So I am still breastfeeding. This is no small miracle as I have a low milk supply. I have done everything to increase this ill fated supply - Motilium, Fenugreek (who would have thought that maple syrup smelling urine would be a bad side effect, but indeed it is), Korean seaweed soup (which I am now thoroughly sick of), oxtail and green papaya and fish soup, longan and date tea. If I was in school for effort to breastfeed I would definitely get an A. Sadly my milk is not flourishing, I cannot stomach a hungry, not-gaining-weight infant (screaming and wailing, did I mention the screaming and wailing?). I would like to say that I envy those who are awash with milk, but at this point I am resigned with my lot in life. I suppose you win some and lose some. I can still feel my stomach muscles (yay!) but have to use this contraption to be able to experience breastfeeding (and formula feeding) without pulling my eyeballs out. As I have mentioned before I am over the breastfeeding Nazis (on an aside - someone said to me that my newborn was just trying to tell me something, like get something off her chest. Hello? She was just BORN. I think angst needs some time to develop for more than, say, a few days. She is telling me she is STARVING!). Anyway, the thing that irks me the most is when people say that the baby is more efficient at getting to the milk than the breast pump, so you really don't know how much milk you are producing. Really? The pump is no indicator? That just doesn't even make any sense. If I am pumping an ounce there is no way Charlotte is pulling three ounces out of me. It may not be perfect but it is a quantitative INDICATOR. Maybe she is getting an ounce and a half at best. I am a quantitative person and it drives me BONKERS when people seem to suggest that breastfeeding is some sort of smoke-and-mirrors black magic. Some people just don't make enough milk for their kid - and I am one of them. The other thing that drives me nuts is when people say that breastfeeding is cheaper than formula. We have spent a lot of money on breast pumps and accessories (at the moment I have three breast pumps! All is around $1200 SGD when all is said and done) and I dare say that amount of money would buy a ton of formula.
Nevertheless I still plod along with feeding and pumping and feeding and pumping. Because it is better for the Kumquat.
Hi Ho, don't sweat it, breastfeeding was very hard for Joyce (and still is this time), but it gets better with time.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't worry about supplementing with formula, the way we figured it, it's actually better for ensuring the baby gets a complete nutrition, since we figure exclusive breastmilk is dependent on Mommy getting a balanced diet, which you can never be sure of.
I really liked the part in the breastfeeding article you linked to the other day where the author says that breastfeeding is only free if the woman's time isn't worth anything.
ReplyDeleteAlexander was almost 100% formula fed-and he's more than okay. So even if this doesn't work out-you are still a great mom! Don't let any lactation nazi tell you otherwise.
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