Got Milk?

This post is so super duper long overdue. I kept putting it off because I have so much to say about this. But the more time passes, the more I realize that I don't need to say all that much. I just need to tell my story. 

When I pictured having a baby, I always pictured myself nursing my child. I couldn't imagine anything else - my baby's face, what the nursery looked like, anything - but the one thing that I always saw was myself nursing a little bundle. So I set my mind on it. I took a "Breastfeeding 101" class at the hospital, I read up on as many things as I could, and I mentally prepared myself for sore nipples and leaky boobs. A couple hours after giving birth, I latched him on (he needed to go to the nursery immediately after birth so I couldn't nurse right away). Everything seemed fine, he seemed content. Fast forward a week to his one week appointment... all good, he was back up to his birth weight, feeding well, no problem! Fast forward a little more, to his one month appointment, and well, still at birth weight. 

​I was crushed. I was starving my child. (I wasn't really, and it certainly wasn't on purpose.)

So after being told I needed to supplement, I said okay, I'll do what I need to to get his weight back up but I will nurse him until we are both good and ready to stop - and I'm only supplementing until I absolutely have to. 

It took weeks. It wasn't easy. Making milk was my full time job. I read everything I could about increasing production. I spent my extra moments baking lactation cookies, power pumping, and guzzling water like it was nobody's business. Eventually, there came a point where I didn't have to supplement any more. The day he finished nursing and rejected a bottle, I cried. I must have looked insane. But I was so happy. My hard work was paying off.  For the next few months I stressed a lot over milk. I ended up going back to work when he was 3 months old and had to pump. I could only just get enough for him most days. But as a teacher, I knew I only had two months to go and then I would be able to continue nursing him through the summer. So I pushed through and I made it - pumping during every break at work, and nursing as much as I could as soon as I walked through the door in the afternoon. 

I made it. And a year later, I'm still making it. Granted, I only nurse twice a day now, but after June, I didn't have to supplement once. He stayed exclusively on breast milk until 6 months, at which point we started introducing solids (very slowly). 

So how did I do it? There are a few key things I did that really helped me. 

• Stay hydrated! I would guzzle water like I was never going to be able to drink a glass again. Whatever helps you drink it - I would add lemon, watermelon, lime, anything to make me want to drink it. Gatorade and coconut water were also added to the rotation. I steered away from soda and alcohol, except beer - I learned to love beer in the last year. 
• Eat smart. I found that when I ate foods that were higher in protein, my supply was better. Legumes, nuts, meats, eggs, all of these were included in my diet. 
• Oatmeal! For some reason, oatmeal does a really good job of helping to increase production. So I would make enough overnight oats in mason jars to last a week, and voila, a grab and go breakfast that tasted super yummy.  
• Mother's Milk tea. I would drink this 3-4 times a day. I'd have a cup when I got to work, a cup after lunch, and another before bed. I feel like that certainly helped to maintain my supply once I got it back up. 
• Lactation cookies - find my recipe here. Warning: They are incredibly addictive, and hubby used to steal them from my stash! haha You can also buy some good ones online. I found some on Amazon that I liked a lot, too. 
• Latch! Frequency is so important, especially when you are first establishing your supply. Nurse as often as you can. Forget "every three hours" like the nurses in the hospital tell you. It's annoying, but if you do it in the first few weeks, you won't have to worry too much after that. 
• Latch! (Part 2) Make sure your baby's latch is good. If possible, have a lactation consultant come out to your home and have a consultation with you. This will make things so much better. I wish I had done this. 
• Power pumping - Involves frequent pumping and mimics a baby's growth spurt, which tells your body to make more milk. Read up on it here. 
• Relax. I know this is the hardest thing in the world to do. But it's so important. If you're tense and on edge, your body won't respond. 

Like I said, my body never responded well to the pump, but pumping definitely kept my supply going. 

Kellymom.com was my greatest resource, and I got so much help from going there. 

If nursing is what you really want to do, don't let anyone tell you you can't do it! A lot of women are told they don't produce enough, but then are not given the tools to help them make what they need! If I could do it, you certainly can, too. And if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask!

xo, 

​Jen