I love nursing. In fact, the thought of giving it up already makes me a little sad. It is such a special time with my little dood. And I love the slowness of it...
But lately, it is making me exhausted. This week baby D. is feeling pretty mama-centric. I get home either at 5pm or 8pm - and no matter which, he literally wants to nurse from then on till bedtime. It is like literally having the life sucked out of me. I find a few minutes to eat some super, nurse some more and then have to eat again! It has gotten to be a little much.
And to top it off, he takes A LOT of breast milk from the bottle. Today, while I was at work for a mere 5 hours, he consumed 11 ounces of breast milk! I don't even make that much in 5 hours! I think it is just that he eat more from the bottle than the breast. But the thing is that my stock is dwindling. I am not even sure why I am freezing it when it gets thawed a day or two later. And waking up at 5 am to pump is not fun either! I don't want to introduce formula, so if anyone has recommendations for a lady with a piggy for a baby - let me know.
After my 5am pump last night I lay in bed unable to get back to sleep. I started worrying about if I could have another. Will my uterus abide? Will it be misbehavin? Will preventitive measures do the trick? Its too early to really think about it... but....
8 comments:
I've no doubt you DO make that much, it's just that D is way more efficient than the pump.
Have you just gone back to work? If so he might be compensating boobtime at night. Or he could be a bit sick, teething or hitting a growth spurt or developmental milestone. It will pass, exhausting as it is.
C's been feeding almost constantly for a few days now and yeah, it's tiring. And that's without me working outside the home.
Not too early to start thinking about another. There's a lot TO think about, I think. And then to think about dealing with the what ifs when you also have your first child to care for. It's so easy for some isn't it?
You need one of those double pump automatic bras and you can just go back to sleep. Or use it as you drive to work. Better yet, use it while teaching!
This might help
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html
This link is really helpful! Funny, I pump 5-6 ounces from one side in a short sitting. This article says even 4 ounces is unusual? Guess my supply is fine. One thing it did suggest is that he may be overfed when I am not here, which I think may be true.
I only work for 4-5 hours at a time 4 days a week. And that will come to en end at the close of this month. So I am hoping I can manage till then.
Thanks for the link!
That's a really interesting website. I'm having trouble with transitioning from less pumping to more nursing on most days and then almost exclusive pumping on days I work say...12 hours or so. The flip flopping is a bit difficult sometimes. And M I have to agree with you, I think Brynn takes much more when she bottle feeds with my mom during the day than when I'm just at home breastfeeding her. You are so right. ((hugs))
Oh goodness hun, you are channeling my wavelength with this post. I wish I could tell you what to do, but I just gave Cullen some formula this week (1 ounce of soy formula mixed with 5 ounces of boobie juice) and it is still touch and go with him. I only did this because my stored supply was dwindling and I needed to build it back up (he takes 18 ounces each day while I'm at work). Once I build it back up, I am going to go back to all breastmilk.
However, as for feeding from me...I think he is getting enough (even though, yes, I feel drained too), and I'm sure that is the case with your little man.Maybe he is hitting a growth spurt as well? Oh, and I do the 1 AM pumping verses the 5AM, it sucks.
Also, that article said 2 ounces from both breasts is normal for pumping? Holy cow....I usually have anywhere from 3-8 so apparently my supply isn't as "low" as I thought too! I just started Fenugreek because I was worried about it.
On average if I were to just pump I get about 24-28 ounces a day. I have no idea what is normal, but that's what I get if I only pump and wouldn't nurse. Those days of only pumping are almost gone now that Brynn is actually nursing sometimes. But that is what I found. However, the other day I pumped all day and evening and got 18 oz for that day and then the next I got like 29. Weird, huh? I think I drank the same amount of water and ate similarly and pumped the same amount of times both days. Oh well :-)
As tiring as it is, letting your little guy nurse away will help increase your supply to meet up with his demands. Let him go to town!
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