First, she says you should give yourself lots of credit for nursing TWO! babies for seven months. If every baby was nursed for seven months, childhood diseases would be down dramatically, obesity would be down in our children, and nutritionally the upcoming generations would be so much more sound than they are. The commitment to providing your children with the best start you possibly could provide is something you should acknowledge and be proud of.

It’s possible that the combination of the hormones in the mini-pill compromised your supply, as well as the antibiotic for your tooth. It is also possible that the stress of seeing your supply decline could be exacerbating (sp?) the whole problem, so try to stay calm about it. I know, easier said than done, but being upset won’t help matters and could make them worse, so try. She says to be sure that you are drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of calories in each day. She says with two babies, you are getting lots of nursing in, but the best way to increase supply is to pump in between feedings.

She said you may not feel comfortable with her next suggestion, but she said feeding the babies a little cereal before bed may help them sleep longer. However, stretching out the time between feedings will not help increase your supply, so that is something to consider. Most pediatricians don’t recommend anything but breastmilk or formula for the first year, but some babies have higher caloric needs due to their individual metabolisms.

The last thing she said is to consider if it’s possible that the girls are just entering a growth spurt that is demanding more calories, thus more feedings. It’s so tough when nursing-not knowing exactly how much your baby is getting. But if they are growing as expected, she said they are probably getting enough even if they are feeding more often. And the increased feedings could very simply be why your breasts *feel* empty.

I hope all her professional input helps, and I’d like to add something. I know it’s easy to feel like a failure when you are trying to do something that is supposed to be natural. But I asked my mom what percentage of women she sees that had breastfeeding issues. She said probably 75%. *75%* That’s HUGE! And that’s not including things that pretty much *every* nursing mom experiences at one point or another like engorgement. We talked about it for a few minutes and wondered if it was some small kind of evolution in humans that has contributed to the fact that so many babies don’t seem to have the strong instincts to latch on to the breast, and so many breasts don’t seem to produce enough for their charges, so to speak. Or maybe it’s that our modern lifestyles are so fast-paced and stressful that our bodies don’t react to motherhood the way they should all the time. We don’t know, but I thought it was important to stress to you that you are *not* alone, and that the vast majority of women who try to breastfeed have trouble at one point or another. You’ve been able to nurture two babies for seven! whole! months! with your breasts. That’s amazing! I know it isn’t what you had hoped for, but it’s alot more than some women even care to bother, and alot more than some other women are able to, even though they bothered a lot. It’s disappointing, I know, compared to what you expected. But it’s still pretty amazing in the big picture. Your babies are lucky to have such a devoted, strong, loving mommy.

At some point after having children, our bodies start to reregulate. For some of us (and why is it us moms that so desperately want to breastfeed) this means our hormones get all wacky and we don’t produce enough milk. I tried every suggested remedy that I could find (minus the, “drink beer,” one – um, what?) to no avail.

I have been told that some doctors will prescribe Reglan to help promote lactation, but I am unsure of how successful this is either.

So take a deep breath, relax and charish the moments you get feeding your little angels while you can. And while you’re taking a wiff of their sweet smelling hair and holding onto their delicate fingers while they’re snuggled up close to you feeding, just know that you have done all that is in your powers. And, Mom, you’ve done good.

I wish you all the luck in the world. Too bad to hear about the LLL meeting.

I wish I had advice or something for you to try. It isn’t any easy thing to deal with at all.