Mission More Milk

I want to start off by saying thank you for all of the support, encouragement and suggestions that I received on the blog, Facebook and Twitter regarding my milk supply.  As always, you were full of useful advice, not all that different from what my health nurse provided. 

• More Rest = More Milk
• More Nursing = More Milk
• Good Nutrition = More Milk
• More Water = More Milk

Unfortunately for me, things were not quite so straightforward for me.

• More Rest?  With a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old, when exactly is that supposed to happen?
• More Nursing?  We've been nursing close to every 2 hours for a month and there's less milk, not more.  I had a similar experience with the boy and ended up losing my hair in clumps as my body tried, unsuccessfully, to provide enough milk to keep up with his fervent appetite.
• Good Nutrition? Despite the lack of gluten and dairy in my diet, I eat well and I eat regularly.  Three meals a day plus snacks.  Seriously, you could set a clock by my stomach and when I'm at work, we do.
• More Water?  I had been slacking a bit on this, because in my current sleepy state I had started replacing my water with (decaffeinated) coffee; but I'm on it now and the water consumption is back on track.

After much discussion, my nurse to recommend that I get a prescription for domperidone, to help increase my milk supply.

I've been on the medication for about 4 days now and I'm happy to share that there has been no formula for the last 2 days and the baby has resumed his routine of a 6 hour evening sleep followed by a quick feed and another 4 hours of sleep.  Thank goodness. With the milk comes sleep and as much as the baby is in need of milk, I am in need of sleep.