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Breastfeeding with hypothryoidism
by MelMommy09, Nov 09, 2009 09:31PM
Hello, I'm new here and I need some help!
A little over a month ago I went in for my yearly physical. This was about 6 months after the birth of my son. After the Appt my OB called and said I had an extremely low HR. THe whole Pregnancy it was in the 70s and not it was 45. I went in the next day for an EKG and a bloodtest that come back saying my thyroid was not producing enough hormone, causing Bradiacardia (low heart rate) so I was put on Levothyroxine 50mcgs. I am supposed to go in again at 6 weeks to check my levels.
at my son's 6 month appt, a week before all of this I was trying to talk to his Dr about nursing him and not really pumping enough while I am at work and worried about him not getting enough (he is a chubby boy but his growth has slowed down) she told me to just supplement. I was not happy with the lack of help one bit. I want to Nurse until he is a year.
After the diagnosis i began researching and found out that my supply really is decreasing and it is not in my head. after a few weeks I was back up to pumping 10oz a day (i was pumping 13-15oz a day) now I am thinking I am good.
Last week I was feeling really sick, flu-ish symptoms. I was just lazy and laid on the couch until i put my son to sleep, then I went to bed too at 8. the next day I felt a ton better. It was not the flu, just the Hypothyroidism. Since last week I have really been struggling with let down and actually getting anything out, my son is just screaming because it is taking so long, in reality it is only 5 min max, but that is not normal for us. Today I only pumped 7oz and usually on Mondays I pump the most and it slowly decreases through out the week.
I just do not know where to go for answers.... I currently have no follow up appt with a dr. (I have an appt with the Cardiologist tomorrow, after a few more heart test I had done.) but other then that I have not been pointed in any directions, I was diagnosed by my OB, I am certain I would not go back to her about this... I am not sure how much help my Family Dr would be since she is the one that just told me to Supplement...
I just want some answers right now, like what to expect for the next week, month, year... chances of this being permanent... how long will I be able to nurse.... what to expect when I have future children, (our son is the first and we do want more sometime....)
thanks for reading my novel... and thanks for any support/advise you can give me!
A little over a month ago I went in for my yearly physical. This was about 6 months after the birth of my son. After the Appt my OB called and said I had an extremely low HR. THe whole Pregnancy it was in the 70s and not it was 45. I went in the next day for an EKG and a bloodtest that come back saying my thyroid was not producing enough hormone, causing Bradiacardia (low heart rate) so I was put on Levothyroxine 50mcgs. I am supposed to go in again at 6 weeks to check my levels.
at my son's 6 month appt, a week before all of this I was trying to talk to his Dr about nursing him and not really pumping enough while I am at work and worried about him not getting enough (he is a chubby boy but his growth has slowed down) she told me to just supplement. I was not happy with the lack of help one bit. I want to Nurse until he is a year.
After the diagnosis i began researching and found out that my supply really is decreasing and it is not in my head. after a few weeks I was back up to pumping 10oz a day (i was pumping 13-15oz a day) now I am thinking I am good.
Last week I was feeling really sick, flu-ish symptoms. I was just lazy and laid on the couch until i put my son to sleep, then I went to bed too at 8. the next day I felt a ton better. It was not the flu, just the Hypothyroidism. Since last week I have really been struggling with let down and actually getting anything out, my son is just screaming because it is taking so long, in reality it is only 5 min max, but that is not normal for us. Today I only pumped 7oz and usually on Mondays I pump the most and it slowly decreases through out the week.
I just do not know where to go for answers.... I currently have no follow up appt with a dr. (I have an appt with the Cardiologist tomorrow, after a few more heart test I had done.) but other then that I have not been pointed in any directions, I was diagnosed by my OB, I am certain I would not go back to her about this... I am not sure how much help my Family Dr would be since she is the one that just told me to Supplement...
I just want some answers right now, like what to expect for the next week, month, year... chances of this being permanent... how long will I be able to nurse.... what to expect when I have future children, (our son is the first and we do want more sometime....)
thanks for reading my novel... and thanks for any support/advise you can give me!
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First off, when you say you pump 7 oz, is that total in a day or in a pumping session? To get 7 oz in 5 minutes is quite good actually. How often are you pumping? Are you pumping only or doing a combo or pumping and nursing?
From a pumping perspective alone (not including your hypothyroidism issues)- pumping for only 5 minutes at a time generally may not be sustainable. In theory, you would need to stimulate your breasts longer in order to maintain supply. If you give a little more info, I can help you figure out what the problem might be. Your story is quite common and may not be related to your thyroid problems entirely.
Also, feeling ill in general definitely can have a temporary impact on supply.
Also, don't be concerned about your son's growth slowing down. This is perfectly normal for a breastfed baby. They are supposed to gain very quickly in the first few months, and then their growth slows and levels off a bit. Otherwise we'd have a bunch of 30 lb 1 yr olds running around :) My LC told me this is what to expect and is exactly what happened with my first, and seems to be the pattern with my second as well.
As for who to see about this- you can try contacting a lactation consultant. Even if she doesn't have the answers for you, she may be able to tell you where to go with this. I personally would ask my OB- afterall, my OB was the one I called when I had mastitis which is also a boob issue.
I pump twice at work for about 15-20 minutes... the 5 minutes was how long it seems to take to let down sometimes....
that 7 oz was a whole work day of pumping, 2 15-20 minute sessions.
Other then those 2 pumping session at work, I still nurse at home and on weekends I am rarely away from my son for a feeding....
I am not overly concerned about the growth or anything because I know it slows... i am just trying to figure out why i went from 15oz a day to 7oz...
When we moved to our new home at the end of August I had over 200 oz stored, within about a month I was down to barely enough for the week and now I am doing half and half bottles and I am still struggling to keep up. Nothing has changed about my pumping routine, except that I used to pump in the middle of the night to prevent leaking/engorgement.
thanks for you help!