Can you believe six weeks have past already since our little Bella was born?! Time is flying and she has grown. She is now 8 lbs 3 oz and we were told by a lactation consultant that we are over feeding her now with the formula We took her to see this lactation consultant about the breastfeeding and I feel like every time I go and see anyone about this I lay out my concerns and they never get addressed or they get brushes aside. I will tell them that when I pump I only extract about 5-10 mL from both sides; not even from each side. The response I ALWAYS get is that some women do not respond well to the pump. Even if I am not responding well to the pump, my understanding is I should be pumping at least half of what I am actually producing in the worst case scenario. So, this automated, brush it under the rug, response has really started to bother me. When I mention that there was trouble with birthing the placenta and that it basically shattered inside me and the doctor had to manually extract it, the basic response I get is that that was an unfortunate way to start the breastfeeding journey. There is no mention of the fact that if even a small piece was left behind it could be hindering my milk production and that I should talk to my doctor about it. I think I have seen 4 or 5 different lactation consultants since Bella was born and the best information I have gotten was from my husband’s family, my family and friends. So, thank you to all you ladies who have pitched in to give advice and counsel through this whole journey so far and those of you who will in the future.
I went to visit my sister today and we talked for a few hours about this breastfeeding topic. It turns out the reason she did not breastfeed her children exclusively and sometimes at all was because she had medically diagnosed low milk supply. This is different from just low milk supply in that when she got a blood test to check if she was producing milk her numbers were extremely below the average range they expect for this test. Regular low milk supply would be if your numbers fell at the bottom of this average range. By the way, this is the first I am hearing about a test to see if you are able to produce enough milk. Why was this never mentioned by any of the consultants I went to see?!
Anyway, now I know there is a family history, more than what I already knew, of women having low milk supply in my family. I already knew my mom never got her milk in with her first child and now my sister had low supply with ALL of hers. Knowing these facts gives me a stronger case to have my actual milk supply tested tomorrow at my 6 weeks doctors appointment. I feel that this test can only have a positive effect on me. If it comes back normal, I can have confidence that I can provide milk for my child. But if it comes back abnormal, I’ll finally have an answer and we can look at options from there.
So now to the fun part of this blog. Now, that Bella’s hair is starting to grow in more we are trying to determine her hair color. There are times I am sure she is brunette and then there are times I absolutely convinced she has red hair growing in. What is your vote?
Shalom! 🙂
Shalom Mama 