milk supply

First, the awww. I LOVE his fauxhawk!

Can’t you tell he just adores being at work? Ha!

Now, the ugh. My milk supply is driving me up the wall! Things have been really good in that department and very consistent until the end of last week. All of a sudden, my boobs aren’t getting as full, and I feel like Knox is done eating in no time at all. I can’t tell if this is because 1) I didn’t pump at night for several nights in a row last week 2) Knox is hitting a growth spurt or 3) unknown factors. I have made sure to pump in the morning and at night to try to boost things back up but no dice, yet. I think he’s getting enough, but he does want to eat more often and when my milk lets down, it doesn’t feel like as much is in there. Who knows, I am ready for it to get back to normal! Hopefully it’s just a growth spurt. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

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Our meeting with the lactation consultant went really well. She seems to think that my supply has gone down some because I am not pumping as much and because of Knox’s nursing style. Read: Knox’s latching on and sleeping style. She says he is what they call a “gourmet” nurser- he takes his time, enjoying everything, looking around, sleeping and takes forever (at least an hour) to nurse. Basically, he’s a lazy eater. Since I had such an abundance of milk in hospital, my body got the message when milk was left over in my boobs that it was making too much, so it cut back. Luckily, based on her weight calculations and measurements, I am making just enough for Knox’s needs right now. (Though, I have to say, I really miss my huge boobs! They were hot, even though they leaked every time I bent over.)

She weighed him, I fed him on the right side, she weighed him again. He gained less than an ounce. He then ate on the left side and she weighed him again. Much better on his ‘favorite” side. He got about 2 and a half ounces total, which is what he needs. She suggested that I feed Knox every two hours during the day, three at night, and pump after each feeding until empty. I need to pump at least 4-5 times a day, according to her, just after feedings. Not much pumping required at the moment, I only get about an ounce after feeding him. She said we just want to make sure to protect my milk supply now, in these early days, so it doesn’t continue to wane while we’re getting Knox to feed better and more effectively. We have to do a LOT of stimulating him while he’s eating by rubbing his head vigorously, ticking his feet, moving his arms, etc. Trevor’s new job in life is Baby Head Rubber.

Also, his new “fun” latch (aka the nipple ripper) was a concern for me. My nipples are RAW, red and so painful. She said they’ll toughen up soon, in the mean time, I am must making sure he gets on there well and re-adjusting if he slips at all. She gave me some nipple cooling gel pads that stick to your boobs and are lovely. I’m also using Lanisoh, which may be slightly helpful. I am just glad that she seems to think everything will regulate and be okay because breast feeding is so incredibly important to me. I want to do what’s best for him, no matter how bad it hurts my nipples!

The medicine is okay to use, according to her, but I don’t like that I found it should only be used by infants over one month of age. I think I”ll wait on taking it, as everything down south seems to be calming down. Oddly, it started to improve after I stopped taking Vicodin and switched to a Tylenol (as needed), sitz bath and Tucks pads regimen. Sweet relief.

Thank you guys for all the good advice!!! I really appreciate it!

And here is your daily Knox fix. His first tummy time experience. Not successful.