MSE Parents Club Part 3

Savvy_Sue

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I always right click on the quote button to open posts I want to reply to in a new tab. That's why I can dredge things back from ages ago ... and the discussion's often moved on! :rotfl:

OK, scrub that, because ...

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And I've found the multiquote button but haven't worked out how it works yet!

I have now found out how it works, thanks to this post.

So if I can just retain that information until the morning, I shall in future be hitting the multiquote button on all the posts I want to reply to, rather than opening multiple quotes.

Only problem is, I sometimes have multiple threads open, so if you see me talking gibberish (more than usual that is!) you'll know why! :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Only problem is, I sometimes have multiple threads open, so if you see me talking gibberish (more than usual that is!) you'll know why! :rotfl:

Nope, it's OK, multiquote must have been designed by a woman, because it only picks up quotes from the thread you're posting a reply to, not any other threads you might randomly have used it in. So I shouldn't be talking gibberish more than usual.

Elle, will be thinking of you and Rhys. Try and get some sleep now!

elle_gee

Sorry, I should say, Rhys himself - apart from the sickiness - is doing really well. The doctors are really impressed with him and in the last two days I've lost count of how many people have told me they are amazed with how far he's come.

Current issue is that he's not gaining much weight. They were going to get the dietician down to have a look at things tomorrow but today they've established he has an underactive thyroid (like me) which is probably what's inhibiting his growth. New meds from tomorrow morning which should hopefully get things sorted. Meds only come as tablets, not liquids, which will be fun with a 4.5wk old prem baby!

Have got some new pics of him on the camera - no swelling now and looking so much more baby-like - so will put them on Facebook tomorrow and post the link

feelinggood_2

elle_gee wrote: »

Krystal, any tips on increasing milk supply when skin-to-skin is not an option? Have to admit I'm near breaking point now.. God help my GP when I see him tomorrow - if he won't prescribe me something I might just throttle him

A few things that helped me:

When you can't double pump, do nipple stimulation on the other side - this made a huge difference to me when single pumping. I felt like a right idiot sat in the living room, pump on one boob, and twiddling the other nipple. The things we do for these babies!

Massaging before and during pumping, and breast compression.

The main thing is to pump, pump, pump and pump again. I found that I could maintain my supply with 8 or 9 pumps a day, but if I squeezed in 11 or 12, I noticed an increase in a couple of days.

How long do you pump for? 20 minutes each side, and for 5 minutes past when the milk stops should signal your body to make more.

If you can't manage to do a full expression everytime, still do a little one every now and then. More short ones are better than less long ones, but try and completely empty the breasts whenever you can.

Nightime sessions are very good for stimulation, I found I could boost my supply well by pumping at midnight, 2am and 5am. Hard work though! Don't ever skip a nighttime one if you can help it.

When pumping, how many let downs do you get? When the milk stops flowing, if I pump rapidly again, I can usually trigger a second and possibly even third let-down.

Do you have a picture of the baby with you while expressing? A video is great, or a recording of him crying or fussing, or something that smells like him can help.

I can't remember, did you get a prescription for domperidone? Have you asked Rhys's nurses if you are okay to take fenugreek? Oats help too, I eat lots of flapjacks!

When you've finished pumping, do a bit of hand expression.

How much are you getting total per day, and how much is Rhys having?

feelinggood_2

angela6834 wrote: »

Thanks...is that milk supply over a full day....not sure over a day how much ive had but that would also be as well a feeding her too x

Plenty of dirty/ wet nappies, so no problem there x

500ml (and then up to 1000ml) was total output per day, with no direct feeding.

I'd get about 200-300ml in the night time expression, 150ml in the first two expressions, then 40ml-100ml per expression after that, gradually decreasing throughout the day.

Krystaltips

elle_gee wrote: »

Krystal, any tips on increasing milk supply when skin-to-skin is not an option? Have to admit I'm near breaking point now.. God help my GP when I see him tomorrow - if he won't prescribe me something I might just throttle him

I'm drinking as much as I can, eating what I can force myself (but never have had the biggest of appetites, other than when pregnant), surrounding myself with pics of Rhys and his blankets, using a hospital-grade double pump and taking fenugreek but it's just not happening. He's on 25ml every two hours which I'm only just keeping up with

We can only do limited skin-to-skin due to it tiring Rhys too much. He's also not tolerating the larger feeds (was 14ml hourly until Sunday) too well and is being sick (waste of milk!) so we can't be picking him up too much as it unsettles his tummy.

I wouldn't normally have a problem with switching to formula, but Rhys had near total kidney failure and I've been told "putting him on formula would be the very worst thing we could do right now"... which, as you can guess, did wonders for how I'm feeling!

feelinggood wrote: »

A few things that helped me:

When you can't double pump, do nipple stimulation on the other side - this made a huge difference to me when single pumping. I felt like a right idiot sat in the living room, pump on one boob, and twiddling the other nipple. The things we do for these babies!

Massaging before and during pumping, and breast compression.

The main thing is to pump, pump, pump and pump again. I found that I could maintain my supply with 8 or 9 pumps a day, but if I squeezed in 11 or 12, I noticed an increase in a couple of days.

How long do you pump for? 20 minutes each side, and for 5 minutes past when the milk stops should signal your body to make more.

If you can't manage to do a full expression everytime, still do a little one every now and then. More short ones are better than less long ones, but try and completely empty the breasts whenever you can.

Nightime sessions are very good for stimulation, I found I could boost my supply well by pumping at midnight, 2am and 5am. Hard work though! Don't ever skip a nighttime one if you can help it.

When pumping, how many let downs do you get? When the milk stops flowing, if I pump rapidly again, I can usually trigger a second and possibly even third let-down.

Do you have a picture of the baby with you while expressing? A video is great, or a recording of him crying or fussing, or something that smells like him can help.

I can't remember, did you get a prescription for domperidone? Have you asked Rhys's nurses if you are okay to take fenugreek? Oats help too, I eat lots of flapjacks!

When you've finished pumping, do a bit of hand expression.

How much are you getting total per day, and how much is Rhys having?

Hmm... I wrote a load of stuff here, went to find a link and when I came back it had gone... Anyway, gist of it was...

Some fantastic tips here from Feelie, your body needs cues to increase milk supply... Usually these are feeding cues from putting baby to the breast but where this isn't possible, nipple stimulation, increased pumping frequency and sight/sound/smell of your baby are all cues... I know there are 3 other babies in with Rhys so not much privacy, but is there any way you can maybe turn a chair away so you can express while he's near you?

Here is the Breastfeeding Networks information on galatagogues... It might be worth printing off and taking to the Dr when you ask for something to help...

Krystaltips

DMBW, I use little lambs... I also have 1 pop in and 1 onelife that I got as freebies.. I think the pop in is good... Not so keen on the onelife...

MFD, good luck for today! I'll be doing the race for life next year with my Aunt, she's halfway through Chemo for breast cancer (Having session number 4 today actually) So we've agreed we'll do it together once we're both up to it...

I think something I eat is upsetting Caitlyn... She wakes up in ever such a good mood, then by mid afternoon she's really miserable and screaming... Until she fills her nappy, then she relaxes... Then it all starts again for most of the evening... Yesterday her afternoon and evening nappies were really dark green and now they're back to yellow again... I know she's getting a good amount of milk and they're not frothy so it's not that... Might give my tutor a call later and talk it through with her... I don't want to be giving my poor girl tummy ache!

Fritha_2

Elle, is there a milk bank anywhere near you? If you chat with the nurses about how to go about getting Rhys milk from there if you just can't get enough out that might help you to relax a bit which in turn may help you get more out?

Fritha_2

Krystaltips wrote: »

Yesterday her afternoon and evening nappies were really dark green and now they're back to yellow again...

Could it be a tummy upset? My hv said dark green poo can indicate that

elle_gee

Thankyou both Answers below..

feelinggood wrote: »

When you can't double pump, do nipple stimulation on the other side
Will give that a try next time

Massaging before and during pumping, and breast compression.
Yup, do that

The main thing is to pump, pump, pump and pump again. I found that I could maintain my supply with 8 or 9 pumps a day, but if I squeezed in 11 or 12, I noticed an increase in a couple of days.
Think I did 8 yesterday

How long do you pump for? 20 minutes each side, and for 5 minutes past when the milk stops should signal your body to make more.
Less than that.. I was told to do it until the milk stops which can take about 20 min in total

If you can't manage to do a full expression everytime, still do a little one every now and then. More short ones are better than less long ones, but try and completely empty the breasts whenever you can.
I think I am completely emptying each time

Nightime sessions are very good for stimulation, I found I could boost my supply well by pumping at midnight, 2am and 5am. Hard work though! Don't ever skip a nighttime one if you can help it.
Have done 1am, 4am and 7am for the last couple of nights

When pumping, how many let downs do you get? When the milk stops flowing, if I pump rapidly again, I can usually trigger a second and possibly even third let-down.
Just one, hadn't thought of switching back to the rapid pumping again tbh

Do you have a picture of the baby with you while expressing? A video is great, or a recording of him crying or fussing, or something that smells like him can help.
Had all the pics of him playing as a slideshow on the laptop plus his blanket

I can't remember, did you get a prescription for domperidone? Have you asked Rhys's nurses if you are okay to take fenugreek? Oats help too, I eat lots of flapjacks!
Nope, domperidone is what I want from the doc this morning - funnily enough, Rhys is already on it for his sickness too, has been for weeks now. Midwives and nurses have both said fenugreek is okay. Need to stock up on flapjack then!

When you've finished pumping, do a bit of hand expression.
Will try it but when I have in the past I get nothing extra

How much are you getting total per day, and how much is Rhys having?
Rhys needs 300ml a day (25ml every two hours) and I'm getting about that but not much more.. probably 30-40ml every 2-3 hours. Recently he's not had any formula top-ups but it's come close to it a few times - had a few about two weeks ago when I was having issues. His 9am feed is in the fridge, but I have to do the 11am one before I go out at 10am (for the docs app) and will have to be back here again around 12 so I've got time to pump the 1pm.. oh gee the fun never ends! Obv the constantly chasing my tail isn't doing anything for my stress levels either..

Krystaltips wrote: »

I know there are 3 other babies in with Rhys so not much privacy, but is there any way you can maybe turn a chair away so you can express while he's near you?
Not really an option with the layout of the room but I will ask tonight when it's quiet again - the other parents don't visit late at night

Fingers crossed for a nice doctor.. I forgot to ask which one I'm seeing when I booked the app last week