Four Letter Word...

the pump is back...
quick synopsis (or "TL;DR") :
    went to BF support group last Thursday (run by an IBCLC) and attempted a weighed feeding (was a hot mess... I think I changed her diaper after her "Starting" weight, and the whole thing was with variables like clothing on...) and it said she took in actually negative 1/2 oz. (not possible, right? told you it was a hot mess)
Spoke with the IBCLC then and there to make an appointment for a formal weighed feeding (conveniently made it for the very next day, Friday!)

at the appointment, Ms. Mack was 8lb2.5oz (an oz gained from just the day before, as I had re-started her "supplement" of 2oz BM overnight...)

I nursed her on left side, she got about 1/2 oz (not shocking, lefty is such a dud...) nursed on the right and she only took a little over 1/2 oz.... YIKES...

I put her back on the right breast, and lo and behold - she took a total between both feeds of 1.5 oz, making her feed total 2oz.

According to this formula (weight (8.2lbs) x 2.25oz div. by number of daily feedings) Ms. Mack needs to be getting at least 2.3oz per nursing session, or about 19oz daily. Given her 2oz she took in via the weighed feeding, she was only getting, given 9 daily feeding sessions, 18oz.  (Given the 2-3 nights I stopped giving her the extra 2 oz at night, no wonder she only went from 7lb14.5oz on 1/13/16 to 8lb2.5oz on 1/22/16...) The 2oz were started up again the night before the lactation consultation, hence the 1oz gain from Thursday's group meeting to Friday's private consult...

SO.  All that to say, the IBCLC thinks I have very "borderline low milk supply." (not sure how that works, considering I pumped on a hospital grade pump after she nursed at the appointment, and got almost 2 more ounces... Doesn't that mean that Ms. Mack's just not very efficient at nursing?)

IBCLC's recommendations?

That four-letter word, PUMP.

Pump after every nursing session for one week to kick milk production into high gear...

Add in More Milk Plus (an herbal supplement full of galactagogues) and 3Tbsp brewer's yeast daily, and lots of water - oh and 1,000g of Calcium and 60-76g of protein... no easy task!


so here we are, day 3 of a vicious cycle that feels like it starts all over again the second it ends:
nurse (as long as she'll go for : 10m-18m per side)
give 1oz bottle of BM so Ms. Mack is getting all she needs
pump for 14 minutes (2 seven-minute cycles with let-down phases at the beginning of each)

so far I've always pumped her extra ounces plus some (I get to skip pumping at night feeds... and last night, after she went down around 11pm, that was only one at 3am!!)

But I feel like the entire day passes in the blink of an eye: nurse, pump, wash bottles, pump, nurse, wash...

As long as it's for one week, I can do this... I really hope these boobs start cranking out more milk than a dairy cow... I am counting down the days/hours until the week is up and I meet again with the IBCLC for a weighed feeding to see how much she's getting...



(oh and E wants to go to dinner at his parents tonight... I think I'll bow out (with baby!) as it'll be such a pain to pack up all the pump paraphernalia, never mind the hour-long feeding process... and having to re-explain paced bottle feeding to them?? (and listen to the "you're not feeding her enough!" bullshit from FIL?
nooooo thank you!


(also - Dr appt tomorrow, hopefully we've got good weight! I always dread these appointments, fearing more bad news...)