Fed Is Best Part II: My Journey Continued.

So as many of you know I've been struggling with breastfeeding. It all started the day Knox

turned 4 months old & got his 4 month vaccinations.

He was teething, starting that dreaded 4th leap (let me tell you, that was FAR from a piece of cake, glad that's finally done with). & he had a reaction to that set of vaccines. Nothing big, but he got a pretty nasty fever that lasted a couple days (he had never had a fever at this point so he took it pretty badly). He turned to food for comfort. I don't know what happened, but that very day my supply dropped to essentially zero.

He was upset, very fussy & my let down has always taken a minute or two; & boy, did he not have the patience for that. So as you guys know, we ended up managing to breastfeed him every 2-3 feeds & the rest were formula fed.

As December went on, things became very difficult. Knox was in the middle of his fourth leap which made him insanely fussy & angry. PLUS he ended up developing his first cold. He ended up getting too impatient to latch & would get very upset. It was really hard on both of us as I was sick & tired as well. So I ultimately made the decision to primarily formula feed him for the time being.

I ordered from Euphoric Herbals. Specifically the start me up bundle with the superfood capsules 'Milk Machine' & 'Lush Leche'. As this was an international order & it being near christmas I didn't expect it to come as soon as possible.

So I power pumped for the time being, up to 40 minute intervals (damned single pump). It ended up becoming a struggle pumping as often as I needed for a couple reasons. At this time, is when Knox & I were sick, so there was barely any time to attend to my basic needs let alone pump. I also started to give up at this point. Despite power pumping, hot compressants, lots of water, oatmeal; I was only managing to pump 1 ounce a day. When I should've been producing 1 ounce an hour.

I got to the point near the end of December where I just stopped pumping for 5 days. I was so over it. I felt like a failure, one of the jobs my body was meant to do just wasn't working anymore. (TMI coming up) My nipples were sore, cracking & bleeding which I had never experienced in my breastfeeding journey, I just felt so over it & down on myself.

A couple days later, my order came in. I was so happy, but also still needed to get my spirits up as I felt like nothing could help me. January 1st is when I started my journey to breastfeeding again.

I started with 'Milk Machine'. All of them state to take 2 capsules 3 times daily, & if no increased supply in 72 hours then to take 3 capsules 3 times daily. That's exactly what happened. The first 3 days of me consistently power pumping & taking these pills, nearly nothing. Barely even a half ounce all three days combined. I was distraught.

The fourth day, I pumped almost a half ounce, & this continued for another 3 days. 'Milk Machine' did not seem to increase my supply although I decided to keep taking them untill I was done.

On the 8th day, my 'Milk Machine' capsules were done. It was time to start 'Lush Leche'. I just kept saying to myself, If 'Milk Machine' didn't work, Maybe 'Lush Leche' will.

That's when things started picking up, I'm super happy to say this; as again, I was so close to giving up. The 8th day almost pumped an ounce, 2 days after I pumped over an ounce & an ounce & a half. Yesterday I pumped nearly 2 ounces & today I've only pumped five times & I'm already at nearly two ounces. I haven't had to up my dose so I'm taking 2 capsules 3 times daily.

I'm ecstatic to write this & share with you guys. In 13 days I went from pumping barely nothing all day to pumping nearly 2 ounces a day already. My nipples are no longer in pain, cracked, etc. Soon I will be training Knox to latch on the boob again. It is unknown if I will need these pills to continue my journey, but if need be a totally will. Overall, way less expensive than formula & so much better for my little man.

I'm hoping my mid to late January I can exclusively breastfeed again. This past nearly month & a half has not been easy. I barely go anywhere as I'm so focused with pumping every hour on the hour or power pumping whenever possible. (Another reason why I didn't start blogging again untill later this month). But it's been SO worth it. Let me tell you. Euphoric Herbals has worked WONDERS for me. Especially because I am allergic to fenugreek & they make two superfood tablets that have no fenugreek. I currently get to give him breastmilk from the bottle every couple days like I did near the end of December that I have managed to pump.

So, through all this hard work, I'm happy to say my journey isn't over quite yet. & If it was, it honestly would be hard to come to terms with personally, but it would be okay. Because no matter how badly I want to breastfeed, not only for the bond but for the benefits of us both, I would not starve Knox because of that. I am pro #fedisbest. DUH. Yeah sure, breast is best of course; wine it best too. It's not that hard to come to terms with. But when it comes to the health of your baby, fed is best. No matter what it is as long as they are fed, happy & healthy; you've done your job.

So here's to a great start to the new year! It's been far from easy & this journey has caused me quite the 'mummy moments'. But at those times I'm grateful to have Kyven by my side telling me I'm trying so hard & that we can do this no matter the outcome.

I wanna give a big thanks to Euphoric Herbals as well for creating such an amazing product that has helped me tremendously already & it hasn't even been a month. Link of their instagram below.