Week 15 & Breastfeeding my hungry boys

By Cyndi
March 29, 2011

Not too many updates for this week.  Dave (my brother) & his wife Lauren are in town visiting.  It has been fun to see how the twins interact and smile at other people besides Matt and I.  We've also dropped another feeding, and they are now going 12 hours between feedings at night!  More sleep, wahoo!!

Disclaimer:  The rest of this post is about breastfeeding ...

Sadly, breastfeeding is coming to an end.  It has been one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time.  Harder than delivery (it was a c-section, I just laid there), harder than hiking Machu Picchu on a bum ankle (pain killers worked wonders and I just walked slowly), and harder than running a half marathon (my brother was by my side telling me to pick up the pace to make my goal).

It seemed that from the beginning my body wasn't on the same page as my mind.  I started pumping a few hours after delivery and by 24 hours after delivery, I was in a lot of pain.  This is to be expected and talked with every lactation consultant who walked into our room, but nothing was helping.  I continued to pump 8-9 times daily (yes, that meant waking up in the middle of the night to pump) while the boys were in the NICU and had about enough for both of the intakes.  As soon as they came home and their hunger increased, my body didn't respond at all.  Once we realized this, we knew we would need to supplement and decided I would nurse twice daily (not offer a bottle at those feedings) and then the rest of the feedings would be a mix of pumped milk and formula.

This plan has generally worked, but has been incredibly tough.  I had to feed both boys, which takes approx one hour and then pump for 30+ min.  That left about one hour in between feedings to do something around the house or nap.  I knew early on my supply wasn't enough, so I started taking fenugreek (click here for more info).  Has it helped?  I think, but not a whole lot for 9 pills a day for 2+ months.  I've been eating oatmeal, drinking mother's milk tea ... still my supply has done nothing but decrease as the boys' eating has increased.

Not only was my supply an issue, but I was having plugged ducts every few days and it was very painful.  I knew this could happen, but the most concerning part was, I was unable to clear the duct with pumping.  It usually took a combination of a heating pad for 30+ min and nursing for it to open up.  This works great while on maternity leave ... not so much when I'm at work pumping!!  I called lactation consultants and ended up going to a local free clinic at a hospital to ask for advice.  The first visit, they suggested to change the size of the pumping flanges I was using.  This helped only slightly, but I still had a plugged duct once or twice that week.  Back to the clinic.  Another lactation consultant suggested I try lecithin.  Why?  She thought that if my milk was extra fatty, then it would be harder to express and get plugged easier.  The lecithin would make the fats in my breastmilk slippery, so it would be easier to express.  So add another 4 of those pills daily, but after taking it for a week or so, I hadn't had any plugged ducts,but still took 30 min or more to fully empty!!!!!  Sadly I think this advice came a few weeks too late to fix my supply issue. 

As the boys dropped nighttime feedings, I dropped pumping then also.  Your body should adjust to maintain the same output.  My body didn't adjust, I pumped less.  With being back at work, my time was even more limited with the boys.  I was spending more time scheduling my day around pumping than having quality time with the boys.  And my supply was dropping from 20% of their diet to less than that.  So, we've decided for the boys and I, it is best if I stop. 

It is so bittersweet and a decision I've been thinking about for weeks.  I will miss that time with each of them, but I have to say, since we made the decision, I've been feeling much less stressed. It is nice to have more time to hold them and keep them off their head, as I endure the pain of "telling" my body we are done.


Off to Chicago in 4 days!!