Fenugreek complaints and props to oatmeal
I have been eating oatmeal twice a day, and I have noticed a definite increase in my pumping output. I used to get maybe 4 ounces during a pumping session (dual pump), but now I get 5-6. Yay!!!! I like this little trick wayyy more than taking fenugreek. Even with just one capsule of fenugreek a day, my breasts would become so engorged and knotty. Not only that, I felt like I was having foremilk-hindmilk imbalance. Since my breasts were so full, Baby Jay would get lots of watery milk during letdown, and it would take longer for the fatty milk to come out. This would cause him to overeat, and so we were dealing with a lot of spit-up. At the time, I figured as long as my supply was high, I could just feed him again to compensate for the thrown-up milk. I was confident.. As a breastfeeding mother, there are not many things that make you feel more secure than full breasts and a good milk supply. However, the quality of the milk he was taking in started to concern me, not to mention the number of times he would vomit during a day (poor baby). I even started noticing that my pumped milk looked different, it wasn’t as opaque as usual. I had read about foremilk and hindmilk, and while they are both necessary, it’s the hindmilk that contains most of the antibodies, vitamins, good proteins and fats — basically all of the things that make breast milk so much better than formula. Foremilk is mostly water, and its purpose is to hydrate the breastfed baby. There is no automatic switch, of course. The amount of fat in the milk increases with each letdown, inversely related to the amount of fluid in the breast (pardon my nerd speak — math major here). My experience with fenugreek was that it increased the amount of fluid in my breast way too much, so all of my letdowns were mostly fluid, ie water, ie foremilk. So a seemingly good supply turned out to be actually an oversupply of foremilk, which didn’t give my hindmilk a chance to come out. Now. With the oatmeal, I never feel engorged, but I never have that scary empty feeling either. I am so happy with my increase in pumping output, because that means Baby Jay can drink less formula while I am at work (my hungry boy is currently drinking between 4 and 6 ounces). I would love to cut him off completely from formula, so that I wouldn't have that tinge of guilt when I hear people say they EXCLUSIVELY breastfeed. But I figure he needs the calories to grow, so I'd rather have him take in those calories than go without. Plus, I hate the thought of him having to cry it out because he's hungry and there's no more breast milk. So for now, I am content with MOSTLY breastfeeding, and I'm even more content with my supply, thanks to my new friend Quaker Oats.
