i’ve been thinking on this post for a while now. while it feels like cole has been here forever, he’s really only been here for such a short time. which means i’ve only been nursing and pumping for such a short time. why, then, does it feel like it’s been a million years? with logan, i nursed her until she was 10.5 months old and weaned herself. this time around, i didn’t set a goal, but knew that i wanted to make it “far” into the journey.
here’s where we are at today: i pump three – four times a day while i’m at work, and nurse cole four – five times when i’m home (between 5:30 pm and 6am). that’s a lot. and yet, it’s not enough. i built up a freezer stash when i was on maternity leave (something i didn’t do the first time around — let me tell you, it was WORTH IT THIS TIME). with logan, i felt like i was always under this enourmous pressure to pump enough at work, because if i didn’t, she didn’t get enough to eat the next day. this time, if i miss a pumping session, it’ll be fine. four months in, and our freezer stash is almost gone. so what does that mean?
it means that i’m considering supplementing with formula here soon. with logan, i could NOT have dealt with that so early on. i had it in my head that i would for sure nurse for a year; it wouldn’t be my body that gave up, but my mind. as long as i was still willing to pump and nurse, we would continue the breastfeeding journey. that stress took its toll on me, my baby, and my marriage. so this time around, i’m giving myself the grace to accept help in the way of formula. are we there quite yet? no; cole is still exclusively breastfed. but i’m anticipating that we will need to cross that bridge soon, so i’m writing this as a a formal “it’s ok” to myself. fed is best, right? i would never, NEVER judge another mom for supplementing or formula feeding from the get-go; why am i that much harder on myself? here’s my personal reminder to me and anyone else who needs to hear it, that breastfeeding is HARD. and at the end of the day, a happy mom is more beneficial to cole and logan than any amount of breastmilk could be.
in the spirit of trying to keep my supply up, here are some of the things i’ve tried that have worked to boost my supply over the course of the 15ish months i’ve breastfed these kids so far:
eat good foods
i can tell when i eat like crap, or don’t eat enough, and my supply dips. when i think of nursing, i think of it like i need better calories; not necessarily more. i already eat a lot during the day; i just need to make sure it’s not food that has no value to me or my baby.
brewers yeast
i started adding brewers yeast to my #fab4smoothies, and i can tell that it’s helped. i only use a little bit because it’s kind of weird smelling, but you can’t taste it AT ALL.
nurse on demand
on the weekends, i try to just nurse on demand. i feed cole the second he shows hunger cues so that i can nurse often, so when monday rolls around, i can tell my supply is up.
lactation supplements
i have mentioned before that i use these. i didn’t notice a huge difference right away, but when i missed taking them a few times i definitely noticed that my supply dropped, so for now, they are part of my vitamin and supplement regimen.
ok, mamas — any other tips for me? like i said, i’m going to ride this wave as far as i can! this time around, though, i’m giving myself all the grace (as all mamas should).
thanks, as always, for reading!