I feel guilty and ashamed to be feeding Miss A so much formula! She's only four months and I am almost unable to nurse her... :( I tried using Fenugreek a month ago to help with this situation. Fenugreek is an herb that's supposed to help increase milk supply and help maintain the overall health of your breasts. The first two weeks I took two 500mg capsules three times a day, as directed by the bottle. I was really good about not forgetting to take it because I was desperate to increase my milk supply. It made me smell sweet. [sweeter than I already am! pff..] Sweet like maple syrup. I could smell it especially if I did some type of exercise. It was like I was sweating maple syrup. How pleasant! Anyways after two weeks of taking this herb, there was no noticeable change in my milk supply. :( I might have messed it up by starting an eight hour work day but I pumped consistently. Once at 7:30am, 12:00pm, 4:15pm, and then every 2-3hrs after until bedtime which is around 10-11pm. After two weeks, I kinda lost hope already and only took two capsules once or twice each day for another week or two. But now I have officially stopped all together. I still pump consistently but I only get about 3-4 ounces per day. THAT IS BAD. Let me repeat. THAT IS REALLY BAD. I keep thinking, "Okay, so for the next baby I will know how to keep up my milk supply. I won't supplement as many bottles of formula too early. I won't stop pumping consistently. During the first month when my milk supply is ridiculous and I am LOADED with milk, I will pump like crazy!" I just feel bad because I want to keep giving Miss A breast milk, especially since winter is coming. Colds and flues get passed around more often when it's cold so I want Miss A to have as much protection against viruses as possible! I will keep pumping and trying but Fenugreek has failed me.
I still do have hope that Fenugreek may work for other women. I might not have pumped enough to stimulate milk production. My diet hasn't been the greatest/healthiest lately. Lastly, I don't know if I have been drinking enough fluids or not...
What is really nice and comforting is that I can still nurse Miss A each morning when she wakes up. I never thought I would miss breastfeeding but I really do! It's our snuggle time. It's mommy-baby time. :( I'm hoping to be able to keep it up until she's at least six months old! That is my goal-- hope I'm successful!
I know this post is months old, but i just came across it while reading your blog for the first time when linked over from Twitter.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you already got more advice on this, i'm sorry if i'm being redundant. But coming from another mom who had to do EVERYTHING i could to continue breastfeeding, tried EVERYTHING imaginable and then some, and still had to supplement, i have a lot of experience with this stuff. The dose you took of the Fenugreek seems pretty low. I was taking atleast 12 capsules a day, plus combining it with Blessed Thistle, too -- AND pumping 8x a day or more. I still rarely got more than 10oz a day, at my most i got 15. There are other herbs out there to explore, too. I hope next time is easier for you, i definitely feel your pain.
Thanks, I will try more herb supplements next baby. I ended up completely stopping at 5 months. :( Next time I will not make the BIG mistake of supplementing formula (What was I thinking?). My goal for the next baby is to breastfeed for 1 year. I hope it goes better. I'm determined it will. Thanks for the advice and support.
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