Nursing Dilemma Part 2

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I gave myself one month to try nursing my second born. My deadline expired and I kept trying - with the help of two meds. The medicine I was waiting for came in and it actually increased my milk production a little bit. I quickly found out that I needed to supplement.
After a whole month waiting, praying and trying to do what's best, I have settled for a mix of breastfeeding, pumping and bottle feeding. That's my reality and I'm okay with it.
I tell you what, the bottle feeding sphere hasn't been easier than nursing. I am faced with different choices: bottles, formulas, etc.
I am at peace for having tried to do my best and being blessed to have a lot of flexibility in feeding. Another huge blessing: this baby is getting more of my milk than my HEALTHY older son who only got 4 weeks or so of my milk. 
Feeding a human being can be challenging, it's not like feeding a doll when I was a child. Motherhood hasn't been easy or "natural" 100% of the time but it has been very rewarding. 
I'm already starting to plan what to do the next time we are blessed with another baby. Judging by my experience you'd think I would have meds lined up and ready to work on my milk production. Maybe I'll be stocked up on formula. Perhaps I won't do neither and everything will work out. Or will it?
*This is a photo of the most amount of milk I produce. Click to enlarge so you can read what I wrote :)

My Previous Experiences in 
Feeding my Babies:
The Conservationist said...

Cintia, I've been there. Autumn's first pediatrician told me to shoot for 4 hrs between feedings - during her first week. My milk came in just fine, but it was gone by 4 weeks. I tried everything - I even pumped in a public office (door closed at least) at work every 2 hrs and nearly drowned myself with fenugreek and water. My Medela pump bottles looked like the ones in your picture each time. Autumn cried all the time. Then, once I accepted the need to just switch to formula, she had horrible crying (I mean SCREAMING) fits from gas pains. The same pediatrician told me it was my fault, that I wasn't burping her enough. Finally, we switched to another pediatrician, who realized Autumn couldn't digest the formula and advised us to try a different one she could handle. We stuck with the Medela bottles after trying the Playtex ones with baggie inserts (too expensive, don't really keep gas out). After Autumn was a few months old and we needed more and bigger bottles, we switched to the $1 Gerber ones from Target. They're BPA-free and dishwasher safe. Not having 9-12 months of milk doesn't mean your less of a woman or less of a mother. Your little Z is getting everything she needs from her heavenly Father through you - He won't give her any less.

Digital Mom said...

Thinking about you - I know that frustration!

Miss Jane said...

ugh. my long beautiful comment didn't work. it gave me an error. :-(
let's try again. I LOVE this blog post, i love your blog and I especially LOVE your bio/about me. I can totally relate to this pumping thing! I didn't produce much milk with my first two daughters. hoping with baby #3 it goes differently so I can breast feed to the 6 month mark. That picture is hysterical!