pumping for baby in NICU! HELP!

My son is currently in NICU. I had him at 24 weeks, 5 days and he's amost 37 weeks now. I have LOST my milk supply drastically. I rented the Medela Symphony Double pump and during the first month could pump about 2 ounces each session. Now, can BARELY make 2 ounces of milk in a whole day. I have to squeeze while pump to get the milk out. I tried Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle, it worked but have to constantly take the pills and I don't want to become dependent on it. It also gave me an awful body odur. I also tried eating Oatmeal, but truthfully it makes me GAG but I still eat it whenever I can. I'm thinking about trying Go-Lacta. Have any of you ladies tried it? I also tried "power pumping" (pumping every hour) but only drops come out. I need help! I feel like I'm failing as a mother because i know that Breast is best and want to physically breast feed soooo baddd. People make me feel like formula is soo horrible for babies. I feel like I'm a bad mom if give up, but realistically, my milk supply isn't enough for him a 37 weeks, much less when he's older. Ladies, have any of you experienced this? if so, what techniques did you use?

Isn't the Symphony a manual pump? See if your insurance company or a lactation consultant at the hospital can get you a double electric. That's the only way I got my supply up

Quoting 1stTimeMommy083112:" My son is currently in NICU. I had him at 24 weeks, 5 days and he's amost 37 weeks now. I have LOST my ... [snip!] ... for him a 37 weeks, much less when he's older. Ladies, have any of you experienced this? if so, what techniques did you use? "

Don't give up! Try the best you can, it is so worth it if you can make it work.

But I also want to say, don't let anybody make you feel bad if it doesn't work out. Many a baby has been formula fed and perfectly healthy and fine. You will have to make a choice at some point. I hope you can get your supply back up! It's really hard when you are exclusively pumping.

I'm sorry mama  

Pump every hour even if its a drop continue it. Your supply should build back up. However if needs be use formula its not the devil

does he ever nurse from breast? If not, will they be letting him anytime soon?

Are you drinking water like crazy?


Good luck mama...I hope this works out for you

It's a electric double pump

Omg sweetie you are doing awesome. Don't feel like a failure. Our baby has come so far because of you   fenugreek does make you smell like maple syrup. That means it working   idk of you like beer but supposedly drinking one a day is supposed I help boost supply. Can he eat o. The breast yet or try? That will help your supply a lot I he suckles on you.

If I was you, I would keep taking the fenugreek. Even if you had to take it everyday to keep your supply up, just so you can make it to the point where you can breastfeed your baby. Your supply will go up once you have more physical contact.

You aren't able to feed him by breast in the NICU? When my DD was in the NICU for the first week of her life I would feed her on the breast when I was with her in the NICU and then when I went home I would pump every 2 hours. It took a bit to get my supply up and I had to supplement a little for the first month and a half but now she is fully breastfed. It is hard but don't give up.   I just made sure I fed her as much as I could off my breast and then if she still seemed hungry after an hour of nursing on both breasts then I would give her formula to hold her over.

Thanks for the encouragement everybody!! I haven't given up yet. His doctor's haven't mentioned it yet, but I'm going to inquire about him starting to suckle tomorrow. Wouldn't the beer affect his development though? like FAS and such?

<blockquote><b>Quoting 1stTimeMommy083112:</b>" Thanks for the encouragement everybody!! I haven't given up yet. His doctor's haven't mentioned it yet, ... [snip!] ... going to inquire about him starting to suckle tomorrow. Wouldn't the beer affect his development though? like FAS and such? "</blockquote>



You don't drink it then bf or pump. You drink it. Wait 1-2 hrs then feed or pump. It just has to be out of your system. It goes through your breast milk the same way it does the rest of you body   I would definitely be pushing to feed on the breast.

Maybe you should have your thyroid checked. That can suddenly cause this problem.

I have the SAME problem...a pump...ANY pump will not work as well as baby and you will lose supply unless baby latches...my son only spent three weeks in NICU but didnt latch for two more months after my supply is waayyyy down i take fenugreek daily and pump as much as i can feed him from breast as much as i can...however it is still not enough so i suppliment with formula too...also he has reflux bad...i felt like a bad mother at first..now i know some milk from mom is better than none my goal is for one year...but it is ok if i cant...having a preemie is like living in another world and sometimes things do not go as planned keep your head up momma and congrats

It is ok mama, you are doing a wonderful job! I had my son at 28.1 weeks and didn't even make it close to 37 weeks with pumping. I had lost my supply pretty fast. The NICU can put a lot of stress on you which can make it hard to keep up with your supply, which also stresses a lot of mama's out. My son ended up having to be formula fed, but he is perfectly healthy, happy, & smart. I don't really know of anything that will help obviously since I failed, (I was also taking medications that probably didn't help my supply and my son couldn't get my milk until I was off those medications which was frustrating!) but the basics everyone knows about....lots of water, pumping 2-3 hours, lots of rest (haha I know that one is hard!), try not to stress, eat well, & try to get baby sucking on the nipple while you are in the NICU with him. Good luck mama! You are trying the best you can and that is all anyone could ask for!

I had my DD at 28 weeks a month and 2 days ago she is now almost 33 weeks. I am having a really hard time to producing more I just bought the Mothers Milk organic Milk tea to see if that helps out a little :/ I know exactly what you are feeling b/c i am feeling the same thing !!! I'm so stressed about this all that i dont think its helping. They keep telling me to pump bed side and i did for the first time tonight and didnt really notice a differece i was actually really hot and just wanting to hurry and get it over with b/c i didnt want anyone to hear the pump(ya i know so stupid ) i wish i had everything right to tell you !! A lot of the women i have met are not having an issue b/c they have older kids in school and can get up and are not working during the days and say just do it every 3 hours blah blah blah and NOTHING im afraid i'm drying up too. good luck with everything i def. feel ya !!