Timeline for Inducing Lactation With Domperidone

Here is a timeline of how the domperidone worked for me and what I all did to bring my milk back for Max who was carried by a gestational carrier. Remember that I have been pregnant twice, both times my milk came in after, and with my daughter, the second pregnancy, I pumped and donated for about 4-5 months. From what I learned I also have very good milk production.

I first decided to start pumping back in mid June 2013, when my baby was approx. 5 months gestation, after I noticed some milk appearing after I watched my sons anatomy scan back in mid May. The pumping wasn't getting anywhere so I decided to speak with the local lactation clinic and they recommended, not pumping, but doing multiple hand massages daily, taking herbs, and doing acupuncture. They didn't feel I would need any medication because of my past history and since my milk had started showing up on its own. I didn't want to do herbs so I went and a few acupuncture sessions along with some pumping and hand massages. Eventually I got on the domperidone and that is where we finally made some progress.

Mid June- start pumping and massages 3-4 x daily

July 2nd- started acupuncture- no change in milk prod. after.

July 16th- 2nd acupuncture- still no change after

August 1rst- 3rd acupuncture, still no change after. Decided I had enough, can't handle the stress of hoping this will start on its own without meds. I decided it was time to look into starting domperidone.

August 5th- Started Domperidone 1-10mg pill 3 x a day for 3 days. Tried to increase pumps and massages to 5-6 x a day.

August 7th- Day 3 of Domperidone. Started getting really warm with lots of flushing in the face. Decided to stop my birth control, even though I was on the micronor that is not supposed to mess with milk production. By day 3 I could already tell an increase in my milk production when massaging after I pumped.

August 8th- Upped the dose of the Domperidone to 2-10mg pills 3 x a day. Did my last session of acupuncture. Felt it did nothing for me.

August 10th-11th- Noticed some dry mouth and felt very dehydrated no matter how much I drank.

August 12th- 1 week into taking the Domperidone. After doing my hand massage I actually had some milk spray out of each breast.

August 13th- A little bit of milk was inside the nipple shields after pumping. Also noticed even more milk spraying out during the hand massages.

August 17th- I finally had milk reach the bottles while pumping. Only the tiniest amount, but that was a good sign. Majority of my time is still spent doing hand massages. So far I seem to get more milk out when doing them than pumping.

August 19th- Week 2 down of taking Domperidone. Really trying to get up during the night for a pump so I can get in 6 pumps/massages a day, but so far it has been pretty hard to get up most nights.

August 22nd- I decided to start measuring how much I was getting. During the morning pump I was able to get about 5 ml(so less then a 1/4 ounce) of milk in the bottles between pumping and massage. Four hours later at next pump I got about 1/4 ounce and then added almost another 1/4 ounce with massage. So close to getting a 1/2 ounce in one session, but excited to know that at this rate I am producing at least an ounce or a little more a day.

August 26th- 3 weeks down since I started the Domperidone. Had a couple of headaches this past week, which I know can be a sign of taking this med, so not sure if they were from it or not. A week ago I noticed a few zits on my face. I rarely ever get pimples, and they are getting worse. I have them all over my face and even on my chest. I haven't read anywhere that pimples are a side effect of this drug, assuming its just hormones.

August 27th- It took 3 weeks but I finally was able to break 1 whole ounce during my morning pump!!! Just 5 days ago I was getting an ounce a day and now I got it in one session.

August 31rst- Morning pump I produced 1.75 ounces. It seems that out of nowhere my milk production has just taken off. And if anyone is wondering if breast size has increased, it finally has as well. I think this in itself has helped my pump work more efficiently and allowing me to do less hand massaging after.

September 2nd- 4th week of taking the domperidone down.

September 6th- morning pump produced 2.25 ounces and on the morning of Sept. 7th I broke 2.5 ounces. *keep in mind that this is just for the morning pump. These pumps are usually right away in the morning after not pumping for a good 6-8 hours. Most of the other pumps are producing on average of 1 ounce still at about 4 hours between pumps.*

September 9th- 5 weeks taking the domperidone down. Start 6th weeks today.

Sept 12th- Woke up to a soaked sports bra. I need to work on getting up at night so I don't get so engorged in between pumps. I also have completely stopped doing hand massages after my pumps.

Sept 16th- 6 weeks down, starting week 7 on domperidone today. This past week I started keeping track of how much I am producing at each pump. Right now I am averaging about 8 ounces a day.

Sept 22nd- 7 weeks on domperidone. Start 8th week tomorrow. Pumping almost 12 ounces a day now. Have even gotten 4 ounces out in 1 session.

Sept 26th- My baby is born. Made it to 13 ounces a day. Still pumped after feeding him and averaged about 5 remaining ounces .

October 11th- Been exclusively breastfeeding him since he was born. No need to supplement with formula. The domperidone has worked so far but getting concerned he might start eating more than I can provide.

October 15th- Got some herbal supplement for helping to increase milk. Also bought some Brewer's yeast and started making some oatmeal bars with that and also flax seed to help increase milk supply.

October 26th- Baby is 1 month old. Still on the domperidone, same dose as before. Producing enough milk for Max to exclusively breastfeed and/or pump and bottle feed breastmilk. We learned Max has a dairy sensitivity and so I am dairy free now. We did have to supplement with a dairy free formula for a few days until it was out of my system. 

November 26th- Baby is 2 months old and we are exclusively breastfeeding or getting breast milk from a bottle that I pumped, except of course if there is a dairy mishap and we have to supplement with formula for a few days until the dairy is out of my system. Still on the domperidone, not sure when I'll quit it or cut down because we are afraid of my milk supply dropping with it.

So far so good with Operation Bring Milk Back For Max. Hopefully between continuing the domperidone and having to live dairy free, until baby no longer has a sensitivity- I hope it goes away, we will try to keep this up until at least 6 months of age. Maybe up to a year if all goes well.