We are starting to crawl
Pulling items towards mouth
Grabs things he wants
Reaches out for you (the sweetest thing)
Somewhat sitting up, he is always on the move so sitting up doesn't interest him
5 months
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Grady is almost 6 months old but since we took a break from blogging when he turned 5 months I thought I would share his 5 month stats
How to increase your supply
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Like I mentioned in my previous post, everyone’s bodies are
different. What worked for me might not work for someone else. However, for
anyone that is struggling with their supply there is hope! You can rebuild it.
It just takes a lot of dedication and patience. I started by going back to the
basics, we would do skin to skin whenever we were together. We cut out all
pacifiers and the nipple shield, anytime Grady would cry I would offer the
breast to him. After every time I would feed him, I would immediately pump and
would not go more than 3 hours without pumping or feeding him, that also means
in the middle of the night! I also did power pumping sessions where I would pump
for 20 minutes break for 10, pumped for 10 minutes break for 10, and pumped for
10 minutes again. Another way you can power pump is by pumping every hour for
about 15 minutes. I would power pump as often as I could so once when I was at
work (I would just bring my computer to my pumping room and work) and once
right when I got home. After I would get done feeding Grady, if he was still
hungry, Chad would give him a bottle but other than him getting a bottle at
daycare I would always offer the breast first. It is also important to note
that if someone else can feed them a bottle HAVE them. You do not want them to
get nipple confusion by them seeing you feed them a bottle and then try to
breastfeed. I would also try to relax as much as possible I would draw me a
bath with some beer (I like wheat beer) and try to relax as much as possible.
Also, I don’t know if this is proven but I could always notice that my supply
would increase after being intimate. Sorry if that’s TMI, but I just had to
throw that in there. When I went to meet with the Lactation consultant I rented
a hospital grade pump and it has helped tremendously. I would get so upset when
I would pump and only get an ounce or a drop but I learned to be grateful for
every drop I did get. Stupid I know but I would tell myself good job after every
time I would pump even if I did just get a drop or 2, it helped me from getting
too upset. Below are some other things I tried to increase my supply.
Gatorade – Stay hydrated!! It is so important. We stocked up
on Gatorade and I would have a bottle once a day but when I wasn’t drinking
Gatorade I was constantly drinking water.
Mother’s milk tea – I cut out all caffeine and stuck with
this tea. It takes a little bit to get used to. If you don’t care for tea
there’s the upspring drink mix you can buy. I had a hard time with the powdered
drink mix and of course I was determined to get my supply back to I downed it 3
times a day
Oatmama bars – I cannot say enough about these granola bars.
They taste amazing and I can always tell a difference in my supply after I eat
one. They ship quickly too which is an added plus
Hospital Grade pump – I actually still use this pump cause
I’m scared to go back. It has increased my supply so much. Call your local hospital for rental information
Flanges, valves, membranes – Make sure you have the right
size of flange, I ended up going up a size to a 27. And change out your valve
and membranes regularly. A good tip is when you put the membrane on the valve
and turn it over it should not separate from the valve if it does change it
out!
Disclaimer - There is nothing wrong with formula and I am by no means against it. I have experienced losing my supply simply when I was not ready to give it up and it devastated me. I hope that these pointers help someone else that isn't not quite ready to throw in the towel with breastfeeding.
Grady Update
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
I’ve been totally M.I.A. lately and I apologize. Grady and I
have been working HARD on feedings and putting weight back on him. I’ve wanted
to write this post for a while now but didn’t want to jinx myself. I’m sure
your scratching your head wondering what all of this is about so here I go.
Grady was born weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz. which was about 45% on
the growth charts. Throughout the short few months he’s been alive, he has
gradually decreased in percentile with him decreasing to 9% at his 4 month
check-up. He ate every 3 hours for 30 minutes at a time and we barely used a
pacifier, so I had no idea what I was doing wrong and blaming myself for
depriving my child. Right before his 4-month checkup my supply plummeted. I
went from getting 17 oz. with 3 pumping session during work to getting maybe 15
oz. with 4 pumping sessions. I knew something was wrong when I would wake up in
the middle of the night and my breasts would not feel full. I was devastated
thinking that I would have to give up breastfeeding. Never in a million years
did I think that I would love breastfeeding but I have grown to fall in love
with it. Not the pain that it brings sometimes but the bond between you and
your baby. I felt like a terrible mom, that I wasn’t able to provide for my child.
I was determined and started researching everything about how to build a supply
back up and why Grady wasn’t gaining weight the way he was supposed to. Chad
and I both started to talk to other people and the response we got was that he
could have a tongue tie. So, we set up an appointment with a dentist 2 ½ hours
away to check it out. Exactly 1 week after his check-up with his pediatrician,
we met with a dentist that specializes in lip and tongue ties. She examined
Grady and determined that he had both a lip and tongue tie, so we decided to go
ahead and move forward with the procedure. She was the only one around our area
that uses a laser instead of cutting it, so we felt more at ease with the
procedure. The next few days and weeks ahead were long. We were taking care of
a baby that was in pain as well as me still trying to build my supply. I would
read about people who could build their supply within 24 hours or a week, well
that was not the case for me. The 24 hours went by, as well as, days and weeks and
still nothing. I was heartbroken and looking at packets of formula just to
start bawling. I came to the conclusion that everyone’s bodies are different
and that I shouldn’t compare someone I don’t even know or their experience to
mine. I also shouldn’t put a definite time on when my supply would be back. I
just needed to buckle down and work at it the best I knew how. I met with a
lactation consultant 2 weeks after Grady’s procedure to get some extra tips and
I’m happy to say that Grady is now gaining weight appropriately and momma’s
milk is continuing to increase!! I have to thank my AMAZING husband for
supporting me and not being so quick to throw in the towel. Also, for getting
up every time Grady would get up in the middle of the night so I could pump
after I fed him. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband or daddy to our
little boy.
Bethany
