Cassandra27
03-14-2004, 08:23 PM
Just wondering, because my diet is not *fantastic*, and neither is my milk supply. Now that I am due back at work on Wednesday, I'm trying to pump like crazy in order to send expressed milk with Jenna to the nanny's for bottle feeding. And I am having major problems. I can never get more than two ounces out of one breast, and it comes in like 3-4 minutes, and then nothing more. Right now I'm marathon pumping, getting about a 1/4 ounce every 20 minutes, hoping to trigger my supply to increase.
In the beginning when Jenna was in the intensive care nursery (and I was engorged), I pumped 10 minutes on each side every 2 hours and had lots of milk to spare. Then, Jenna finally figured out how to latch on (yay!), and I stopped pumping about 4 weeks ago. Now, Jenna eats quite often, usually 15+ mins every hour, except for a 4 hour stretch at night and another 3-4 hour stretch during the afternoon while she gets a good nap in.
Also, I've been on Fenugreek for a couple weeks, and it's definitely helped, but I'm still not quite where I feel I need to be. I just increased my dosage today, though, so it will be another day or so to see if it's made a difference.
Anyway, now that you know my situation, back to my question. I sort of eat whatever I can whenever I can. Sometimes this means a skipped meal, but more often it just means lots of granola bars instead of a meal. I keep handy foods, like bananas, Nutrigrain bars, and granola bars on hand for quick snacking (if there's no easy snack around, sometimes that means I can't eat anything because there's just no opportunity). Other than the bananas, I get very little fruits and veggies. And for dinner, it's usually a Lean Cuisine, unless my parents bring takeout or something. So, I'm wondering that since my diet is less than stellar, if it could be part of my milk production problem.
Now that I re-read my post, I can pinpoint a couple issues that I probably just need to work through. First, I probably am trying to pump a little late; I probably should have started at least a week ago. And second, I'm sure I'm not really having a production problem, because Jenna is getting bigger every day and has lots of soiled diapers. But she was 5 weeks early, so maybe she just eats lots more than a full-term baby to catch up(?). So I probably just need to keep up my marathon pumping and positive attitude and I'll see some progress in a few days.
But keeping my attitude a positive one is getting tough....any words of wisdom, success stories, or other inspiration you can give? Am I just expecting too much? Or is my body abnormal? Or do I just need to chill? TIA.
Cassandra
mom to Jenna, born 02/03/04
In the beginning when Jenna was in the intensive care nursery (and I was engorged), I pumped 10 minutes on each side every 2 hours and had lots of milk to spare. Then, Jenna finally figured out how to latch on (yay!), and I stopped pumping about 4 weeks ago. Now, Jenna eats quite often, usually 15+ mins every hour, except for a 4 hour stretch at night and another 3-4 hour stretch during the afternoon while she gets a good nap in.
Also, I've been on Fenugreek for a couple weeks, and it's definitely helped, but I'm still not quite where I feel I need to be. I just increased my dosage today, though, so it will be another day or so to see if it's made a difference.
Anyway, now that you know my situation, back to my question. I sort of eat whatever I can whenever I can. Sometimes this means a skipped meal, but more often it just means lots of granola bars instead of a meal. I keep handy foods, like bananas, Nutrigrain bars, and granola bars on hand for quick snacking (if there's no easy snack around, sometimes that means I can't eat anything because there's just no opportunity). Other than the bananas, I get very little fruits and veggies. And for dinner, it's usually a Lean Cuisine, unless my parents bring takeout or something. So, I'm wondering that since my diet is less than stellar, if it could be part of my milk production problem.
Now that I re-read my post, I can pinpoint a couple issues that I probably just need to work through. First, I probably am trying to pump a little late; I probably should have started at least a week ago. And second, I'm sure I'm not really having a production problem, because Jenna is getting bigger every day and has lots of soiled diapers. But she was 5 weeks early, so maybe she just eats lots more than a full-term baby to catch up(?). So I probably just need to keep up my marathon pumping and positive attitude and I'll see some progress in a few days.
But keeping my attitude a positive one is getting tough....any words of wisdom, success stories, or other inspiration you can give? Am I just expecting too much? Or is my body abnormal? Or do I just need to chill? TIA.
Cassandra
mom to Jenna, born 02/03/04