Monday, August 10, 2009

monday morning

If its not your thing, you can go ahead and ignore this one in which I bitch about lack of sleep and breastmilk, carry on.

I went to bed last night at 9pm and still only managed to get 6 hours of sleep...in two hour increments. How is that even possible? Well kids, it first involves going on vacation and giving up your 1am pumping for breastmilk for a week because you ARE ON VACATION, by god, and then taking some anti-nausea medication that further affects your output, a strong desire to just quit pumping for breastmilk entirely for crissakes because it really really sucks (pun sorta intended..heh) You never really produced that much anyway, right...right?? then a complete reversal of that idea based on guilt (if el nino gets an ear infection, it's gonna be ALL YOUR FAULT and you are a terrible mother), which then requires you to drink 500 oz of water a day and pump every three hours trying to get your milk back up. And by "back up" I mean, up to the 15 oz a day mark, which any successful breastpumping mom will tell you is a MINISCULE amount, barely sufficient to pour as creamer in your coffee. I should stop here and tell you that if you are one of those people who have no trouble at all with breastfeeding and produce 15 oz of milk when you accidentally sneeze, I don't hate you. Ok, maybe I dislike you a little at 2am, but it's fleeting. Good for you. But please don't mention it to me at the moment because I AM BITTER. Anyway, so the milk is coming back little by little, but it's slow going and I have to get up in the middle of the night to pump again. Which would be fine if the behbeh would, perhaps, not wake up at 4am and do the giggle thing which means that a)its too cute to ignore and b) you are SO not getting to go back to bed.

God, I need a nap.

8 comments:

Suzy said...

Ugh. You poor thing! Sleep deprivation is the worst.

Maybe TMI, but mine started slacking recently too, so I started taking the herbs in capsule form. *Much* easier and *much* more effective than drinking the tea. Let me know if you need the info on that- or you may already have them, I dunno.

Allison said...

No, I was in the same boat as you. I NEVER had enough milk. And while I don't think formula is evil, I have enough guilt and regret that I stopped at 4 1/2 months that I encourage you to keep pumping if you can. As stressful as it was for me to do it, it was more stressful in a way to quit.

Allison said...

@Suzy: I heard that about the capsules too! I also recommend eating like a horse, and apparently eating oatmeal is supposed to help? I never tried it but a hardcore nursing mama friend swears by it. Oatmeal for breakfast!

Stinkydog said...

I take the fenugreek 3x a day. I used to take the blessed thistle stuff, but didn't see much of a difference. I was also on prescription reglan for 2 weeks, but the fenugreek is more effective, I think. reglan kinda sux. Is there anything else?

Allison said...

I'll check in with my hardcore friend and another more moderately-minded herby friend. In the meantime, you can always cut out all dehydrating beverages (i.e., alcohol and caffeine) while eating farmhand-size meals and drinking your weight in water.

Steph said...

I made it to 9 months, but just barely and with lots of formula. Believe it or not, try beer. Actually, brewer's yeast. Drink a Guinness every night, or get a supplement at Whole Foods. I second the oatmeal. I'm not sure why, but it helps.

Finally, don't stress about it. Do what you can and don't feel guilty. A happy and relaxed mom is better for Hopper than nursing for an extra few weeks or months.

Juliet said...

I started running low on breast milk when Ryan was 7 months, and ran completely dry when he was 9 months old. KILLED me, because I loved that time with him...just me and my little man, against the world. I loved the way he looked up at me when he was nursing, and I loved his little hand, clutching my skin.

*snork* *snot* *sniffle*

But they do survive, and so do you, I promise. Ryan just turned 8! lol

Older not wiser said...

Your friend Steph sounds very smart esp the last part