5th day after delivery...no milk

Hey all,
I gave birth to 34w4d'ers last Saturday. They're currently in the NICU and doing well, although it will probably be another week at the least before they're home. I started pumping Saturday, though the first and second night I went 5 hours without pumping; otherwise I pumped every 2-3 hours. I've been keeping that up without any lapses since then. My colostrum has increased from about 3ml per breast per session to 5-10ml per breast per session - but no milk I talked to my lactation consultant and she told me to give it another couple days. I'm starting to get really frustrated, though. And everything I look up online is about breastfeeding babies at home instead of the NICU. Does anyone have suggestions or can share their experiences?

(P.S. My girls have both gone to breast and have no trouble latching.)

 

Congratulations on your babies! When I gave birth to my twins my milk started to come in on day five. Right now the colostrum is giving them everything they need. Glad they are nursing and matching well. this is totally normal! It is hard waiting though. :hugs: you will have milk soon! Just keep on nursing!

 

Congratulations! Mine came in after a week. I am sure yours is just about to come in. Make sure eat and eat, and drink lots of water.

 

Congrats! hang in there, everyone is different, give your body time.

 

I took about that long as well. I was told that when the babies come early your body is not quite prepared and ready to produce a lot of milk so it may take some more time. The colostrom is good stuff but keep puting them to breast. While I was in the hospital they had me nurse as long as they would latch then pump 15 min. I did this every 3 hours including my DD who was in the NICU for about 20 hours. Good Luck!! It is great they are latching. Keep nursing them... they do better than a pump!!

 

3 - 5 days after babies are born for milk to come in is average. it can take longer than that if the birth was long, complicated or a c-birth. hang in there! you're doing great. also, it's awesome that your babies are going to the breast already. nurse them as much as possible, and when not nursing, hold them skin to skin as much as possible - that will almost do more to bring your milk in than pumping.

here's Jack Newman's info on nursing preemies.

and here`s a whole list of links to look through from kellymom. HTH!

 

I was told the same. I pumped for 2 days straight. No milk came, but couple drops. My twins came at 32w1d. Then one of the nurse gave me a cup of mother tea. After i drank it, my milk came hehe. You might want to try mother tea, rasp tea. just keep mursing and pumping. dont stress. the more stressed you are , the less milk will come! relax!

 

Mine came in late too and I was pumping in the NICU. I was probably getting about the same amount you are although I thought it was milk not colostrum! It didn't seem like I could ever produce much colostrum, but the initial milk seemed a different color than later. One thing that helped me was to pump while I was sitting next to them (if that's possible). I also started making everyone leave me alone while I was pumping and I made that my meditation time. I would completely relax and enjoy having some quiet time. I pictured everything working perfectly and waterfalls of milk. It sounds crazy but it helped to make the process more enjoyable. Another thing I did was watch their birth video while I was pumping or look at picture of them. HTH

 

What kind of delivery did you have? the only other thing I can think of - if part of your placenta is still attached and didnt come out, that can delay your milk until the placenta is delivered.

 

Thanks, all, for the help and advice. So my milk did come in - I just didn't realize it because I was looking for volume rather than other indicators. I noticed that it was turning tan and that it didn't separate in the fridge. It's definitely milk now, not colostrum, but I'm still not getting a lot - about 10 ml (1/3 oz) per breast per pumping session. So I guess my problem is low supply. I'm pumping like mad, but I can't seem to get the supply up. Maybe once the babies are home?

 

:yahoo: for your milk coming in! that's great. to be honest, i expect it's more an issue with pumping not working very well to empty your breast. also, some women just won't let down as well for a pump as they would for a nursing babe.

here's some info from kellymom on increasing your volume while pumping.

have babies been going to the breast as often as possible? that will honestly do the most for your supply. GL!

 

It will definitely help once they are nursing and you are home. I found that once they started nursing, they would get all the milk they need and I would still pump what I was previously pumping. The breast just responds so differently from the pump to the baby. I did take motillium to boost my supply however. You could ask to speak to a lactation consult and get some ideas. Mine gave me a journal to keep track of everything and my supply slowly increased although it took me 2 weeks to catch up with the amount of milk they were requiring. GL, you are doing an amazing job!!!

 

I'm glad your milk finally came in. If you haven't checked it out yet, check out this video about increasing supply.

http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html

 

Congrats and hang in there!! I was so ready to quit pumping from the start. Mine were born at 31 weeks and I didn't see a substantial increase in what I pumped until mine were about 9 days old. I got a couple pieces of advice I think helped me alot...pump until you feel empty - I was told to pump for 20 minutes at first then another mom in the pumping room told me that and my supply went up. The second one was to drink a Guinness, an LC told me if I was comfortable with it to try it. I would have one after I pumped at 9PM, it helped me relax, plus DH and I would sit down and have a beer together at the end of the day.

 

I was very lucky as my milk came in on the fifth day even though I had been in ICU for three days. My girls were born on Tuesday in the afternoon and I only got to see them on Thursday evening upon which I pumped a little colostrum. I didn't stress about it too much at the time and on Saturday after a long kangooroo session (skin to skin) my milk came in and I did not have supply issues ever since (except in my head, when everyone told me I could not possibly have enough milk for two).

Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is to try and trust your body. Relax as much as possible, you're doing an awesome job already. Every drop of milk your little ones are getting from you is good: your body is making gold. Also, make sure you have a good (double) pump and try to pause during pumping sessions if that helps. Rather than pumping for 15 minutes straight, pump for 5 minutes, pause 1 minute, then pump again for 5 minutes after which you pause for 1 minute and so on.

GL!