Sunday, 9 May 2010

She doesn't want breastfed anymore :(

It has been 4 days since Violet last had a breast feed from me, I am totally gutted that she no longer seems to want me. She was only getting her nighttime & morning feed as a breastfeed then the rest were formula but I was happy with that and if she wanted more during the day then she could have it as well, I never stopped her. I combination fed due to a few reasons, for the first 6 days she was exclusivly breastfed then my grandad was rushed into hospital & read his last rites and became really weak and ill from his cancer, I was visiting the hopital several times a day then as we were really close so had to give her formula as she wasn't allowed onto the ward, this was just as my milk had started to come in as well so never had a chance to build up a proper milk supply. As my milk supply never got a chance to come in properly for what I needed no matter what I tried I couldn't get it to increase, I tried all the teas, herbal suppliments, eating oats, domperidone medication as well as constant feeding and expressing but it just dwindled and dwindled till we ended up on 2 breastfeed per day.

I suppose I should be pleased that I have gave her a good start in life by having some breastmilk in her diet and for getting as far along as I did, she is now 21 weeks, but I still feel like a failure. I was so not ready for her to wean herself of those 2 feeds, I loved the cuddles, smiles and our special time together during those feeds.

I also recon I am lucky that I managed to breastfeed her at all, after my breast reduction last year I was warned before hand that it could affect my chances to breastfeed in the future, I didn't care about that at the time I just wanted to be rid of my boobs. Then when I told my surgeon that I was pregnant at a check-up after my surgery I was warned that because it was so soon after my surgery and that my boobs were still healing (takes a year to heal fully inside) that my chances of breast feeding were very slim, if it wasn't so soon it would be 50:50 but I was told due to timing more like 20:80 that I wouldn't be able to feed. I managed 6 days exculsively, 8 weeks of supplimenting with 2-3 bottles of formula then slowly her breast feeds reduced and her formula increased with her appetite demands until we were at those 2 special feeds until she got to 21 weeks.

I wish that when I expressed I got more than 1oz max out from each side combined to give her that in a bottle that way she would still get it but I cant. I did at the very begining get good amounts of expressed milk (3oz ish) for me but not any more.

I feel like Im failing her by not breast feeding anymore even though it has been her choice to stop.

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