LTTTC/Assisted Conception - Due Autumn/Winter 2012

[Care76]

Urch, it is so hard when you just don't have enough. Yesterday I though it might be the day where I could only feed him through breastfeeding and then by around 6pm I just didn't have enough and I had to bottle feed him for the next couple feeds. Then I had more around 4am and then at 8am.

Declan is still screaming about 70% of his feedings and it takes forever to feed him because all he does is take a few drinks and then scream. Lats night he woke at just after 4am and didn't go back to sleep until 6am. We found out he is sensitive to dairy, soy, and of all things olive oil. I have a soy intolerance and my husband has a dairy intolerance so those make sense, but the olive oil is a weird one. I haven't had dairy in a couple weeks but he is still in pain. I haven't been eating any of the gassy culprits like broccoli, cabbage, green beans, onions, or high acid foods like tomatoes. I don't know what else to do for the poor guy.

 

[urchin]

care, that sounds so hard: seeing them in pain rips your insides out doesn't it?
I hope you find what's causing it soon

on a brighter note: loving your new profile pic

 

[kleinfor3]

Marie-Congrats!!! So glad they are doing well YAYYYYY!!! Hope you have a speedy recovery!

Care-That sounds awful. You may have posted this already but Does the formula hurt him too? I hate your having such issues with his poor little tummy and not to mention your supply too. I have not heard of the fertility hurting BFing though. That was a new one to me.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We are hoping to put our tree up...but not decorate it yet. My BFF is giving me all of her BLUE tree decorations, she's decided to do red this year so its my lucky year lol. I was wanting to do blue!

I really enjoyed the kids being home from school this week. Not having to 'Taxi' them around was amazing and not having to do homework...priceless lol. I really needed the break. Now if I can just manage to make it until Christmas break...I'll be doing great lol.

Miss Journee is doing well. I was able to take her newborn sleeping pics last week with the help of DD. It was impossible to do them myself. I will post a link to the pics on my website since I have to resize and all on B&B.

I also managed to bring myself to look at the birth pics after she was born. Still haven't found the time to finish writing my birth story. I hope to find the time soon.

DH is still working his outage and just as I thought...I just have to hang on until next week when he will return to his regular 40 hr a week schedule...BAM ...he's getting moved to NIGHTS plus ANOTHER OUTAGE. 5-12 hr days. I am very thankful for the $$$ especially this time of year but dang...can't I catch a break?!?! So frustrating I had a cry about it today. Now, I'm left to suck it up and go with the flow.

 

[sarahincanada]

sorry Ive been MIA, I cant remember when I lasted posted, but I had my gallbladder removed 2 weeks ago! I had gone to emergency for the 5th time, and they admitted me as my blood pressure was really low, heart rate low etc. To shorten a long story I was in there for 6 days, 3 days I didnt see cieran as I didnt want him in a germy hospital, so I cried a lot. finally a nice nurse managed to get me up to the maternity ward and so I could have some visits. I had 3 days no food, even 2 no no food nor water...it was brutal. Finally had the surgery and was so happy to come home and start my new life. but Ive since had 2 more attacks had ultrasounds and an MRI last week and they cant see any stones stuck anywhere so they think it might have been sludge from after the surgery. I havent had an attack for a week so fingers crossed its done. with the c section and gallbladder removal and painful attacks / emergency visits with loads of morhpine, painful IV's etc Im so done!!

congrats marie!! would love to see a pic.

klein how is everyone in your household doing, Dis too

sienna did you give birth?

care thats so tough, my friends boy has acid reflux and screamed most of his feeds. I cant imagine how that must be. how are you coping with the lack of sleep? Im tired and my feeds only take about 15 mins at night so you must be really tired when he screams for that long. Im ok staying up till 2am etc but I find the mornings bad for me, I can barely get out of bed to go get everything ready for him. are you considering formula at all due to the problems?

Urch how is the medication doing? before all the gallbladder stuff I was pumping (his latch was always too painful so I prefered pumping and measuring) and giving him mainly breast milk with a small top up of formula. but now its the opposite with more formula little breast milk as my supply has tanked.....although I did try to pump and dump when in hospital with all my visits Ive had long stretches of no pumping. plus after my surgery I did need to sleep and hubby often did some of the night feeds so thats a long stretch of no stimulation. Each day I tell myself Im going to pump more but I never get around to it. Im also working ontop of everything as Im self employed, I find I feed him, change him, clean the bottles, entertain him if he is not asleep, and then the 3 hours later comes around so quickly and Im doing it all again. right now Im only pumping 1 oz per pump (thats both boobs combined) which is such a small amount but Im trying, tonight I just got 2 oz (1 oz each boob) was so happy!! my hubby keeps saying any little bit is like liquid gold so Im continuing although sometimes wonder why for such a small amount. How much are you doing, I bet its a lot more.

 

[urchin]

hey Sarah - sorry to hear you're having such a rough ride; hopefully hospitaly stuff is safely behind you now though x

I was down to about 1oz when my supply crashed and at some pumpings was getting nothing at all
But things have really picked up since I've been on the domperidone e.g at 3 this morning I got 9oz combined ... then at 7 I fed her off the right side and pumped 2oz off lefty. I did worry that maybe she hadn't got much off righty so offered her the pumpings. But she must've had more than I thought as she only took 1oz then settled down for a nap.
Supply is now so good that I have 27oz in the freezer and 13oz in the fridge

If you are wanting to carry on giving your LO bm I can really recommend domperidone - will they prescribe it in canada?

 

[Care76]

Klein, I hope your DH is able to be home a bit more recently. Yes, he has problems with formula as well. Although he doesn't get it enough to really know as he only gets it if I don't have any milk.

Sarah, I am so sorry you had to go through all of that. I couldn't imagine not seeing Declan for 3 days. And the pain is horrible. I really hope it is all over now so you can enjoy your time with Cieran.

I am so tired from about 2pm until bedtime that I can hardly keep my eyes open. Thankfully Declan sleeps about 4-6 hrs from midnight and 1am, but after that I usually can't get back to sleep as he is too fussy. He doesn't sleep through the day except for 20 min naps (unless I am holding him) so I can't nap either. I have to occasionally give him an ounce of formula or sometimes more if he feeds every 20 mins for a few hours and is still hungry. This happens sometimes in the late afternoon, but not every day, maybe 4 days out of 7. I have thought of giving up those long hours where he screams because he is frustrated with not getting milk from me.

You can take herbs to help bring in more milk. I took fenugreek and it was working awesome but it was causing some gas issues (lots of women say gas doesn't increase when they take it, so it is worth a try) so I had to stop. It was helping though. You have to take about 4 capsules 3 times a day and it works best with blessed thistle, but don't take if you are allergic to ragweed or daisies. I am taking fennel and red raspberry to help and it is helping a bit as before I was running out of milk around 11am or early afternoon and now it is closer to dinner or evening. There is a tea called mother's milk that has all of these in it, so it may help. Oh, also eat lots of oats. I eat oatmeal every day and have been making oatmeal muffins.

Urch, domperidone has a warning in Canada and should only be taken if absolutely necessary and is not recommended here for breastfeeding women. I looked it up because I am desperate.

AFM I am taking fennel and even though Declan still spits up so much milk he doesn't scream as often when eating. He is growing so I guess he is getting enough milk, although I do supplement a tiny bit when he is really hungry.

We had his pictures done and I have been playing around with them editing them in different ways. I will post some here. I am happy with how they turned out.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Care76/s51020ca112537_22a600.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Care76/s51020ca112537_22_1a-600.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Care76/Simplyadorable2-1-600.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Care76/s51020ca112537_29_0_600.jpg

 

[urchin]

those pictures are just gorgeous Care

yes, I'd heard that domperidone was controversial - over here less so than in Canada, but it still isn't licensed in the UK for this usage. So the GP has recorded on my notes that I understand this and have elected to take it anyway.

I am very glad it's available here though as I've been taking fenugreek and fennel for weeks and my supply still crashed, but the dp rescued it

 

[sarahincanada]

omg care he is so cute! love the photos. we also did a shoot, will put the photos up soon. I did get those 2 herbs, couldnt take the one that smelt like curry it made me gag!! ive been half-heartedly taking the blessed thistle, but I am allergic to ragweed no-one mentioned that! I havent really been very good at taking it but I will stop if its not good for those with ragweed allergy.

urch as soon as you mentioned 9oz I wanted to call my doctor, thats amazing!! Care is it controversial due to the cardiac side effects? my MW said those results were based on the medication being used by much older patients (70-80 yrs) and not for breastfeeding. when I heard that my hubby said he didnt want me to go on it, especially after all Ive been through. but Im so tempted, as I feel I need to do that or give up, as the 1oz 4 times a day is silly (or is it not silly, is 4oz a day better than nothing?? will he get some of the immune help from that much??). if there are other things other than the cardiac problems let me know, as Im seriously considering.

I keep trying to pump more but its just not working with my lifestyle, like on monday we were running around for our business and were basically out all day so I didnt pump much sometimes I feel bad like Im not being a good mother but then I remember Im not a mum at home who can concentrate on her child, getting money from the government like most people on maternity, I have to work, so Im doing my best.

Im loving the smiles and cooing, we actually have a conversation back and forth (all goo's and oooh's lol) and he looks so happy what else are you ladies loving? I also love how he can be all fussy but when I cuddle him close and put my lips to his forehead it always calms him, it feels like I have a magic power!!

 

[Care76]

Urch, I know a lot of women here still use it for BF as well. What worries me most is what will the effects be 10 years down the road since so many drugs get pulled years later after they are used longer. But if it is only for a short time then I think it is worth it. Most people seem to think the benefits outweigh the risks.

Sarah, I have been doing a lot of research on it since it seems to work so well and I found a link you may be interested in. It gives all the pros and cons and it is very pro domperidone (and it is a Canadian site), Here it is.
I am interested to see if it would help Declan with his reflux. He has so much pain when eating and seems to bring most of his feeds up during feeding and after. I tried putting him at a 30 degree angle when BF but that doesn't work. We thought it was gas, but I think it is mostly reflux.

I can't wait to see your pictures! We need more baby pics in this thread.

I know what you mean about working from home. I still can't put him down without him crying most of the time so it is very hard to get work done. That is why I want to be able to pump to have enough milk so my mom can watch him a few hours some days. Or my DH at night. But with BF because it takes so long with his reflux, sometimes he stops and eats for two hours or more because he is screaming in pain. I have thought of giving up when I don't have enough milk in or when I don't know why he screams at my breast. My sister said to me that quality of life sometimes has to win out and not to feel guilty if it doesn't work out. I think you need to hear the same thing. By all means try whatever you can, but if it doesn't work don't feel guilty. I would talk to a lactation consultant about if he gets enough to pump a small amount.

I have spoken to so many LCs lately and other women who had supply issues so I will post all I have heard and what has been helping me a bit (my milk has increased but I still run out for a few hours almost every day).
- Fenugreek does work if you can try to get past the taste. Try drinking a whole glass of water when you take them and take 4 3x/day.
- oatmeal everyday and more often if possible. there are lactation cookies that work, try making those
- fennel but only 1 3x/day
- red raspberry leaf
- dark beer (I think it is the brewers yeast as it is in the lactation cookies also)
- hot bath
- try not to be stressed!
- most important, keep putting him on even if there is no milk. let him suck for comfort or try to get something. I held Declan and fed him for 10-20mins when I had no milk, I did this for three hours and at night I had lots of milk. but I have to keep putting him to the breast over and over, even if he is frustrated.
- if all that fails get the script! but you may want to do the last thing to bring it in faster and also the baths.

In the end if you try and it is still not working or stressing you out, don't beat yourself up if you go to formula 100%. Because if you are stressed he will be too and it isn't worth it.

AFM, I just typed all this with one hand because if I put Declan down he cries! But I don't mind. He is growing so fast and I don't want to miss any of it. To answer Sarah's question, I also love that when he is upset I can calm him by holding him just how he likes and whispering in his ear. I love that he loves me more than anybody else in the world, I love that sometimes when he sleeps he makes these little squeaks and sighs and smiles when he must be dreaming. I love his happy talking that he does now and his wide eyes looks at everything. and I love that when he hears my voice when somebody else has him that he looks towards my voice to try and find me. I could go on and on...

 

[sienna1]

Hello ladies,
I've had quite a week! I need to catch up and read the more recent posts. My due date came and went on 11/27. Had doctor appointment last Thursday on the 29th. Was 1cm and she did a sweep. I woke up with the first contractions on Friday at 2:30am, labored at home until 7:30pm when I couldn't take it anymore. Got to hospital and got epidural around 9:30, which allowed me to rest. Saturday I got an epidural boost before being checked, when was already at 10cm. To make a long story short, it took 5 hours of pushing (with a 45 minute break). Took long time to know how and where to push, and then when figured it out was so exhausted and frustrated.

Bottom line, my baby arrived at almost 3pm on 12/1/12. Damian weighed 8lbs4oz and is healthy. I'm falling more in love with my husband, seeing how he's bonding and caring for the baby. Breastfeeding is going ok so far. Will post a pic when I can.

Hope you are all doing well.

 

[Care76]

Congrats Sienna!!! I can't wait to see pics of little Damian! Wow, 5 hours of pushing. Was that because of the epidural?

Sarah, I wanted to show you this. I hope it works. It is a pdf file link that shows a study on domperidone and QT prolongation. I will copy the beginning:

- Domperidone is a “hidden” neuroleptic mainly used for symptomatic treatment of gastroesophageal reflux. It can prolong the QT interval, thus predisposing patients to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia such as torsades de pointes.

- A French study of 31 newborns and infants receiving domperidone showed statistically significant QTc prolongation.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...r4CoCg&usg=AFQjCNFoFcYp4HTw7D08ZxIWYXoEscjtpg

Now this is for the infant taking the medication not the BF mother. I just thought you might want to see it. I am trying to get in to a pediatrician and I will see what he says about it. I am torn.

 

[urchin]

CongratulationsSienna and welcome too wee Damien xxx

Sarah - I started with the herbals (fenugreek & fennel) and they did make some difference, but tbh not enough to keep me BF, and didn't stop the crash.

I think with domperidone there have been 2 types of studies:
Those on elderly and ill people taking it
Those on babies taking it for reflux

The literature that I've read has suggested that very little of the drug transfers to the BM, so the dosage is not going to be anywhere near the dose used in the studies.

For me it was worth it as BF is so important to me - and as soon as everything is working smoothly I can start reducing my dose and eventually stop taking it altogether... but you must weigh it up for yourself I guess xxx

 

[sarahincanada]

congrats sienna! cant wait to see pics, wow thats a long time pushing but bet he was worth it

care thanks for all that info. I think my problem is I dont have the time to pump every 3 hours ontop of everything else plus work. it doesnt seem much when you speak about it, but by the time Ive fed him, changed him, entertained him if he is awake, washed bottles, checked some emails etc it is time to do it all over again. unfortunately we both have to work right now as we have a lot of debt to pay off and if I dont the bills wont get paid.

I did try him back at the breast but it still hurts, I honestly think my skin is just too sensitive. so i need to stick with pumping and I have a doctors apt next week to ask about the medication. I will read the links you posted when I get time, its such a hard decision. Im very tempted to go on it though, as getting half or one ounce between both breasts everytime I pump is so depressing, which is probably why I dont pump that often. If I did pump every 3 hours I wonder if it would go up that much, probably not as I was pumping a lot before my gallbladder problems and the most I got was 2-3 oz.

like you said quality of life is so important, we have given our children a good amount of our milk (you more than me) and if it doesnt work out thats ok. its not like formula is that terrible, they get all the nutrients and vitamins they need to grow. i was a formula baby and like to think I turned out well!! I do know in my heart Ive given it a good go as best as I can with my breastfeeding pain, hospital visits and work, and so am ok with that. have you ever looked up jack newmans clinic? he is canadas breastfeeding guru and he thinks the studies on dom are not a cause for concern. I was considering going to the clinic for a consult, I think its $75 or something.

care are you doing all the vaccinations? as you and my hubby are so alike and we took cieran yesterday. my hubby reads so much alternative media that he was more convinced vaccines are worse for the body that the risk of illnesses. but I more want to go with the recommendations by health canada, as I would worry too much not vaccinating. the pediatrician was nice, she explained everything but said it was our choice. so we decided yes but to spread them out....hubby thinks its crazy to give a 2 month old 3 injections each with multiple strains inside. so we gave him the one, and we go back in a week for the 2nd injection and decided not to give the new rotovirus one as its new.

urch how are you doing? Ive also read that the amount of the med that goes into the milk is minimal. so if you stop does the supply stay the same?

 

[sarahincanada]

ok I will post some of our pics from the shoot!

 

[sarahincanada]

and some more, he was 3 weeks old, he is so much bigger now!!

 

[sarahincanada]

heres some from this week

more photos from you all please! I know some of you have journals but I dont come on much so only come on this thread!

 

[Dis3tnd]

Oh dear I've been so behind and I'm sorry I didn't come on sooner to see you all are having such BF issues as well! I've had such a battle!

For the first 4 weeks I exclusively breastfed, but it was horrible. Baby would be at the breast for an hour and 15 min later would want back on. I had blisters and scabs and was constantly feeding for a month. During this time I had taken him to 3 different lactation consultants who all said his latch looked fine, eventhough my nipples were coming back looking squished. It was depressing when we found at his 4 week apptmt that he had hardly gained any weight, despite feeding around the clock and no sleep.

I started pumping and giving him bottles then. At first I was following the 8 times a day pump around the clock but was only getting a few ounces and had to supplement with formula. My pump was also killing my nipples so I decided to rent a hospital grade pump. When I went to size myself for the flange, the lactation consultant at this different hospital (now the 4th) took a look at bubs as well. She immediately noticed there must be a tongue tie issue - finally at 7 weeks I had my answer - bubs had a posterior tongue tie preventing him from sucking and he was chewing instead. He was able to get milk by chewing a bottle, but my nipple doesn't respond that way.

We just had his tongue tie corrected by a dentist yesterday and it was horrible to see my bubs bleed so much. I have hired a private lactation consultant to start coming this Friday to try and get us back to the breast now.

A note on pumping, I was getting exhausted with 8 pumps a day and dropped to 6 - 1:30, 5:30, 9:30, 1:30, 5:30, 9:30 - getting enough for baby this way and its less stressful. Although it sucks to still wake up twice at night when baby is only waking up once. I'm also taking domperidone for my supply.

If anyone is interested on the tongue tie issue, here's some literature:
https://thelogicallady.blogspot.ca/p/posterior-tongue-tie-information.html

Hope everyone else is doing well! I've attached some pics from our newborn shoot at 9 days:

 

[Dis3tnd]

Oh and here's a Christmas one!

 

[Dis3tnd]

Urch can't believe the med has helped your supply so much! I am only getting 4oz combined at each pump!

 

[urchin]

Gosh Dis - sounds like you had the exact same problem as me, complete with pillocks telling you that the latch was fine and nobody bloody listening when you describe baby chomping away rather than sucking. It makes me angry how long they let us struggle

But the snip and Domperidone have pretty much sorted us out. My nips still can't quite take 3 feeds a day each side yet, so I express 2 feeds ... but 4 on the boobie is a lot better than we were doing

Sarah - when you come off DP you are supposed to wean yourself off it - I ran out last Monday waiting for my script to be ready. I went from 2am to 4pm without any and my supply dipped markedly - then took 3 days to gear back up again