Monday, January 10, 2011

sickies = no milkies

Good grief! I'm so over this sickness that's been plaguing our household for weeks now! First Manny came down with it a few days before Christmas, then Elijah, then me last week. Praise the Lord Zeke seemed to have gotten the antibodies from my milk so he never really got it. So after 3 solid weeks of some kind of virus/respiratory flu/ cough attacks/ fevers/ body aches/ snot fest/ digestional upset we're finally back to almost normal.

In the course of the illness I had quite a fright. It might have been the dehydration, lack of appetite, or overall rundown-ness I experienced, but I almost completely lost my milk supply. I was totally totally freaking out! I seriously cried for two whole days about it. I knew a mother's health had to do with milk production. But I had no idea it could go away so quickly. When I pumped I discovered I was only making about 1.5 oz. per feeding in stead of his expected 7-8 oz. per feeding! It was awful. Poor Ezekiel would fret and fight during each feeding because he barely got anything. He would end up being hungry afterward so I resorted to using the milk I had stashed in the freezer - which is now depleted.

Desperate, I contacted my local la leche league and was given some advise, such as "power nursing", "cluster nursing", and tips on how to settle a fussy baby and make him latch on longer so as to demand more supply. Good gracious! It's very hard work - this milk making stuff! I will never take it for granted again. I just knew the work would be worth it. I'm not ready to wean my little one yet. Too soon! So after 4 days of struggle and diligence, I am happy to report that he's back to eating normally and having plenty to spare. Huge relief!

And speaking of my sweet Ezekiel. He's really loving the nightly bowl of oatmeal cereal I've been giving him! I have a feeling a few more days of this and he'll be ready to move on to bigger and better things... like mashed avocado.

Oh, and there's the slight matter of him rolling from his back to his tummy this afternoon!! Wooohoooo! It just took the proper motivation, which happened to be one of Elijah's toys just far enough out of reach to make his really work for it. Milestones left and right baby!

1 comment:

Kristen McG said...

so glad your back up and producing- haha. :) But seriously, that's so stressful, and I'm glad the LLL was able to give you helpful tips to turn things around. I'll have to keep that in mind if my body decides to take it's normal dip in another 6 or so months!!(PS- how adorable is Zeke?! So handsome! Happy 6 months!)