Hi so I gave birth to my daughter 13 days ago, 3rd baby but haven't managed to breastfeed my first 2 children,I lost a lot of blood during delivery ( same as the first 2 times) which delayed my milk coming in,I've spoken to the midwives every time they came about my concerns but they just reassured me as I had lost a lot of blood during delivery it would take some extra time for my milk to come in,I really want to breastfeed my baby this time so I kept on speaking about it to the midwives so I wouldn't just give up like the previous 2 times.
I started pumping around day 6 which is when I first noticed tiny drops of milk but I didn't manage to really pump anything. I have been breast feeding as much as I can,but also topping baby up with forumla which I know isn't ideal but with my other 2 in school I have had to give her some top ups. She has been taking around 4 , 2oz bottles per day. I make 3oz bottles but I always breast feed her on both sides,twice first for around 30/40 minutes before offering her a top up if she doesn't settle. I always make the 3oz but she always leaves about 1/1 and a half Oz of the formula. Her birth weight was 7lb 4oz and on day 3 she had only lost not even 1% of her birth weight, on Sunday she was up to 7lb 9oz when the health visitor came and weighed her. So she is definitely gaining weight really well and my health visitor told me 90% of that was from me and that no baby would be gaining weight like this off 4, 2oz bottles alone daily. Which gave me some encouragement to keep going. The health visitor then suggested I start trying to cut down the formula as she thinks baby is getting enough from me and might be feeding for so long and still showing signs of hunger after breast feeding because she might just be wanting to suck for comfort and to maybe try other ways of settling her before straight away topping her up with forumla.
For the last 5 days she has stopped taking a bottle during the night and will breastfeed only during the night, for the last 2 days she has cut down on forumla herself and settles and sleeps for 2/3 hours after just me breast feeding her. Since yesterday she has cut down to 3 bottles per day. Does this mean my supply is increasing?
Because I've been topping her up with forumla I've been worried about her not getting enough now she is starting to settle after breastfeeding alone. If she was hungry still would she settle and sleep for 2 /3 hours after my breastmilk alone if she was still hungry? I keep trying to pump which isn't helping my concerns because I am only getting half an Oz when I pump but the health visitor told me pumping isn't an indication of supply and some women have good milk supply but can't pump.
Just looking for advice really. If she's settling and sleeping after breastmilk alone and no top up after breastfeeding does that mean she is now getting enough from that particular feed? Should I still be offering her the top ups after ?