Thursday, August 7, 2008

it's greek to me......

so here's one of the three posts i started but didn't finish last week......better late than never right??
surprise surprise, my body decided earlier this week to rebel against making breastmilk........i wake up expecting to have crazy full boobs like usual, when i look down and almost can't find them!.......i tried on one of my pre-prego bras and it fit!......what's up with that, right?.......i mean i know i took a little pumping hiatus (that droning whine of the pump can really grate on your nerves, you know), but i was still feeding casey so wtf??......rather than calmly try to assess the situation, i freak out and jump to the conclusion that we're going to have to start casey on solid foods IMMEDIATELY or she'll starve.......if you've seen casey's meaty legs lately you'll know how off the deep end i was with that thought......although we barely have room for anything these days in our freezer other than breastmilk, all the bags in there only equal what she eats in 6 days!!......so yes, i jumped off the deep end in my head.......i called the dr and the advice they gave me was minimal and they suggested i supplement with formula.......i know there's nothing wrong with formula......and a ton of moms use it.......heck i was raised on formula.......but to the breastfeeding mom whose kid's only had breastmilk ever in her life, it feels like a failure to contemplate formula before you're ready to stop breastfeeding.......
so i delve into the online world and try to find something to help......my solutions - pumping more and this wonder herb called fenugreek......i've been pumping every 2 hours during the day to increase the demand and hopefully thus increase the supply (which i'm happy to do because then i get to use my new free breast pump parts that just arrived in the mail!) and popping these fenugreek pills all day......my research on fenugreek yielded this - that it's found in maple syrup, so you could either (literally) drink 3 containers of maple syrup a day or take some straight fenugreek pills.......it works by stimulating your sweat glands, so side effects are: increased sweating and (no i'm not kidding here although it's funny as hell) urine and sweat that has a faint maple syrup aroma.......strange, because the pills actually smell like celery salt......weird......
anyway, it's working, and casey's creamery is back in business.....

1 comment:

Maddy said...

First of all, 6 days worth of milk in your freezer is a TON! I think I have 2 days worth and it is still taking over the place. I also had a bit of a slowdown, but managed to get back up to speed by pumping more. I'm totally with you on the formula thing- plus, who wants to pay for it? So expensive!

Hope the cough gets better!