Time to toot my own horn hehehe!
We made it to one year!!!!! And, not only that, we got OFF formula FINALLY!!!
So, here's the story of the past year of breast feeding:
When Eevee was born, she had a bowel movement in utero so she couldn't breathe. It took almost a dozen nurses five full minutes to get her to finally breathe and I only got to hold my baby for one minute before they took her away to get X-rays to make sure her lungs were clear. Hours later, the nurses told me she was having seizures and was in the NICU and would need to be transferred to a different hospital where they would put her in a cold deep sleep for three days to try to stop her brain swelling and stop the seizures. 6 hours after she was born I was able to see her but not hold her and only for twenty minutes. I didn't get to see her again until I was discharged from the hospital and I made my husband drive me straight to her even though I knew she would still be asleep for one more day. The other hospital was over an hour away and we basically emptied our bank accounts so we could stay at a hotel the whole two weeks she was there. I didnt get to hold her again until she was a week old. They had her on a schedule of being bottle fed every 3 hours and told me to pump just as often but usually I'd only get 1/4 an oz from each side. The nurses told me it wasn't enough and she had to have formula. They never told me I couldve tried to nurse and I assumed I couldn't since she was having monitored feedings so we didnt even attempt our first latch until she was 2 weeks old.
My milk would come out in thick drops before she even latched and she would scream and pull away. I tried over and over for two more weeks. By the time she was one month I was only making 3oz of breastmilk a day and she was eating 32+ oz of formula a day.
I finally went to a LLLI meeting where someone suggested breast shields to help her latch since they felt like a bottle. After the meeting we drove to babies r us and she finally latched! I remember it felt like such a relief - like someone had finally scratched an itch that was just out of reach. It felt amazing and I was so happy I cried. That night we started safe bed sharing so she could nurse all night.
Then the pain came. For almost a month it hurt to feed her, to the point I would have to bite my lip and scream through my teeth whenever she latched. I took her to see the LC at our WIC office but she said she couldn't feel any to tongue tie and to just keep trying. At the time I was drinking mothers milk tea before bed and taking fenugreek and more milk plus, and I asked her if there was anything else I could take to try to increase my supply but she said she didn't know of anything else.
Around that time I found theNewMrs's relactation journal along with a couple others and I became super determined to get her off formula. Over the next couple months I found new herbs to add to my cocktail and at one point I was everyday taking 1 prenatal, 9 domperidone, 12 fenugreeks, 6 more milk plus, 6 goats rue, and 9 brewers yeast. I found out my PCOS might also have been causing my low supply and I started taking 3 metformin everyday too. Everything seemed to help but only a tiny bit.
When she was 5 months old she started refusing her bottle and we gad to switch to using a SNS. Looking back, that was sort of a blessing because my milk went way up by doing that.
By the time she was 6 months old i was rapidly decreasing the amount of formula we offered (.5oz every 3 days) until she was down to 6oz a day of formula and I thought maybe we could finally kick it. The day we got to 5.5 her diapers became bright yellow and suddenly I realized I was in denial. She had been acting so fussy and sleeping so poorly, looking back I can't believe I didn't see the signs that she needed more than what I was offering. Our pediatrician told us to stop lowering for now and continue offering at least 8oz a day.
We continued with 8oz and I started weaning myself off some of the pills. I read a book called The Mothers Guide to Making More Milk as a last hope and saw the sad reality that I might have insufficient glandular tissue. My breasts looked exactly like the picture, two dry very different sizes and sort of tubular. I never took metformin while I was pregnant and the book said that could be the cause behind it. The book also described how to feel for tongue tie and the signs. I thought of all the pain I had experienced and decided to feel. Her tongue tie was so tight I couldn't get my finger across her mouth without taking it out completely! We set up an appointment with a otolaryngologist and, at 8 months, found out she had a severe tongue tie and lip tie that they didn't want to snip until she got her top two teeth. Needless to say, I was fairly enraged with the LC at WIC.
When she was 6 months and we thought she was going to get off formula, we had told the WIC office she would soon be breast fed only and we wouldn't need formula any more. When we went to renew her benefits at 8 months I had to tell them we did need formula still and explain everything that had happened. They referred me to one of their higher up LCs who did a few house visits. Her advice was basically to get the baby on more solids (she was only eating one meal a day). By then he had naturally lowered to 6oz of formula on her own and the LC thought we could get rid of it. Trying to push purrees however caused her to start refusing them completely.
At 9 months we started doing BLW. She started eating everything! It was amazing! And since then, she's just been naturally going down on formula. The last three weeks or so she only was eating 1-3oz a day and, as of four days ago she is completely formula free
She still has her tongue and lip tie and we do plan to get them snipped. I want to keep breast feeding her until she's at least 2 if she'll let me. It's been such a rollar coaster and it was so hard and terribly upsetting in the beginning but I'm SO HAPPY I never gave up!! My baby is smart and sweet and she knows she can find comfort with me and that's all I could ask for.
We made it to one year!!!!! And, not only that, we got OFF formula FINALLY!!!
So, here's the story of the past year of breast feeding:
When Eevee was born, she had a bowel movement in utero so she couldn't breathe. It took almost a dozen nurses five full minutes to get her to finally breathe and I only got to hold my baby for one minute before they took her away to get X-rays to make sure her lungs were clear. Hours later, the nurses told me she was having seizures and was in the NICU and would need to be transferred to a different hospital where they would put her in a cold deep sleep for three days to try to stop her brain swelling and stop the seizures. 6 hours after she was born I was able to see her but not hold her and only for twenty minutes. I didn't get to see her again until I was discharged from the hospital and I made my husband drive me straight to her even though I knew she would still be asleep for one more day. The other hospital was over an hour away and we basically emptied our bank accounts so we could stay at a hotel the whole two weeks she was there. I didnt get to hold her again until she was a week old. They had her on a schedule of being bottle fed every 3 hours and told me to pump just as often but usually I'd only get 1/4 an oz from each side. The nurses told me it wasn't enough and she had to have formula. They never told me I couldve tried to nurse and I assumed I couldn't since she was having monitored feedings so we didnt even attempt our first latch until she was 2 weeks old.
My milk would come out in thick drops before she even latched and she would scream and pull away. I tried over and over for two more weeks. By the time she was one month I was only making 3oz of breastmilk a day and she was eating 32+ oz of formula a day.
I finally went to a LLLI meeting where someone suggested breast shields to help her latch since they felt like a bottle. After the meeting we drove to babies r us and she finally latched! I remember it felt like such a relief - like someone had finally scratched an itch that was just out of reach. It felt amazing and I was so happy I cried. That night we started safe bed sharing so she could nurse all night.
Then the pain came. For almost a month it hurt to feed her, to the point I would have to bite my lip and scream through my teeth whenever she latched. I took her to see the LC at our WIC office but she said she couldn't feel any to tongue tie and to just keep trying. At the time I was drinking mothers milk tea before bed and taking fenugreek and more milk plus, and I asked her if there was anything else I could take to try to increase my supply but she said she didn't know of anything else.
Around that time I found theNewMrs's relactation journal along with a couple others and I became super determined to get her off formula. Over the next couple months I found new herbs to add to my cocktail and at one point I was everyday taking 1 prenatal, 9 domperidone, 12 fenugreeks, 6 more milk plus, 6 goats rue, and 9 brewers yeast. I found out my PCOS might also have been causing my low supply and I started taking 3 metformin everyday too. Everything seemed to help but only a tiny bit.
When she was 5 months old she started refusing her bottle and we gad to switch to using a SNS. Looking back, that was sort of a blessing because my milk went way up by doing that.
By the time she was 6 months old i was rapidly decreasing the amount of formula we offered (.5oz every 3 days) until she was down to 6oz a day of formula and I thought maybe we could finally kick it. The day we got to 5.5 her diapers became bright yellow and suddenly I realized I was in denial. She had been acting so fussy and sleeping so poorly, looking back I can't believe I didn't see the signs that she needed more than what I was offering. Our pediatrician told us to stop lowering for now and continue offering at least 8oz a day.
We continued with 8oz and I started weaning myself off some of the pills. I read a book called The Mothers Guide to Making More Milk as a last hope and saw the sad reality that I might have insufficient glandular tissue. My breasts looked exactly like the picture, two dry very different sizes and sort of tubular. I never took metformin while I was pregnant and the book said that could be the cause behind it. The book also described how to feel for tongue tie and the signs. I thought of all the pain I had experienced and decided to feel. Her tongue tie was so tight I couldn't get my finger across her mouth without taking it out completely! We set up an appointment with a otolaryngologist and, at 8 months, found out she had a severe tongue tie and lip tie that they didn't want to snip until she got her top two teeth. Needless to say, I was fairly enraged with the LC at WIC.
When she was 6 months and we thought she was going to get off formula, we had told the WIC office she would soon be breast fed only and we wouldn't need formula any more. When we went to renew her benefits at 8 months I had to tell them we did need formula still and explain everything that had happened. They referred me to one of their higher up LCs who did a few house visits. Her advice was basically to get the baby on more solids (she was only eating one meal a day). By then he had naturally lowered to 6oz of formula on her own and the LC thought we could get rid of it. Trying to push purrees however caused her to start refusing them completely.
At 9 months we started doing BLW. She started eating everything! It was amazing! And since then, she's just been naturally going down on formula. The last three weeks or so she only was eating 1-3oz a day and, as of four days ago she is completely formula free
She still has her tongue and lip tie and we do plan to get them snipped. I want to keep breast feeding her until she's at least 2 if she'll let me. It's been such a rollar coaster and it was so hard and terribly upsetting in the beginning but I'm SO HAPPY I never gave up!! My baby is smart and sweet and she knows she can find comfort with me and that's all I could ask for.
