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.

1 Month Old and More

Our journey to grow our family started shortly before Dereck and I were married. On October 18th Dereck and I had our 5th wedding anniversary. For the past 2 1/2 years since I started this blog numerous posts have started with 1 month pregnant or three months since my baby past away, but today, a little over 5 years since we got married and started trying to conceive, and through the loss of Liam and Evelynn, I finally get to post that a baby of mine, my little Max, is ONE MONTH OLD! It has been along time coming. A lot of happiness, but also a lot of sadness in the these past 5 years.

It's hard for me to still fully believe that we have a living baby at home. I mean I see him, I love him, I know he's ours, but yet their is this part of me that still feels a bit of detachment to him. I don't know if its that I didn't get that first 9 months with him that I did with Liam and Evelynn, like maybe how it is for any father, or if my worry that he could still die keeps me from it. Yes, I still worry a lot, but from talking to other moms who have not lost a baby, their is plenty of the them who have the same worries. The ones that tell me not to worry, well they still just make me as mad as they did when they told me not to worry through any of my (or Jessica's) pregnancies.

I look back at this past year and half since we first held Evelynn, and said goodbye for now, we have come so far. Just under a year and a half ago I remember reading the email from Jessica reaching out to us. Some girl who we have never met is considering carrying a baby for us? Who does that? Fast forward to 10 months ago and we are preparing to do an embryo transfer. We are worried our single little embryo won't take. We are financially worried as well. Can I handle another loss? What will we do if this doesn't work? I miss my daughter? I am sad. I hate the world? Why am I having to go through this?

Fast forward to just one month ago. I get the call, Jessica's says, "It's time!" She's heading to hospital! Holy crap this is finally happening, and its actually not an emergency situation. Could things really go smoothly for us? Could I finally be holding a healthy baby in my arms that could leave the hospital with us? It is 5:00pm, the epidural is started. Jessica's water is broke. The pitocin has begun. It is 9:00pm and Jessica is at an 8. The pushing is beginning. 9:22pm Max is here. I am crying with joy. Jessica says the delivery is exactly how she hoped it had gone. She tells me that she had been preparing herself for this moment and feels better than she expected. I feel the same way though. Her and her family meet Max. Max responded so much to the sound of her boys voices. He must remember them. I would say it was a special moment having all of us, the two families, together with Max.

Here we are today. A whole month and almost a week old already. He is gaining weight so fast, about 9lbs already. And does he ever love to eat. I'd almost say he eats more than he sleeps. People often ask me if he is a good baby. I find it to be kind of a silly question when on one hand I haven't had a baby come home before Max to compare him to, but on the other hand he is ALIVE people! My baby is alive and yes their are times when I swear he is thinking, "I am just gonna scream all day unless you let me just use your boob as a pacifier." Those times are indeed quite stressful. Which I am sure the lack of sleep doesn't help, but I'll take the screaming any day knowing he alive and thriving. It sure beats the ugliness of grief that I have worked through the past 2 1/2 years. I will admit though, their are times I catch myself thinking of Evelynn and thinking how she was the perfect baby and would've never screamed this much. Talking to another blm friend recently she let me know she kind of went through the same thing, the putting her baby she had lost up on this pedestal of wonderfulness. I don't want to do that to Max. Max is Max, and I love him.

As I said above, Max is doing a lot of screaming. He has his moments, but usually during the day when he is hanging out with me while dad sleeps, he's really good and eats, sleeps, and poops. Night time is a whole other story. He doesn't want to go to sleep at night and if he does it is maybe for a half hour to an hour an then he is usually up again wanting to eat. If you don't let him eat, because he can't possibly be hungry since he just ate like 4 ounces an hour ago, he will scream at you until he gets more food. We are working with the pediatrician now to see if we can find out if he has a food sensitivity or if its just colic. So as of today he isn't getting any breast milk for the rest of the week at least and will be taking this specialty formula instead. Poor little baby of mine, now he can't even soothe himself with boob:(. I hope we can figure this out so he is happier and will sleep more at night.

I do think of Evelynn a lot though. I search for her in Max quite often. Their are times when he is laying just right that you can see this small butt chin appear and it makes me smile. I am pretty sure every time I see it I run my fingers over it and just think of her. I love it. I was hoping more and more of her would come through but Max is Liam through and through. Most people tell me they think he looks like me but I think from looking at Liam's pictures and at Derecks baby pictures, he has got more of their features. But all my babies have got their head of hair from me, which I love:). I also am still constantly thinking about our next baby. I love Max, but their is a part of me that is still missing. Maybe in time that part of me will lessen or maybe it'll only be filled or healed by trying to have a younger sibling for Max by getting another carrier, adopting a little girl, or even by attempting to have a pregnancy that doesn't result in a dead baby. I don't know what it will take, but for now that's where I am at, and who knows, maybe no matter what I do there will always be that part of me missing since Liam and Evelynn will always be missing. All I know is right now those little girl dresses that never got to be worn are calling my name:(

Operation Bring Milk Back For Max:

So we are a little over a month into breastfeeding and so far he has only gotten breastmilk. I said that he likes to eat and I can barely keep up with him. Most of the milk that I had saved, when we first got home and he wasn't eating as much, is going fast. We were able to get some donor milk but I would prefer to use my own if we can help it. He will be on this formula from the pediatrician for a few days here and so I'll get to store up some more in the mean time. Of course if we find out he has a sensitivity to something that I eat then I guess we may not be using any of that milk, but we will see what happens once we have answers.

I am still taking the domperidone and am still taking 2 10mg pills 3 x a day as I have for the majority of the time since I started it. The pediatrician doesn't want me to stop taking it or lower my dose yet because we are worried that my supply will drop with it and not sure if we want to mess with that. I have been making oatmeal bars with brewers yeast and flax in them(like lactation cookies) and was taking, but now finished, with these horrible tasting more milk herbal supplement drops in hopes to increase my milk. We think I am probably averaging about 24-26 ounces a day. I have been pumping at night so Dereck can bottle feed him, and every 3-4 hours I get about 3-4 ounces. So averaging about an ounce an hour. I really wish I could get back up to the 35 ounces a day I was getting when I was pumping and donating. Although I know it took time to build up to that as well. If we have to use some donor milk or even supplement one feeding a day, or even doing the specialty formula we are doing now, I know it won't be the end of the world. I am glad I have been able to provide him with as much breast milk as he has gotten.

I am still working on and updating a post that I will save in the Baby Via Gestational Carrier Journey tab for others who may be venturing down this inducing lactation road. Also in this tab I have included all links to posts relating to my gestational carrier journey along with a cost summary of doing this.

My little pumpkin, I mean owl, all dressed up for Halloween. This was Evelynn's. I am glad Max was able to wear it.

October 15th Wave of Light for Stillbirth and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Remembering my sweet Liam and Evelynn always, along with all other babies gone too soon.

4 Weeks Old Today

Bigger post to come, but for now here is some 3 day old Max pics that we had done. Also, Max at 3 weeks with our Liam and Evelynn molly bears.

Max's Delivery 9/26/2013

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. Max is now 2 weeks old. We have been both tired and busy, but we are well. We left the hospital about 38 hours after Max was born. We then spent the next 6 next days visiting with friends and family. We got home a week ago today and have been trying to settle in.

I'll try to post more soon, but for now here is the birth of Max in pictures taken by Dereck's sister in law.

9:22pm. Here he comes. I can't believe this is finally happening.

 

And he was a screaming, Most beautiful sound ever.

 

I was crying......just a little.

Love Jessica's face in this picture.

Jessica getting to see him for the first time.

Us in aw at how perfect he is.

Getting everything checked and hearing that he has a perfect APGAR score.

Hey baby.

 

Finally getting some skin to skin time.

 

Getting wheeled out for the first time with a living, breathing, healthy baby. Best day ever!

He's Here

Maximilian arrived tonight at 9:22pm just a screaming. He's a perfect 7lbs. 7.9oz., 21 inches long, and was ready to eat the milk I had ready for him. He is beautiful, just like his brother and sister. Jessica is doing well. Thank you to everyone for your support. More to come later.