The one thing I knew I wanted to do after having our baby was breastfeed him. I had done so much research on the benefits of nursing and how to get my baby to latch and thought my milk supply would just come naturally. I ate pretty healthy and knew the science behind getting your body to produce more milk. I thought that as long as I got Baby Lucas to latch, and as long as I tolerated the pain ( it freaking hurt like a b**** almost as bad as labor, okay maybe not that bad lol) I would be fine. So what happened…?
Baby Lucas was born into our world and showed us what true happiness was. We did skin to skin, daddy did skin to skin and then I tried to latch him ( I am not sure if it was in this order but you get it) and he would not latch. I tried one breast then the next and nothing happened. Just cries from him, frustration coming from daddy, and me thinking I wasn’t doing it right. Then the nurses came in!! Yay, they were ao helpful. When the first nurse walked in to help me, I was like OMG, thank God you are here. What am I doing wrong that I can’t get him to latch? She just made it look so easy. I could always do it when they were in the room watching me but as soon as they left, I struggled! I wanted to take one of them home with me! Turns out, practice makes perfect.
So I took Lucas home with me and everything was going well. I made sure I ate a healthy diet while consuming foods to help me produce more breast milk. Here is a helpful article I read that has a list of foods that could help you increase your milk supply such as, brown rice, asparagus, carrots, nuts, and sweet potatoes. This article also lists foods to avoid!
The first two weeks after Lucas was born my supply was okay. Lucas was on track with his weight gain so I knew that even though I felt like he wasn’t getting enough, he was. But then all of sudden I stopped producing milk. I am not sure what happened. He would cry and cry after a few minutes of sucking, nothing would come out so I had to supplement. That night I took out the pump and started pumping away. I hardly pumped any milk. I had to power pump just to get 3 ounces of milk. Power pumping is when you trick your body into producing more milk by pumping to empty your breasts. This replicates what babies do when they “cluster feed” which is when baby is on and off the breast often to signal to your body to produce more milk. Power pumping helped, but it was a lot of work and very time consuming. I pretty much did this for the next two months but it was so worth it for me!
So how exactly do you power pump? They say the best time to pump is in the morning (because that’s when supply is at is highest). After I would nurse Lucas in the morning, I would wait 40 minutes and then start pumping. I would then:
- Pump for 20 minutes, rest for 10 minutes
- Pump for 10 minutes, rest for 10 minutes
- Pump 10 min on one breast then 10 on the other, then 5 min on one and 5 on the other
- I would power pump about 2-3 times a day!
- NOTE: Don’t stop pumping. I made that mistake early on. I would pump but nothing would come out. I thought something was wrong with my pump because I would literally pump maybe 2 ounces total in one session of power pumping. :( Eventually your body catches up and starts producing what you need, just be patient, think happy thoughts, look at that baby and smile!
Power pumping wasn’t the only thing that helped. I pretty much read/researched as much as I could and drank and ate whatever I needed to continue to breastfeed. I would pray for god to give the strength and whatever else I needed to make it to three months. Then three months would turn into five months, then six months…..and so on. Being consistent and determined is what kept me going amd kept my body producing. Here is what a typical day to produce more LECHE looked like for me:
7:30 a.m. Morning- I would have oats for breakfast. I did this for 6 months straight, never missing a single day. It gets kinda tiring but I would change it up. Sometimes, I would have regular oatmeal other days I would have overnight oats, or an oatmeal shake.
10:30- Snack- I would either make myself oatmeal snack bites or have a lactation snack cookie such as Milkmakers Lactation cookie oatmeal chocolate chip or Milkin’ Cookies.
1:30- Lunch
3:30- Snack: I would eat some nuts and carrots and also drink some UpSpring Milkflow Fenugreek Thistle.
6:30-Dinner
9:00-Carrot Smoothie!
This is pretty much the routine I followed. Of everything I tried, I noticed drinking the carrot smoothie increased my milk supply the most.
Once I went back to work, my milk supply decreased again . Even though I might not have felt so stressed my body couldn’t lie to me. Stress makes a huge impact on your milk supply.
So what is this carrot smoothie? Before I share the recipe, let me start by acknowledging that I did not create this miracle blend. A friend of mine was so gracious enough to share and I will forever be thankful for that. I did add a twist though.
~~~~Here is what you need~~~~
- 4 Carrots
- 3 Cinnamon Sticks or 2 table spoons of cinnamon powder
- 1 cup of milk or almond milk
- Water
- Pot
- Blender
~~~~Here is what you do~~~~
- Take the 4 carrots and place them in the pot with water. There is no need to peel them. Just wash them and cut them into four pieces and cut the stump off. Bring them to a boil.
- Once the carrots are nice and soft, drain the carrots.
- Grab the blender and blend the carrots with the milk until they are nice and smooth.
- Then place the blended carrots in a pot and let them simmer for about 15 min with the cinnamon. Cinnamon is helps produce more milk!
- And vuala!I would place them in jars to take to go. This would be enough for about 3-4 servings. I would drink this cold!! I would double this recipe and just place the jars in the refrigerator ready to go.
Like I said, after I went back to work, my supply diminished. I couldn’t believe it. But consistency is the key. Just keep doing what your doing and trick your body. Do not give up. I know it is hard and very time consuming. Especially when you have a newborn to take care of. But I knew I really wanted to breast feed him. He is now going on 14 months old and I still can’t believe that after all that struggle I am still nursing him, mainly at night and for his afternoon nap. For the first 11 months, I never knew how it felt to leak or have engorged breast. It wasn’t until recently and as painful and uncomfortable as it can feel, it kinda brings a smile to my face!
People have asked me when I am going to stop nursing. But honestly, I really don’t know. I mean, I use to say a year, now I say 15 months but I am not sure. I will continue to nurse him until I feel it is right to stop. With all the moving we have been doing in the last 4 months, first to my moms and now to my in-laws; he has slept in three different rooms, plus the teething, my boobs are the only constant he has had. LOL. I have changed his routine multiple times, and right now I don’t want to change his bedtime routine. So we will see. All I can say, I am blessed to be able to continue to nurse him. I hope you find some of these tips helpful!
-Happily breastfeeding mama!
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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