Before my son was even born, I had made the decision to breastfeed him. I knew that breastfeeding was the healthiest choice I could make for him, and wanted him to have the absolute best. Our breastfeeding relationship got off to a wonderful start and I didn’t have much, if any, difficulty nursing him, in fact, I even donated expressed breast milk to babies in need. I never thought I would struggle with my milk supply, after all, I had thousands of ounces in my deep freezer that attested to my ability to produce.
A winter of ill health
Just five short months after my son was born, I came down with the swine flu. I was sick, but nothing beyond the scope of a normal flu bug. Nothing was out of the ordinary for a case of the flu until I developed a hot, searing pain in the lower right portion of my abdomen. Eventually, this pain worsened and we realized I had severe appendicitis. I was taken to surgery and my son was left unable to nurse, relying on those many bottles of breast milk I had stored away in our freezer for months.
Recovering wasn’t easy
Recovering from surgery was difficult, especially considering I had a cesarean section five months prior, and my wisdom teeth extracted just two months prior. I had a difficult time dealing with the pain, let alone keeping up with my household and the needs of my children. Thankfully I had help around the home, but it didn’t solve the issue of my dwindling milk supply.
My milk supply was seeming to decrease by the hour, and I found myself having to supplement my son with milk from the freezer. I began to get worried. He was only five months old, and I wanted to continue to nurse him until he was at least one, but it seemed as though nothing I was doing was helping. I tried herbal teas, homeopathic remedies, pumping more often, nipple stimulation, and absolutely nothing worked.
Metoclopramide
Finally, at a point of desperation upon realizing my stash of milk in the freezer was getting dangerously low, I sought medical help. I had read about a drug called metoclopramide (also known as Reglan) that although it wasn’t intended to increase lactation, had a side affect of doing so. My doctor agreed to prescribe it to me, and nervously, I tried it.
At first, it didn’t seem to be working. I had a lot of side effects from the medication and it didn’t seem to help much at first. I was tired, dizzy and extremely thirsty. I felt as if I couldn’t get enough water, and I was cat napping all throughout the day. By the third day, however, my milk suddenly increased. It was almost miraculous how quickly and suddenly my milk supply increased, but I was thankful for the increase.
I only took metoclopramide for a week in total, but I was able to boost my supply to a level that would satiate my son, and furthermore, was able to maintain a good supply after that. Metoclopramide often gets a bad reputation when it comes to aiding in lactation, but I feel it saved my breastfeeding relationship with my second child, and had I not been able to boost my supply so quickly, I may have needed to wean my son sooner than intended. The side effects weren’t fun, but they weren’t intolerable, and they were definitely worth the benefit of the medication.