Three Weeks PP

[cosmicav]

I need help from some breast feeding experts!!! Please ❤️

The TLDR: I've never lactated with my previous babies and now at 3w PP, I think I am. Is this just a crazy fluke, or is there hope here? Is there actually a chance that I might be making milk?? I want to be realistic with myself so I don't get so upset if it doesn't work out again.

Backstory: My first baby was a preemie, and with his shitty latch, shitty suck/swallow, NICU time, and my low milk supply (and I wasn't getting anything from the pump either), we ended up not being able to breastfeed, and he was exclusively formula fed. I never had my milk come in. I never leaked or anything. I had like 3 drops come out after pumping once at 9 days PP. We just kind of assumed that my body wasn't making much of anything, and we moved on. Fwiw I had tried the oatmeals and water increases and stuff.

I am currently 3 weeks post partum with my second baby. I wanted to try breastfeeding again, esp since she was full term--I thought she would have a better shot of being able to suck/swallow/get my milk to come in. Well.... no milk. She has a good latch and seems to know what she is doing, but can't get any milk. She lost a FULL pound of her birth weight and I don't think she was getting a damn thing. We turned to formula again; poor baby was starving she is recently back to birth weight (hooray!) and she is doing great. We haven't attempted breastfeeding in about a week now.

Well. Today I took a shower and I noticed a little white blob on my left nipple. Research is telling me it's a milk bleb? I squeezed it a little and milk is coming out. I squeezed my breast a bit and more milk came out of the nipple! I seriously cannot even believe it. Nothing is going on on the other side at the moment even if I squeeze.

Is this crazy? If I start trying to breastfeed again, what are my odds of being successful? I really want to breastfeed but I also want to protect my heart here. I am afraid to invest all the emotion and effort into it if this is just some crazy fluke and is bound to fail, you know?

Has anyone ever heard of something like this happening before? Any tips to make this work?

[spicysalmonroll]

I really have no idea since that is so far from my own experience. But I say why not run with it and try pumping and nursing as much as possible and see what happens! You pretty much only get one chance at establishing the milk making so might as well not pass this up if it could be it! Good luck

[manybellsdown]

I would also just go for it! Or could try the pump to see of much comes out? Good luck.

[Deleted]

I agree to just go for it! Good luck!

[lilyelayne]

It's not too late! Lots of skin to skin; let baby latch as much and for as long as she wants.

I highly highly recommend reaching out to an IBCLC (link to find one here) and your local La Leche League leader (link to find your area) or Breastfeeding USA counselor. IBCLC is a medical professional specializing in breastfeeding; they may have a clinic, work out of a hospital, or do home visits or video calls. Insurance may or may not cover the visits. La Leche League is a BF peer support group, help is always free. BF USA is similar.
All of these resources should help with both a plan to get your supply up to par (likely a mixture of nursing and pumping at first) as well as getting baby back to the breast.

Super important to make sure all bottles are pace fed with a slow flow nipple. Pace fed is a method to make a bottle feed more closely mimic a breastfeed, so baby doesn't get used to fast easy bottle flow and refuse to nurse because it's more effort. Pace feeding is about how you feed a bottle, not when, as babies should always be fed on demand.

Lots of great info in the links below!

kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/relactation/

kellymom.com/ages/newborn/nb-challenges/back-to-breast/

kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

youtu.be/UH4T70OSzGs

[lilyelayne]

How's it going cosmicav?

[cosmicav]

Mar 25, 2017 14:55:34 GMT -5 lilyelayne said:

How's it going cosmicav?

Thank you for asking!

I've been trying to pump but I think I just don't know what TF I am doing. I think it's been about 3 days now. I've been pumping every 2 hours for 15 mins each time (I have a Spectra pump). I've been getting little drops of milk appearing on my nipples every time I pump, but never anything measurable. The drips on my nipples is already an improvement, as I have never got that much before. I have the pump cranked up to the highest setting that I can bear right now. But so far I have only gotten those little droplets on my nipples and that is it. I have put baby onto the breast after pumping a few times but she doesn't latch on and gets pissed when I hold her there. I also have flat nipples. (Aka the world is against me lol)

I don't feel engorged or anything. Is milk likely to come in? Is this usually the progression of how it starts? Is there something else I am supposed to do after drops of milk start appearing on my nipples? It truly sucks to just basically torture my nipples every two hours for nothing. Especially considering that I never made any milk with my first. I am wondering if maybe my body just can't do it.

I am trying but it's all really discouraging. :/

[lilyelayne]

First, pumping shouldn't be super painful. Too high suction can actually temporarily collapse your milk ducts and prevent output. You want to start on the highest suction that is comfortable and go no higher.

www.nancymohrbacher.com/articles/2010/8/30/ouch-what-if-pumping-hurts.html

Make sure you're using the right size flange. Make sure you're lubricating with nipple cream (coconut oil, earth mama angel baby nipple butter, lanolin, etc) prior to pumping.

www.nancymohrbacher.com/articles/2012/6/27/to-pump-more-milk-use-hands-on-pumping.html

You could try hand expression and see if that helps, but it may not be enough to stimulate the supply you need.

med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html (instructions start at 1:30 in the video)

Practical tips to make pumping so often a little less terrible:
Only wash pump parts once a day. Between sessions, throw them in a ziplock or a wet bag and store in the fridge.
A cheap diy hands free pumping bra can be made by cutting holes in a sports bra.

--

All that said, it's impossible for someone on this side of the internet to tell you why you didn't make milk with your previous births or if you can this time. I urge you to get some in person help. Call your la Leche League leader. Or delegate that phone call to your partner or another support person if phone calls seem overwhelming right now.

As you know formula is a wonderful thing. And formula fed children are just as fabulous as breastfed children. But you're obviously motivated enough to pump round the clock, so I would hate for there to be something key to your particular situation that someone could figure out in person that we miss out here in cyberspace.

And, as always, skin to skin with your baby is a wonderful thing for many reasons, one of them being prolactin production.

cosmicav