I had a hospital the twins in a hospital that was considered a breastfeeding education hub.  I am so thankful I did and it was interesting because some of the things they suggested I had, the hospital where I had Camry told me not to do those same things, which was super odd! But I had the best supply ever with the twins so I ignored what the second hospital said and followed the guidelines of the nursing educational hub. And I struck milk gold again!

Here is what I do to keep up my supply and WHAT I was taught. Now If you have a crazy good supply already you don’t really need to do this but this is what I did to build mine.

• For the first two-four weeks, I pump after every feeding. Every single one! The time to build a good supply is at the very beginning. Your baby doesn’t eat much when he/she is born and I wanted my body to know how to make a lot of milk so I pushed its limits in the beginning. I was told to do this and it worked well! If you don’t have a pump some hospitals allow you to rent a pump for the first month. It will be worth it!

• I pump after the first feeding every morning. In fact, most of the time I give her a bottle at this time and I pump at the same time to save time. One, this helps empty my breast so my body produces more and my chest isn’t so heavy when I exercise. Two, it helps her get used to a bottle. I always want her to take boob and bottle. So I give her one bottle feeding every single day. I have never had a problem with my kids not taking a bottle because they got one every day from the very beginning even if I was there and able to nurse them. I even pump the last feeding of the night as well once the baby is sleeping through the night sometimes. 

I know this takes time to pump or pump and give your baby a bottle but it will save you so much stress down the road when you want to go out and you have milk in the freezer AND your kid will take the bottle. So be smart at the beginning and set yourself up for freedom down the road!

Now how do I keep a good supply while leaning down?

To be honest I always hold onto a few pounds until after I am done nursing but I am totally ok with that. I would rather feed my kid than weigh a few pounds less.  For one prolactin, which is the hormone you need to make milk also makes it harder for your body to metabolize fat. It literally is known to help store adipose tissue! It starts to decrease around 6 months and steadily does until you stop nursing.

It also kicks out progesterone and testosterone just like estrogen does which are both fat-burning hormones. That’s why some women can’t lose weight at all why nursing. It's not always about all the calories nursing burns. It's also about the crazy amount of hormones you're making TO nurse in the first place and those are working against the calories you're burning sometimes.

The problem is most people starve themselves to lean back down and mess up their milk supply. I eat a very high protein and fat diet. Milk is made of protein and fat and that’s the base of my diet. I also believe that one will lean down faster if they are on a lower-carb diet because when glycogen isn’t present your body uses fat stores. So I don’t have to starve myself. I stay full with fat and protein and my body uses fat stores when glycogen isn’t present to lean.

Nursing moms need to increase food intake by 200-600 calories so eating too little is going to cause binging and you will feel out of control. Trust me, I learned that with the twins! I tried to under-eat to lean down and then went crazy and overate. I didn't level out until I started focusing on fueling and increasing my fat and protein.

Here is a macro chart that will help you build your diet better. Make smart choices NOT less choice!

Andrea