2 bad BF'ing days...need encouragement!

I'm back and in need of more encouragement!

The past two days have been challenging for Atom and me in the breastfeeding department. I have made a point of waking him up myself, before he wakes himself up, with the hopes of getting him to latch on and feed before he hits the "hysterical starvation" mode. It worked the first few times, but lately, it seems like he's going straight from sleeping to hysteria.

When hysteria strikes, nothing will soothe him save the bottle. He won't latch on, he won't calm down, and he just emits these horrid high-pitched guttural screeches and screams that sound like a mad banshee. It's so stressful. I can usually manage it fine by myself and still keep my cool, but sometimes it really does stress me out.

So, I've been having to prime about 80% of our feedings with a few sips from the bottle before I can get him to latch on. Half of those times go pretty well and he'll nurse for the next 40-60 minutes. The other times, the hysteria continues until he's taken about 2 ounces from the bottle, then he won't nurse at all and just falls asleep again from exhaustion.

So, that's frustration #1.

Frustration #2...I think I have a really low milk supply. I've been pumping about 5-8x per day with the Lactina Select. During each pumping session of about 10-30 minutes, I get about 0.5 ounce of EBM per boob. I've been doing this for over a week now, and there's been little improvement. I think I squeezed out one ounces from one boob a couple days ago, but I haven't been able to repeat that performance since. I'm using the EBM for the "hysteria bottles", but I run out very quickly and end up supplementing with formula.

I'm on Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle and also eating a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning to help boost my supply. I've yet to see any increase, but I do smell like syrup??? So bizarre.

Anyhow, I need lots of cyber hugs and encouragement. I feel totally lost and confused and I just don't know what to do differently or what to try next. I want to BF so desperately!

I'm calling tomorrow to schedule a visit with a LC...so, please pray that I'l get an awesome LC with lots of patience and compassion! While you're at it, please pray that my hubby will be more understanding of my BF struggles and start supporting me here, instead of showing frustration. We've talked about it, and from what I understand, his frustration comes from him seeing my struggles and being frustrated that he can't physically do anything to help. If he could just stop telling me to quit and switch to bottles, I'd be thrilled.

Thanks in advance for the support, you guys are all so awesome!

On the bright side, I am loving my Glamourmom tanks and My Brest Friend nursing pillow! They are making this whole experience just a little easier and more pleasant for me. :)

Mariana
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