Alright mamas, I’m struggling. Baby is 13.5 weeks old. Prior to having her, I planned on formula feeding, for my mental healths sake. After she was born, we formula fed for about 4 days, and then my milk came in. Fast. A lot. So I decided to pump to relieve the engorgement. And then some. And then some more. And before I knew it, baby was exclusively breastfed. This went on, exclusively pumping for about 5 weeks and then I got mastitis. Between being sick and the antibiotics, my supply had TANKED. I went from 40-60oz/day to about 20oz/day, and eventually not enough to feed baby, and we started her on formula again. Then I got covid, and that really did it for my supply and I got so frustrated that I quit pumping all together. I went about 3 weeks without removing any milk at all before the guilt ate at me.

So, now I’m trying to bring my milk back in. I’m doing everything right. Pumping every 2-3hr with hospital grade pump, drinking a gallon of water a day, getting in my calories and good fats, taking prenatals, I’ve tried all the tips and tricks. Everything. It’s been about 5 weeks of this now and I still cannot produce more than 1oz at a time collectively.

I’m afraid I may have “regulated” and missed my opportunity. I want to breastfeed so badly, and it kills me knowing that I had such a great supply and I was doing it. I’ve just had such a rough go at it postpartum, I’ve been constantly sick!

Has anyone been on any medications that help/induce lactation? Did it help you? Did you have any side effects? Was your doctor reluctant to prescribe? Give me all the info!