My Breastfeeding Journey

Several of you have asked about my personal issues with breastfeeding as well as the goat milk formula that I use for my babies. Instead of emailing everyone individually, I thought I would just do a post about it.

Back three years ago when I was pregnant with my first baby, Lily, I read all the books I could about labor, delivery, unmedicated births, and of course breastfeeding. I fully believed that I would breastfeed my new baby, and never really gave a second thought to having issues with it. 

When Lily was born, she had some trouble latching and sucking. My midwife helped and encouraged me and my sister came over several times in the first week to help. I was drinking tons of water and mother's milk tea and taking handfuls of fenugreek. Lily was a happy baby and gained almost back up to her birth weight. I had a little milk come in, but I never felt a let down.

Around the second week, I started feeling like Lily wasn't getting enough to eat. I voiced my concerns to several people, and everyone assured me that she would let me know if she was hungry. I kept on working at it. I began noticing that Lily didn't seem to be growing, in fact, she looked like she was losing weight.

This poor sleep-deprived, brand new mom, was an emotional wreck. I went to see a lactation consultant. When she weighed Lily, she was barely 5lbs (she was 6lbs 4oz at birth). I knew something was terribly wrong. The lady had me nurse Lily and then she weighed her again. There was no change in her weight. We rented an electric pump and a baby scale. The consultant told me to pump as much as possible, supplement through a syringe, and make sure Lily gained 1oz each day.

When I pumped, I got less than an ounce, but still I kept on pumping. That did more damage than good.  I still tried nursing Lily before pumping and before supplementing, but she just wasn't interested...there was nothing there. We started supplementing goat's milk in the syringe. After about a week of excruciating pumping with only a few drips, I stopped. We started Lily on bottles full time around 3-4 weeks. 

It was hard for me. I felt like a huge failure. Never did I expect that I would have any trouble producing milk. After awhile I was able to work through it and truly accept that it was ok, that I was not a failure because I couldn't nurse my baby girl, that this was part of God's plan.

When Levi was born, I was determined to try breastfeeding him, but I was also determined to not have the same experience I'd been through with Lily. Even with Levi's cleft lip and abnormal palate, he was able to latch on and nurse well. I did all the same things I'd done with Lily to help produce milk...but the same thing happened. I had some milk come in, but then it was gone, just that fast. 

Yes, it was hard not to feel like a failure again (I think a lot of that had to do with postpartum hormones), but I really was ok with putting Levi on bottles around 2 weeks. 

In the weeks leading up to Asher's birth, I started making Lactation Cookies to try to give my body a head start. I also ordered MotherLove More Milk Blend to have on hand to take right after Asher's birth. I was really hopeful that I would be able to produce enough. Immediately after Asher was born, I took the More Milk Blend, Fenugreek capsules, and drank cups of mother's milk tea. Asher was my best nurser. Everything seemed to be going really well for a couple weeks, then he was getting fussy, and I felt like I didn't have enough. I would nurse him as much as he would and then give him a bottle of pumped breast milk from a dear friend. Around 3 weeks, he was fully on bottles of breast milk and goat's milk. 

I didn't struggle too much with feelings of inadequacy this time around. I'm really thankful for that. God has used this trial for good to help me trust Him more, and realize even more that He is in control of everything in my life.

From what I've read and heard from friends, I believe that my food allergies play a big role in the lack of milk production. 

With each child I've learned more about what to put in the goat's milk to help them get the best nutrients. This is the basic recipe I've been using for Asher - 

2 cups raw goat or cow's milk

2 cups filtered water

2 capsules acidophilus 

2 drops 1000iu vitamin D

1/2 tsp. melted coconut oil

1/2 tsp. cod liver oil

5 drops liquid Folic Acid & B12 

3 T. prune juice (my babies have always gotten constipated on goat's milk)

2 drops of an iron supplement

If you have any questions for more specific info, please email me!