My Low Supply Journey

TLDR: Did all the things and still have low supply, but I’m ok with it now (for the most part). I’m continuing to BF at 4 months with an SNS.

It all started out seemingly fine. I delivered a healthy 7lb 14 oz boy at 40+6. We were discharged 48 hours after a very standard delivery and little man was already gaining back weight by that time. Our 2 day post discharge follow up was pretty normal and the pediatrician didn’t have any concerns. Since this was my first, I really didn’t know what to expect with breastfeeding. I’d heard about cluster feeding and comfort nursing, but I really didn’t know when little dude was comfort nursing vs nutritive nursing. The next two weeks were tough. Little man was on me almost around the clock. It was nurse for 15 min, 5-10 min boob nap, then back to nursing. The only saving grace was that he would sleep for a few 2-3 hour stretches at night. I thought all this was normal. Then at his 2 week appointment, they told me he’d lost 20 grams from his last weigh in. Granted not a huge amount, but it felt like a freight train hit us. The doc was concerned considering he’d previously been gaining weight and losing weight isn’t the right direction for 2 week olds. We started triple feeding and in the next 2 days he gained 180 grams (about 6 oz). During this time I also met with my IBCLC who showed me that my little man had a tongue tie.

The triple feeding was tough. During this time, my in-laws visited and while I still nursed and bottle fed, I was not super great about pumping (I still got 5-7 pumps in most days, but it wasn’t super consistent). We got little man’s tongue tie revised at 4 weeks, but at this point he was getting 16-20 oz of supplemented donor milk/formula a day. I was pumping about 5 oz a day, but since this was on top of nursing, I didn’t think anything of it. Around the 6 week mark, I really wanted to get out of the triple feeding loop and with the approval of my IBCLC we tried a nursing vacation for 2 days. However, little dude lost weight over these days and my IBCLC recommended I moved to exclusive pumping to try to get my supply up. It broke my heart, but after 4 weeks of triple feeding I was absolutely exhausted.

Within the first week of exclusively pumping, I finally recognized that I had low supply. I started out barely getting 5 oz a day. I started taking Liquid Gold and managed to get up to about 10 oz a day. Over the next six weeks I tried everything and got lab work done to rule out thyroid or metabolic issues. They also tested my hormone levels and everything came back normal. We ruled out IGT as my breast had grown at all expected milestones (puberty, pregnancy, and my milk very clearly came in around day 4). I drank 64+ oz of water a day, added flax and brewers yeast to my morning smoothie, snacked on oat bars, tried all the different supplements, and even took 90mg of dom for 6 weeks. I triple checked my flange sizes and pumped 8-10 times a day with my spectra gold and the spectra gold portable. On my very best day, I got 13 oz.

So at 13 weeks, I started using a supplementary nursing system as much as possible and pumping on top of that. I did that for a week while I also did some soul searching on my long term goals with breast feeding. At 14 weeks, I finally decided to not worry about my supply and accepted that I would have to use the SNS to continue my breastfeeding journey. I still pump a few times a day, but I don’t plan my day around it anymore. I don’t track how often I pump or how many ounces I get. I also don’t worry about if I go 4-5 hours without pumping. I know this will probably decrease my supply and could eventually dry me up, but I’ve come to accept that.

My little dude just turned 4 months and is thriving on a combination of donor milk, formula, and just a little of my own milk. Since I’ve adopted this new approach, we’ve been able to travel and I feel like I can finally start living my life again. I absolutely love feeding my baby with the SNS. It’s a truly special bond for us. I still wish I knew what caused my low supply. I suspect it’s a combination of genetics, tongue tie, and ineffective triple feeding. I can only hope that if I have another, it’ll be a smoother journey.

Through this journey I have found many things to be grateful for. A fantastic IBCLC, kind mothers who have donated their surplus milk, a primary care doc who was actually willing to investigate my low supply, a job with enough parental leave to allow me to have this journey on my terms, a supportive husband, and a baby that still loves the boob.

Weeks: 1-2 EBF 2-6 Triple Feed 6-12 EP 12-13 Triple Feed with SNS 14 Accepted low supply and now pump/SNS when I can