Colostrum and milk supplies

[fresh]

Really worried about my supply, baby Charlie taken to neonatal within 20 mins so I never got skin to skin and didn't even see him til about 3 hours after birth , he was then moved again and we asked for skin to skin on day 2, got a bit but I had fainting fit so not had it since

Started hand expressing and it's silly amounts I'm talking about 3 ml of colostrum since birth 4 days ago, from 2 boobs, started pumping now and my breasts are huge and sore, still minute amounts of colostrum and only from 1 boob, the ward started feeding him formula and don't look very impressed with my syringe amounts I'm bringing them

Expecting milk tomorrow or the day after due to soreness so at least he has some goodness, should I expect from both boobs? Or just one, is the low amount of colostrum going to be a sign of how much milk I'll get too?

Just need someone to reassure me that I will get there really, as I had meltdown today what with everything going on and think its the milk thing that's not helping
Ps, he is in incubator and on bilipad/light so cuddles and skin to skin are few and far between
I did nick his vest today to see if his smell would help stimulate anything

 

[BevG]

keep up the expressing, do you have an electric pump? just sitting quietly and looking at your lo or thinking of them can stimulate the letdown and a nice hot bath might help the soreness and id try pumping in the bath if possible lol obviously hand express or manual pump for that one. even 1ml is good for him hun and at least your trying, every little helps and the more you pump the more you will get eventually

 

[fresh]

Good timing, midwife just came in and checked I was using pump right and she suggested I increase it, whereas one midwife the other day said to decrease it lol mixed messages...

Bev, I'm in hospital still and I'm using an electric pump ; medala, didn't get on with hand expressing at all, hubby managed to get some out but I couldn't even get a drop, I can't stand to touch my boobs for some reason, which is not helping re hand expressing
So very happy to stay on pump, got more droplets out with pump than other stuff, just a shame 1 boob seems to have given up

 

[Sarah13]

I struggled to express at first and I think it was because I wasn't relaxed enough. It also takes longer than you think for the milk to begin to flow. Hang in there and keep trying, once your milk is in it will flow better. X

 

[titch]

I had heaps of problems with my milk coming in, i also had no skin to skin when he was born,I was very very stressed by the whole thing and Im sure that didnt help. I know its awful when youre staring at the pump going "COME ON JUST A BIT MORE!!" my baby had to have formula to cos his blood sugars were dropping with the small amounts I was able to express for him. but the small amounts are still something, they still contain everything your baby needs so just tear those horrible "how wonderful is breast feeding" posters off the wall, and shut your curtain when the woman opposite you breastfeeds whilst simultaneously flicking through a magazine.

I felt so awful that I formula fed my son, and I got snotty comments when my son went on to have reflux and colic but I know, and you will know, that you worked very hard for every drop of breastmilk your baby gets from you, and that makes you an awesome mum. And I'll just add that my son is now 2 and perfectly healthy. Although I am still in awe when people talk about squirty boobs in the shower, and let down reflexes and stuff, its not as bad as I thought it was at the time

 

[fresh]

Cheers titch, did your breasts go rock hard etc? Got skin to skin today for about half hour, better than nowt, still only 4 drops...

 

[BevG]

i pumped for 20 mins yesterday and got just less than 1oz lol, most of that was off 1 side and a large amount of it only came out after about 10/15 mins so pumping is really not a good indicator of supply but it must be stressing you out to try and express so much and get nowt. id deffo keep trying, supposedly pumping every 2 hours including a few times in the night helps to up your supply. massaging the boob while pumping really helps get more out i found. some ppls boobs just dont like to be pumped i guess. when i used to pump a lot i could get 5oz between the 2 boobs so never got a lot really but like titch says every drop counts and dont feel bad if you end up giving formula, at least you tried and thats all that matters in the end as baby has to eat somehow. keep trying id say hun. them going rock hard could be cos theyre filling up, maybe hot/warm flannels on them while pumping might help. id look at it as an excercise in love hun, you will keep trying cos you love baby but that love isnt just provided by the milk you make, its the skin to skin, the cuddles and the time you spend thinking about them, which is 24/7 so no matter what happens the amount of effort your putting in is what matters and your doing so well to try that hard so keep at it

 

[titch]

Cheers titch, did your breasts go rock hard etc? Got skin to skin today for about half hour, better than nowt, still only 4 drops...

no never got anything like that, really dont think my milk came in at all.

Glad you got some skin to skin, did they do the kangaroo thing? I got to do that, you stick them down your nightie totally naked (and hope they dont poo ) Its still my FB picture cos its so cute! I remember that moment being quite important for us both after everything that happened.

 

[fresh]

Lol I hope baby didn't poo!
Never heard of it, but makes total sense

Spent the morning crying over it, probably tiredness, spent last night awake most of the time cos couldn't lay on my side due to balloon boobs and the tenderness, cant sleep on my back in these hospital beds either, think I got about 6 hours in 2 nights, and baby is not with us at nights, so I should be making the most of sleep!

saw a different midwife today she gave me a tip to massage as I express, when I expressed at 4pm, I got 5ml of milk, to me it was such a great achievement! I didnt believe it was milk, went to show midwife, she must've thought I was mad

Baby charlie is due an op tomorrow on the bowel and he will be a month in hospital so doesn't need feeding immediately til they get him off the TPN
The pressure is off! The relief is amazing considering his crap start in life, I need to do my best by him and feel this is my way of doing it
So I'll just keep pumping and try and get a backlog of supply and hope for the best

 

[BevG]

well done hun, sounds like your getting a lil more out keep at it and im glad the massaging while pumping helped. you are doing the best by him hun cos your right there trying to get milk out for him and loving him

 

[titch]

thats fab that your supply is increasing! Its very hard to sleep in hospitals at the best of times. And I bet youre very stressed out with everything thats happened. Youre doing so well! Hope you get to do kangaroo cuddles, its so lovely if nothing else! A nice bonding experience for mums and babies who missed that moment at the birth x

 

[fresh]

Still having issues, milk come in, day 6-8 my milk supply was steadily increasing
Yesterday morning I got 50ml out in one express
Since then I've not got more than 10 in a go
Spoken to the nurses as we are still in hospital and followed their advice, drinking so much but my ankles are holding it, even my flip flops are tight
Worried that this supply is dwindling so fast I can't give Charlie the feeds he needs
The pressure is off a bit as he is only on 1ml an hour waiting for his tummy to acclimatise to the milk due to his operation (did I explain that before? I can't remember how much detail I went into)
Tried skin to skin today, but he started screaming, causing distressed baby and mummy, think it was due to a cannula that got knocked as we picked him up as he is known as 'chilled out Charlie' and rarely cries
Argh! Really wanted to use breast milk too!

 

[fresh]

Should add; my boobs are totally soft again... Does this mean anything?

 

[Karate Kid]

It takes a while for supply to increase hun, that's why baby will nurse so frequently. Don't worry you will get there, initially LO will seem forever hungry but there stomachs are small so your supply just meets there needs.

I wouldn't use engorgememt as an indication. Xx

 

[Karate Kid]

Oh and expressing is not a true marker as to how much you are producing. Babies are more efficient than pumps xx

 

[fresh]

Hi Kk thanks
I am exclusively expressing which is why it's quite hard I think
Baby had a bowel problem and couldnt process the milk (formula as nothing was coming from my boobs) so has had an op to fix this
Now baby is in incubator with wires/tubes/Hickman line in and breast feeding is simply impossible as they need to measure what he's getting (currently on 1ml an hour)

So he has never been breasted due to this
So everything I'm getting out and the diminishing supplies is quite disheartening

 

[BevG]

aww hun dont get down, eat plenty of oaty things like flapjacks and porridge as that increases milk supply. taking fenugreek can also help to up milk supply, even just sitting by him chilling out and stroking his hand would help as de stressing will make things easier. and if all else fails hun just know that you tried your best and have done brilliantly, not many ppl would still persevere with all that to deal with so id give yourself a big pat on the back and be proud of yourself. if it matters im proud of you for the way you have been handling it tho that might not mean a lot from a complete stranger

 

[Karate Kid]

Hi Kk thanks
I am exclusively expressing which is why it's quite hard I think
Baby had a bowel problem and couldnt process the milk (formula as nothing was coming from my boobs) so has had an op to fix this
Now baby is in incubator with wires/tubes/Hickman line in and breast feeding is simply impossible as they need to measure what he's getting (currently on 1ml an hour)

So he has never been breasted due to this
So everything I'm getting out and the diminishing supplies is quite disheartening

Bless you hun, I had to express for 7 weeks due to latching issues. I know how demoralising it is to be hooked up to a pump all the time.

I only managed small amounts at first but soon managed 250ml every four hours.

Keep at it hun you are doing a brilliant job. Xx

 

[fresh]

That's really good! 250ml I means, sounds loads
Thanks to you both, makes me feel a bit better, I can't do anything else other than my best
Currently 20ml every 3 or 4 hours, it's enough for now
At the best I can top up with formula just didn't want to that's all
Also now on look out for oaty things

 

[Karate Kid]

I love a good flapjack!!

There is nothing wrong with formula top ups you have already given your LO the best start xx