ok .... since i commonly ask stupid questions please forgive me ..but this has been on my mind

since i dont know anyone IRL that has breastfed and able to ask ... i turn to you guys

should i be taking something, drinking something or doing something to possibly HELP the chance that i can produce enuff breastmilk, and make breastfeeding more of a garuntee??

i see things about tea or herbs or whatever and that is ALL new to me!! so im curious cuz people are asking what to do to increase ...but do i have to wait to determine if i will have enuff or have any problems ??

i ask also cuz the closest healthfood store to me is about 45mins away .. so if it became a NEED fast to help things get moving ... im wondering if i should almost have something on hand??


ok ill go to my corner now and think of another stupid question to ask in the future LOL

thanks ~ jody

Most women can bf without any problems. I think the figure I've heard is something like 5% are actually unable to bf. Alot of problems can be solved either by a good LC, reading a good book on bf'ing or time as you pull all your knowledge together.

All the supplements to increase supply can work. but there's nothing you need to do while pregnant to increase your supply. The first thing to try to increase supply is taking 24-48 hrs, where you do nothing but eat, nurse the baby, ignore the house, nurse the baby. That's worked for me anytime I've worried about having enough milk.

Drinking water will also help. But I swear every bf'ing mom I ever met is almost always thirsty. I keep my water jug close all the time.

That's not a stupid question at all! :)

In theory, you should not have any supply issues if you breastfeed on demand, that is, every time the baby wants to suckle, be it for hunger, emotional comfort, whatever. The more the baby suckles, the more milk you make.

That said, some (I really think it's less than 5% of women or something, but don't quote me on that!) women have supply issues and need to do *more*. Whether that is drinking Mothers Milk Tea, or taking a prescription (I know some women take Reglan (sp?) for low supply), it's more than just encouraging the baby to nurse more.

I'd say that most likely you'll have no problems, but who knows? If you want, go out and buy some Mothers Milk Tea, some oatmeal (that can help with supply) and whatever else people recommend, but if you nurse on demand, you probably won't have a problem.

Is there a La Leche League near you? Will you/do you have a lactation consultant? Either of those can help you if you have any questions or if you need "in person" support/help/information.

Good luck mama...your little one is coming so soon!

Michelle

thanks helen ;o)

i think i can handle the eating and nursing thing .. i tend to ignore the house as it is most the time LOL so that routine wont hurt me none ;)

I've breastfed 2 babies now. I've never had any problems *knock on wood* never even been sore. drink lots of water. you'll be very thirsty anyway. you'll be fine!! don't think too much about it! it's a natural thing.

oooooh i know hes coming soon lol im thinking how long ive looked at things in the apt that have to be done and im starting to think i CANT let it go no longer ...cuz heck if i do hes going to be here and they wont be done LOL

is there a site to look up LLL?? i live in a dinky hicky town and like i said i dont know anyone IRL that breastfeeds and we dont know anyone but 1 family really so we are kinda 'loners' which i hope to change when this babe comes cuz id love to cordinate some kinda play group since i do try and plan on being a SAHM or figuring out something you all need so i can become a WAHM lol

there is a lactation consultant? at the hospital which ill be birthing at but thats 1hr away

i will be having a woman from the hospital coming to my home i believe 36hrs after we return home ( or something like that ) to check up on me,the baby, answer further questions, help me with breastfeeding if need be .. and just lend me support ... i think that will be nice since i have no family here ( all in mn ) and mikes parents are 4hrs away ... we are literally by ourselves and on our own ...

i love oatmeal and have some here so thats not a prob ;o)
ill have to try and find some MMtea just to have incase ...

but i plan on walking around here practically with my boob fallen out for the babe to take whenever

OH while im thinking about this.... do i have to wear a bra to bed if i breastfeed? i use to wear one when i was younger 24-7 pretty much ...then i tried to sleep with out one and loved it lol so i havent for years ....but is it a must or anything like that?? i will be having a co-sleeper on my side of the bed and a rocking chair in our room for night feedings just wondering if its a must cuz im sure ill be half dead when the feeding calls lol

thanks you guys!

ok maybe i should walk away for awhile so i dont respond to much LOL

i wish i felt 'good' about drinking the town water .. i got sick from it ( it was contaminated with ecoli ) thought i was doing great getting in my gallon a day lol i set a high goal cuz i usually dont reach .25-half gallon if i dont have a nice cold jug of water in the fridge .... i hate the thought of buying fricken water lol ... but i look at city water differently now cuz it left me sitting staring at the bathroom wall wayyyy too often...
now i constantly wonder if its safe .... maybe this should be a different post LOL

i use it to cook in cuz i end up boiling whatever i cook and that was the towns recommendation to do before drinking ( but heck if im waiting for hot water to become ice cold lol ) so i bought a few gallons of water ... this has been 2wks now since it became "safe" but they still really dont know where the contamination came from

the water is cloudy in the pans

is there a home water test kit thats very cheap? so i can check it from time to time ..cuz heck if i wanna deal with that again!!

mike was lucky cuz he dont drink water at home very often ... me i was trying to be good and it got me in trouble LOL

I wore a bra to bed with my middle child. You can get one that is for wearing to bed. I very rarely wear one while nursing this time and he's almost 6 weeks old. Maybe my body is a little more efficient this time around, not really sure.

LA LECHE LEAGUE.

find the nearest group and GO before baby comes :)

Here's the place to find a local group: http://www.lalecheleague.org/WebUS.html

Remember that not all groups are listed, just the ones with web pages that have told the person doing this site. If you can't find one close to you, call one in your state and they can look up groups in their directory.

LLL was a great help for me! I went to my first meeting when dd1 was only 4 days old - yes I was that despirate! I wish I would have gone before she was born though.

I would also recommend attending LLL meetings, if you can. I started when I was 5 mos. pg with my first baby. I am not sure, but I think the LLL website is www.lalecheleague.org

I also wanted to say, please, please do not think that you were asking a "stupid" question. A lot of people on this board can point you in the right direction, if you do end up having trouble with breastfeeding. Although, as the above posters mentioned, in the scheme of things (according to the statistics), you should be just fine! It may take several days in the beginning, for your milk to come in, and that may make you worry, but it's totally normal, and not a lack of supply. Once your milk comes in, you'll know it. ;) I am also an advocate of feeding on demand, and it sounds like you are, too!

Good luck! You'll do great. It's better to ask a question that you may think is silly, than to not ask at all! :thumbsup:

thought i'd share this~

after making some gawd awful decisions and failing to educate myself on bf with accurate info with my first baby-i failed and went to abm almost immediately...

was determined to bf all subsequent babies after that failure, and started attending lll BEFORE i even had a "real" test to confirm my positive pg test stick :)

this was 12.5 yrs ago, and i have lll to thank for changing my mothering, vaidating my instincts, and acknowledging my ability to be the mother i want to be-by supporting me through it.

go to lll!!

if that is the one thing i could convince every pg mama to do, before she's in the midst of a crisis with bf, it'd be to GO AND GO NOW.

thanks mamas

i checked the site and there are 2 but each about 1hr away .... and they both meet in the mornings at 10am ( well 1x a month , that what they mean by 1st... )

just curious how working moms ever make it to meetings if they are all in the mornings ( which all the ones near me where )

ill try to catch the oct one at least.. cuz heck its soo close now im not sure if id make the november one LOL

when you first go do you have to pay the fee for the year?? i just scanned the site briefly cuz im getting tired but ill recheck tomorrow - well i guess later today lol ...if no one responds with the answer and see if i can find the answer

appreciate it ... and thanks again

Of course that is NOT a stupid question! I wouldn't take anything. Just make sure to drink plenty of water. Oatmeal helps too! I eat it normally and I had to stop in the beginning because I was so full!:D Best Wishes Mama!:thumbsup:

While your local LLL group would certainly appreciate it if you chose to become a member, it's not required to attend meetings or tap the leaders for support & assistance.

Unfortunately, most groups manage meetings when the leaders are able, and that's often during the day.

Here's my .02 on LLL. I think it really depends on what area you're in for how great your local LLL is. I heard all these wonderful things about LLL and when I needed help I couldn't get a hold of anyone. It didn't surprize me since I couldn't get info on the meetings either. The leader kept changing the dates/times/ location and wouldn't post anything anywhere, she did everything by phone, not real welcoming to new people, yk?

So I gave up on LLL completely. I can't drive all over creation looking for a great LLL group. Not with all 3 kids and homeschooling. So I found ' So That's What They're For' at the library. I checked that book so many times the librarians started recommending it.lol i learned how to correctly bf my kids from that book.

On the LC issue. There may or may not be one at the hospital. At mine there isn't any LC's on the Mat. floor. The hospital employs 1 LC and she's based at the clinic in the next town over. Not that it matters cuz she stinks at her job. Some hospitals on have an LC on M-F and you could deliver on the weekend. Just make sure the nurses know you want to bf so they don't give formula.

I wish you were in MN.....

My local LLL groups weren't that great. We did some chasing of children (I didn't have any yet) and talked about how to put big rocks in first, then the middle sized ones, then the small pebbles, so you get to do everything. (An analogy on life, lol). Anyway, to answer your question. I don't think trying out your LLL is a bad idea, just don't feel guilty if you don't like it :). I would have a bottle of Fenugreek capsules on hand. It is unlikely you'll need them, but if the HFS is that far away, it won't hurt to have them instead of having to run for them. Mothers Milk tea is not only good for supply, it's just good for nursing moms, so I'd drink that iced or hot, whatever you prefer, after the babe is born. If you can make sure your house is not going to need attention, right down to meals already being cooked, that's the best advice. Plan on laying in bed and doing nothing but nursing and resting, and drinking :). Maybe some folks can bring meals for you to pop in the oven, or you could make some up ahead of time. Nurse the baby on demand, and don't be afraid to call either a LLL leader (have the numbers handy) or the hospital Lactation Consultant. If you birth in the hospital, find ONE or TWO nurses you like and use them to ask nursing advice. I found that each time I asked someone, they had a different method, or different advice than the person who was just in 5 minutes before, lol. So, pick one or 2, and rely on them. You can try advice from others, but run it by your favorites before you take it as gospel, kwim? It was hard for me to be trying to get a good latch, and every time a nurse walked in they're trying to change the baby's position and such. Don't be afraid to say "back off and let me try" if someone is in your face, lol. Also, give things some time to work, but don't let any pain go too long. Nursing is not always comfortable in the beginning, but it should not make you wince with pain. If you are in pain, something is wrong, and you need help. If you don't get the answers you need, keep asking. Also, nobody told me that there will be times that you feel like quitting. Even if everything is perfect, but especially if anything is a little off. Just know that you will feel better soon. For me, it was 3 months that was the magic number. Winnie turned 3 months, and it was like the heavens opened. It was an "ahhhhhhhhh" moment, lol. Suddenly, everything was just right. She had it down, I had it down, and all was good. Even though Finn was my second, I had the same type of thing with him. I wish someone would have reminded me that my hormones were all wacky, and that it was ok that I was tired and frustrated, even if things were going well, lol. Just hang in there, lean on your support system, and all will be ok.

Good luck!

If your LLL groups aren't that great, maybe try looking up an attachment parenting group in your area. You'll find lots of breastfeeding-smart mamas in an AP group as well. You can search for a group HERE. (http://attachmentparenting.org/group/webva.shtml)

As the others said, you will probably not have problems with supply. Get a couple of books (your public library probably has a few you could check out, or just go to Barnes & Noble & read them there, lol). The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (the official LLL guide book) is great, as are So That's What They're For! (this one is very funny & easy to read) and The Breastfeeding Book (by Dr Sears). The biggest problem with formula companies' advertising is that it puts doubt in people's minds about breastfeeding. The ads seems to make it sound like a large number of women are unable to breastfeed, when most women have no problems -- the doubt causes a bunch of stress, which can interfere with a successful BF relationship.

Don't worry! and ask all the questions you want -- we "lactivists" love to share our experiences & tips & tricks. :)

I haven't read the responses yet. Two little things you can do are buy a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (an LLL publication) and get into the habit of having oatmeal for breakfast. If local expert help is really hard to find (ie LLL or an LC) folks here and www.kellymom.com are a great resource and always willing to help.

wanted to chime in with my thoughts on why lll is so important :)

although my grandmother nursed her babies, by the time i needed nursing info, she was in a home and unable to share anything other than a friendly smile of acceptance when bf was mentioned. no info there.

my mother "had no milk" (yet she bound her chest for a week pp-hmmm). so no info there.

nobody in my entire family had ever nursed past the first day, lol

no info there.

went to my first lll mtg, thought it was "ok", just a little extreme for my liking, but promised to attend an enitre 4mo series (they run in a series of 4mo-different topics each mo). glad i went back, even if it was an HOUR away from where i lived, i had an obnoxious toddler, and i was completely wiped out by the time i got home. it's not just the INFO they provided-or the info they had access to~it was the meaningful relationships i made while there.

this was 13yrs ago, and although i've moved around the country three times over since then, i'm STILL in touch with the mamas who i befriended at those first mtgs. it was nothing they SAID. it was through watching them with their babies and interacting with their children that convinced me-I WANT THAT!

through them, i learned how to GET THAT. there are all kinds of groups, extreme on both ends of the spectrum. keep in mind, there are all kinds of mamas at those groups too-they just aren't speaking up ;)

i had an awesome first leader-she took my calls in the middle of the night after i learned dd wanted to stay latched on for a 6 hr nursing (what's wrong with her?!)-she never judged me, just calmed me down and explained what was happening was normal, and it wouldn't last. she was right & we moved onto the next hurdle.

without lll & the friends i made through them, i wouldn't be me :heart:

and i'm almost certain, my babies would have never gotten their birthright. education is the key. ya either want an education at the junior college (hospital class or wic) or ya want one at harvard, kwim?

I didn't have any family near or friends who bf past 3 months or so.. if that long. LLL just didn't work out for me. The one closest to me just was NOT a good fit in terms of personalities.. there's one a bit farther away with people I enjoy, but I was going for the company, not the bf support... and it's too darn early in the morning. We don't make it up and around, let along out of the house, before 11 most days, and it's at 10:15 (or something like that) 30-45 minutes away depending on traffic. I went to about a half dozen meetings at different locations, and it just wasn't worth the time to do so, imo. I was fortunate enough that I didn't have any problems, but if I did, I'd ask people on my online groups first. Not to say you shouldn't try, but if it doesn't work out, don't beat yourself up about it. Not every group will be a good fit for everyone.

Another way to meet people is to find a local support group..... there used to be an AP group here, but it pretty much fell apart. I originally joined moms club (www.momsclub.org) and it helped me meet people and get out of the house - BUT most of the people had different parenting philosophies than I do, and while it was okay as an infant, once our kids got older, I wasn't comfortable with continuing with that group. I've met lots of people over on MDCs tribal areas - you might check that out as well. You can always put up signs at grocery stores, churches, etc. about starting a playgroup as well (make sure to include the target ages you're wanting)

As to wearing a bra to bed, I did for the first few months because I leaked constantly and I was more comfortable being able to wear pads to help with that :)

hit and run post... kids are into stuff....

try www.matchingmoms.org to find other moms in your area