Updates: Since taking tons of Brewer’s Yeast yesterday, my milk has definitely started coming back in, at times, with a vengeance (ouch!). With the exception of a longish stretch during the night (he went to bed at 9pm and didn’t wake until 4am! If I had known how long he was gonna sleep, I would have woken him up sooner), he’s been eating every 1.5-2 hours. Each time, he’s gotten a LOT. How can I tell? For the first time in days, he’s seemed milk drunk…limbs splayed out and limp, happy grin on his face. I’ve been able to hold him afterwards, without him so much as acting hungry for a few hours. I’ve actually been feeding him again before he’s asked for it!
We’ll see how long this lasts (my pessimism), because we’re definitely not out of the woods, by any means. I still have a few giant tasks before me, such as making sure to eat at least 2,000 calories, drinking tons of water, and, of course, the gigantic amount of Brewer’s Yeast I have to consume. But it’s been a huge sigh of relief to know that there’s at least something I can do. It confirms for me that Dr. Dennis knows what she’s talking about. And it’s been nice having my happy baby back!
I’ve never been one of those mothers who envisioned breastfeeding exclusively for a year– I told Jesse, before G was even born, that my goal was to make it to 6 months. Anything after that, I said, was icing on the cake. For the first few days/weeks, I didn’t know HOW I was going to last a month, much less half a year! Now that I’ve been at it for 5 1/2 months, however, it’s something I’d be very sad to give up. As much as G “abuses me” while he’s eating (even the Dr. pointed out the major scratch wounds all over my neck!), it’s really bonding and comforting for us both. Sometimes, when G’s upset, all I need to do is hold him close in his “feeding position”, and he calms down. It signals safety and comfort to him, in a way that bottle feeding never has. And, of course, there’s the antibodies aspect, which I definitely want if I’m choosing to wait a year or so on certain vaccines. Other babies could be different, but for G, it’s something he needs– as long as I can keep providing it.
Last night, after Jesse put G to bed, we set about making some baby food. We know that a few spoonfuls/day (the average for a new eater!) is not going to be making a huge dent in his nutritional needs. But it’s a start, and, for whatever reason, the doctor ordered it. Plus, I can’t deny that I’m pretty excited about it!
The whole process of making 8 jars of baby food took less than 15 minutes, so we’ll definitely have time for it. We didn’t use anything fancy– just a food processor and a pot of water to boil the sweet potato (after skinning it, of course). By the way, a shout out to my wonderfully supportive husband. He made sure to periodically hug me at various times the entire evening, saying what a great mom I was and how he couldn’t ask for more. He comforted G for at least an hour while he screamed from exhaustion. He put him to bed while I went to Curves with Julie for some much needed positive energy. Then, he even devoted part of his evening to making baby food with me, after first making sure a “play list” was in order (every song had to do with something “sweet”, such as James Taylor’s “Sweet Potato Pie”). My heart warms, just remembering what a wonderful friend and support he was to me.
And then, this morning, we did a trial run w G and sweet potatoes! I took one small container out (only halfway filled), microwaved it, mixed it with a tablespoon of pumped breastmilk, and tried to put G into his high chair. No such luck…even though he can sit, he was waaaay to small for it and slid down too far. So, I got out the Bumbo chair.
Did he like it? At first, he did, grabbing the spoon and helping me put it into his mouth. We actually got a small spoonful or two this way. After that, however, he started shuddering whenever I gave him more. I figured it was time to stop for now 🙂
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Courtney says
oh so proud of you all! lil g isn’t gonna be little for much longer!!! what a big milestone. can’t believe it’s already time for sweet potatoes and bananas again. don’t worry, kel. the way he is with you, my guess is that he won’t stop nursing for a while…especially with more milk.
Morielle says
oh YAY!! I am so glad to hear that things are going better and that you found such a wonderful and wise pediatrician who is giving you good advice 🙂 and go mama with getting that milk back in! amazing how quickly your body can get back into the swing of it 🙂