Home Forums Induced Lactation aka Adoptive Breastfeeding Medical Interventions to Induce Lactation/Increase Milk Supply Waiting.........grrrrrr

The uncertainty of this wait is really getting to me these days. DawnL-- how are you holding up? Anybody else have good tips for surviving the wait? There are days when I'm tempted to bang my head against a wall.... and I really thinking all this pumping is just making it harder. I am just so eager to make all this work of pumping COUNT-- I want to nurse my baby, not be married to this pump. I am already planning my pump-burning party-- my family will celebrate as much as I!
Our sw (domestic AA adoption) is still optimistic that this wil all work out for us-- that our baby WILL come. But who knows when???? I guess I need to think, "yes, I can pump another week' instead of thinking "I cannot pump for a year"....I am sure I will make it however long I need to, but some days it really gets to me....

Hi,
I know how you feel about the pumping. I have been pumping since mid-May and lately have to actually force myself to pick it up and do it. Also, I have been on meds for 14 months, feeling crappy the entire time. I am going to continue to pump until I see Ana at the end of October so I can give her a little more milk (plus your generous donation of milk!)..and then when I get back Oct 28th call it quits. I need to lose the 45 lbs, I am having health issues of high blood sugar again, and my blood pressure used to be 90/50 and now it is 120-130/70-80. I started the Atkins again today, to see if at least this fatigue will get better,,I always felt best on low carb lifestyle. I am so nervous about this adoption falling through (bm can change her mind up until April) that I tend to want to eat carbs.
I would network with some other agencies and make sure you are posted on the internet in as many places as you can.
I know you are expecting a baby from Ethiopia in April...maybe you can decrease your pumping to 2x a day, morning and night and cut your domperidone dose down,,,you can always go back up on it and you responded soooo well to it I am sure you would have no trouble getting up there again, plus you have so much frozen already.
I would cut back on the pumping,,,with so many kids I don 't know how you have done it so much! If you get "the call" you could always nurse with the Lactaid for a couple of weeks until your supply goes back up to 20 plus ounces a day. The family that you have right now has to come first over the baby you do not have yet. This is what I have learned after all of this. Take care, Cathy

Ugh!
That's all I've gotta say! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />
Seriously, though, it is getting a little long for my taste, too. I have been pumping since mid-January, and it hasn't been bad at all. But, ever since our failed match, I am getting very impatient for our baby! I know we will get our baby, it's just a matter of when. I have faith it will happen, and I just pray that it will be sooner, rather than later. In fact, I am praying that it will happen in October! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> But in reality, if it doesn't happen then, I will just keep plugging away.
Dh and I have seriously started talking about ttc using donor sperm. That was never something we would consider before, but now that option is looking good to us. I mean, we could try IVF, with ICSI, which is the most expensive option, but being blood-related to our children is not important to us. So, if we look for the least-expensive, least-stressful way to add children to our family, IUI with donor sperm is it. It wouldn't be expensive at all, and we would have a lot more control over the situation.
But......with me inducing lactation, I have had 2 periods since January. Which means, realistically, that we will have to wait until after I wean this child. If we ever get this child! Our choices are, stop lactating altogether, and try donor sperm when I get my periods back, or keep waiting for our next adoption. The way I see it, is that it will take me awhile to stop lactating. And if it will take me awhile to stop lactating, we should still be waiting for our next adoption. And if we are waiting for our next adoption, why on earth should I stop lactating?
Listen to me ramble! Do you see how I am handling the wait? I am handling it by driving myself crazy!! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/crazy.gif" alt="" /> LOL To keep up with the pumping, the things that help me, is to know that I am donating my precious milk to a baby in California who can use it. That baby boy has been drinking my milk for months now, and has been enjoying all the candy and junk food that I enjoy! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> (I hope he likes ice cream!) And, the second thing that helps, is to know that I don't have to pump 6 times a day. I try not to skip the same session 2 days in a row, but if I do, I don't really sweat it anymore. If I am an hour late with a pumping, because I was running around with my dd, so what? A few times, I have only pumped 3 times in one day! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/ooo.gif" alt="" /> Being able to go to the mall, or story time, or grocery shopping, or the movies, without worrying what time my next pumping session will be helps a lot.
Okay, I have rambled on enough! I know our babies will come soon, Mary. Are you adopting through Ethiopia, or domestically, or both?

Well, we are still waiting to see if our US adoption will come thru for us, but in the meantime we have begun paperwork to adopt a child from Ethiopia. it may be a baby, but at the moment we are giving some serious consideration to an 8 year old little girl who we fell in love with on a video from our agency. Both our domestic and int'l agencies are fine with us pursuing both adoptions at once. So we may go with one from the US(newborn) and one from Ethiopa (child or infant) OR the other option is to pull out of the US adoption plan and just get two kiddos from Ethiopia. BUT the youngest baby we could get would be 6 months or so on arrival and probablly more in the 9-12 month range. AND I can hardly stand the thought of giving up on the US agency, because that means giving up on my dream of a newborn...maybe even my dream of breastfeeding...what if a 12 month old was not interested in nursing?
.... SO we are going back and forth trying to decide what is the best thing for everyone....and praying hard, of course.... very stressful decisions to make. I may cut back some on my pumping.... but I have worked so hard to get my supply up that it would be hard to watch it diminish.....
I just keep thinking, if only our baby would come.....if only....

I guess we just all have to have faith that it WILL happen.... eventually...... but some days are tough, aren't they?

I just wanted to say ditto to all of you. I know exactly how all of you feel. There are times to that I question what I am doing. Many times I wonder how long I can do this.

Today while talking on the phone with my mom in law my son was yelling boob, boob, boob climbing in my shirt and saying I want to see the milk come out, and milk, milk, milk. I am sure she heard if she did she did not let on. He also repeated the boob, boob, boob while I talked with my sister. This past week my son said to my mom, "Grammy do you need to pump" my mom replied no I do not. Then later in the week my son looked in Mammy's purse and said something like," Mammy where's your pump." I quickly replied Mammy does not have a pump just Mommy does. Who knows what they think of me pumping. Actually I know what my mom thinks and it is not favorable. Now I can laugh about it and it is rather humorous.

My freezer is almost full so soon I think that I will have to think about donating my milk. Cathy if you need or want some more milk when you go to see Ana just let me know. There are days I wonder if I will get a full supply. I can be sporadic with my pumping no set schedule. For me though that makes it more managable. At times pumping can be a royal pain in the you know what.

We are in the process of moving so today my brother in law got a look at my frezzer stash, my husband was not sure if they could move the frezzer with all the milk in it. Thankfully my sister is now nursing a baby so I hope it did not shock him to much. I think as of late I have told myself that it's okay if a baby does not come soon. I have tried to think of what I can do in the meantime. Our new house needs some home improvement projects so I tell myself I can be busy with that. This past week we have been painting so that and the move have really consumed my mind. The fun part about moving is doing the baby's room. We picked out a paint a very nice yellow. I plan on recycling some of my Noah's Ark Items and doing a nursery with this theme. It will be so fun to do the baby's room. It will be a little while before I get started but I am excited none the less.

One thing I tell myself is if I do not get a full supply I think that there is enough milk in my frezzer that I may not have to suppliment. This makes it more managable. What are my chances of acheiving a full supply once I have a baby? I am averaging about 14- 16 ozs. a day. I know I do not dring enough water and many weeks I do not eat oatmeal. So what are my chances?

Good luck to all of you. We are in this together ladies remember that. You are not alone in your efforts. At some point we will have nursing babies and then we can support one another in that.

Love,
Bella