Continuing from my previous post on the first 2 weeks of breastfeeding…
Day 15
I hit new records in my pumping volume at my 3am pump! Reached a high of >200ml. Not sure if it was a fluke haha, but it was pretty satisfying I must say.
We went back to the polyclinic for baby’s jaundice follow-up, and thank God, her jaundice had dropped to 79 and she was cleared by the doctor! No more follow ups required, and she didn’t have to get pricked, phew :’) We also asked the doctor about the milk volume that the nanny had been feeding baby. Up to this point at 2 weeks old, the nanny had been bottle feeding her 90ml per feed :O and that was after I’d latched sometimes. Baby had a few instances of regurgitating almost all the milk (especially when she was fed this amount after latching) and I was so worried that she was being overfed. According to the doctor, yes, that was way too much for her size and age (recommended amount was 50-60ml). She said that sometimes baby will continue to make noise after drinking because she needs to be soothed rather than fed. I was fuming mad because we’d told the nanny countless times, but she’d insisted that the vomiting was due to the way we’d carried her and squashed her tummy -.- Thankfully when we went home, hubs communicated to nanny calmly that the doctor advised on reducing the volume, and she agreed to do so.
Tried latching again in the morning, and gosh, it was a struggle again 😦 not the latching part, baby seems to have gotten it, and suckles really hard for 10-15mins. Then she falls asleep and drops off the boob. This time she only managed to feed on one side then nanny brought her for baby for her bath. Unsurprisingly, baby was still hungry after her bath and so I latched her again. But even after she’d bobbed off the boob on her own accord, she started crying again :”( and so nanny suggested bottle feeding her because it was time for her nap. I agreed, but only to half the recommended volume of 30ml since baby had already latched for about 30min. She looked like she was nodding off to sleep, but once we put her down in the cot, she was up and yelling for more again, oh gosh. Latched her for another 15min before she seemingly fell asleep, and I went to take a shower. When I came out, nanny told me that she’d bottle fed baby another 30ml because she just simply couldn’t sleep, and I was kinda resigned to the fact that it was true 😦 baby was now finally sleeping soundly after missing nearly 2 hours of sleep.
I felt so bad. Though I really want to be able to latch and satisfy baby, but I don’t know if it’s actually possible. I did feel like baby was still hungry because we had already tried our best to soothe her, but no avail. I’m not sure why baby doesn’t seem to be getting enough when I latch her though. Based on my pumping volume and flow, I should be producing enough milk! Sigh.
Day 16
Had my 2nd session of lactation massage and confirmed that my breasts are no longer engorged, thankfully! So this session was to work on improving the supply by activating the milk ducts. Ouch, this time was a bit more painful than the last, but hey, whatever helps! I haven’t seen much of an increase yet, but just trying to keep up regularly pumping/latching to keep the demand up.
Week 3
It seems like we/ve had a bit of progress in breastfeeding! Now that baby’s jaundice level is in the normal range, have been trying to latch her more. Baby was able to latch longer without falling asleep and I actually felt like my boobs were pretty emptied after the feed! Decided to try a different method today and latched on just one side for the feed, so that hopefully she gets more of the hindmilk to fill her up. Not sure if it really works that way, but it did keep her full for at least a one hour nap (baby steps! That’s already a small improvement for me), and for a feed where she latched for 20min almost continuously, she actually napped for 2hrs after that!
This hasn’t quite worked for the pre-bedtime feeds though. She hasn’t been able to tank up enough to go to sleep properly. So nanny has suggested going back to the bottle after 7pm to help baby with getting a regular bedtime. It’s a constant trial & error!
Also, because I now usually latch in the morning & late afternoon almost hourly, my boobs have been refilling so quickly haha. Can’t seem to go very long without starting to leak milk, oh gosh. Then again, I guess it’s helping with my supply? So not complaining haha. Think they might be slightly confused though, since my pumping interval at night sometimes drags 4hrs (or even slightly more – when I oversleep, oops!).
Week 4
Had my 3rd lactation massage session and my masseuse taught me some accupoint pressure methods that I could try! Have shared them on my IG story highlights under “Breastfeeding” which you can try out too! It was a pretty relaxing massage this time round again which I enjoyed!
I’ve noticed that my milk flow seems to be much smoother (and faster now)! I’ve started to shorten my pumping sessions sometimes because after 20-25mins the flow stops already and I feel like my boobs are completely soft and no soreness when I press it (compared to when I was pumping 30mins previously and it could still be lumpy even at the end). So yes, it just takes time!! I was wondering if there was something wrong with me previously, but I guess it just takes awhile for the milk to become more flow-y. At the same time, I’m wondering whether there is too much liquid in my breastmilk now, and not enough cream because I was speaking to some mummies about the foremilk/hindmilk where the hindmilk is supposed to be of a thicker, creamier consistency and helps baby feel fuller for longer. Apparently it appears as a layer on top of the foremilk when the milk is stored in the fridge, but I haven’t quite noticed much of it in my case! I can’t wait to get back to eating my oats for breakfast after confinement is over though! Let’s see if there will be any changes to my milk after that!
Also, I found this FB group called Breastfeeding Mothers Support Group which has been super helpful in my breastfeeding journey! There are questions in that group chat about all stages of breastfeeding, and it’s a great resource in learning from the experience and queries of other mummies. Even more helpful is their WhatsApp hotline! I had very specific questions based on my own breastfeeding challenges as shared here and I was able to clarify my doubts through the hotline!
4 weeks into this journey and there’s still so much to learn, so much to figure out. Thankful for all the support and encouragement so far!
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