Moo!

Natalie is one week shy of being 5 months old. (Wow, that's hard to believe!) And, she's had 3 bottles of formula. All the rest have been mama's milk. But, I'm afraid she's not getting enough. Or, I should say, I cannot pump enough to keep her satisfied at daycare, even with the addition of cereal and baby food. She's a hungry baby when I get there at 5. Ideally, she needs one more bottle per day.

I'm proud of what we've accomplished so far. I wasn't sure if we'd make it a week, when her first 2 days were spent eating every stinkin' hour. Then, again in May, I wasn't pumping enough for her at daycare, but thanks to daily meals of oatmeal and double-side feeding for awhile and pumping each night before I go to bed, we got by.

Time to pull out the big guns. Today, I went to the healthfood store and bought fenugreek and blest thistle. And as a pre-measure, I pumped 17 ounces in 4 sessions today. The immediate goal is 20 ounces per day; ideally, I'd like to send her to daycare with 25 ounces. I'll let you know how it goes.

Add to the challenge, I'm heading to Dallas/Fort Worth on August 3-5 for work. I have ONE bottle in the fridge. I need, oh, 7-10 more. That's just not going to happen between now and then. In the famous words of Ace Ventura, "I just can't do it, capt'n! I don't have the power!" So, she'll get formula those days, and hopefully will handle it fine. And our new goal...keep breastfeeding almost entirely until 6 months of age.

GO TEAM!

p.s. I know that Ace Ventura was quoting Star Trek, but Ace Ventura is much funnier!


pps I'm not looking forward to the hassle of getting a breastpump and then breastmilk and a breastpump through airport security.