The End Tale of Two...Boobies.

Ah, so I haven't posted in a while and I figured it was time for me to make a post. Yesterday I gave a near 10 ounces of milk to SuperMommy...which was nothing compared to all the milk she had just picked up from another donor. While I am so so so so glad (and she is going to murder me when she reads this) that she got all that milk, it makes me feel bad because I made a promise to be her one and only donor, and it has proven almost too much for me. No matter what I do, I can't seem to make enough milk to support two babies. It saddens me to do this, but I will pump when I need to but this is proving too big for me.

Please don't be angry with me, but sometimes you gotta know when to throw in the towel, and my body is telling me its time.

Interesting theory.

So while surfing the internet today I came across someone else's blog on breastfeeding. It takes another look at why breastfeeding effect everyone, and not just the family/mother who is breastfeeding. Its looks at the cost of not breastfeeding from the taxpayer perspective and WIC.

Not So Average Hippie Mommy made a blog about it. Her post Formula v. Breastfeeding takes a look at how we could save billions a year if every mom on WIC breastfeed their babies instead of buying formula. Yes, I said BILLIONS. That money could definitely be used elsewhere. No, this is NOT a hit on formula fed babies/moms nor is it a hit on WIC. I, myself, am I on WIC! But just think of how we promote breastfeeding then shun those mothers.

This status is now going around Facebook. Repost it on your wall, Twitter, myspace or whatever if you agree:
"Think breastfeeding has no impact on your life because you don't have children or you're not a woman? Think again. Here's a great reason for YOU to support breastfeeding women. If all WIC babies in the U.S. were breastfed, our economical savings would be $33,000,000 per month. Yes, BILLIONS every year."

This is another reason why I am trying to support another mother who cannot make her own milk. It SAVES MONEY. Things around here need to be re-thought. It shouldn't go brestmilk, formula. Plenty of mothers make more than enough milk for their babies and would share it if it didn't seem so taboo. It should go: mom's milk, donor HUMAN milk, then formula if necessary. Breastmilk and milk sharing is not disgusting, clinics could be set up to screen milk and donors with the saved money.

All we need to to establish better support systems for our pregnant mothers who want to nurse. That's just my opinion.


By the way, milk count: still at 3-4 ounces. Every attempt to pump today has not produced more than a drop. ):

Finally! Yay!

Ah, so after SAYING I was going to pump, I have finally gotten the chance to! I have been fenugreeked and blessed thistled to no end and I smell like maple syrup all the time! Which, in reality, is not bad. Always smelling like sweet, tasty, delicious pancakes. Probably makes people think I bathe in maple syrup, oh well. :P

So, I now have 3-4 ounces of milk! The bags aren't really very accurate so..that's about where I stand right now! I truly wish I had something more exciting to talk about, but alas, I do not.

I could always tell you that I have start crafting! I am making babylegs, which if you don't know what they are, they are like awesome leg warmers for babies! I'm thinking about selling them, but haven't decided yet. Hm..we'll see. :)

Milk count: 3-4 ounces! :D

Second Attempt

Alright followers. For those of you still reading, thank you. I appreciate you reading my rather slow blog. For the other who stopped, well you're not reading, but I'm sorry you stopped. Its my fault for having a rather large hiccup in my first attempt at something greater than myself.

I now have renewed energy to get this started and I am trying again. I've started drinking more water/juice and eating a LOT better. I started taking fenugreek and blessed thistle again as well. The blessed thistle is new, so I hope it works. I have old fashioned oats in my cabinet that I will be fermenting tonight for tomorrow's breakfast. There is thawed fruit in the fridge ready to be put on top of my oatmeal.

Sadly, I need to return my rented pump. I'm nearing 300 dollars in fees for renting it so I need to return it and pay the fee while I can. SuperMommy loaned me the pump she bought, so I'm going to see how it works. Hopefully it'll do the trick of being able to pump my milk out. If not, I'll have to put forward the money to buy a new pump myself. I'm going to spend the next few days pumping as much as possible while I can and get use of the pump while I've got it.

So, here's hoping for a second attempt to do greatness.

Milk count: 0 oz. D;

Pretty lame.

SuperMommy ended up coming to pick up my milk for her last week, which was fine. She got to see my crap-tastic apartment but I got to meet her wonderful five year old who was hyped up from his Valentine's Day party. He was so cute. Of course she brought the little man who would be drinking the milk. From the last time we met to that day, he had already started sitting up on his own! So handsome, too!

Since then I've fallen victim to a double ear-infection. I swear, if its not one thing, its something completely different! My supply has dropped due to me being sick and not having the energy to pump isn't helping. I feel like I'm failing at my attempt to help someone, and I don't like it. I need more support or help or something.

Maybe someone can wish me good luck and give me some encouraging words?

Starting Over

Okay, so since I started this venture I've had road block after road block preventing me from doing everything the way I want to do them. I'm starting over, I think. I'm not even going to get into all the crap that's happened, but everything is fine now in case you think the Apocalypse happened in my house or something, it did not. Sickness rained down...I guess it was a sorta Apocalypse. :)

Anyway, tally of milk! 9-13 ounces! Not sure how much, I found a couple random bags of milk hiding in my freezer. They are safe, but I need to deliver this milk to SuperMommy very soon. As long as my husband comes home at a reasonable time tomorrow from his new job (yay!!!), I'm looking at tomorrow. Other than that, I've been eating well, drinking more water, and pumping when I get the chance (which hasn't been often, sadly.) I wish this venture was going smoothly. But I will make it go smoothly. I have to.

Day 5: Well, maybe not.

Okay, so this last week has been made of more fail than Saturday. Since Saturday I've only been able to pump two more ounces, so I have 11 now. If its not one thing its another. With the addition of my husband being home, that means more cleaning for me to do since there is another person in the house plus more running around outside the house which makes it difficult to pump.

Wednesday (today, yesterday, whatever), my husband had the stomach flu so I was busy taking care of him and the kids. This is all so lame. We were supposed to have a blizzard or blizzard like conditions. I guess we did, but with out apartment facing east, and everything happening from the Northwest, I have no idea. Tomorrow is a new day, I will pump more. I've been taking fenugreek and am perspiring it. I constantly smell like it, which is nice because it does have a pleasant smell...to me, anyway. So, more milks tomorrow! Cheers!

Day 4: Made of Fail

So, I didn't get to blog yesterday. In fact, I didn't do much of anything yesterday. I'm sure you were all anxiously awaiting some amazing post saying I pumped a million ounces or something, but I didn't.

Actually, I spent most of the day in bathroom. I was throwing up among other things. I was very sick and I hated it. Not only was I unable to pump, I was barely able to feed my son. Thankfully, I did not have to go rush out for formula and my husband was home to occupy the kids.

So, I'm still sitting at 9 ounces of milk in my freezer since I'm just giving myself the rest of the weekend off to relax. My poor body is revolting against me. So tomorrow is a new day and hopefully I will be able to start again.

Day 3: Slow Goings

Today has been a rather slow day. I didn't get very much sleep for some reason last night so my live-in babysitter watched Teagan while I got some more sleep. I was very thankful. Once up, I got dressed and played Battle of the Stereos with the neighbor's upstairs. :roll: I cleaned up the mess around the apartment so it would be cleaned when my husband got home.

As far as pumping and milk goes, I've only taken one dose of fenugreek tonight. I forgot until about 3PM so I'll take another in about two hours. I pumped a little bit ago but I only got one ounce, which it better than none. It would seem I nipped another clogged duct in the bud again, I've had two now since my son was born and the previously blogged about one seems to be gone. I took a hot shower last night and massage my breast. Maybe it wasn't a clogged duct, but it sure as hell hurt like one.

Today has mostly been spent with the TV off and music on, cleaning, relaxing and spending the majority nursing Z. He's been such a hungry bug as of late and with my Tea-Tea acting up its hard to do everything I need to do to boost my supply up. SuperMommySometimes gave me some tips from a LLL leader in training to help me:

Here was what my friend told me today about upping your supply (besides the Fenugreek and regular nursing of Zander):
1. When you nurse, pump the other boob while you nurse.
2. Pump 1st thing in the morning.
3. Set specific times to pump, create a routine for yourself and your body.
4. Drink lot's of water!

Those are some easy things to follow and I'm working on setting into place. Good tips, if I do say so. And I appreciate them! I appreciate any tips, actually so if any of my readers have any, I'd love to hear them!

Day 2 1/2: A long night.

So, it looks like from here on out, you readers just might get more than one update in a 24 hour period. So much fun, right? Or too much time on my hands..probably the latter.

Either way, we're having a rough night at my house. My daughter has suddenly had a violent reaction to any cow's milk she drinks. She vomits. No matter what amount of milk she has, she vomits. Both times just so happened to be on my leg...my right leg, to be precise. Two baths later and I decided it was time to go to the store and get her something. I feel rather fortuitous to have a friend staying with us so that I could just go out and leave Tea-Tea here to rest. Z-meister came with me on this trip. Poor Tea-Tea, she was scared witless at puking it. It frightened her in all ways possible. So I made a trip to the store and got her some toddler Tums because I couldn't find anything else. Who knew they made those. I also grabbed her some crackers because my kid loves crackers and knew they would cheer her up and maybe make her tummy feel better. Oh, and picked up lactose free milk because this has happened before and lactose free milk made her happy.

So, I got home and let her nom some crackers then gave her the lactose free milk and put her to bed. She stayed there a while and I pumped another 3 ounces of milk while Z-meister also slept. With that, I now have 9 ounces, yay! Not much, but its a start. My Tea-Tea didn't stay in bed for long, she told me her milk was yucky and refused to drink it. She ended up out here laying on the couch, trying to fall asleep while I nursed Z. I made me a frozen pizza (real classy, Jess) and took my fenugreek pills. 2 pills every 8 hours makes three times a day. Its much easier than 2 pills at breakfast, lunch, and dinner because sometimes I forget to eat. Which is bad, but I remember eventually but I don't want to take my pills too far apart or too close together. I'm unsure if it would make a difference. Either way, I don't know if I'll get a chance to pump again tonight or not. I could squeeze (pun intended) some more time out but I'm not sure if my mind will let me.

My husband called while I was on my way to the store. We had another...clashing of the minds, so to speak. In the end, I think I won our little battle. I'm not sure...one of those nights, man. Hopefully he'll be getting a flight home tomorrow and we can talk some more.

I think its time to put Tea-Tea in her bed and go lay down. Z-meister is angry and I'm plan beat. Tomorrow is a new day to clean up the mess around here.

Day 2: Fenugreek and a Clogged Duct

So, here it is late in the evening and both my kids (were) asleep. Earlier today I found myself out of the house while my friend watched them to run to Nature's Cupboard to get some fenugreek and blessed thistle. I also found this store has a cute little mothering shop inside too that sells all kinds of crunchy mama and baby goodies! But I was only there for two things, but I was only able to get the fenugreek. No blessed thistle. ):

Either way, I bought it and came home to make something to eat for me and TeaTea. Homemade mac 'n cheese. Not much, but neither of us were very hungry. I took two tablets as directed with my food and waited. Z-Meister had already nursed himself into a food coma and was asleep. I goofed off for a while before my daughter decided to puke all over the place for some unknown reason. I gave her a bath and cleaned up the horrible mess before she fell asleep on the couch. I waited a little bit longer and decided that since both babies were sleeping, I would go lay in my room with a pump on my boobs and Dexter on. This is when I became in pain.

After a few moments of pumping, I realized my left breast was starting to hurt. I fixed the pump, making sure it was suctioning properly when I realized something...it was painful to touch. Oh no. A clogged duct. I closed my eyes, breathed, and relaxed. I massaged my breasts, got my milk to let down and pumped four ounces as I massaged my left breast to get the clog out. No, sadly, its not gone and I know it won't be easy to get rid of, but here's hoping to get it away before it gets infected. All this pumping and nursing should hopefully get it out before that.

Of course, when I was done to top it all off, I spilled an ounce of milk as I was getting off my bed. I cried and texted my husband that I was in pain and upset. Jerk thought it was funny that I "cried over spilled milk." It hurt to pump! I'm well within my rights to cry! Oh well. He's stuck in Utah anyway. :P So, I'm now at a tally of six ounces stored in the fridge. I'll take it to my friend when I have more. I plan to pump again in a couple hours seeing as how Z-meister is up and about. I'm sure he's wanting some nummies, too.

Day 1 1/2

After meeting my great new friend, SuperMommySometimes, I went home pumped. I mulled and mulled and thought and thank and geared and whatever to plan everything I needed. While I'm gung-ho with myself, I found my husband who is out on the road working, isn't too pleased with my idea after being under the impression he was okay with this. But that is not what this post is about, I'll deal with him!

My son has been latched onto me night and day lately, so yay! He's helping! But this also makes it hard to pump since I also have a two year old who needs attention. So, its difficult to pump and nurse and take care of her. My best time to pump is at night...whenever I can get my two year old to sleep as she has decided not to sleep anymore. Tonight I lucked out and managed to pump two ounces of milk while my son crashed and my daughter poked at my boobs while I tried to zone watching Dexter. I couldn't relax enough to get my milk to let down enough so the two ounces was all my boobs would produce for now. In the wee hours of this morning, at about 3AM I managed to get an ounce too. So, in total I've got three ounces in the freezer for my mama friend.

It will get easier and the first step to that starts again tomorrow. I'm going to go to the health store and buy me some fenugreek capsules. I'm hoping those, along with a lot of pumping and nursing will do the trick enough to start an oversupply.

The Beginning

This is the beginning of a new journey, the step to do something better for not only myself but for someone else. It started two years ago, actually when I had my daughter. I was determined to breastfeed, and failed in my eyes. After six months of supplementing with formula due to bad advice, my milk supply basically dried up. I researched and read and learned and educated myself to that when I had my next child, I would be able to breastfeed him/her without a drop of formula passing that babe's lips. 19 months after I had my daughter, I gave birth to my son. I was determined to breastfeed him. Exclusively. I won. So far, I have exclusively breastfed (from here on out known as EBF) him since day one and it has been six months, going on seven. No formula no nothing. It was not here to tempt me and I did not speak to anyone in the medical field who could possibly have no clue about nursing issues.

Since then, I had rented a pump to help boost my supply so that I could store milk and leave my son and daughter with a sitter for a few hours once in a while and not worry if my son would starve. I recently found out my son would not take a bottle, as I had waited too long to introduce one. I was upset and discourage that I would have to pour my precious milk down the sink, a waste of time, effort, and money. Then someone introduced me to Eats on Feets and I joined the Northwest Indiana chapter. I posted that I had twenty precious ounces to give to a lucky mama who could use it. After a count, I only had thirteen ounces, but enough for one or two gleaming bottles of mama milk. I received a message via Facebook that a local mom in the next town over was in need of my milk. It took a day or so and we planned to meet. The night before, I asked her a question that had budded in my head. Could I be her single source of milk for her little son? I wanted to know after I read her blog stating she had issues producing enough milk to support her little one. For some unknown reason, she simply couldn't produce more than a few ounces at all. I felt for her, and knew I could help. So I asked if I could be her wetnurse. She accepted. We met and I watched as she fed her adorable child the milk I had labored to pump. He sucked down every last drop, passing slowly into a milk coma with every swallow. I wanted to cry. This woman had actually written a blog post about me, and my heart soared with joy that I could do something besides sit at home.

So, here I am, chronicling my days of becoming a modern day wetnurse. I will be pumping, nursing, herbalizing, drinking (nasty) tea, and everything I can think of to over supply and produce enough milk for two babies. I want it so that little boy never has to drink another drop of formula again. He doesn't need it if I can supply real, genuine mama milk for him.