Relactating Where to begin ,lol. Need suggestions!!

[drenotdoctor]

Hey Lisa...I *just* gave my PIS away FFS! I wish I had known you were thinking about relactating!

Oh, and glad you got your box of goodies!

[mommy2zander]

I am so excited for you!! And hearing that your son will latch on, which I have heard to be the hard part, that's so great!! I'm sorry your thread got hyjacked by caos, that seems to happen alot lately! But I'm so excited for you!! And you have so much support from mamas that have been there which is great!! I don't have relactating or adoptive nursing expereince, but the topic greatly interests me, & I'd also love to be an ear to listen (or read ) if you need one!!

[autumnlily]

Lisa -

I ran into similiar problems and several others that did include me needing to re-lactate twice. It took one week the 1st time (3rd week postpartum - I was rehospitalized for retained products of conception 2 weeks after dd birth...2 surgeries & 4 blood transfusions later, my milk had "dried" up from the trauma and abrupt stop in nursing for the 5 days in hospital). I did struggle after regaining my milk to keep up with her growth spurts. And at 3 months I dropped to making 1/4 of her daily intake needs. BUT, after hiring a lactation consultant to come to my home and sit with me for a few hours...given an SNS and letting dd latch whenever and for however long she would - I went back to 100% (took 1 month). I did need supplements - described below.

I'm allergic to Fenugreek...so I was VERY limited in herbal supplements. I tried Reglan, I had to stop on the 3rd day (I was driving and the bright sun overtook my senses and thank goodness I could pull over safely and call for help - the stuff is FREAKY!). I was able to tolerate, it has a small amount of Fenugreek, Mother's Milk Tea (5x day)(I suggest it cold with honey to add an alternate to the same old routine), blessed thistle, & Fennel. I did, finally try Dom. It was the real kicker - GREAT and no side effects! I found a compounding pharmacy in my city and called my primary physician and was ready to demand a Rx if she refused - much to my surprise she glady agreed and told me she does it all the time, she just can't offer.

I also drank 80oz of water in addition to the 5 cups of tea. Pumped one side while nursing and switched sides and did the same thing. No, I didn't get very much milk - but it's the stimulation thats important and I hated using the pump after nursing. I also pumped before nursing 1st thing in the morning - it helped get some milk for the SNS.

It is possible to relactate WITH success and kudos to you for trying! Remember not to be hard on yourself, no matter how your child gets nourished by the days end... the point is, he is fed and you fed him - no matter whether it was formula or breastmilk. This was a hard one for me to accept b/c I wanted to nurse my dd exclusively, and it just didn't work out that way for us..but she is HEALTY and VERY HAPPY and your son will be too!

Best of Luck and many well wishes