Wow...weight loss and breast feeding

[ddarling]

I recently gave birth, but due to compications have been unable to exclusively breastfeed, so am supp... my daughter with formula. I have already lost over 28 lbs in 3 weeks, and am eating like crazy to keep up the nutrients for the baby. Has anyone else had issues breastfeeding exclusively? or should I plan on continuing the supp?

[AmandaLeigh]

I was not able to breastfeed exclusively. I tried for 2-3 weeks, but when my daughter fell off the growth charts, her pediatrician said supplementing with formula was medically necessary for us. He said that she had failure to thrive. I was absolutely devastated. I was the one that felt like a failure!

We began by using an SNS system, and I met with several lactation consultants...but sadly I was not able to ever produce enough breast milk for her to breastfeed exclusively.

I ate everything I could, I took all kinds of special supplements touted to enhance breast milk production, etc. I had her attached 24/7...I would pump 10x per day, no joke. It literally took everything out of me.

So by the time she was 8-10 weeks old, we were using more & more formula (and also started using bottles)...and by the time she was 3 months old, breastfeeding was just a morning & night "comfort" thing for us...and by the time she was 4 months old, she was exclusively formula-fed.

What does your pediatrician say? How is your baby's growth doing? Is she wetting & pooping several diapers per day? Have you met with a lactation consultant?

We have a very good one that I met with at our local children's hospital...she actually knew EXACTLY what type of WLS I had, and in fact had done a presentation on obesity & weight-loss surgery pertaining to breastfeeding! She showed me the slideshow she created, and yup! The DS was on there! She actually said that a big issue for me (and my low milk production) was the fact that I was obese prior to adolescence... don't know why or how this effects the amount of breast milk one is able to produce... but couple that with the fact that my DS surgery causes adequate nutrients to not be absorbed equaled chronic low milk production for me. And my daughter had a weak/ineffective suck, and also she was born "tongue-tied"... that was not corrected until she was 4 weeks old. All of those are contributing factors to difficulty exclusively breastfeeding.

BTW, once I stopped breastfeeding, my appetite went back down to normal levels... thankfully! And also, once I stopped, those last 5-10 extra pounds I had fell off. I am now a few pounds lighter than I was pre-pregnancy.

Breastfeeding was an emotional thing for me, I had such a hard time with myself for not being able to do it. I hope you find some help & encouragement. But yes by all means, continue supplementing with formula if your baby needs it!

[DS2000]

Originally Posted by ddarling

I recently gave birth, but due to compications have been unable to exclusively breastfeed, so am supp... my daughter with formula. I have already lost over 28 lbs in 3 weeks, and am eating like crazy to keep up the nutrients for the baby. Has anyone else had issues breastfeeding exclusively? or should I plan on continuing the supp?

First and foremost your baby has to thrive and gain weight appropriately. If that means supplementing with forumula, then of course that's what you should do.

Like Amanda, breastfeeding did not go well for me. I had breast surgery (plastics) and like for many people, my ducts did not reconnect completely. I also tried everything...My baby is 4.5 months old and at this point is 100% formula fed. He is healthy and happy and big and gaining and growing.

[GeekCachet]

I was 153 when I got pregnant. I was 165 at 8.5 months, 170 the day of my csection. I was 150 less than a month after birth and 145 this weekend. Strangely, still 1 waist size bigger. Oh well.

Matty was 7 lbs at birth. 10 days later he was little over 5 lbs. I tried like hell to bf but could not. At my best, I could pump maybe a total of 10 oz in a day and we mixed it with formula. For 3 months I "supplemented" formula with a 1+ hour nursing session or expressed milk just to give him comfort and what I could get out of them. I too had a breast reduction but I still believe that there was little nutrition in the milk I did have. We gave him the milk either mixed in with formula or through a tiny little tube attached to our finger.

The only supplement that worked for me was Fenugreek. I did see an increase in production while taking it - in triple doses. But the increase was only an increase of an oz or two.

Matty was 95% formula fed from almost the very beginning.

When I realized it just wasn't going to happen, I was very sad. The consultants kept telling me to keep trying, people chimed in and told me to "try harder" whatever the hell that meant. I felt like I'd failed a basic motherhood test and was very sad - for about a week. Then my husband pointed out that we have a very perfect little boy who does not seem cheated by lack of breastfeeding and I got past it. We decided I'd continue trying to give him a session daily in the afternoons for 3 months and then give it up.

Matty is a little over 5 months old and 100% formula, though we are starting brown rice cereal this week. He's a fat little cherub who is rolling over (and over and over), babbles, blows raspberries, loves to look at books, is trying like hell to stand, has no interest in crawling, and either at or beyond all of the developmental milestones. He sleeps 10 hours at night and 2 or 3 decent naps during the day. In short, he doesn't appear to have been adversely affected by my inability to nurse him.

Second DS' question - what does your pediatrician say? Mine was wonderful. She sat me down and told me to stop worrying, that she's beyond pleased with his development and that bottles, while more expensive, are fine for him. I slept like a rock the night after she told me that.

[AmandaLeigh]

Originally Posted by GeekCachet

When I realized it just wasn't going to happen, I was very sad. The consultants kept telling me to keep trying, people chimed in and told me to "try harder" whatever the hell that meant. I felt like I'd failed a basic motherhood test and was very sad

Yup! I felt the exact same way!

Then we realised, like you, that she was thriving! She was doing well... still "bonding" to both mommy & daddy, etc. Me & Hubby's sex life got better, life was less stressful, she started sleeping instead of waking up crying from hunger every 45 minutes... All around it was so much better for us to formula-feed.

My mother-in-law still can't get over it though! lol She thinks I am feeding my daughter "devil's juice"... no joke. Every time we talk, she mentions my failure to breastfeed. It's so annoying (and hurtful).

[GeekCachet]

Originally Posted by AmandaLeigh

My mother-in-law still can't get over it though! lol She thinks I am feeding my daughter "devil's juice"... no joke. Every time we talk, she mentions my failure to breastfeed. It's so annoying (and hurtful).

Just this weekend, I got smacked with this issue again.

But still, it hurt. And annoyed.

I have a positively perfect baby. He's a big fat sausage with a huge easy smile and is almost frighteningly advanced with regards to development. Can feed himself, stands (assisted but once he holds onto something, we can let go for up to a minute), sleeps 10 hours a night, babbles, even says "bub bub" (we call him Bubby) and "ma ma" and "daduh".

So to insinuate all of these evils and then to suggest I'm putting him at further risk for autism (ugh) really got to me hard.

I'm very glad we're moving back to Seattle in a few weeks.

[DS2000]

Originally Posted by AmandaLeigh

My mother-in-law still can't get over it though! lol She thinks I am feeding my daughter "devil's juice"... no joke. Every time we talk, she mentions my failure to breastfeed. It's so annoying (and hurtful).

Amanda, I just saw this. Why do you allow her to speak to you this way?

[JukeboxMoney]

Wow, "devil's juice"? That's beyond rude and hurtful!

When I had my first chid, I tried breastfeeding him for 2-3 weeks before realizing the poor kid was starving! I wasn't producing enough milk to exclusively BF so we gave him formula and I tried pumping to supplement, but the more I pumped, the less came out. I also felt like a failure and only knew of the negative stigma that formula carries so I felt bad at first for having to give it to him. When I had my second child via c-section (firstborn was natural), there was a delay in my milk supply and my daughter was screaming with hunger because she kept feeding with nothing filling her tummy. We tried SNS with little success so she's been 100% formula fed since day 2 or 3. Both of my children (now 2 years old and 4 months old) are developing beautifully so instead of being only "Pro-BF" I'm also "Pro-feed-your-baby"

[AmandaLeigh]

DS,

We haven't spoken recently. Honestly, I never knew what to say to her about it.

My husband told her that her comments were hurtful, and she has since stopped.

But sadly we don't talk to one another. Our relationship is distant and strained.