sorry, will be long...
i've heard a million times that it's incredibly rare for a mother to not have enough milk, i'm wondering whether i might be that rare woman, and how i should address my bf issues if they happen again with my second baby, due may. (am totally open to possibility that this one may just have a better suck or whatever).
colicky baby but remained very unsettled till 6 months or so. slow gainer (urged by heartless gp to buy formula on way home @3 months cos i was starving her). fed on demand, slung, co-slept, never tried to regulate her feeds in any way.
regularly attended bf group, latch, positioning etc checked by (very experienced, trained, pro-bf etc.) hv at the group, assured all was well. ate porridge, took fenugreek. could express an ounce in the bath by hand, less by hand pump, never tried electric pump. never any pain, problems, cracking or reluctance on my part.
by 5 months she was feeding for 1 hour, every 2 hours and her weight had dropped from centre centile (yes i know charts aren't everything but it's the whole pattern) to just above the bottom one (in the pink bit). in her whole life i don;t think i'd ever seen her drop off the breast with that drunk satisfaction look i see in other babes.
at 5 mo, on advice of bf group hv (who was fully behind the 6-month recommendation) i started her on solids. she ate an entire apple in first meal and wanted more. she became happier, more settled and gained weight much faster from then on. we carried on feeding until 14 months. now, at 3, she's taller than average and very solid.
i now firmly believe that she was not getting enough milk in those first 5 months, and this contributed to her to being unsettled, sleeping very poorly and the fact that we were virtually pinned to the sofa for months.
what to do if i see the same pattern emerging this time? did i miss a trick trying to increase my supply? i recently spoke to someone whose milk literally never came in and she was given medication at the hospital which worked like magic - could that be an option? should i be thinking about formula supplements? or should i just say this is one end of the "normal" bf spectrum and resign myself to it?
any advice/experience very much appreciated.