactaid with her while traveling, I feel your pain it's always harder when traveling. IMO you're doing everything good though.

Funny thing about that, I'm going to visit my parents in Northern California next week and we're driving down to LA to visit my brother who lives there. My son is doing really good with the donor milk that was given to us so I'm going to take some with us I just have to figure out the regulations on it I guess, I just also give him multivitamin and probiotics to complement the bm. Anyway it'll be a hassle nursing him in the plane and plus I'm still pumping, so I'll be bringing my pump too. (Not the hospital one but the other one). I do have hope for this time around that my milk will come, seeing my parents (which I'm totally excited about) will be the last traveling that I do, after that my stress will be solely on getting my milk but like I mentioned before I'm a very patient person.

Happy travels to you!

[SundayCrepes]

We're literally on our way out the door to get in the car. I can share info with you about flying with milk. I carried it from Arizona to Puerto Rico to Denver and home with no problems. I'll share info later. You can take up to 4 pounds of dry ice on a plane.

[BRmama]

That's great! I'd love to know, thanks. Also how old were your babies when you started them on solids? My dr. said I can start him on solids now and a lot of ppl have asked me if I have. I always make up some excuse but my biggest worry is that he'll like the solids and not want to bf as much. We still use the sns with donor milk, but till my milk starts to come in I really don't know if I should give him solids or not. I wanted to wait till he's a year old but now I have to find some research to find out if holding on solids is a good idea.Anyway sorry for the long post and TIA for reading this far.

[tiffani]

Hi all!

I've been pumping for two days now, and the quantity at each pumping session is increasing slowly, I'm almost to the point where I want to actually start saving the milk. : my nipples are really sore right when I first start pumping, and I had forgotten how emotional that particular pain can be.

I still need to get my hands on a good herbal concoction -- I've found nursing teas, but can't find goat's rue anywhere here... a friend just told me about a place where they mix herbal remedies for you, so I'll take the list of the ingredients in motherlove more milk plus (shipping it to NZ would be pricey) and see if they can make something similar.

where is the best place to get dom online? I have a prescription for it here in NZ, and it works out to only about $13 NZ (about $8 US) for 100 tablets, so it's way cheaper here than in-house pharmacy, BUT, my doc won't prescribe enough for me (she wrote me a scrip for 80 mg/day, won't go higher than that)... in canada I could have as much as I wanted and it was FREE!!!!! canada rocks.

oh, and I started my bio kids on solids at 6 months, because they wouldn't stand to wait another day!!! I'd avoid dairy and grains (except oats and rice) until they're 12 months though, if you can...

[BRmama]

Hey Tiffani that's great that your milk is slowly increasing! I got my dom from in house and the brand is actually from NZ. That was working fine for me till I realized that I was a little late getting a second batch when I ran out. Now I don't let that happen. Anyway I never had any trouble with it. My milk is taking a little bit longer to come but I feel like it'll soon.

Thanks for answering my question. Yeah my baby acts very interested on what we eat. Do you think though that he wont want to bf as much anymore though? I mean he takes my breast with the sns but that's my concern. If you don't mind me asking but were your bio kids bf and did they do okay with bf after they had solids? Sorry for the dumb question

[tiffani]

not a dumb question at all! my bio kids were breastfed, and they both continued to nurse beyond their 4th birthdays, so solids didn't deter them in the least! in starting solids, though, (is there a thread or forum here about this?) really you should let the child just experiment with the food and eat just a tiny bit of whatever gets in their mouth while they're learning how to eat... how old is your baby again? with my first child, solids was such a fun milestone, and she just loved to eat, eat, eat, so I shoveled in as much food (bananas, avocadoes, steamed yam, sweet potato, carrot) as she'd eat, and she ended up horribly constipated. a good rule of thumb is to nurse them first and then let them feed themselves a tablespoon or two of the chosen solid -- cereals are not the best foods to start with, try mashed avocado first, then steamed/cooked veggies -- if you have to strain them or really puree them then the baby is too young for solids. they should be able to sort of do it themselves, be indicating that they WANT solids, sitting up, etc. breastmilk (or whatever milk you've decided on as a backup) is the ideal basis for their nutrition for the first year, really, and everything else is just practice. some kids do really well on lots of solids around 9-12 months, but stay away from dairy, wheat, citrus, and other allergens for as long as you can...

[SundayCrepes]

We are on vacation and this is the first chance I've had to respond.

Regarding flying with milk. I had a high quality foam box that was in a cardboard box. I took about 160 ounces. We left Saturday morning around 7 am and didn't get it to a freezer until Sunday about 5 pm. It stayed cold the whole time. You can take 2kg of dry ice on a plane. If you are carrying it on the plane (which I did,) you don't need to label it "DRY ICE," (assuming you're using dry ice.) If you check it, you do need to label it. There were no actual security regulations regarding dry ice when I was traveling, so things could have changed. I was going by airline rules. On the way back, we were only doing a 3.5 hour flight and I couldn't get dry ice, so I figured it would all stay frozen. However, we had flight delays and spent an extra 8 or 9 hours sitting in the airport. The milk without dry icedid fine.

The trick is to pack the frozen milk tightly. Any open space in the cooler should be filled with tightly crumpled newspaper. You don't want to use regular ice as it melts at a higher temp than milk and so will turn to water and will thaw your milk faster.

Regarding solids. My bioson didn't show interest in solids until 7 months. Then he got sick, so stopped his interest until 7.5 months. He will be 4 on Christmas and is still nursing. My adopted daughter turned 1 today. She has had only breastmilk, either fresh or thawed in a lactaid. She wanted solids at 4.5 months. I wanted to hold her off until 6 months, but she was insistent she start solids. At 5.5 months I gave in. Within 3 days she was eating 3 good sized meals a day. An example was dinner was usually half an avocado. She had no trouble swallowing. She was clearly ready to be eating solids.

A great book is Baby Led Weaning. http://www.amazon.com/Baby-led-Weani...9972046&sr=8-1

Personally, I wouldn't hold a baby off on starting solids unless they showed no interest. Let them tell you what their body and their personality wants. Avocado is a great first food. Lots of healthy fat for building brain.

There is a debate about delaying highly allergic foods beyond 6 months. Although conventional wisdom in the US is to wait until a year to intro these foods, there are studies coming from other countries showing less allergies to peanuts with earlier introduction (though after 6 months.) We held off on wheat/gluten until 1 year of age because we know nothing about her birth father. Some theorize that avoiding gluten during the first year may prevent celiac disease in susceptible people. That combined with nursing could be huge. So, we did that just in case.

Tiffani, I wish I could help you with the goat's rue source. I get mine from Mother Love. I did notice a reduction in milk when I stopped taking it.

[BRmama]

Thank you Tiffani and Mybabysmama for the reply. Well he showed interest on our food because he'd stare at us when we ate. So I thought okay he's ready. First I gave him avocado cause I read somewhere else too that it was a good food to start with. He hated it. Then I mushed carrots and he hated it. I tried something sweet with him and I made applesauce and he hated it. So clearly he's not ready and I'm not going to force him. People are telling me not to give up but to be persistent, but I don't want him to associate mealtime solids as a bad thing. I'll try again in a month depending on his mood. I was a little worried before but now that I've read your posts and researched the subject I feel more relieved. I'm just glad he accepts my breast after all the hard work I've done with him. Also I've upped my dosage with the dom so hopefully that'll be good to bring my milk in.

Mybabysmama I gotta read what the regulations are now to bring frozen bm I mean if they changed anything since then (I doubt it) but thanks for the tip and for the book. Also happy birthday to your little girl! One year old how fun! :

[Whistler]

Hi all, may I join this tribe? We have been matched with a baby due September 22 and I'm going to try relactating between now and then... see what happens. My son self-weaned well over a year ago so I am hoping my body remembers.

Right now I started pumping with an electric double pump last night and I pumped four times so far today. Used olive oil as a lubricant but MAN am I sore!! But woo, got a few drops on the right side so I have high hopes.

Also I picked up an herbal blend that had Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle in it among a bunch of other things. I took two tonight, although I have to be REALLY careful with it because I have hypoglycemia, so I took it with cheese and bean soup to keep my glucose level. Fingers crossed!

I decided not to use a hormonal protocol as I reacted very badly to birth control when I tried it many years ago. I think right now I will try the herbs, pumping and lots of praying and see what happens.

[tiffani]

Erin!!! congratulations, I haven't been on the non-DDC yet, but will rush over to see if you've posted there!! : erin, have you looked into domperidone? it's not a hormone...I don't actually have any idea why it helps, but most mamas say it really does help a lot... whatever you choose, best of luck!!

I am pumping as we speak, and feel like my production is increasing a little each day. I can only manage to pump 3Xday, but I'm hoping to squeeze in another session a few days/week. I really like my Avent IQ Duo pump, for the record... I had a Medela pump in style last time, and the big improvement with this one is that the controls are right at your breasts, so you don't have to mess with the main pump body at all while trying to pump. I'm taking an herbal blend I found here (very similar to mothers milk plus, though I don't know about quantities...) and 90 mg dom/day. so far so good!

[Whistler]

Originally Posted by tiffani

Erin!!! congratulations, I haven't been on the non-DDC yet, but will rush over to see if you've posted there!! : erin, have you looked into domperidone? it's not a hormone...I don't actually have any idea why it helps, but most mamas say it really does help a lot... whatever you choose, best of luck!!

I am pumping as we speak, and feel like my production is increasing a little each day. I can only manage to pump 3Xday, but I'm hoping to squeeze in another session a few days/week. I really like my Avent IQ Duo pump, for the record... I had a Medela pump in style last time, and the big improvement with this one is that the controls are right at your breasts, so you don't have to mess with the main pump body at all while trying to pump. I'm taking an herbal blend I found here (very similar to mothers milk plus, though I don't know about quantities...) and 90 mg dom/day. so far so good!

I posted a couple of days ago in the non-DDC that we're meeting with the emom on Wednesday. So exciting! But as far as I know we're "matched" as far as we can be until TPR is signed.

I'm on the fence about dom since I'll have to order it from abroad as you can't get it here. I think I'll try the herbs and pumping for a while first and see how it works.

I'm taking Lactation Blend by Dr. Tori Hudson that I picked up at our local food co-op. It has all kinds of goodies in it, as you can see from the list. I hope it helps!


ETA: I'm using the pump that I used with my son since I know exactly how it works and how best to set it to achieve let-down etc. It's this pump and it seems to not be very well-known, but I love mine!

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by Whistler

I posted a couple of days ago in the non-DDC that we're meeting with the emom on Wednesday. So exciting! But as far as I know we're "matched" as far as we can be until TPR is signed.

I'm on the fence about dom since I'll have to order it from abroad as you can't get it here. I think I'll try the herbs and pumping for a while first and see how it works.

I'm taking Lactation Blend by Dr. Tori Hudson that I picked up at our local food co-op. It has all kinds of goodies in it, as you can see from the list. I hope it helps!


ETA: I'm using the pump that I used with my son since I know exactly how it works and how best to set it to achieve let-down etc. It's this pump and it seems to not be very well-known, but I love mine!

Congratulations on your match. Do you have a lactaid? Once you get the baby, using the lactaid to nurse will be better than pumping (though you should still pump after nursing, if you can.) The herbs you're taking have goat's rue which helps me noticeably. Dom is used as a GI drug, but they think it replaces prolactin. So it's not a hormone, but it kind of is. I have great luck with it.

[Whistler]

Day three and no change. I still get one or two drops, but not every time. I am beginning to get discouraged.

I'm not going to try the Dom right now as I do not tolerate hormones and it mirrors how a hormone works... also it's not sold in the US. I just don't really feel comfortable trying it right now since I have a lot of doubts about my body's ability to tolerate it.

I don't have a lactaid right now although I used one for a while in the hospital with my first when I was having trouble.

I'm debating what to do if I can't get my milk started. I don't know whether to get some domperidone and try it, or to get a Lactaid and use that or to just bottle nurse. It looks like I'll need to use formula whatever I do because the closest milk bank is in CA and they only give milk with a prescription and usually only have enough for NICU babies anyway, or so the LLL person in my town told me.

I'm a bit frustrated about the whole thing... it seems like it's really difficult no matter which way I turn.