I am sad to say that I will not be breastfeeding my baby anymore(maybe only at night). A few months ago I found out the my baby was loosing weight. It was at this point I realized I was not producing enough milk. So I started to take supplements which initially helped but for some reason these past few weeks my production went down to pretty much nothing. Because of Coen's lack of gaining weight my pediatrician has been monitoring him. Well, today I went into to see him and sure enough he hadn't gained much again (Coen also has an ear infection).My Dr. then told me that I need to be giving him more formula because he is not gaining weight. I have struggled with this. I feel so bad that I have to give him a bottle. I know I shouldn't because there is nothing I can do, and I know that there are millions of babies that are feed formula and they are fine. But for some reason I feel guilty about this. My Dr. had to sit me down and tell me that he got breast milk exclusively for six months and that was great but now that I am not producing enough I have to give him formula so he can gain weight. He has but Coen on a very regimented schedule of solid foods alternated with a bottle. I also talked to my Dr. about a medicine that I heard can help milk production and he told me that I can try it but that I would have to pump or feed Coen every two hours and then feed him a bottle too. He then told me that since I already have two other children that it probably would be too much for me. And this is not taking into account that my middle child is a handful. So that option will not work. I will still feed Coen at night just for comfort since he doesn't get much milk anyway. So I bid a sad farewell to breastfeeding and a unwelcome hello to expensive formula! I know great timing, gas prices sky high and now having to buy formula!YIKES!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
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3 comments:
michelle, I'm so sorry. I really do know excatly how you feel. I breastfed Logan for 16 months and Brin for 12 and then I had to stop with Tyler at 3 months because of some meds that I had to take!! It was one of the hardest things that I had to do. The bonding and the wonderful feeling that you get everytime you breastfeed your child, knowing that you are giving them everything they need. I cried and cried, it was so hard. And yes I still feel guilty, and the formula is soooo expensive!! Tyler throws up all of the store brands that are cheaper. So we have to get him the really expensive stuff. It was really hard for tyler too. He stoped sleeping through the night, and it took a month for him to do that again. But there were some good things. when he was waking up in the middle of the night Ben would take him a lot of the time because it was a bottle. If we were traveling I just packed a bottle and gave it to him so we didn't have to stop for me to feed him. So you can look for some positives, but again I know what you're going through and I'm so sorry. Good luck with everything.
You're a great mom, Michelle-don't doubt it for a minute! If you are interested I can send you 7 coupons I have for Similac formula. They are for $5 off a can of formula. Email me if you want them, I'd be happy to share! gerbdonna at gmail dot com.
I understand how you feel. Atleast you got to it as long as you could. I never could breastfeed either of my kids.
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