It's been a challenging couple of months for us. The month of December was hard because it was the first sign that breastfeeding was not going well for us. At Lilys 3 month well visit she did not gain any weight. I made great effort to make sure to feed her more often. But sadly it did not help,because at her 4 month visit she had lost weight. I saw a lactation specialist and weighed Lily before and after a feeding and was disappointed to find out she only got an ounce of milk. I tried to pump more frequently , feed Lily more and took herbal supplements to help increase my milk supply. Turns out Lily is allergic to fenugreek because soon after I started taking the supplements she broke out in a rash. So I decided that breastfeeding was no longer what was best for our family. The effort I was putting in was getting marginal results and making for a very unhappy, stressful home. As hard as it was to make the decision to stop breastfeeding I felt relief in knowing that Lily would be getting what she needed to start gaining weight. I hated the uncertainty of breastfeeding but at least I was able to do it for 4 months compared to the 6 weeks with Ella . And I felt like we got enough of the benefits of breastfeeding. Not only was I dealing with a low milk supply but I got sick twice in the same month. Lily managed to avoid getting any of the viruses probably because we were still nursing at that time. And she is way more attached to me then Ella was at this age which I have to admit feels kind of nice since Ella is a daddy's girl.
So here she is 5 months and 11lbs and 1 oz. She is back to being my smiley, happy little peanut. Next month we will start solids which is exciting. Although I wonder how I will find the time to purée all that baby food like I did for Ella? Hope she learns to chew fast!
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