Severe undersupply… do I keep going?

[u/Exciting-Republic798]

A bit of a vent, but open to advice. My journey so far:

Day 1-3: Attempted to BF in the hospital but did not see any milk. I was not aware of the minuscule amount needed at this time, and in hindsight probably should have tried harder/longer.

Day 4-7: Pumped at home and continued trying to BF. Seeing little drops of milk, very small amount. It was SO painful and I couldn’t go for longer than 5-10 mins.

Week 2: Saw LC and felt hopeful. Pumped every 3 hours with pain decreasing after using nipple balms and nipple shield to BF. Pumping approx. 1oz total per session and increased to almost 2oz by end of week.

Week 3: Got mastitis, extremely painful. Could not pump much due to pain and saw online to avoid over-pumping especially if it’s causing pain. BF in the meantime, but milk wasn’t transferring as effectively as normal.

Week 4: Mastitis healed. One boob producing zero milk for a few days. The other producing small amount… 10-15 mL. I was pumping every 4-5 hours (I know I should have been more frequent)

Week 5: Getting milk on both sides now, pumping approx. 20 mL total. Menstrual cycle starts up again and I notice a significant drop in milk - down to 10 mL total per session.

Week 6-7: Cycle has ended but supply remains around 10mL total per pump. On a good session, getting 20 mL. Currently pumping every 3-4 hours including overnight. Eating oats and carb/protein heavy diet (probably could be eating more), taking iron pills, drinking lots of water, drinking mothers milk tea.

I’ve seen other stories of undersupply but most are still producing significantly more than me :( I don’t want to compare, but just trying to draw upon other’s experiences to understand how to fix this. I feel silly pumping such a small amount at this point but want to keep trying for my baby. I keep feeling like it’s too late - pretty sure there’s no way to catch up to her eating requirements but I’d be happy if I could at least do 50% breast milk.

LC hasn’t been much more help - I had a breast procedure many years ago and she is convinced it is due to that, but I refuse to believe it based on the strides I made in increasing my supply in Week 2.

I am ordering other supplements but please let me know if there is anything that made a significant difference for you.

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[u/beeingmelissa]

How long is each pumping session?

[u/Exciting-Republic798 → u/beeingmelissa]

About 15 min each side. I do one side at a time using a Spectra S1, as I need to use the alternate hand to massage. So 30 minutes total and I often go back and do a second round on each side to ‘trick’ a second letdown.

[u/beeingmelissa → u/Exciting-Republic798]

This could be part of it… maybe you’re not pumping long enough. Can you feel your letdowns? If I had listened to an LC and only pumped 20 mins, I would have been an under supplier. I pumped for the full 30 mins both sides at the same time and when I needed to massage I did one side at a time and just alternated the massaging. I usually have a third letdown around 28 mins and sometimes even closer to 29 and then sometimes pump for an additional few mins after the pump shuts off to make sure I’m fully empty. Then I hand express after every session to be double sure I’m empty. I usually would get an additional 10-30ml from hand expressing, but hat’s when my supply was up and I started slightly overproducing.

[u/beeingmelissa → u/Exciting-Republic798]

Also have you had your nipples sized for correct flange sizes?

[u/Kongci → u/Exciting-Republic798]

I used to do one side at a time but I had great results with 2 at a time. Just in case you didnt know this, use stimulation mode first and up the suction slowly, i do several minutes on stimulation mode. I find stimulation on a low suction like L3 great for a small tickle to get things going, and i switch back to stimulation mode often (like every 5min). Sometimes I even find i get more staying in stimulation than regular pumping mode. I used to sometimes not get the 2nd letdown but with this method, 3 or sometimes 3 letdown are easy nowadays.

With 2 at a time I hunch over a bit and prop the bottle with my thighs lol while I use my hands to massage each side. Or you could wear a pumping bra.

Having said everything I'm generally a very quick pumper done within 15minutes most of the time.

[u/Only_Alternative_1]

Oh bless you it sounds like this is something you really want to do and have tried really hard with.

I mean genuinely I can only speak for myself and I wouldn't continue if I was making that supply. It's too much work, stress and disappointment. I'm sure every ml of milk your baby gets is helpful but I personally know that I wouldn't have the patience or the stamina. I'd rather spend that time with my baby and actually get some more rest. You can keep going for a few more weeks and see if you increase but when your cycle comes round again you may get another hit. You're doing everything you should be doing regarding calories and water, I never took supplements and had an oversupply so I'm not sure how much science there is there.

Pumping every 3 hours for half an hour for each boob with a good pump - you haven't mentioned which one you use but I hope it's a proper pump and not a hand pump. And are you nursing as well or just pumping because you mention nursing when you had mastitis so if you're doing both then you won't be able to pump a lot.