Hi all, I need some ideas and suggestions for this mum (who is beginning to get very discouraged). Pregnacy was normal except during the last couple of weeks her blood pressure began to climb. Three days after EDD, her blood pressure reached 150/100, and she went to the hospital for a likely induction. April 30 Cervidil was applied to her cervix at about 6pm. Labour started just after midnight.At about 12:55pm, (midwife estimates another 2 pushes would have done it!), she went into a seizure lasting about 4 minutes. It took 3 tries of vacuum extraction, followed by an episiotomy and then the use of forceps before the baby was born at 1:23pm. The mum has no recollection of the next 12 hours, although she appeared to be aware of her surroundings. Her next memory is waking up in a different room at about midnight. It was about 14 hours after the birth before she breastfed. They were in the hospital 5 days. Mum doesn't know how many bottles of formula they gave baby in the special care nursery during those 14 hours. Baby was in the SC nursery for about 56 hours, and then roomed in for a couple of days. In the hospital, she was happy to be permanently attached, sucking a few minutes, nodding off, then sucking a few more minutes. It did take a couple of extra days for her milk to come in, what with all the trauma, but she thought there was plenty there. However, the baby was still losing weight by day 14 so they started supplementing with 50ml 8 times a day, by syringe/tube with milk from the milk bank After starting the supplementing, she gained 70g in 3 days. When the baby was about 16 days old they started double pumping with a rental pump for 10 minutes per side after feedings.. still not helping very much. Right now she's pumping about 80 minutes per day (10 mins, 8x/day), but she's increasing that to 15 mins, 8x day. Pumping yields a total of about 5 ml. The mum thinks she's supplying about 20ml per feeding (some test weights done early on), and the 50ml supplement brings her up to the 70ml suggested by the Lactation Consultant at the hospital. The supplement is through a tube while baby's on the breast. Baby seems to notice the difference; breast with tube = more milk, less work vs. breast without tube= less milk, so she doesn't put as much work into it when the tube's not there, she just waits for the tube. Domperidone (2 pills-10mg each, 4x / day) was started when baby was 23 days old. Trandate (Labetalol) (for high blood pressure - discontinued taking June 11, baby 41 days old) - 100mg - 2 tablets, 2x/day (had been taking for last couple of weeks before birth) The feeding routine takes 1 hour (or 1.5 hours) every 3 hours (ie, 2 hours between finish and starting again).. hot compresses (microwaved "magic bag") for 10 minutes (to aid in letdown), then about 35ml supplement of donated milk, then 15 minutes nursing per side, then another 35ml supplement of donated milk, then pumping for 10 minutes. The mum tries to massage the breast when the baby slows down on the nursing, but as her breasts are fairly small, the massaging tends to make the baby pop off the nipple. The last few days, baby is not keen to nurse without the tube in place. Also taking: + Fenugreek - 705mg - 2 capsules, 3x/day + Borage Oil - 552mg - 2 capsules, 3x/day + tincture - Blessed Thistle, Goat's Rue, Alfalfa,Nettle, Raspberry, Fennel, Vervain - 5ml, 3x/day + Custom blend tincture - Marshmallow & Hops - 2ml, 3x/day + Natural Factors "Super Multi Plus" ( it does contain 10mg iron ) - 1 tablet, 2x/day The thyroid is normal, as was the other things tested (testosterone and DEAHS (?) -- those were the two hormones that were slightly elevated when trying to conceive -- they're now showing normal), prolactin registered high as was expected. Iron levels weren't tested. Given the traumatic birth, the placenta was removed by the OB rather than having been birthed naturally, and it was apparently taken down to the lab and really "gone over" because they wanted to check for abnormalities given the eclampsia. So that's the history, what else might be going on? What else do you need to know? What are the odds at this point of bringing in a full supply? Donna Hansen Burnaby, British Columbia Canada mailto:[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(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html