Seeking Advice on Breastfeeding

Hi,
I had some of the same issues however when my son was born right from the start the first day they told me one of the heel prick blood tests was positive and he could not take my milk so I started pumping in the Hospital then another test was done and after a week I could breast-fed. It was hard at first he was now a week old and my supply was low but I just fed him more often and drank lots of water to build up my milk. Then at 4mos. I had to take med and he went on formula for a week I pumped and tossed and we where back to BF. Long story short He was breast-fed until 14mos. He is now a happy 12yr old young man. Hang in there drink lots and lots to keep up supply when you are back breast-feeding.

I had surgery when my son, who was exclusively breastfed, was 5 months old. I stored breastmilk for him and then had to pump and dump because of the anesthesia and pain meds. I went back to BFing and nursed him exclusively for 12 months with no other foods and then went on to nurse him until after he turned two. Good luck and congratulations!!

i would ask the doctor if you can hold off taking the water pill for another week. I was still swollen from having my son. It took almost 2 weeks before the swelling finally went away.

if for some reason your son doesn't take back to the breast, you can always continue to pump and feed through the bottles. Or definatly get a lactation nurse to help you out to re establish your son at the breast.

Good luck.

You can do it. My sister had her daughter 11 weeks premature and was never able to get her to latch on to breastfeed. She knew it was important, so she pumped for her. That poor girl pumped for like 14 months and her milk supply stayed up. As long as you are diligent about pumping you will be fine.

I had to pump with my oldest because he was never able to nurse, and managed to do it for 6 months before I quit and I have friends who pumped for an entire year without problems. I believe your milk supply is still hormone-driven at this point, but just keep pumping on the same schedule you've been doing. If your supply does go down, your baby will get it back up to speed in no time by nursing more frequently. Good luck!

It's been 7 years but I also (can't recall the medication) had to stop breast feeding for about a week. I too had to pump and dump, I did find that I had to do it every 3-4 hours to keep up my milk supply (supply and demand). If you don't it may go down some that's what I experienced. Also don't worry he will go back to the breast and if it takes a minute for him to get used to it again (he's gotta work for that milk more) it will be fine. I had to call the lacto nurse a few times to get some assurance since mine had to work a little more he kinda wanted to give up but just keep on when your back to your routine with him and the breast it will all work out fine (promise).

Please don't worry if you're pumping your supply will be just fine, remember while feeding with the bottle for now to take off your shirt or open it and have the skin contact while feeding him. Keeping the skin contact and holding my baby up by my breast while using the bottle helped my milk supply and him to still have some of the same feeling breast feeding gave him. The lacto nurse gave me that tip, it helped me feel better too. If you hadn't been doing this it's fine start trying it.

Best of luck and I hope you have a speedy recovery from the c-sec congrats also.

Ok i am so excited for you being so firm i love it. Keep going as long as your pumping when hes eats every two to three hrs. you should be fine. Keep pumping and dumping. Your milks in you'll be fine. Now i never took this drug with any of them. One thing i would ask is will the drug decrease you in any way? Other than that you should be fine remember keep eating and drinking alot though too. I really think you will be fine. I had a baby who not only got thrush but also gave it to me and had to be supplimented and it took almost 3 months for her to be put back on and as long as i pumped and stored we was good to go. I have had 5 kids and breastfeed them all and had to pump with them all to because i had to supplement there was not enough breast milk to keep her full. I also am current giving it a break but still considering to start back into it now that the kids are in school and things are calming i am considering re starting up my breast to feed her while shes still small with out teeth. my fear is her using me as a pacifier she did that too you have to becareful with that. But other than that I applaud you!!!

.

I have been exclusively pumping for twins now for almost a full year and my supply has been just fine. Your body will make what it needs for your baby.

I'd lay your son on your chest or abdomen while you're pumping, it will help trick the brain into thinking he's the one nursing. Get in as much skin to skin contact during his feedings as well, again it will help you and him, he'll need to keep associating the smell and feel of your skin with eating. I'd also recommend using fennugreek (it comes in teas and capsules) you can find it at CVS, its great for boosting your milk supply.

I just had to pump and dump for 24 hours, but even then I the day after my milk supply dropped. It came back to normal level in a day or two. Good for you pumping every 3 hours. If you feel its dropping, pump every 2 hours. Sounds like you're doing the best you can in this situation!

Best wishes!

You milk will be just fine. My son was a 32 week preemie and I pumped every 3 hours for him for 12 weeks till he learned to breastfeed. When we left the hospital when he was 6 weeks old I had a ridiculous amount of milk stored there from pumping. I built an amazing supply in that time so you will be perfectly fine a week from now!

Follow baby's cues once he gets back to breast so that he can continue to regulate your supply. That was new to me with my 2nd. She was all over the place nursing wise those first few weeks. Sometimes she ate like crazy the next nursing not so much. It finally dawned on me she was regulating my supply because I certainly had plenty to go around lol!

I had to do this for other reasons (pediatrician made me do a quantitative feeding for 5 days) when my baby was two weeks. Afterwards baby hated eating at the breast and latching was a nightmare. It was so outrageously awful for both of us, i gave up breastfeeding at 6 weeks. In retrospect, I'm furious with my dr. for having me do this and if i had it to do over again would have gone against medical advice. As far as milk supply, so long as you do it 8 times in 24 hours, your supply should be fine. Resist the temptation to skip it even once (especially since you are inside of those first two weeks)

As long as you continue pumping, your milk production should be just fine. Best wishes!

I was able to exclusively pump approx 40-45 ounces a day when my LO was that age with a hospital grade pump. pumping doesn't always mean your supply goes down.

I just want to send you good wishes. Pumping is really hard because your baby is so much better at getting milk. The good thing is that it is only for one week. So even if it goes down a little you two will get it back up in no time. Drink mothers milk tea and maybe take fenugreek if your milk does go down.
Good luck! I wish you all the best.

I had to stop breastfeeding my daughter when she was 10 days old and send both her and my 2 year old son to their grandparents house. The cause for sending was different of course. I had flu like symptoms and they feared h1n1. I too had to pump and dump for a week after taking my last medicine so it was close to two weeks of pump and dump. (thankfully only a few days separation from my kids.). I understand your goal and the emotions from feeling like it's out of your control+those lovely hormones. Good news is I got thru it and my supply wasn't affected at all. It is so early that your body often over produces and easily changes. My daughter was also receptive to nursing again without any hesitation. Good luck! I had forgotten about that ordeal nearly a year ago and your note really struck a cord with me. Oh and I only found it necessary to pump every 4 hours and was still meeting what would have been my daughters demand.

M.,
I encourage you to find out from an additional source if Dyazide is not allowed while breastfeeding. Lactation consultants at the hospitals have the most recent up to date information that docs don't have and don't take the time to research. I am not sure that docs always understand how important this is to us moms and how its not always so easy to just "return to nursing" - its not like opening and closing a pop top!
You are right to be concerned because you want to do this so bad. I also agree with talking to the doc about waiting a little longer before starting the med and are there natural alternatives? My daughter who also was very swollen and had a c-section was told to drink alot of water and also get up out of bed and walk around. I encourage you to try that as well, plus keeping your feet elevated will help. It seemed the more active she got, the better her ankles got, but the baby was almost 2 weeks old before she could really seek her ankles again.
Good luck. Knowledge is power, so the more information you have, the better decision you can make.

I was hospitalized and medicated when my breastfed daughter was about 2 months old and had to pump and dump. It worked out fine, she took bottles for the first time from my husband then, but was SO happy to come back to the breast when I was able. It took maybe 2 days to get back into our routine but the milk supply adjusted itself and all were healthy and happy. Good Luck!

Find a lactation consultant ASAP to help you get back on track. I had shingles 3 days after giving birth and it screwed things up royally for me. Bottle feeding is much easier for babies to do than breastfeeding because it takes a little more work to suck. Your supply does go down when you pump, cause nothing is as efficient as your baby (LOL!). A professional who understands your situation can provide support and tools to get things back on track once you can breastfeed again. I had to use something like a breastmilk IV and it was very helpful. Good luck, and I hope he pops right back on :) It took a while for me to get back on track, but then I BF'd till he was 2.5 years old.

I don't see a single thing in your post that warrents a negative comment so I don't think you need to worry about that!

I actually pumped for my preemie for four months, every three hours in the beginning and later every time he actually took a bottle (if he was sleeping I was going to be too!). My supply didn't drop until I went back to work and had to increase the time between pumpings and was unable to take enough time (for me 20 minutes yeilded 6 to 9 oz each boob). I have read that that much milk from pumping each time is unusual but in all honesty at two weeks old (the time you'll start back up) with just a 7 day pump and dump cycle you won't have any problems with your supply and if it does drop a bit, you can nurse then pump to build it back to where you need it to be.

Good luck!

My son and I were involved in a horrible car accident when he was three weeks old. I pumped for THREE months and was still able to breastfeed when he finally got out of the hospital. You are only doing it for a week, so I would assume that you will be fine!
Drink TONS of water...be consistent with the pumping.....get lots of rest....I have heard talk on here about some kind of tea (funke-something), but you may want to check if that is okay to take with your water pill, eat well (lots of fruits, veggies and protein). You should be great!
Good luck, L.