Give this Mom a Beer!

Chelsea — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:59:58 +0000

I had to dig into the last of my freezer stash this week and use up all of my frozen breastmilk. What this means is that I have to produce enough in my pumping sessions everyday to replace what Lucy eats at daycare. She normally eats 16 ounces a day. I used to produce about 20 ounces a day. It dropped down to 14 ounces and then I started using all the tricks I talk about here. And I bumped my production back up to about 15-18 ounces a day (yes I have a spreadsheet). In recent weeks my supply is more like 10-14 ounces a day-not the 16 that I need. I can counteract this by pumping over the weekend and using that to supplement what I pump during the week but by the end of the week I’m all out of breastmilk. So I’ve started supplementing with 1-4 ounces of formula a day. Slight issue-my baby is allergic to milk and it turns out allergic to soy. Most formulas are milk or soy based. I called Lucy’s pediatrician yesterday to ask for a prescription for hypo-allergenic formula (which is really expensive) and thankfully they gave me 5 cans of the stuff (saving me like $200). They also recommended that I start drinking a beer every night! They said that the yeast used in the fermentation process helps with milk supply (which would explain why Brewer’s yeast is helpful). The advice nurse recommended O’Doul’s but screw that-I’m gonna have a real beer! I already drink occasionally-very little gets through into breastmilk and I almost always do it after Lucy has gone down for the night. If I have to choke down a beer (I really don’t like the taste) I’m going to drink the real thing! I did get the O’Doul’s last night because I wasn’t sure if the recommendation was O’Doul’s specific-it’s not. The O’Doul’s actually wasn’t that bad but I do think I’m going to become a Guiness girl. I’m going to try at least. Let’s hope this works!

Being Chelsea » beer

Give this Mom a Beer!