Suddenly disconsolate

[mizarchivist]

No idea what got to me this evening,  but I'm feeling off. 
Some factors might include
Hearing about further bullshit being brought forth in what feels like an almost constant wave from legislator
Hearing about the T moving forward on cuts
More particular to my everyday life: my almost 7 month old is currently eating more in one day than I can produce. Tomorrow there will not be enough. Per asciikitty's suggestion, I made steel cut oatmeal, but if there are any other things that would help, (yes, I'm trying to drink more water) let me know.  Bonus points if ice cream is on that list. 
Clutter. Too much clutter (QE said he'd look into that tomorrow)

But it's going to be another warm day tomorrow. I am looking forward to experiencing that, seeing the flowers pop up a bit more, and sleep cures much. 

Comments

[pisicutsa.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[ayalanya.livejournal.com]

Beer? I found that having one beer per day for a few days running got my supply up pretty quickly.

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention this. A friend of mine was having milk production issues, and her doctor recommended one stout per day. I believe the key is to drink it at least an hour and a half before feeding.

[mizarchivist]

If only I liked dark beer :)

[ayalanya.livejournal.com]

I'll confess, I hadn't known about stouts per se, so I thought any beer would work. I'm fond of light-to-medium beers and ales, personally, so that was my default, and it always worked. Another friend once mentioned it was the hops that did it; if that's true I can't imagine a stout being that much better.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

fenugreek too, but it's a) something you don't have already in the house and b) something you're supposed to take enough of that you smell like maple syrup. and that doesn't sound like a happy thing for you. If it's ok though, I can pick some up for you.

honestly? ice cream probably will help - now's the time when you really are eating for two. And you're both pretty active. Can you add a pumping session at work? Or even at home after he's eaten once or twice on the weekends (around when you might pump when you're at work.) It might not get you much more, but it might a little.

Hmmm. I don't have a lot else. Oh. Beer. is supposed to help. But I bet you can't drink that at work, so nevermind.

I ate oatmeal with breakfast today

[mizarchivist]

I have fenugreek in the spice cabinet. I don't suppose that's what you mean. Smell like maple syrup? Better that than many other things, I suppose.
I can imagine given the amount of fat that leaves my body every day that ice cream has to be a good thing ;)
I already pump 3x at work- and that's pushing it. What I'd like is to have better production during the day. It has been higher than it currently is. I'd like to be more efficient with what I'm doing, if you know what I mean.
The question is: can I find a dark beer I like? :P

Re: I ate oatmeal with breakfast today

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

Fenugreek and oatmeal and I'll look up the recipe to the lactation cookies that the Moms in my internet love and make those.
Ice cream, yes. Because you're producing nearly the whole number of calories that a small but active human eats, as well as doing all your own stuff.
I knew what you meant, actually. And for some reason I thought your were pumping twice at work. 3x seems like you can't easily add a session.
I am willing to help you test dark beers until you find one you like. You know. For science. ;)

[mizarchivist]

SCIENCE!!!

[minkrose]

You might want to pick Andy's brain on dark beers - he knows a lot and has really helped me find some dark stuff I like -- after years of hating all of them! Oatmeal stouts seem to be my favorite, but there are chocolate stouts as well.

ALSO: the Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont Center? Run by women. AWESOME WOMEN. with good taste in beers. You could probably even call them for recommendations. They're a small shop but they know a LOT about beers, even ones they don't carry; i.e. non-craft beers.

[mizarchivist]

Cool- thanks

Re: I ate oatmeal with breakfast today

[drwex]

OK since the beers are covered, I volunteer to help find the appropriate flavors and quantities of ice cream. For SCIENCE!

Re: I ate oatmeal with breakfast today

[mizarchivist]

YES!!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

There's some info here: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbal_galactagogue.html

I'd recommend fenugreek, since it's cheap, easy, and many of my friends have had good luck with it.

Oatmeal and (dark) beer are good, too.

Thanks

[mizarchivist]

oh, oatmeal beer. I could probably do that. I'm really not fond of dark beer as a rule and tend to go for cider over beer.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I don't like dark beer, or most beer, but a couple of months ago I found Rodenbach, a Belgian red ale that I actually liked. It has a bit of a sour cherry flavor to it and isn't super-hoppy and bitter, which is good for me because I'm a supertaster for bitter. Try it...for science!

[mizarchivist]

+1!

Re: Thanks

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Don't drink beer if you don't like it, but fenugreek in capsules should be doable irrespective of flavor. (And I've never understood why people cite smelling like maple syrup as a negative! :) I don't have much faith in any of the teas because the amount one ends up ingesting ends up being so teeny, but if you enjoy tea, it won't hurt.

Tadpole eats a ton these days but he's still nursing a ton, so you never know when/how that balance really starts to tip. Food before one is just for fun and all that -- generally babies need their full complement of milk (or formula) for the whole first year.

In any case, you've been doing an awesome job.

[veek.livejournal.com]

In another time and place, a common recommendation my mom got was lots of tea with milk. I have no first hand knowledge of this. (Given above comments, I'd totally choose beer!)

Additional pumping session(s), for sure.

I'll ask around, too, but is there any way you can come to a breastfeeding session at Cambridge doula house (next door to Cambridge hospital) on a Tuesday or Thursday 10-12? The LCs there are wonderful, and coming even once would almost certainly help.

[mizarchivist]

I'm work's bitch, so pretty unlikely that I can go to the hospital. (Maybe)
Tea with milk sounds nice.

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Make sure he isn't being overfed with the bottle when you are away, which is really easy to do unless the flow on the bottle is super slow. Milk will pool in his mouth, at which point he pretty much as to swallow it. Also, make sure he is being given tiny amounts at a time, so there is never any waste of the milk.

Levels of lactation hormones are highest in the middle of the night and milk flow is going to be way better after he has just nursed, so pumping right after he has nursed at night might be most effective (also most exhausting though). Having him sleep in as close proximity to you as possible at night also helps keep the level of the hormones as high as possible.

Pumping right after he has nursed is going to be most effective in general, but I'm guessing you know that. Keeping the pump set up all evening can make it easier to pump after he nurses, as close to every time you can manage. Generally what a lot of women I know have done is tried to really nurse absolutely as much as possible on the weekend (and pump as much as possible then, but again I assume you already are) because that helps give their supply a boast for pumping at the start of the next week.

The one caution about beer is that alcohol will inhibit let-down a little in most women. This generally irrelevant when you are nursing, as most women's milk lets down really well for their baby anyway. It can sometimes be an issue for women who already are finding it hard to keep a good milk flow with the pump, however.

I know I have at least one full bottle of malunggay (sold as go-lacta at most health food store type places). I may also have some fenugreek left. You are welcome to any of the galactogogues I have.

I assume you also know to avoid anti-gagactogogues. Sage is the worst and the one pretty much everyone knows, but parsley isn't fabulous either. Fennel, mint and rosemary are weaker, but they do have anti-galactogogue properties. Generally the guideline is anything in minimal food quantities is probably ok, but sage is powerful enough that some women find it can cause them problems to eat it at all, particularly if they do so regularly.

Thank you for so many pointers

[mizarchivist]

His bottles are fast feed. I suggested that QE use a slower feed to see if Crime Figher can manage thusly.
CF sleeps near me but rarely in bed with me. He manages to sleep through most of the night these days. A balance between taking advantage of the restful sleep that keeps me sane vs. upping his night milk intake... augh!
Ah, more pumping. As I mentioned above to asciikitty, I'm rather hoping to make my pumping that I'm doing already more productive if I can. My levels dropped off kind of significantly (by maybe 5 oz/day) lately, and I'd like to regain that if I can.
If I pump at home, I need another pump or suck it up and deal with bringing the work one home and back every day (and then hoping like hell I'm not forgetful when I leave in a rush)
I've never heard of gagactogogues or anti ones until you mentioned it. I do take allergy meds, but have been pretty much this whole time. I like breathing, too. However, the rest really aren't on my radar, fwiw.

Re: Thank you for so many pointers

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Yes, breathing is seriously not optional. There may be some choices among asthma medicines, depending on your needs. I can look up whatever you are taking in Hale's Medications and Mother's Milk if you like; he usually lists some alternatives for common medications.

As for pumping at home, I may be able to lend you my pump. (Probably really I can essentially give it to you, as I haven't used it for nearly a year. The only thing is that I would need it back temporarily if I ended up having to be separated from Squiggle for more than a few hours for some reason, which is unlikely but possible if I got jury duty or something.)

There are tricks for helping with letdown while pumping. A few off the top of my head: Smell a shirt or hat recently worn by Crime Fighter, especially if he was wearing it while nursing. (Those baby pheromones can be pretty useful.) Look at a picture of him, especially one of him being extra cute and sleepy and/or nursing. Call and listen to him over the phone.

Make sure he gets all his solids when someone other than you is with him too. The idea is that for now he is exclusively breastfed with you, hence giving you every possible opportunity to nurse him, and then whatever solids he *is* eating will hopefully start to eventually slowly replace the pumped milk it is being challenging to produce. (I suspect at this age it works better in theory than in practice though, as most babies this young don't eat enough in solids to make a difference yet.)

ETA: My pump is a Medela PISA, which is an excellent pump, although not hospital grade. (It's predecessor is the pump with which I was able to establish and maintain my milk supply for Benjamin for two years, although after that I did find I needed a hospital grade rental.) It may well work better than what you have now, which isn't known as all that fabulous a pump. (I haven't used anything but Medela pumps, however, and different ones work better for different women.)

Re: Thank you for so many pointers

[mizarchivist]

I would be very grateful if you were able to donate the pump to the cause.
Regarding getting it back for away-from-squiggle time, of course.

Re: Thank you for so many pointers

[gosling.livejournal.com]

More thoughts:

Can QE bring Crime Fighter to you to nurse, at least some of the time? CF is still at the adorable luggage stage of development, which makes him fairly portable.

Skin contact (and holding him in general) will help with milk supply, so wearing him as much as possible can be useful.

That said, I suspect that close proximity while sleeping is probably helpful even if he isn't in the same bed. If you are close enough for your sleep cycles to match up you are probably close enough for his pheromones to affect you at least somewhat. (This is just a guess though. I'm certainly no expert on the biochemistry of lactation.)

I found the breastfeeding community on lj had lots of useful help. I absolutely credit having sufficient clue to be able to figure out how what needed to happen so Squiggle and I could successfully breastfeed to what I learned there. (I haven't read it for quite a while, but I imagine that it hasn't changed all that much.)

Re: Thank you for so many pointers

[mizarchivist]

About coming in to nurse: short answer: no. :/

[buxom-bey.livejournal.com]

From a different perspective, if you do one feeding a day with baby food, that's a little less milk you'll need. When Roo started she'd get a milk chaser, but now it replaces that one feeding altogether. I actually have some baby food that needs a home; unopened containers of stuff that didn't agree with her. Let me know if you'd like them.

[mizarchivist]

We are working on feeding him. There's been scientific evidence that the food we're offering IS going into his system, not just acting like the world's stickiest facial. However, he is still very much learning on that one.

Sure, I'll take the baby food if you like. We mostly mush up what we're eating. Having some ready-to-go objects like you have would be an interesting science experiment and cut me a break on coming up with something new. Yes, please.

[trouble841.livejournal.com]

There's a tea called Mother's Milk tea, made by Traditional Medicinals. It helps.

[mizarchivist]

Thanks- I'll go to the hippie store soon and pick some up :)

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

Do you want me to make a trip to the hippie store today?

[mizarchivist]

Only if it's convenient. It'll get done in due time, I'm sure. Or add it to the grocery list. I have a feeling it might be at Stop n Shop.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

the amazing lactation cookies require some things also. I might just see if CF and I want to take a nice trip out into the world today.

Or I might make oatmeal cookies without all the things. It kind of depends on how we're doing, CF and I.

[catya.livejournal.com]

Yep, this - definitely helps. also, i did the trick of nursing right before i left for work and then pumping as soon as i got there, which helped.

if you're up for non-scientific ideas, visualize nursing the babe while you're pumping, perhaps with aid of cute baby pictures or smartphone video.

[ETA - also, what are you using for a pump? in retrospect, i wished i had rented a hospital pump, but that was (*gulp*) 12 years ago.]

[mizarchivist]

I have a lansinoh. It sounds like a dying duck. It's not awesome, but renting a hospital grade one is not in my budget.

[catya.livejournal.com]

I'm seeing 5 months for $250 or so - not that i know if that's in your budget or not, just wondering if that's the same numbers you're seeing?

[ayalanya.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I had a lansinoh, can't remember the model, but it actually started being less effective right around the 6-7 month mark. I had oversupply for a while so it wasn't a huge deal, but I acquired a medela pis when I moved here (in exchange for the excess milk - technically a loaner from a mother who later changed her mind and took it back), and it made an incredible difference.

[mizarchivist]

OH. Hm. Noted.

Oh and on the whole non-scientific thing

[drwex]

I know of other moms who carry baby blankets with them and enjoy the scent of the baby while pumping. This seems to put the body in the right frame of mind (pun intended) and a blanket is usually easy to carry back and forth.

Re: Oh and on the whole non-scientific thing

[mizarchivist]

I've been watching youtube vids of Crimefighter, but of course. Today has been a really crap day for supply. Because I'm getting twitchier about it, so of course it dropped. (I'm'a gonna go buy an ice cream bar...)

Re: Oh and on the whole non-scientific thing

[gosling.livejournal.com]

The advice I always got was not to look at the bottles while I was pumping. (Of course I could never *follow* that advice, so I have no idea if it would have worked for me...)

That is a lot.

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

I hope that today is finding you in a better headspace.

I'm sure it would help if the sun came out like it was supposed to.

Take care of you.