Sunday, January 13, 2008

Prolactin Deficiency: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Formula

The lactation specialist told me the only reason Reglan wouldn't be working for my milk production would be if I had a prolactin deficiency (or as Greg likes to call it "tough actin' Prolactin"). So....there you have it. I have a prolactin deficiency. There's nothing I can do about it. Nothing will increase my milk supply. This information could have saved me months of guilt and sadness had I known there was such a thing when I was nursing Alex. I can't tell you (although Greg probably can) how many tearful nights I had because I thought I was such an inadequate mother with Alex. I feel a little better knowing that there's a reason behind it all. The brief Internet search I did didn't make me feel really good about the deficiency and what causes it, but I'll wait to worry about that another day. In the meantime I'll continue to pump full-time while the girls are in the NICU and switch to part-time when they come home. This should allow at least 3 months or so of some breast milk before I give up.


Now....for the exciting news of the day....look who's a big girl. Evelyn is on room air!! Hint: she's the one without the cannula :)





Now she just has to start eating more from the bottle and she can go home!!! Hurray!

On to the daily stats: Evelyn is 5 lbs 10 oz and Clara is 4 lbs 11 oz. Clara is still at 100% oxygen and 125 ccs of flow. She'll get there one of these days.

Take care,

Kris

7 comments:

Janet said...

Look how big those girls are! Wow!

Hey we are on our third minivan(Pod - Toyota Previa - quite a cult following; Blueberry -- Chevy Astro - sorry; and now Fiona - 2001 vintage Toyota Sienna - just brought her home on Friday) so join the ranks of proud owners. Better gas mileage and lower intimidation factor than an SUV.

I am glad to see that you have an answer about the milk shortage, but sorry it adds more worry along with the relief in knowing why.....

It sounds like you are getting closer to being all under one roof!

Love to all,
Janet

Jen said...

Aww... Look at that big girl. And they seem to be gaining weight so well. Yay!

Denise said...

Yay for room air! I'm fond of it myself. Not sure if it's the pictures, but Clara's color looks better than when we saw her.

Oh, and thanks for the "Blank Cow" comment. It made me laugh.

Lexie said...

Hi Kristina! Go girls! Almost time to come home! I used to be so sick of people telling me to get as much sleep as you can before the baby comes home. Now I know why...I can't wait to see the girls and for them to be home with all of you! Please let me know when you would like to get together. I miss you a lot! Andy is becoming a chunky monkey...8 pounds!
Love,
Floater #2

Mimi said...

Trial

Mimi said...

Okay, I'm going to try this again. It kept giving me errors!

The girls are so cute and look like Alex! How BIG? SO BIG!?

I am seriously in a weird and funny mood today. I am singing "Happiest Baby on the Block" (Harvey Karp's book) to the tune of "I'm Still Jenny from the Block" (J-Lo song)!

Love ya...

paula said...

Wow, what progress! Soon they will be so big and heavy, you'll wish they were walking!!! At least you now know why pumping is soooo horrible. It will not be long and everything will change to a new normal...