RE-LACTATION

I was that mama who knew she wanted to breastfeed her child. I was that mama who knew nothing would go wrong. I was that mama who was always reading books, articles about breastfeeding. And who stocked up on A TON of breastfeeding supplies. I KNEW I was MEANT to breastfeed. And that is what I wanted.

And I did breastfeed Laila...for approximately two weeks...

She did wonderful in the hospital and I absolutely loved it. I loved the bonding, the simplicity of it, I enjoyed giving my daughter the best nutrients possible.

But once we returned home, things started to go down hill. She started rejecting my left breast. OK, no big deal. I just would feed her from my right and pump the left every.single.time she ate. Not a problem.

But then she started rejecting my right breast shortly after. She would latch, eat, unlatch, scream. And it was a repetitive thing.

I was tired of constantly washing pump parts, feeling overwhelmed...so I stopped breastfeeding my daughter. I didn't seek help with a Lactation Consultant when I should have.

In the beginning, I didn't mind giving my daughter formula because formula these days are top notch. But after time, I hated it. I hated myself for giving up so easily and not fighting for what I LOVED and WANTED to do in the beginning. I felt...horrible.

I never really knew about re-lactating...or that it was possible. And I didn't know about it until I saw a Re-Lactation Weekly Check-in on the bump for ladies who were re-lactating. That's when I decided I definitely wanted to do this and give it my all.

The ladies were a huge support and gave me confidence. Not to mention, Justin was totally down for me starting this adventure, which made everything much more easy.

I started pumping every two hours, except at night. I also started taking Fenugreek three pills, three x a day. But that didn't help, I was getting BARELY half an ounce. I was devastated and thought I wouldn't be able to fulfill my wish.

Until I heard all these ladies talk about Domperidone. How much it helped saved their supply. I decided to order it myself through this website. It takes about two weeks to arrive and I was counting down the days until I received my first shipment of two hundred pills.

Once I received the pillls, I started taking three pills three x a day as well as my Fenugreek dose and pumping every two hours. It took about a week before I started to notice there was an increase in my output. I was thrilled, ecstatic, jumping with joy. I was happy!

We started giving Laila one breast milk bottle a day, because that was really all I produced. Once I started to produce more, we started giving her more breast milk and cutting out the formula.

After a few months, my supply came back FULL FORCE, letting me pump thirty, sometimes fourty ounces!!!!

Over time, Laila has almost completely off of formula. The only formula bottle she received was the one in the middle of the night and by June 14, 2011, she had been off of formula for over a month and a half. She became a strictly breast milk and baby food baby.

I was never able to get Laila no latch on and nurse from me, which was something I longed for because I missed feeling that bond but I'm learned to be very proud of myself for re-lactating.

I pumped till Laila was 10 months old. By that time, we had bought a house and I had a hard time finding the time to pump. I threw the decision of quitting back in forth in my head because I wasn't ready to stop, my initial goal was to quit once she was one and able to have cow milk.

In the end, I am so proud that I was able to pump for so long. There were times that I wanted to stop, cry and scream. I pumped at work, in the car, random places just because I needed too.

I don't regret my re-lactating adventure at all.

Helpful sites for Re-Lactating Mama's

Domperidone - Where to buy
Kelly Mom - She has a ton of information on Re-Lactating and a ton of breastfeeding info in general
Our Journey - this mama has been a HUGE help to me and she has had an amazing success with re-lactating.
Thebump - Breastfeeding Board - they use to do a check in for all the re-lactating mama's but I haven't seen it in a while. Either way, the board is VERY helpful!