Yet Another

This will be yet another post about breastfeeding - just a warning to those who wish to skip all the boob talk. I apologize in advance for not using proper terms in this post. It is no longer a breast, it is just a boob. And, yes, there is a difference. (A breast is something you put in a nice bra that is perky and stays in place without leaking. A boob is something that is not perky unless full that provides nutrition to a little one when it is not leaking down the front of your shirt.)

Breastfeeding is going well - with a few minor glitches. Or major. Clay is growing at a rapid rate so therefore I am having trouble keeping up with him in the milk production factory. (Casey says I should eat some steroids and some corn meal like cows do to produce so much milk.) I produce more than enough overnight because he only eats once during the night, but during the day is a different story.

Sometimes during the day he eats every single hour for 30 and 45 minutes at a time. I feel like an all hours buffet that never gets refilled sometimes. The reason he is doing this is probably because he is not getting full - he is just snacking on what is available. Which clearly is not much during the day. It does not bother me at all to feed him all day because he seems satisfied and he is extremely happy all day! It just makes it a little difficult to function outside of a boob in his mouth.

My worry is that when I go back to work next week I will not have enough breast milk to leave with Casey to sustain him during the day. I have some frozen, but not enough. So, the solution you ask? I am milking the cows down the street that are currently lactating. Just kidding - if only it were that easy.

We have decided to start mixing breast milk with formula for the bottle at night. He has always taken a bottle before bed from Casey so he gets full in hopes that he will sleep longer, but we have always just given him breast milk, never formula. We tried it last night and it worked beautifully. We mixed 2 ounces of breast milk with 2 ounces of formula and he took only about half of it before he was out! He slept from 1030pm until 330am, breastfed for 10 minutes max, and then slept again until 0630am. So, my concern for the formula upsetting his little belly has been unfounded as of yet. That is what I am afraid of really - I know the transition from breast milk to formula can be a difficult one. (Yes, for me mainly.)

I am still breastfeeding exclusively during the day and will pump all day when I go back to work, but the little bit of formula at night helps me and him tremendously. It lets my boobs fill back up so I can feed him at night. And it helps him get full.

Now - the problem of not producing enough for his caretakers when I go back to work...we will see. I will see how much I am really producing my first day at work when I pump exclusively all day. Who knows? It may be enough. If it is not then we will re-evaluate. I assume the only feasible solution is to start mixing the breast milk one to one with formula during the day when I go back to work to leave at home. I am not thrilled about the idea, I just assume produce more than enough, but I am preparing myself for the worst. In hopes that the best scenario happens of course!

Whew. So, there it is. FORMULA. Nasty, little 7 letter word written on this breastfeeding moms page. The scarlet letters. Again, I am not okay with it, but I have his best interest in mind. He needs to be full, grow, and thrive. And I will do whatever it takes to make that happen!