Future's so bright I've gotta wear shades...

Her future's so bright she's gotta wear shades!

Thanks to everyone who private messaged, commented and emailed regarding my last post!  I hate to hear that so many women have struggled with the same thing however I have to admit that it was awfully reassuring to hear from so many of you who struggled through similar difficulties and were able to work things out in the long run!  It renewed my confidence and gave me a boost of energy to carry on!

With that said - today was a great day.  My parents came over to help with some housekeeping which was VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!  I get stressed out living in what I call "chaos" - which in my warped mind is leaving the bed unmade and having dirty dishes in the sink (neurotic, I know)!.  Thankfully my parents understand this about me and were willing to help out!
Nicolette and I had a good day with feedings too.  I still had to supplement with the SNS with expressed breast milk but not nearly as much as the past few days.  She is also currently spending more "active time" nursing - so I think we're on an upswing.  Also my expressed milk production has nearly doubled so hopefully all of the herbs, pumping and nursing are doing their job and helping to give my body a jump start!  I'm exhausted but this is only temporary and will be worth it whether it works or not.  If it works - HOORAY!  Mission Accomplished!  If it doesn't at least I can rest assured that I did everything I knew to do to be able to accomplish my goal of exclusively breastfeeding my daughter.

Afternoon naptime is our favorite!  

When many of you wrote to me you noted that you also had "latching issues".  I'm proud to say  that today we had nearly "perfect latches" almost every single time!  I came across this website this morning with some tips about how to establish a good latch.  http://www.lowmilksupply.org/latching.shtml.  The one thing that I was surprised to read was that they recommend NOT using pillows or a boppy or a my brest friend.  (I have ALL of them - just hoping to find something that works.  So I thought ok - I've tried everything else.  I'm going to try this sans pillow...wouldn't you know that the FIRST time I tried it without a pillow this little princess latched right on, no pain, no fussing around, just popped right on and went about her business.  Sweet relief!  It used to take 10 minutes or so just to kind of get her situated and then once she was most of the time it hurt like the dickens because she wasn't "on" right.  I'm hoping that this new trick continues to work!!!!

My favorite "treatment" for this low milk supply issue has to be a recipe from my dear friend and fellow Domestic Goddess Mrs. Tiffany Sayegh.  They're called "Lactation Cookies - how cool is that?  Medicine in the form of a tasty little treat!  I whipped up a batch this evening (again thank you mom and dad for going to the grocery store to pick up some of the ingredients for me) and I must say they were DELICIOUS!  I've included the recipe below.  Please note the yield is HUGE - 3 dozen cookies! So what I did was scoop out two to bake tonight and then rolled the remainder of the batter into to "logs" wrapped in saran wrap and stored them in the freezer, that way I can just pull a log out and slice off one or two to bake at a time and I don't find myself one night eating 1-2 dozen cookies after a 3am feeding just because I'm bored.

Lactation Cookies
Yield 3 doz cookies

4 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 c. flour (I used 1c. all purpose & 1c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp brewer's yeast
1 tsp salt

3 c. old fashioned oats
1 bag "chips" of your choice (chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, white chocolate, or a combo)

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix the flaxseed meal & water and let sit 3-5 minutes
• In a mixer cream the sugars & butter together
• Add eggs and mix well
• Add flaxseed meal & vanilla and mix well
• In a separate bowl sift togethrt flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda & salt
• Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture
• Stir in oats & chips
• Scoop onto a baking sheet
• Bake 10-12 minutes (I like my cookies gooey so I baked 10 minutes and they were perfect!)
• Let sit on the baking sheet 2-3 minutes afterwards to firm up then transfer to a wire rack to cool

Bon Apetit!  Next time I'm going to add walnuts - yummy!!!