[shoni]

Hi Trace,

I managed to get supply flowing by putting Sofie to my breast everytime she wanted to suck, whether or not it was feeding time and no matter how long it had been since the last feed. She now does every 2 hours during the day and 3 or 4 hours at night.

Keep putting her on, they say that baby gets your milk to come better than pumping.

If it helps I have 2 friends with bad supply, they top up with formula, One is now down to topping up just once a day. Both babies are doing really well. It's not failure, you are just doing what is right for your little one. Keep at it, it's early days. You are a great mum, don't forget that.

Re weight, after 2 weeks I'd lost over half my weight, but now it's coming off at about 1lb a week, sadly! But the BF has made my tummy shrink a bit. I look fine mornings and afternoons but look pregnant again by evening! Figure it will be a while, I did give myself a deadline of Christmas to loose the weight but am finding that I am getting impatient now. Want my wobbly belly gone! Not allowed to exercise until the war wound it healed which I was told will take about 3 months! And can't diet as BF'ding. Ho hum.(Probably don't need to be eating chocolate tho!)

Take care hope to catch up soon x

[rachrobin]

Hi Tracey and all our new mums!....

I had a really bad start to bfeeding - no colostrum and a baby that couldn't latch to flat nipples (sorry ;0) - so I had to ask for forumla to be given to the baby while we were still in hospital - WHAT A GUILT TRIP! I have pumped 3-4 times a day since day 5 and fed Luella formula and a breast milk with the Adiri bottle.

Good news is as of this week, Luella has suddenly got the hang of the latch! I don't have a good enough milk supply to satisfy her, but hopefully this will change the longer she spends time 'practising'. I really think the Adiri bottle taught her what to do!

So I just wanted to let you know there is hope for us all. There are so many times I have felt like giving up as feeding AND pumping just takes too much time away from a busy day.

I must say the home visits from Annerley have really helped preserve my sanity, and we have even turned the corner on colic thanks to Hulda's expertise.

I hope you are all doing well, can't wait to meet everyone's freshly baked buns soon!

Cheers,

Rach X

[rachrobin]

Oh yeah - the weight loss issue.

I'm carrying about 6kgs more than I was when I got pregnant, but it all seems to be on my tummy and thighs. I still look 4-5 months pregnant and none of my old clothes fit me, and the maternity clothes just make me feel shitty.

Trace - I know the weight is supposed to 'drop off' with breast feeding, but keep in mind you aren't really making all that much milk yet at the 1-2 week mark. It's my guess that when you hit the 2-3 month mark and bub really starts chowing down, that's when the miracles happen! It's a theory anyway.......

Rach X

[salevizos]

Hey there Tracey...hang in there on the b/feeding, but dont stress too much about the bottle, breast milk or formula. Here's my story...

As it turns out, Anastasia is a biter and out of sheer pain and desperation, I turned to pumping and bottle feeding (I caved and rented the hospital grade Symphony the day I got home) almost exclusively for several days. Anyhow, a few observations about supply (in banker bullet format):

1. Pumping should increase your supply. At the hospital, they encouraged me to pump after b/f. I thought it was kinda silly, but they twins kept loosing weight, even though they'd 'feed' for 20-ish minutes. I was nervous about nipple confusion and felt inadequate for not being able to get it right. But, I did start pumping. You can really massage the boobs while pumping, which empties all the ducts and stimulates further milk production. Harder to do with a kid attached!

2. You can figure out how much you get out of each side and back calculate how much bubs is getting. I b/fed Gustav this afternoon and he seemed contented, spent some time on the play mat and got tucked back into bed. Then I went and pumped and found out he couldnt have gotten more than 20mls, based on the amount I pumped...while normally he gets 60mls per feed on pumped milk. Who woke up screaming his little head off 1 hour later? ...So I topped him up with about 30mls to get him to our next feed.

3. You need to keep eating; no starve diets to loose that weight. Basically, you need to eat each time they eat, even if its only a small meal (a slice of toast and some yogurt qualifies). Take calcium supplements and make sure to drink TONS of water. The day I got home from the hospital was so hectic, I didnt eat anything except dinner. The next day, there was very little milk to be had.

All up though, I went from not that much supply to being able to feed all the starving children in Africa in a few days. I have several feeds stored for each of G + A, and am now back to mixing b/feeding (for real) and bottle feeding breast milk. No nipple confusion.

For me, I now have piece of mind...knowing how much they are getting per feed and they are both gaining weight. We feed on a reliable 3.5hr cycle too, since the amounts they get are very consistent. My calculus on the pumping is that it takes a reliable 30 minutes total. B/f for real can take upto 40 min for feeding + play time (10m) + wrapping/settling/changing (10m) if you do the cycle yourself (and for me, x2!). So, now I can hand off one or more feed, play, sleep cycles to my helper, and even though Im pumping every three hours, I can catch a few more winks of sleep in between (or get out of the house for an a few hours in a go, which Ive done a few times too).

Anyhow, you've got the help at home, so it might be worth a try. Everyone has different feelings about the pumping thing - and I have to admit, Ive done a 180 degree turn on it myself. I thought I only wanted to do b/f naturally, but its just impossible with twins and Ive found Im better rested now, more confident that my helper is getting good practice while I can observe how she handles them. Even though I sometimes feel guilty about not doing everything all the time, I think all of us are better off for it.

I fourth the benefits of the Annerley visits. Very helpful and frankly, just nice to have someone over who can appreciate the difficulties and give useful advice.

Dont stress about the weight. Ive found it does drop off (even with all my eating, Ive lost about 75% of the gain), but I cant tell you how many people have asked me 'how far along' I am, since I still look about 4 - 5 months pregnant - all in the belly like Rachel. Jane promises 'it' (the stretched stomach muscles) will 'go away' (heal) in 6 - 8 weeks, and for now, Justin thinks it looks like a beer belly and finds it cute. And I love shutting people up by saying Ive already had the kids - LAST WEEK; the look on their faces is priceless!

Hang in there...
Sarah

Rach, did the Adiri bottle really work well for you? With the wonder twins, I found the flow to be too much and the bottle too hard for them to 'latch', so I switched to the medela bottles and teats, which worked better for us.

[jenayds]

Just a different view on the pumping thing - some women find it a lot harder than others.

For me, when my milk first came in and for the first 6 weeks, I could pump reasonably successfully. However once the supply/demand thing settled down after the first 6 weeks (and I stopped leaking so much), I couldn't express much at all (I'm talking like 10 mls in 30 min pumping). However my baby could feed very successfully and grew absolutely fine and was contented. The amount I could express bore no relation to the amount the baby could extract. The key is whether the kid seems happy after a feed and comes off the breast themselves with the 'blissfully full' type of look! :)

[salevizos]

Jen,

Thanks for the other view point. I am a bit worried that the pumping will not work forever!

Im actually beginning to wonder if supply is not a genetic thing. I was just talking to my mom, and she said she actually had quite a lot of supply. Has anyone asked their mums the question?

Sarah

[Tracey Nicole]

hi ladies,

a sincere MANY THANKS for all of your advice and support. i seem to have calmed down a bit since last writing. thanks god.

i have been doing a combination of formula and breat feeding. I also started pumping - at this point production is still very low.

one thing you mentioned sarah, is the amount... i have only been giving 45 mls when feeding formula (who knows with breast?!?) so this could be the reason for the feeding every 2ish hours and a crying baby. I will wait and speak with Hulda (visiting today - THANKS FOR SUGGESTING - can not wait).

thanks again for all your support.

re weight gain/loss.... not too worried about it... well I am... like every woman is! i do have regrets for putting on so much weight though... If I ever get the chance to have another - I will be controlling myself much more :-)

I have goals: keen to drop around 12 before I go back to work then get the rest of by Chrissy.

Talk to you soon - have to scoot!

trace