Questions from Bumpies

I have had a couple of questions already regarding what i'm doing. so im going to try and answer them in this post.

Melissaorlando wrote:

Do you have a "method" that you follow?

Answer: the only "method" i use is i take herbals twice a day morning and night and domperidone 3 times a day. i sneaked in the lactation cookies. but the key is pumping pumping and more pumping. i pump once every 2 hours (if life lets me because i still do have an infant to look after) and i now have to start pumping at night because i feel full, and i dont want to get to full that it develops into something nasty or worse LEAK. every drop counts right now.

eSynergy Wrote: 

how long did you stop BFing for, before you started up again? 

Answer: i had stopped breastfeeding all together after about a month, i still tried to latch Samantha on until about a month ago, now i wish i hadnt stopped trying to latch her as it has now made it difficult to get her back to the breast. so im just pumping and trying to introduce the breast and hopefully she will just take it.

Re-Lactation Day 15

Day 15 (sept.29 2010)

today was a great day, Samantha got 3 breastmilk bottles she had two 6oz bottles and a 5oz bottle, so she only had one formula bottle all day. YAY. i was also still able to pump two full 6oz bottles today. so that means we are up to pumping 1oz per breast per pump session making a full 6oz bottle in just 3 pump sessions.

the lactation cookies seem to work wonders, and they are so so so good. ( Lactation cookies recipe ) they are even good if you where not lactating. hopefully they keep working.

all in all im pretty happy about our progress and hope it keeps up.

Re-Lactation Day 14

Day 14 (Sept 28 2010)

Today was a good day, right now i have two 6oz bottles a 5oz bottle and a 2oz bottle in the fridge. which i think is totally awesome.

i also spoke to the LC at the hospital today, and THANKFULLY i can make an outpatient appointment. she also said that it is VERY possible to get Samantha back to the breast with some persistence. she also said she doesnt normally recommend nipple shields but if i think its going to help then to start with it, and said she likes the Medela ones.

so i think we are going to work on going back to the breast this week, and if all goes well then ill make an appointment. i know if i can get her back to the breast our formula supplement will cut down alot, since a baby is more efficient then the pump.

and she also said im doing a great job, and said for 2 weeks im doing fantastic at pumping, and said the pumps i have are fine and i didnt need a fancy top of the line pump.

Re-Lactation Day 13

Day 13 (Sept 27 2010)
*we missed a few days*
3pm and i already have a full 6oz bottle in the fridge. we have been making 6oz bottles for a couple days now, (missed a few updates)
so today i managed to pump a full 6oz bottle plus 3 extra ounces so im already half way to tomorrows bottle already so 2 bottles tomrorow you think? (last pump about 6:30)

well she will have at least a 4oz (from tonight she didnt end up finishing it before her bedtime, and she had formula at 5:30 and finished 2.5 ounces of it JUST before her bath. (she went down about 7:30 almost 8. we have tried to move her bedtime to 7pm rather then 8 mommy and daddy need some time. and then the 6 oz bottle she would normally have

so i still have about 2 more pumps to do tonight so i should be pretty close to having a full 6oz bottle before the end of the night.

so currently in the fridge i have 13 WHOLE ounces. WOOHOOO

the cookies seem to have made a little bit of a difference. and brewers yeast in milk (like it tells you to have it) is NASTY. i had it in my oatmeal. so well will see if that helps any.

we are still having trouble getting Samantha to relax enough to latch, she FREAKS everytime i try. i can get her to latch but then she wont suck and pop right off. i know there is milk there now so i know if she latched and sucked she would get it. the SNS isnt working yet and its difficult to run it and worry about Samantha thrashing about. im going to call the hospital tomorrow to see if i can meet with the LC they have on staff since i didnt get to see her in the hospital (Samantha was born on a Saturday and she isnt there on the weekends) we will keep working at it but i have a feeling i wont get her to get back to the breast but breastfeeding doesnt mean being at the breast.

 i ordered some more domperidone. since inhousepharmacy is going from a .com domain to a .biz they are having a 10% discount for october. so instead of paying 50 bucks so 48 after their 2 dollar discount, i paid 50 but with a 10% which was 5 bucks off so 45 bucks which is totally awesome! 

Re-Lactation Day 9

Day 9 (sept 22 2010)
 From my bedtime pump last night and the 2oz you heard it 2oz that i have gotten today so far makes a 3oz bottle!!!! not bad. now if only i can get to my goal of 1oz per pump session would would be back in business. but my nipples are killing me.if only i could get my let down to happen i want to feel that warm tingly feeling again! i think i would have more of an output. i had no problem before do it why is it such a problem now. no luck latching today because of the lack of nipple shield.

Re-Lactation Day 7&8

Day 7 (sept 20th 2010)

Morning, i have come to find out the best time to pump is abut an hour after i have taken the domperidone, also the new found pump for 5-7 mins (normally the flow has stopped by then) get on all fours and do the shake, i guess this brings the milk down in the ducts, not sure how true but its working, i then pump again for another 5-7 mins.  it looks like i almost got a half an ounce from one breast WOOHOOOO half way to my goal of getting an ounce per breast. my left one seems to be a little more receptive to the pump then the right, but if i would have though i would have come this far in a week i would have tried this MONTHS ago.

Day 8 (sept 21st 2010)
today was pretty good, i used the 2oz bottle that i had collected over the last couple days and with my ounce i pumped i made a 3oz bottle. my nipples are killing me from all the pumping.

Re-Lactation Day 6

Day 6 (sept 19th,2010)

Yesterday was a difficult day, Samantha was fussy most the day which made it hard for me to pump. so i wasn't able to pump as much as i would like. I did however got her to latch for a moment after her bath, she was nice and relaxed and i managed to get her (i know i have enough of a supply now that she wont pull of right away now) now just trying to get her to latch well thats a struggle. i think my output would increase when she latches more often. so we are working on that, any hints ill take them.

i finally got my husband on my side again, he just doesn't want to see me be disappointed again if this doesn't work. i explained to him that i want to do this for the benefits it has for Samantha i also let him know there is probably a chance that i will have to continue supplementing which im okay with i just want her to get as much breast milk as possible. and i was pretty proud that i got 1.5 ounces for all day. so that is 1.5 ounces that Samantha wont be getting formula today.

i know that this journey is what is best for both Samantha and I, im a stay at home mom so i have the time to focus on pumping and reestablish a breastfeeding relationship. now im not saying working moms cant do this either (i know most the girls that i doing this with are working moms)

also im proud to announce that i had a SOLID stream coming out of one of my breast last night i got so excited it stopped lmao.

Re-Lactation Day 5

Day 5 (sept 18th 2010)
today we had a slow start. so far today we have pumped about 2ML

i have a little two oz bottle i stared to put in what i pump so im not discouraged by the looks of a little bit in a HUGE bottle. my goal is to get 1oz pumped altogether today we are well on the way. my over all goal is to pump 1oz a sitting but right now ill go small and say an oz a day for now.

we tried mommy and baby bath this morning to encourage Samantha to latch and suck this end with a great big FAIL but still got some great cuddle time.

Re-Lactation Day 4

Day 4 (sept 17th 2010)
used the breast pump and I was able to have an output of a tablespoon on our first pump of the day. Samantha latched for a moment. And it looks like we are getting another tablespoon or two this afternoon. I have given up coke for more water and it seems to me working

Re-Lactation Day 3

Day 3 (sept 16th 2010)
used breast pump was able to have an output of a tablespoon from both breasts combined. still taking domperidone and the herbal (2 times a day) had one can of coke all day had a hugeeeeeeeeeeee headache and didn’t get up and pump at night.

Re-Lactation Day 2

Day 2 (sept 15th 2010)
today I  used the breast pump was able to have an output of a half a teaspoon of both breast combined. continued with domperidone and started taking a lactation blend herbal.

Re-Lactation Day 1

Day 1 (Sept 14th 2010)
This is the start of the re-lactation journey. started using the breast pump and started to see a droplets form on the breast. No input into the bottle.I started taking 30mg 3x a day of domperidone.

Starting of the Blog

It has been suggested to me by some fellow bumpies that I start a blog on my Re-lactation journey.  I had already started keeping a short journal of my updates I had and the difficulties i had on a day to day bases. forgive me if I'm not the ultimate blogger as I have never blogged before.