Breastfeeding Resources

Last week, my pumping production was down by about 3 ounces a day (one feeding’s worth). On three of four days, whoever was caring for Aaron had to use frozen milk to supplement the fresh supply I brought. That was quite worrisome. Four to six weeks ago, I was pumping enough extra to freeze some at the end of the week.

I have no idea really, but I suspect the culprit is an accumulation of stress. My sister has been quite sick for four weeks now, in the hospital this whole time, and while she is expected to recover, it will take months and months to get back to normal. I have been visiting the hospital on my days off, but of course thinking and worrying every day. That on top of normal everyday stresses (Aaron takes a long time to get to bed a few nights; I worry if I’m putting in enough hours at work; I discover some negative trends in the website I’m running) has made life pretty exhausting. This whole motherhood thing that I felt pretty good at juggling is in reality one step away from chaos.

My first thought at improving supply was simply to get through my next day off on Wednesday and take a dose of More Milk Plus. Maybe that would recharge me. But Wednesday was a busy day shuttling between the hospital and Aaron’s 4-month doctor’s visit, where I piled on the worry about possible side effects of the vaccinations. And on Thursday, my supply was still down.

So Thursday night, I made sure to get to bed on time. I let Aaron fall asleep on my lap, and held him for quite a while. But I think the most important thing was on Friday I didn’t continue working during pumping. I had gotten sloppy, overconfident. Despite my own advice, I was usually starting pumping then returning to my email or the spreadsheet I was working on. So Friday, I did all those things that I think are ideal—I looked at photos, read a breastfeeding forum, responded to personal email. And bingo! I got the volume I was accustomed to.