Breastfeeding and the Mini Pill

As soon as my daughter was born my doctor was already talking about birth control options for me. She said it was best to wait at least one year, preferably two years, before I had another child. I had started on birth control many years before I got pregnant. I started having serious side affects, a blood clot scare, a couple of years after I was on the medication and I decided to stop taking it. So when the doctor suggested I get back on the pill I said no. When my daughter was four months old I thought I might be pregnant and I found out that it would be a very risky pregnancy and I would not be able to have a VBAC. When I found out I wasn't pregnant I decided to go ahead and research the Mini Pill. I found out that the Mini Pill is a progesterone only pill. While your breastfeeding your body naturally has high levels of progesterone. Their have also been studies that followed the children that were breastfed into adolescence and no side effects were present. This is why doctors recommend the Mini Pill for breastfeeding mothers. I decided to go ahead and start the medication. A couple of weeks later I noticed my daughter had tiny bumps on her butt. It wasn't a rash, they weren't red and they didn't seem to be bothering her. A couple of days later the bumps spread to her legs and I was really concerned. I called her pediatrician and I told them her symptoms. They informed me that they thought she was having an allergic reaction to the Mini Pill. I stopped taking the medication and within a couple of days all of the tiny bumps were gone. The pediatricians office also informed me that it's possible for your child to have a reaction if your on antibiotics.

Is your baby gaining enough weight?

As a mother of a preemie weight gain was a very important issue to me. If your breastfeeding sometimes its hard to tell if your child is getting enough to eat because you don't know how many ounces they have taken in. I found a great article on baby weight gain by a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This article covers topics such as
How much weight should a baby gain?, How often should a baby eat?, When should you worry about your baby’s weight?, What to do if your baby is gaining too much weight, and What to do if your baby is gaining too little weight. It's important to remember that most babies lose two to three ounces of weight in the first 24 hours. Your newborn is getting enough to eat if she has frequent bowel movements and is content for two to three hours after feeding. Your baby may be hungrier and need to eat more during growth spurts (usually around three, six and nine weeks of age). Babies typically double their birth weight by five months of age and triple their birth weight by 12 months of age. If your baby is not gaining enough, talk to your doctor about ways to increase your milk supply, such as drinking fenugreek tea, or about supplementing with formula.

Breastmilk Storage

You can find a guideline for breastmilk storage at Ameda.com.

Milk should not spoil before the times listed, but the longer milk is stored, the more nutritional value is lost. The living parts of a mother's milk kill bacteria, making it much hardier and longer-lasting.

The guidelines say that freshly pumped milk can be stored without cooling for 10 hours, if your room is 66°F to 72°F. If your room is warmer than this, the guidelines change. In a 79°F room, your milk is good for a shorter time — 4-6 hours. If your milk is kept at 66°F to 72°F for up to 10 hours, you can then put it in the fridge for up to eight days. After eight days in the fridge, the milk can still be frozen. Fresh milk that has been cooled can be added to frozen milk, as long as you add less milk than is already frozen.

Important Tips
* Any clean, sealed container can be used to store milk. But avoid thin bottle liners, which are not intended to be frozen and can split.

* Store your milk in amounts no larger than what your baby might take. This means less waste. It also should help make the milk faster to warm. If your baby wants more, more milk can be added.

* Write the date and time on your milk container with a sticky label or non-toxic marker. Add your baby's name if he is in daycare or in the hospital.

* You can combine milk pumped at different times. If you combine milk from different days, use the date of the oldest milk.

* If your milk is used within eight days, keep it in the fridge. Otherwise, plan to freeze it in the coldest part of the freezer. Avoid the door.

* You can add fresh milk to cooled milk. And you can add fresh milk to frozen milk if it's cooled first and is less than the amount frozen.

* If your baby takes some milk from a bottle and there is milk left, don't save it. His saliva mixes with the milk during feedings, and that affects storage recommendations.

* Your milk is not "homogenized" like the milk in the store. So it may separate into layers. This does not mean it's spoiled. If this happens, just gently swirl it to mix.

Tips to Increase Breast Milk Supply

When I first started breastfeeding I was having trouble producing enough breast milk to keep up with my child's demand. I got some good tips from my lactation consultant that I wanted to share with others.

Try taking Fenugreek, consult your physician first. My lactation consultant instructed me to take 2 pills 3 times a day. It can lower your sugar levels so make sure you take it with food. It can also make your urine and your child's urine smell like maple syrup. This is normal. It can be found at GNC or Sprouts Supermarket. I found that Oregon's Wild Harvest Fenugreek works much better than the Fenugreek found at GNC.

Drink plenty of water, try to drink 8 glasses of water a day. It is very important to stay hydrated because this really does make a difference. Make sure that you are taking in enough calories a day. I know this can be difficult when your dieting but if you dramatically cut your calories then it could affect your milk supply.

Try eating oatmeal. My lactation consultant mentioned that eating oatmeal increases your milk supply. I got this cookie recipe from my support group. Its suppose to increase your breast milk supply.

Chocolate Oatmeal Lactation Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
4 T water
2 T flaxseed meal (no substitutes)
2 Lg eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 C Thick cut oats
1 Bag Chocolate chips
2 T Brewers Yeast or Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Preheat oven at 375.

Mix 2 T of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs.
Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.
Beat until well blended and mixture turns a pale yellow.
Mix dry ingredients, except oats and choc chips.
Add butter mix to dry ingredients.
Stir in the oats and then the choc chips.
Drop on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake 8-12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen

How Breastfed Babies Grow

Important Note: Current growth charts are based on babies that are formula fed and may not reflect a normal growth pattern for fully breastfed babies.

Birth - 2 weeks
Most babies tend to lose 50-10% of their weight during the first 3-4 days after birth. They regain their birth weight within 2-3 weeks.

2 weeks - 4 months
Babies gain about 4-8 ounces a week. This leads to doubling of birth weight by 4-7 months.

4-6 months
Babies gain about 3-5 ounces a week or 1 pound a month.

6-12 months
Babies gain about 1.5 - 3 ounces a week or .5 pounds a month.

Most breastfed babies weight about 2.5 to 3 times their birth weight by their first birthday and have increased their birth length by 50%. Breastfed babies are usually leaner at one year compared to formula fed babies. Some healthy breastfed babies grow slower/faster than these guidelines. If you have concerns about your child's weight gain please contact your pediatrician.

Breast Milk Supply

1. How do I increase breast milk supply?
Try taking Fenugreek, consult your physician first. It can be found at GNC or Sprouts Supermarket
2. Have a breast milk storage question?
Visit Ameda.com, they have lots of great information on breast feeding and breast pumping.
3. Looking for a good video to demonstrate a proper latch?
Latch on video
4. Looking for any easier breastpumping system?
Pumpinpal
5. Looking for a great pumping band?
Pumping Band
6. Looking for a breastfeeding store in Arizona?
Baby, Mother, and More
7. Looking for a great nursing pillow?
My breast friend
8. Looking for a great baby carrier?
Moby Wrap
9. Looking for a great swaddle blanket?
Miracle Blanket

Breastfeeding Woes

I am trying to get my 11 week old daughter to latch on properly but since she has nipple confusion it has been tough. Since she was born at 36 weeks and weighed only 4lbs we had to supplement with formula before my milk came in. The bottle feeding helped her get her weight back on track but it has caused her nipple confusion and has made breastfeeding harder. I am exclusively pumping now and trying to get her to latch on. Everyday we are making progress. It has been hard exclusively pumping but I know its the best thing for her. I am attending a breastfeeding support group and they have lots of great information and tips that have really helped. Also their support has really helped me get through the days when I wanted to give up. So for all those breastfeeding mothers who are having trouble don't give up. You are doing a great thing for your child!