Breastfeeding is super difficult for a lot of reasons. But for every reason that it’s so difficult there are five reasons for why it’s so incredible. I’ve been working hard to increase my milk supply so that I can nurse my daughter and then try to pump to build up a supply in the freezer for when I go back to working. My fiance’s cousin introduced me to this amazing invention called a Haakaa. This is a silicone breast pump that suctions to your opposite breast while nursing, to catch the milk that you leak. I use this mostly every time I feed Ivy and I usually catch between half an ounce to one ounce, and I’ve even gotten up to two ounces. I got mine off Amazon for only $12.99, and I’ll put the link to this at the end of my post.
Let me just tell you, WATER IS KEY. I used to think if I drank a good amount of fluid throughout the day I would be good to go. I was wrong. You need to drink A LOT of water through the day. I try to drink an 8 ounce glass of water every time I nurse or pump, and I try to end my day with my big hospital mug full of ice water. When Ivy wakes up during the night to eat, I try to drink some more of that water to keep up.
It’s also super important to take in enough calories. Breastfeeding women should take in at least 1800 calories a day. If you are more active you should take in even more than that. Breastfeeding burns 500 calories a day, so it’s really important that you eat enough. This doesn’t mean you should have ice cream for all your meals, and chips for dessert. Though you need to take in more calories it’s, they should be healthy calories. Eating a diet high in protein, healthy fats and healthy carbohydrates is a good way to get in enough calories while remaining healthy.
I strongly recommend trying Mother’s Milk Tea, if you like hot tea. I make mine with lemon and honey, and I think it tastes really good. Don’t let the initial smell turn you off, I promise it’s tasty! After drinking the tea I noticed that I produced double when pumping, compared to before trying the tea.
Lastly, there are different snacks you can bake with ingredients like brewers yeast, and flax seed that are great at helping to increase production. I found a good recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lactation Muffins; you can find the recipe at the end of this post. The muffins were not super flavorful, but did not taste bad at all. After eating my first muffin I noticed that I became engorged much sooner than I normally had. I have a pinterest board where I’ve saved a bunch of different recipes I will be trying; I will also have that link at the end of this post.
Like I stated at the beginning of this post, breastfeeding is hard. Our littles need us to be there as soon as they are hungry, and we must drop everything for them. While we aren’t nursing or pumping we are trying to make sure that we produce enough milk for them. It’s a lot of work but it’s so incredibly worth it. The bond I have with my children because I nursed them is something I will cherish forever, and the nutrition and antibodies they get from my milk have no comparison.
Pumpkin Spice Lactation Muffins: https://loveourlittles.com/pumpkin-spice-lactation-muffins/
My Breastfeeding Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/betsylynn94/breastfeeding/
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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