I have two guidelines when it comes to what I blog about. One, I don't share personal information about anyone other than myself and la cocotte. We have had a ton of family & friends come to visit us over the past 2 months which has resulted in many fun, interesting, wonderful memories and situations which I was tempted to write about but I feel I cannot discuss the other people in my life in a public forum, even for the sake of sharing and remembering good times. Eventually I will stop talking about la cocotte also. Two, I don't share anything personal that I would not comfortably announce to a stranger on the street - because essentially that is that a blog is - an announcement to strangers.
I have been wanting to write this post for awhile in the hopes of garnering some wisdom from other breastfeeding moms however it involves divulging stuff that is a bit more personal than I normally share. I wonder how many current or former breastfeeding moms already know what I am talking about from the title of this post. So, yup... right from the beginning of my breastfeeding "career" I have had one slacker and one over-achiever. Initially the difference was not so pronounced but over time la cocotte and I have come to depend on the over-achiever and come to expect nothing from the slacker and now, like any self-fulfilling prophecy, the difference has become quite pronounced. At this point I essentially have one A or even A-minus and one C which looks strange but whatever... I can live with the lopsidedness while breastfeeding. I guess I just want to know that this is not a permanent condition, that symmetry will be restored once I wean la cocotte.
My other issue is that between marathon training and the 30-35 deg C heat we are having here, I am drying up in general. I always thought that as long as I replaced the fluid lost through sweat and ate enough calories (I definitely do) that I would not compromise my milk supply however production is definitely at an all-time low. I had hoped to breast feed up to 18 months or so to help transition la cocotte into daycare and mitigate some of the daycare colds but I think this might not be feasible. Is there anything I can do to increase production? I am definitely drinking enough as judged by quantity and clarity of urine output. So.... any thoughts appreciated.
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ReplyDelete1. I went generally down in milk production over the summer, which I thought was due to weight loss, but then realized was due to dehydration. Even when you think drink enough, you don't. When it is so hot it seems you have to drink more than you are comfortable drinking to keep making milk. During all of my ultras, I basically lost milk production for a day due to dehydration and then it came right back. Same with dehydration on warmer days. As long as she keeps sucking, you will keep making milk, even if you go multiple days without making ANY, it will come back and to normal levels if you hydrate adequately again.
ReplyDelete2. You need to start breast feeding with "the slacker" every time. Boobs produce milk when they are needed. And if "the slacker" realizes it's needed again, it will step up to the job.
thanks SLG - I felt like I was essentially talking right to YOU when I wrote that post :) REally? More water? I spend so much time on the toilet as is but then again my weight is way down despite eating tons so it is likely dehydration. I will take your word for it since I know you have been there.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with breastfeeding on the slacker is that la cocotte slacks off b/c there is so little reward (hard to explain long term benefit to an 11 month old) but now that I think about it, I can pump on the slacker everytime we breastfeed on the over-achiever. ok... thanks for your input on my output :) I will drink more & pump.