Confused if my milk is in or not?

[Yellowdaff25]

I posted another thread recently re being advised to give 30ml ups as my baby had lost just over 10% of body weight.

We are now day 6 post planned c section and I think(?) my milk has come in but I’ve not experienced much breast changes (they are slightly bigger and bigger nipples) no real firmness or leaking that I had expected.

I don’t think it’s colostrum I’m producing now as it’s much thinner and pure white, I can easily hand express (compared to trying to squeeze of thick colostrum) and have accidentally squirted baby in the face trying to help express it.

My worry is there really doesn’t seem to be very much, if I put my pump on I’m not managing to gather more than about 5-10 mls in 15 mins.

I have baby on breast whenever showing hunger signs or upset and try to hand express and pump at other times to increase supply but worried this is it?

Does this sound like my milk is in but not fully, can it take a while to increase?

I didn’t manage to breastfeed my first child because of similar issues but I do remember sitting up one morning and feeling leaking from my breast and realising my milk had finally arrived.

Any help or advice welcome!

Yes sounds like your milk is in. Don’t worry about not getting much expressing some people just don’t get on with that. If baby is satisfied after a feed and not crying for more you have enough

Most women can produce enough milk, if we couldn't humanity would have gone extinct aeons ago. Of course there are medical conditions or genetic issues but I think a lot of problems are mainly social and cultural, in terms of not getting enough support or good advice. I felt a lot of "fed is best" pressure to just give a bottle instead of problem solving breastfeeding.

Try not to worry between weigh ins, remember pumping gets much less out than a baby can so disregard how much comes out with the pump, and keep baby on breast as much as possible.

Have you done a weighted feed i.e. have a professional weigh the baby before and after a full feed? That's really the only way to know what your supply is like, and even then it depends how hungry or awake baby is for that particular feed.

Nurse in a very quiet room and listen to your baby. As long as you are hearing swallowing and gulps baby is feeding.
I wasn't able to get much pumping either. 🤷‍♀️
(two different pumps!)
Check weight for reassurance. You can buy baby scales on Amazon.

Dont wait for baby to show signs of hunger or upset before putting to breast - if you can spend a couple of days mostly doing skin to skin.

I would have a chat with someone who knows what they’re doing in terms of supporting feeding

You can know how much a baby is drinking on the breast by watching swallowing but it is best to sit with someone experienced be that the feeding specialist midwife, an IBCLC etc and learn how to observe.

Pumping doesn’t tell you nothing with a six day old but it can be telling you that you have a not great pump! (If you’re boosting supply you need a decent primary pump) it can also be telling you your pump is badly fitted and sometimes it is telling you your supply is borderline.

Milk limping in in the way yours has, is a pink flag for supply issues and it is well worth a chat with a specialist ideally an IBCLC.

This is a great time to get some high quality support while everything is still usually very mouldable and supply is very responsive.

I'd get a specialist to watch the baby feeding, don't worry about pumping output. I never got much from pumping but EBF for 15 months. I'd be offering the breast as much as you can, don't wait for upset or hunger signs, especially when trying to establish your supply, you want to be feeding very often. I don't think you need to hand express or pump to get supply up, just feed directly, plus lots of skin to skin.