My Mission to Breastfeed.

Originally dated May 24, 2012. I am sharing this for any mother struggling to nurse their baby, know that you are not alone.


From the moment I realized I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to exclusively breastfeed my baby until his or her first birthday. It wasn't because I was exclusively breastfed (in fact, I don't personally know anyone that was) but because it's what's best for the baby and I want what's best.

 As much as I read up on natural birthing and laboring, I didn't focus as much attention on researching what happens after the birth. As a result, I had to rely on advice from a hospital system that pushes formula, and the women in my family, none of whom breastfed their children past 3 months of age. The baby was given formula against my express, written wishes while we were in the hospital because I had to have an emergency c-section after 46 hours in labor and he had to eat before I was awake. I requested that the baby be brought to me when he needed to eat after that. I nursed him at the hospital and was taught about proper latch, etc. but I was also given formula bottles and told that because of my difficult labor and the baby being on antibiotics (a whole other story), that I should monitor how much he eats, which I obviously couldn't do if I was just nursing.

When we got home and for the next couple of months, I would nurse the baby constantly. Literally. I felt like he was always hungry, so I must be doing something wrong. He gave me a hard time latching for a while because he would come at me so voraciously and impatiently (we called it "snarf face" because he looked like he was going to "snarf snarf snarf" once he got to the boob) that I had to convince him to slow down enough to properly get on. I am impatient by nature, and I think this latch business was the beginning of parenting changing me into a more gracious person ;) I was also so overwhelmed with being the only person feeding the baby, on top of recovering from infection after infection from the c-section and piles of antibiotics, that I started handing him over to whoever was around to give him a bottle of formula after only a few minutes at a time of nursing. I really just felt then like I couldn't cope with everything I was going through, and I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it would eventually get much easier.

By the time Bu was 2 months old, I was coming out of my fog and realizing that I could possibly do this mothering thing on my own. I was finally healthy and able to establish a routine. I tried exclusively breastfeeding for a long time. I would even set my alarm for 2 am every single day, regardless of whether the baby would wake up for a feeding, so I could pump and build up my supply. Whenever I'd exclusively breastfeed for any length of time, the baby would lose weight. I simply was not making enough milk. In hindsight, and now especially as I'm writing this, I'm sure everything from the method of delivery leading up to his second month had A LOT, if not everything, to do with my under-supply.

Since the baby was born, I've had cocktails of fenugreek tablets, organic mothers milk tea, and of course my prenatal vitamins every. single. day. I eat oatmeal, stay away from parsley....basically anything I can to pump my supply up, but nothing really does too much. In April, I got really sick and had bronchitis for 3 weeks, on top of severe ear infections. I was on several antibiotics, which heavily impacted my supply. We also took the baby to the doctor around that same time, and we were told that while he's in the 98% for height, he was in the 5-10% for weight. Granted, he's being compared to exclusively formula-fed babies, but regardless, he was starting to look sickly. The doctor insisted we supplement his diet because I just was not producing enough for him to thrive.

That was the last straw. With my supply already dwindling from the illness and antibiotics, the baby got very accustomed to bottles and the instant gratification that came with ounces at a time at his disposal. He started napping without needing to nurse too, which was always his routine. Even when the baby was losing weight, I was able to pump about 3-5 oz total in a 10 minute pumping session. Now, I can get an ounce out of the left side, if I'm lucky, and barely an 1/8 of an oz out of my right in the same time frame. I'm continuing to pump daily, but it takes me a week of daily pumping to get the 4 oz I used to get out of one session.

I continue to pump and freeze so even if I stop producing completely, I can still give the baby breast milk for as long as possible. As it is now, he only nurses once, maybe twice a day, and more for comfort than sustenance. I used to cry at the very notion of not having that breastfeeding relationship with my son. I literally spent hours everyday researching and looking at feeding logs and my own food journals to see if anything I ate was affecting my supply, etc. My life was about breastfeeding.

Now, it's sinking in that the relationship is nearing its end. All I can do is try to forgive myself for not completing my goal of a year, and know that when I have a second child, I will be armed with the knowledge that I didn't have with my first so that hopefully, I can do just as well, if not better, for him or her. I had a lot in my way, and I have to be proud of all I persevered in order to make it this far. My son is happy, thriving, and we have an incredible bond and relationship. These are the things I have to focus on. I will continue to nurse my Bu as long as he'll allow, and I will no doubt mourn and cry the day he decides he's done. But I am proud to nurse as long as I am able to, and I would go through all of it all over again for this little man.

Guest Post: "Adoptive Breastfeeding is Possible!!!"

From a very young age I knew that my heart, my home, and my family were in Africa. Two years ago I found my heart and home in Uganda and shortly after that I found my family in my (at that time) 12 year old daughter Eva and at the beginning of this year my second daughter Lilly who was just 10 days old. Lilly was abandoned by her birth mother and fed milk straight from a cow for the first 10 (we are guessing) days of her life, this caused her to be severely lactose intolerant and give her severe GI issues. So I began giving her lactose free formula, this helps but she has major tummy issues. I began researching and asking questions and found out the coolest thing ever, adoptive breastfeeding is possible!!!

 So I crazy researched and talked to some awesome moms and decided that Dr. Jack Newman's protocol would be the best for us. I started really tightening up my diet to eat mostly foods that help make milk!

At first baby girl was not interested in trying the breast and got super frustrated every time I tried to nurse her. I would put her to the breast and and she would fuss and cry. This was a hard hit for me, I was feeling rejected and discouraged and some one shared with me something beautiful that honestly may be the only reason I continued trying she said "that is where a baby belongs and is supposed to feel safest, I think it is just where she feels most at peace to let her frustration out" and I thought how true that is and it gave me the strength to keep trying! 

I was told eating garlic encourages babies to latch so I thought why not give it a shot and so I made some super garlic hummus ate it for a snack that afternoon and that night she latched!!!

About 8 days after I started the protocol me and baby girl were getting in the shower I looked down and realized I had milk!!! It was more of a clear milky looking stuff but I knew this was a great sign that this is working!

We still have issues with her latching, my milk is very small but we are learning and loving it and the bond and getting to give my baby amazing nutrition is worth not having my coffee in the morning (I am and addict) and worth every hard moment and every feeling of rejection and every weird look! Mamas you can do this, mamas with low milk supply and mamas of babies that came to them in ways other than from their belly, you have got this! I am in your corner and your biggest cheerleader! Love your babies well!!!

Now here is the logistics of making this work!

 *I am in no way endorsing these particular brands or products they are just what is working for us! Also I am by no means a professional this is just all from personal research and trial and error. 

As previously stated we live in Uganda so we are waiting on our Medela pump and SNS to get here. I highly recommend these two products if you have low milk supply or are re-lactating or inducing lactation. The SNS is a bottle with a small tube that attaches to your breast you fill bottle with formula/donated milk so baby is getting everything she needs right at your breast even if you can not provide it your self, and you are stimulating your body to tell it to make more milk all at the same time!

I would recommend renting a hospital grade pump, that was not an option for us but will be your best bet! Pump at least every 3 hours and once during 1-5 am as that is when your milk production is at its highest, and power pump at least once a day. 

How to power pump:

Pump 20 min

Rest 10 min

Pump 10 

Rest 10

Pump 10

I am also going to be doing the following supplements

Blessed Thistle 

Fenugreek

Motherslove More Milk Special Blend

Mothers Milk Tea

The following diet is my personal one and excludes a lot of good things because we don't have access to them here. But you can search Pinterest "breastfeeding food" and find some awesome stuff!

What I try to include in my daily diet: 

~Non-instant oatmeal with either honey, banana, or apples and cinnamon. Keep it interesting as oatmeal is your best friend right now and you don't want to get sick of it! 

~We have a very strong ginger ale here so I try to drink a few a week as ginger is great for supply!

~LOTS of water!!!! Hydration is you bestest best friend! Love the water!!

~Half of a dark beer (I hate it but they say it helps...)

~Lots of carrots as they are one of the few milk helpers available here and I love them! 

~Hummus with LOTS of garlic and cumin as chick peas and cumin are good for milk and garlic encourages her to latch! 

~Green Papaya

~I add garlic to everything! Cause we are all about the latch!

~Avocado

~Rice (we live in Africa so this is a given!)

~WATER!!!!!!

Avoid:

-Caffeine

-Peppermint

-Strong herbs or seasonings

-Antihistamines as they are meant to dry you up and this can also effect your 

milk.

Like I said I am no professional this is just one mommy to another. Good luck! Ask questions, don't be ashamed, love your babies! Know that at least one person is out there supporting you and cheering you on! 

Much much love, Emily

Emily is the 22 year old mama of 2 beautiful daughters through the blessing of adoption and foster mommy to two more. She is originally from South Carolina but now lives in Uganda, East Africa where she is the founder and executive director of Salvation Ministries and Kwagala Baby Home. She also serves in the local hospital as a midwife and is in the process of opening a birthing center and maternity home. You can read more about Emily, her daughters and their ministry at http://salvationinuganda.blogspot.com/ and find out more about the ministry at http://www.salvationministriesinuganda.com/

A vent about the "Mommy Wars"

So tired of the freaking mommy wars!!!! 

I know someone whose infant twins are fed breastmilk (she's exclusively pumps because they won't latch, as some preemies tend to do) and formula to supplement. The formula isn't agreeing with them, so she's asking in preemie mom groups, multiples mom groups, etc for suggestions and they're all just giving her sh*t for formula feeding!!!!

I'm all for EBF, and ideally every child would be EBF! But sometimes it can't happen!!! Where's the support for the women that are doing their best and HAVE to supplement as a last resort??? I had horribly low supply and tried EVERYTHING I could think of, and I was able to BF until 9 months but supplemented all the while because the pediatrician was scared that my son was failing to thrive. I cried and suffered so much, but I got no support ANYWHERE. One set of people gave me hell for still insisting on BFing, and the other set gave me hell for "succumbing" to formula, as if I wanted to! 

Ridiculous that even among women that SHOULD understand her, all she gets is judgment. If she were making the amount of milk she's getting (almost a liter a day!!!!!!) with a singleton, she'd be GOLDEN. But because its twins, everyone feels compelled to judge because she's not making enough and needs to feed her children.

Lactation Cookies, one of many versions!

Here is just one of the many versions of lactation cookies I've found online! It seems every breastfeeding-centered forum and website has their own similar recipe with some differences..

What other versions of this recipe have you tried? And how did they work for you?

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 -4 tablespoons brewer's yeast

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.
2.  Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
3.  Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well.
4. Add eggs and mix well.
5. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla, beat well.
6. Sift together flour, brewers yeast, baking soda, and salt.
7. Add dry ingredients to butter mix.
8. Stir in oats and chips.
9. Scoop onto baking sheet.
10. Bake for 12 minutes.
11. Let set for a couple minutes then remove from tray.