Wednesday, August 18, 2010

All Things Are Not Created Equal

Um. I have a problem. Over the past 2 weeks it has been getting bigger....and smaller at the same time. You see I have an um...a lopsided situation.

Boobie A is a good deal bigger than boobie B. This means for some odd reason I'm producing differently on each side. I've tried doing some of the tricks I've read online....having S start each feeding on the smaller side to stimulate it more and I'm pumping on that side after most feedings (when I'm near my pump and not on the go). So far it doesn't seem to be helping. And I know most other people can't notice it but I feel like it's glaringly obvious. Which is embarassing.

I'm not sure what the culprit is for this. With G, everything remained nice and even. And S doesn't prefer one side to another. He spends the same amount of time on both for the most part. Although it is a vicious cycle. Now that side B is smaller, it creates less milk, therefore he spends less time on it. Not sure how to correct that at this point.

So ladies...any other advice out there for my girlies? I used fenugreek with G for just basic milk production, so I'm tempted to try that out again. But I remember smelling and sweating maple syrup when I was on that, which wasn't so pleasant.

Has anyone out there ever had to use an actual drug to stimulate things (like Ra.glan)? Or are those types of things only prescribed when production is an issue on both sides?

Help!

3 comments:

Admin said...

I would talk to a lactation consultant about it for sure, but you might try mother's milk tea. One of my chi-chi's fluctuates quite a bit, and my nursing guru said to try the tea if it drops significantly. I managed to even it out by feeding Oz a bottle for two feedings and not pumping. Then I was so full on both sides, he nursed equally on both, and it sort of "reset" my production. I'm totally even now!!

Meghan said...

I had the same problem with Sweetness. No one else ever noticed it but I always felt so self-conscious. Once I weaned her and they both shriveled up into little raisins they were the same size. I'm sure it'll happen again this time around, they already gained their pregnant weight un-evenly.

Good luck and post if any of those other tricks work, I might give them a try next go around

Katie said...

Yes, the fenugreek will make you smell like you just finished a shift at Denny's, BUT I had this exact same problem with Will (not so much this time around, strangely enough) and it did work to up the production. And fenugreek works best when the breast is fully drained, so perhaps have him spend less time on the breast you don't want to increase the size of OR pump a few minutes on the side you want to increase the size of.

And, this time around, I learned that you don't have to KEEP taking fenugreek (wish I'd know that last time!!). Just taking it until you get that maple syrup smell will get you the desired effect. I took it for three days this time and discontinued taking it, but milk production seemed to stay higher.

http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-the-herb-fenugreek-increase-a-moms-milk-supply_8880.bc