Living Proof

Do you want to go back in time and be a 17 year old boy, minus the raging hormones and pimply skin?

Scratch that. Let me start over.

Do you want the metabolism of a 17 year old boy? Where you can eat eat eat ALL the time and never never gain weight?

It’s what happens when you breastfeed. Seriously.

I eat SO MUCH food, and still weigh as much as I did 2 months ago (125 lbs.). While that may not seem like a very low number, I am 5’6″, almost 5’7″. For my height, I’m 5 pounds away from being underweight (every inch adds/subtracts 10 lbs. for averages, FYI). As a result, if I don’t have a LARGE dinner (by large, I mean more than Jesse), a dessert and 2 before-bedtime snacks (and, most of the time, a pint of beer!) I wake up with my stomach sticking inward and my hip bones jutting out. My metabolism is a raging machine on full throttle, and it’s all due to breastfeeding.

On a related note, I am super proud of myself (in a good way). Just 2 months ago, I didn’t have the milk supply to feed G without supplementation. It’s now been 2 months since we used any formula!

9 bags of milk stored in the freezer

All I do is wait until 2 hours after G is in bed and pump! I can definitely see the benefits of pumping/milk storage, even for stay at home moms. For example, even though I was with G all day yesterday, he’s going through a bit of a growth spurt. Since my body takes several days to aclimate to needing more milk, we heated up a bottle in the afternoon for G when he was still acting hungry. Problem solved! If he wakes up before I can pump in the evenings (which happens only during a growth spurt!) my body is ready to give him a full feeding (instead of shutting down for the night).

What I was able to pump a few weeks ago, before I consistently started pumping at night

What I was able to pump in one sitting last night!

So far, he’s gaining weight beautifully, despite what a rough time we were having only 10 weeks ago. He has now mostly caught up to his 6-9 month size in clothing (we’ve always been one or two behind), and doesn’t ever act hungry right after a feeding. And he has enough energy to supply an army.

And if something happens to where my milk supply suddenly diminishes again? I have a stockpile to help supplement until I can get it back up again!

Because it can be done. I am living proof of the fact that a woman’s body CAN make enough milk, even if genetics are against her. All it takes is persistence, the right herbs, and lots and lots of calories. And prayer