Hi, Kirsten:  If you never able to determine why milk production has
sharply dropped ( and there is no medical reason found) in this mom's left
breast, so what?  She is capable of fully meeting her baby's milk needs on
just the right breast.  I'm also a little confused as to why she is pumping
to see how much she is getting.  The fastest way to drive a nursing mom
crazy is to have her do this.  My philosophy is:  As long as the baby is
getting what he needs, is gaining weight appropriately, growing and
developing normally on what they are doing breastfeeding, they are FINE!
I'm working really hard with my moms to dispel the mistaken notion that
breasts are exactly identical in size, shape, nipple size and shape, milk
flow and milk production.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Any
body part that we have two of, is not identical - feet, hands, eyes, ears,
and breasts, etc!
In situations like these, my job as the LC is to offer massive amounts of
support and encouragement. Remind this mom that she successfully nursed one
baby - no reason to suspect she cannot also successfully nurse this one.  I
suspect this baby's nursing pattern is different from the first, which
means he is stimulating her milk supply differently.  And the observation
the mom made with her left breast from her first experience, may mean that
there is an anatomical reason for the milk production pattern she is
observing.  If this is indeed the case, there is nothing she can do about
it (short of appearing on the TV show Extreme Makeover, LOL!).
Just my 2 cents...

Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC
Clinical Lead, Lactation Services
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
Barrington, IL   USA

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html