Got Milk?

So I think every mom-to-be who plans on breastfeeding has one question that comes into their mind over and over again..." will my boobs get the job done?" Having enough milk is something that had crossed my mind more then once and worried me. I know you read that every woman has the ablity to breastfeed, but do they have the abilty to breastfeed effectivly?

In the hospital Baby E was doing well, she took to my boobs early and I was on my way. However, she was losing weight, at the hospital they don't discharge you if they loose over 10% of their birth weight. I hated the idea of supplamenting with formula. I always thought I wanted to keep it natural, if my nature intended it to be that it will be. But this also meant I could bring Baby E home sooner if I did suplament the formula. So it was done. To my releif my milk supply came in the night we brought her home and all was well. She was eating regulalry and gaining weight...all was right in my breast feeding world.

Around 4 weeks I noticed my milk supply was low. Either that of baby E was clearing this all you can eat buffett out (she is a very good eater). Whatever the case I found that I didn't seem to have enough milk for her. Luckly, I had frozen some expressed milk from the first few weeks where I had lots. It's a horrible feeling to one day have ample milk to feed your baby and in a matter of days start to feel like you were running dry. I didn't want to crack open the formula ( I had some just in case) and I didn't want to confuse Baby E with going from breast milk to formula, back to breast milk if and when I did have more milk again. Worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my tiny eater I started to read up on what we as breast feeding mothers can do to increase our milk supply.

First there is the obvious, the more baby nurses the more your body will make. I found that this was a slow process, especially since feedings sometimes can happen every hour.

Then there is pumping, not as effective as baby but the next best thing. This way you have expressed milk to freeze for emergancy situations....this stuff is like liquid gold, so stock up! It also stimulates the breast telling your body to make more milk; do we feel like a factory yet?

But what I found that helped me the most...as simple as it sounds...rest and food (combined with the above two). Rest is not so easy to come by I know, but I found that when I got a nap in my milk supply was better. When I didn't nap, my supply was low and I Baby E would try to eat all the time since I guess she wan't getting enough at each feeding. I guess because it takes energy for your body to make milk, and at rest there is more engery available. Also feeding yourself allows for more energy. I mean think about it, you burn 200-500 calories a day breastfeeding (average 20 calories/ ounce) so you need to fuel your body because it needs it. I have heard a lot of mothers say, they loose weight really quickly by breastfeeding since these calories are being burned up. Also, if you breast feed your uterus goes back to normal quicker as well, that's what a nurse told me while in the hospital. But please note, I am not a doctor, nor am I a lactation consultant.

I will be honest though, sometimes I think about supplementing with formula (I know, I was the one who hated the idea at first when in the hospital). Breastfeeding is great, it's free and there are so many health benefits. But it can also be frustrating, tiring and emotionally taxing. Sometimes I think it would just be easier to bottle feed formula and be done with it. Then I think of all the breast milk I will waste, I mean some women want to breast feed but physically can't, so I feel like I would be wasting what I have and taking the "easy" way out. We'll see where this goes. Maybe I'll continue to exclusively breastfeed, maybe not...only time will tell.