Breastfeeding angel

After much crying, I decided I needed to seek help from a LC. I was willing to pay whatever I needed to so I could get Meatball to latch without the shields and figure out a way to increase my supply.

Why get off the shields? Nipple shields, even though they are super thin decrease milk exchange about 28%. If the milk does not come out, baby does not get it and the body says it's not needed. So it stops making it. When your supply already sucks like with BFAR, you want that 28%...either in baby's belly or in your freezer stash!

My pedi was already skeptical of me EBF because of the reduction. Add nipple shields and I cannot tell you how many times she said it was just time to give it up and go to formula feeding. I was not going to do this. I had made it 6 weeks with him on the breast. He was gaining weight and was getting much better with nursing...so was I :) I was sitting on the floor in the living room one Sunday night before his 6 week weight check in and I just cried and cried. Why? Because I was terrified to go to the appointment and he not have gained enough to make her happy and was going to force me to stop nursing. I was so scared. I decided then that it was time to find a new pediatrician.

Lucky for me, a great friend of mine told me about her pedi office and how they have a LC on staff. So you guessed it, I transferred.

Before I could even get in to meet this LC, we chatted on the phone. She told me that we could do this and that she was going to get me a pump that would help with my supply. She called in some cream to help with my painful nips and would see me in a few days. If I needed her, all I had to do was email or call her!

She got me a Symphony and I was soooo excited. Sadly, once I got this bad boy home and tried it out, I was disappointed. I just was not getting what I was getting with the Pump in Style Advanced. I felt funny saying it but it was so try. I was worried my supply would go down even lower...if it was possible! I WAS only producing 3 oz during a normal pump...pathetic.

I emailed the LC and shared my thoughts. She had a solution to try another pump when I came in for the appointment on Tuesday...Tuesday could not come fast enough.

Cue breastfeeding angel. Her name is K. She is amazing. I don't even know why she is so amazing...maybe because I was so down in the dumps and desperate for help or because she was going to get me to reach my goal and did not tell me I could not do this. She knows her stuff and is just so pro breastfeeding. Whatever reason, she's an angel.

During our hour long appointment, she checked Meatball's latch, showed me positions to nurse in, and got me to try the new pump...the Medela Classic. When she hooked me up, I was skeptical. 2 minutes into pumping and 3 oz out...I was sold!

This thing is literally 22 pounds. It looks like a sewing machine. It is piston based and looks as though it needs to be driven in for an oil change every 3000 miles. It closes in a case with a leather belt. It could likely milk my husband.

So today is the start of something new...pumping with the MONSTER, nursing in all of our new positions, taking Fenugreek, and eating oatmeal...all as much as possible! All while working with the breastfeeding angel...

Because of this breastfeeding angel, I have made it another day and not given up on this journey.