[BubbiesMami]

My name is Lori, I dont post here often but I lurk alot. I was pregnant and due Oct 6th. Went into labor on June 17th and had my baby girl. She weighed in at 1lb 3oz. I had all intentions of BF but she is too tiny to BF, so they set me up with a pump. I came home with a hospital grade pump and have been doing pretty good. The beginning was torture but things have gotten easier. The problem I am having is lack of appetite. I FORCE myself to eat every single day. I have lost almost 15lbs since being home from the hospital. I am actually down below pre pregnancy weight. Anyways I noticed last night and this morning when I pumped my milk supply isnt as good as it was. I was getting alost 2oz per breast but now its down to 1oz. Do you think this is from my appetite? Or could it be something else?
I have or like to think I have time to play around with my supply and such because they havent even started feeding her my milk yet. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Here is a link to my baby's webpage in case anyone wants to check it out.
Mia Angelina

 

[norasmom]

First of all my heart goes out to you and your family.

also, I want to applaud you for giving your baby the best food she can have. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be going through all this right now.

As far as I understand the most important factor in mom's diet to maintaining supply is staying hydrated. It is so easy to forget to drink water, especially when you have so many other things to think about. Try keeping several water bottles around thr house and one in your purse or the car.

I'm sending positive thoughts and wellwishes to your family.

good luck and happy pumping!

 

[DaryLLL]

Lori, your baby was born almost 4 mos early?!! I feel for you. You must be kind of scared for her.

Why is your baby not getting your milk yet? Is she having nothing by mouth?

Once she is having food by mouth, your milk, esp your colostrum from the first days, should be the first thing to pass her lips. It will protect her from necrotizing enterocolitis, a very dangerous gut reaction. Milk made for a premie by your body is exactly what she needs right now. Premie milk has a different concentration of ingredients than full term milk.

As far as your appetitie being bad, could this be from grief? have you even held her yet? Are you staying nearby her much? Try to spend as much time as possible near her. Eat as much as you can and drink lots and lots and lots of water. Try oatmeal for breakfast and Mother's Milk Tea.

Do you have people helping you? Moral support IRL? Are you in touch with an IBCLC and LLL? Stay well, and good luck!

 

[BubbiesMami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaryLLL Why is your baby not getting your milk yet? Is she having nothing by mouth? As far as your appetitie being bad, could this be from grief? have you even held her yet? Are you staying nearby her much? Try to spend as much time as possible near her. Eat as much as you can and drink lots and lots and lots of water. Try oatmeal for breakfast and Mother's Milk Tea. Do you have people helping you? Moral support IRL? Are you in touch with an IBCLC and LLL? Stay well, and good luck!

She is not having anything by mouth yet, they are giving her nutrients and such through a feeding tube. Once they start giving her my milk it will also be through a tube. 1cc at a time. I am sure my appetite is from not being near my baby but I have a hard time "getting over it" long enough to eat something. No I havent held her yet and they arent even giving me a round about time of when I will be able to

She is over an hour away from us, so we get there as much as physically possible. I have 2 other kids and they wont let my 3 yr old in. So when we do go down to see her we need to find a sitter. Not easy when you dont have much of a family. I have alot of moral support online but not much for IRL. What is an IBCLC? I have been in touch with the LLL at the hospital where my daughter is. Her answer for me not eating is just to eat and get over it. She is not a very friendly person.

Thanks ladies

 

[mum2 4]

Lori- as the Mom of a premie, I know how strong your feelings can be. emotions play a big part in being able to continue expressing when the family is also demanding. Its hard to "get over" all the challenges you have. They do not go away and unless someone has been there they have no clue.
One suggestion I found helpful when David was locked up in NICU and we were not nearby was to use the timer as a substitute for the baby who should have been there crying to be fed every few hours. I had two other children and they were in charge of helping me. One made sure I had my glass of water to drink, the other got to be in charge of snacks, story time a sing fest or whatever needed to happen while I was pumping. The answering machine took care of that annoying phone and no one answered the door as I did not do demonstrations for the curious friends. It was a 20 minute -time out from 6 am until bed time at 11pm. It took some planning but that would have happened if baby was home and by the time he was, we had a good
routine going. I did one pumping during the night too.
Stress is keeping you from eating and probably some guilt as well and that is something we do have to live with as our fragile little ones struggle for about 2 years before they are all caught up. meanwhile do the best you can and making milk is your only challenge right now. Everything else comes second and your other children can bloom as they stretch to make room for the new baby. We had a teen helper come in after school to give them an hour or two of her undivided attention. a walk to the park, a bath, all doing the laundry just some little things to give me a break. I figured if I did one thing a day, it wa enough.
DAd did most of the milk runs during the week.
Here's a good expressing routine for you to try- message your breasts for a few minutes, have a 4 oz drink of water- then use pumnp of choice for 5+
minutes; pause for another 4 oz drink and take some deep breaths;repeat pumping for 5 + minutes and then finish up with some hand expressing ( see lactationinstitute.org for the Marmet technique). Repeat every two hours.
This routine is used at Breastfeeding Boot Camp ( an at home time out to help Moms recapture their milk supply and connect with baby)You can find out more at fourfriends.com/abrw/ They have a weekend mini-camp and a full ten day plan as well. There are also diet recommendation that may help you. small meals 4 times a day may help as will keeping up the liquids ( 3 quarts a day)Even starving Moms in Africa can make good milk but its the let-down that you need and stress keeps it from happening. I liked playing an Andy William's recording of Moon River and imagining that the river was my milk. Also putting a picture of baby on the pump lets you focus on the job at hand. You are an essential part of the baby care team and will be able to play a critical role once she can have your prescious milk. One day at a time is all you need to work on for now. Hang tough...