Keeping My Milk Supply Up

-

Supply Issues 

Jellybean is almost 8 months old and going strong on a breast milk only diet. Sure we've been adding real food to his diet as well, but during the first year, babies get most of their nutrition from milk regardless of what types of food mama decides to add to their food repertoire. So, even though he had an egg yolk omelet with cheddar and tomato this morning….an hour later I still nursed my little guy. 

But keeping my supply up hasn't exactly been the easiest thing in the world. I've already mentioned that I "have" to see my little guy during my lunch breaks to nurse him because I can't keep up with pumping the number of bottles he needs every day at daycare. I drop off two bottles for a mid morning/mid afternoon feeding and then nurse him at lunch time. A fear of mine when I went back to work was I'd use up my entire frozen milk supply and would need to pump everything Jellybean needed the day before he needed it. I was getting pretty close to that point a month ago. My frozen milk supply was running extremely low and panic started to set it. Would I have to feed my kid FORMULA?! *Gasp* Perhaps it's my stubbornness…ok, I'm sure it's my stubbornness, but I'm pretty determined to keep him formula free. 

So when Matt's good friend mentioned she had recently had a milk supply problem with her adorable little man, I picked her brain for advice and boy did she save me! The Fenugreek pills I bought weren't working as well as before but she mentioned that there's a liquid form that would work ten times better! And pairing that with mother's milk tea would be the perfect combo to make sure my kiddo stays formula free. I've also noticed that my milk supply goes up and down pretty significantly based on how much water I drink. So…..I tried her advice and I'm noticing that my frozen milk stash is steadily piling up again. *phew!* 

But yesterday, I was thrown quite the curveball. There is a very good chance I have to go to training for five weeks in mid January and most likely won't get to take Jellybean with me. How in the world am I going to keep my kiddo on breast milk during those 5 weeks? I foresee lots of pumping, dry ice, and overnighting milk to Matt in my future. In addition to the SERIOUS ANXIETY I'm feeling over leaving my kiddo for FIVE WHOLE WEEKS. I'm terrified here. I know military moms do it all the time. They deploy for six months and miss their kid's first birthdays, first words, first steps…so five weeks really isn't much compared to six months, or even Army moms who deploy for an entire year if not longer! But that doesn't mean my anxiety over leaving my first baby for five weeks shouldn't be warranted. Being a working mom is challenging enough, and although I'm so grateful that I get to wear the uniform for my country every day….five weeks without my kiddo is going to be my biggest obstacle as a mom yet! 

Mother's Love "more milk" is pretty freaking disgusting. Ok, it's seriously the worst thing I've ever tasted. But…I'll take it 4x/day for my Jellybean. The Mother's Milk Tea is more tolerable but I still chug it. 

Defrosting frozen milk for daycare the next day. 

Exclusively breastfed. I can't believe he's grown so much on just my milk. Amazing what our bodies are capable of doing. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Very Sick Holiday

-
Image
I've been meaning to write this post for a minute or two but kept getting distracted with...life. It's funny- you want to write about life events but more life events happen to prevent you from playing catch up! The holiday season of 2017 was a rough one for the Moran family. It was rough. Seriously rough. Matt's parents came by for Thanksgiving and left with the flu that turned into pneumonia. So that already had me on edge. We live in a small house and it's cramped for our family of 5, add two more adults and it's basically impossible to have any personal space. My children go to daycare, and that place is horrible for sickness. They do what they can with the handwashing, sanitizing, and requiring immunizations but they can't catch every moment a kid touches their mouth then touches a toy. And the rules don't require that kids with runny noses or colds stay out because, well, then they wouldn't have a business right? So the series of events that lead
Read more

Losing the baby weight

-
Image
The lose weight this year resolution might be the most cliché one of all right? Am I really going to be THAT person? #sorrynotsorry ya'll but I am. I had Henry in September and got down to my pre-Henry weight in less than 3 months which was totally awesome. Woohooo, go me! I lost 15lbs in October, 10lbs in November, and 5lbs in December. UGH WHHHHYYYYYYYYYY. Sure, the Holidays probably had something to do with, and also going back to work and not having as much time to go to the gym during the day, and possibly the shorter days meaning less walks/runs because we leave the house for work and it's dark and we get home after work and it's dark. The excuses can go on for days. I could work out more when the kids go to sleep but that would mean that Henry cooperates and goes to sleep when the older two do. And that also would mean that I don't fall asleep with Henry because that's what happens 75% of the time. Unless I have homework to do, in which case, I make Matt wak
Read more

The Same Ole Problem

-
Image
Working Mom Problems  Last night Jellybean woke up crying in his Pack N Play. Naturally, I went to pick him up and was alarmed when his skin felt too warm for comfort. I grabbed his ear thermometer and the panic quickly set over me when his temperature read at 100.7 degrees. Granted, that's not something to be too worried about for a 6 month old. It's just a mild fever right? Except the present scares with babies getting sick all over the country jumped to the forefront of my mind. The new fears that have come into my life since having Jellybean are paralyzing and I struggle with them everyday. Seeing my little one's temperature rise doesn't make that any easier.  That sleepless night, I meticulously watched over him and took his temperature every few hours. In the morning, his temperature dropped to 99 degrees. I had a pretty important planning exercise meeting at work in the afternoon, but figured a morning in bed with mama and then the daycare later in the day
Read more