I bought alfalfa sprouts from the local supermarket today. Apparently they have a galactagogue effect, which means they increase the breast milk supply in lactating women, when consumed in moderate quantities. Apart from that, I wanted to share the schedule and diet I am on.
Diet:
Sometimes I am not able to stick to the two hourly schedule. In that case, I try and make up for it by pumping every hour. It seems like a lot of pumping, and on days (and nights) when the little one has cold, like she does now, it seems like I never get any sleep at all. Sleep is vital for lactation, which is why I skip pumping in the night, even when it is said that prolactin levels are highest at night. I try instead to pump at seven in the morning, promptly after I wake up, even before I brush my teeth.
Whoever said it was easy. But my efforts are beginning to show. In what was earlier a dismally empty bottle, with my husband looking at me as though I had gone crazy, now he gets to see what is milk, real breast milk in the bottle. Even though it isn't much, it is there. Which is proof enough, that my efforts are paying off, slowly but surely. I'll get there, someday, when I am finally able to fill all my baby's bottles with my breastmilk.
All this after a breast reduction surgery I had over three years ago. So if someone asks me if relactation is possible, even after a surgery... Yes! It is very much possible. How successful is what remains to be seen. I just hope that three years from now, I find all this worthwhile.
Diet:
- A well balanced healthy diet consisting of chapatis with ghee, salads, and fruits
- upto 8 glasses of water
- 6 tsp of fenugreek seeds. I divide it into one tsp doses every couple of hours.
- Domperidone 10mg - 3 tabs 3x a day
- 2 cups of bajra raab - recipe below
- 2 tsp of lactonic granules in each cup of bajra raab
- 3 to 4 lactation cookies a day
Sometimes I am not able to stick to the two hourly schedule. In that case, I try and make up for it by pumping every hour. It seems like a lot of pumping, and on days (and nights) when the little one has cold, like she does now, it seems like I never get any sleep at all. Sleep is vital for lactation, which is why I skip pumping in the night, even when it is said that prolactin levels are highest at night. I try instead to pump at seven in the morning, promptly after I wake up, even before I brush my teeth.
Whoever said it was easy. But my efforts are beginning to show. In what was earlier a dismally empty bottle, with my husband looking at me as though I had gone crazy, now he gets to see what is milk, real breast milk in the bottle. Even though it isn't much, it is there. Which is proof enough, that my efforts are paying off, slowly but surely. I'll get there, someday, when I am finally able to fill all my baby's bottles with my breastmilk.
All this after a breast reduction surgery I had over three years ago. So if someone asks me if relactation is possible, even after a surgery... Yes! It is very much possible. How successful is what remains to be seen. I just hope that three years from now, I find all this worthwhile.
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