Sometimes I Wish I Was a Stress Eater

Stress. It happens... especially when you're a stay at home mother of 2 with a retail marketing job during the holidays. My days are packed full. If I get a few minutes to myself, it's usually right before someone is waking up or needing something. I'm not complaining, it's just the reality of my life and I'm fine with that. I love my kids and my job. It's a season. However, when you're nursing a baby, stress takes a toll... on me in particular.

Most people eat when they're stressed out. I'm opposite. My appetite is gone, plus I just don't always have time to sit down and eat a meal or even grab something on the go. I just simply don't think about it. Most people simply don't understand how I can not think about eating, but it's the truth. So instead of spreading my food out over the day, I usually have 2 meals a day with maybe one snack. This just isn't enough when nursing.

All this running around and lack of a proper diet (I'm assuming) started taking a toll on my milk supply which, in turn, took a toll on Ava - duh. A week or so ago, she's stopped latching as well and gets frustrated during feedings. This also has lead to her not sleeping as well - waking up after only being down for a little while. Thankfully it's mostly been over the weekend so it hasn't effected my ability to work.

So, I'm drinking water like its my job and making more of a conscious effort to eat smaller meals more often throughout the day. Isaac is holding me to it, making me eat with him all the time. I've also kicked my morning cup of coffee. Usually one cup of coffee isn't enough to drastically effect a nursing baby, but just in case, I'm dropping it. My head is pounding and I'm forcing food down my throat even though I'm not wanting it, but it's worth it if it makes feedings easier and brings back my milk supply.

(I can already tell a difference and it's just day 1)

***A week and a half later***

My milk supply is enough for Ava for most feedings but by the evening, we usually have to supplement with a bottle of formula before bed. I'm not surprised at this. This same thing happened with Isaac around the same time... maybe a little closer to 4 months. We had to switch him to formula once feedings got too frustrating and useless. We really don't want to do that with Ava if we can avoid it.

I headed over to our friendly neighborhood Whole Foods and picked up a bottle of Fenugreek. It's an herbal supplement that will help bring back my supply. The girl at the store said that it's only major side effects are:

1. It can (not always) cause asthma to flair in asthmatics (me)
2. It can upset Ava's stomach - if that happens, I should just cut back on my dosage.
3. It'll make me smell like maple syrup. 

So, the way I see it, I have a chance of bringing my milk supply back up to where it needs to be. Maybe I'll have to break out my inhaler a time or two and I'll be fighting lumberjacks away with a bat but it's what's best for Ava and for my family. Formula isn't bad (Isaac is doing just fine after being on it a little over the first half of his first year), it's just expensive and we'd like to avoid having to switch as long as we can.