Thanks Linda. I have already had a tour of the hospital and they are aware of the surrogacy plans but am just not sure if I will look crazy trying to use the lact-aid at the hospital, what do you think. I also plan to use their lactation consultant if things get tough in the beginning. The reason the surro is pumping is to give us the colostrum which they say is very important.

Cutie,
Have you started the protocol yet?
Yes, the colostrum is very important. The lact aid isn't that hard to adjust to. In fact, some people put the bag in their bra verse hang it.
A few tips.
* tape the tube on the end of your nipple. Some people use surgery tape or band aids work well too. This will help it be secure as your baby learns to latch on.
In the beginning, your baby doesn't take that much milk, but the latch on and the time nursing is important. If you have started the protocol, and are at the pumping stage, the more stimulation will help.

I started with the SNS ( didn't know about the lact aid ) at DD 9th day, and put her to breast each time. It was a little difficult at first, I didn't have any head up, she was just THERE. I started the accelerated protocol on the same day. After 30 days I started getting drops and finally worked up to about 90% milk supply!
I found out about the lact aid at 2 months and it was SO much better.

wishing you well for your new baby!
Linda

Thanks Linda you've been such a wonderful help. I have been on the protocol since August and will start pumping by next week. I wanted to make sure I would need the Lact aid before I go ahead and order it. I really hope I would be able to make some milk but am already having leaks from both breasts which is a good thing. Wow, you are lucky to make up to 90% of her needs; bravo!!!. Can't wait to get started. I have my Medela PIS advanced and everything ready to go.

I would say pump the bm and feed it to the baby. With the colustrum, it is such a small amount, you can actually just put it in a syringe and syringe feed the baby so as not to waste it in the lactaid.

If you are pumping in advance, you will probably have some milk and you most likely will have enough for the baby (especially supplementing with a little colustrum)in those first days as they don't take much. You probably won't even need the lactaid.

Then as the surrogate's milk comes in, you can add it to the lactaid if needed.

I started pumping the day we were placed with my DD1 at 2 days old and caught up to her need within 2 weeks and she was ebf from that day on.

With DD2, I pumped in advance for 10 days and then caught up to her need again when she was about 2 weeks old (she ate more than DD1).

Since you have a surrogate and are not adopting, and it is a sure thing, you should be able to pump further in advance and have a good supply going. You very well may never need the lactaid.

The only reason I say don't have her bf, is that I know a woman who placed a baby for adoption with her sister. She said she bf the baby for the first month and later her sister told her she had trouble bonding with the baby because of the bf.
Good luck!
Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer for your comment but now I have more questions for you lol. It seems that the more I learn in this journey, the more there is to learn. Which one is the syringe feeding, I never never heard of it before. Also I am on the fence about getting the lactaid for about $70 and end up not using it since I will pump well in advance and even though it is not a sure thing, I know I will have some milk stored before delivery. So how do I feed baby the stored milk without the lactaid; is it with bottles? Thanks for helping

The hospital gave us a syringe to suck up the colustrum with. Then we just gave that to the baby from the syringe (it is like one of those medicine syringes - no needle).

I just used bottles to supplement because I couldn't make the lactaid work. I did have one. Maybe you could buy one used. When is the due date? I have two that I might be willing to sell pretty cheap.

Maybe wait to see how much you are getting from pumping.

Jennifer

We are due early March and I will start pumping by the end of the week.

I think if you do not break the seal on the Lact-Aid you can return it for a full refund, so getting one and leaving it sealed until you get an idea of how your milk supply it going to be is one option. Where you are going to be pumping here pretty soon, you should have an idea of whether or not you will need it a while before the due date.

If you decide to use it, I suggest trying it out before the baby is born, if you can. Practice filling it and putting it together, with water. Then, you can get an idea of what it is like to use it with a baby by putting the tube on your breast and using your breast pump. If it seems too awkward without tape, you can try taping it. It is often helpful to start out taping it, the first few times you nurse with it, but it isn't usually necessary to keep doing it.

Hospitals can really vary, when it comes to supporting, or non-supporting, adoptive moms nursing. I have heard of some situations where hospital people have even banned adoptive mothers from the nursery. Since yours is a surrogacy situation, however, I would think they would be more helpful.

I think being able to have the baby start nursing right away gives you a better chance of a large milk supply, too. My kids were adopted at various ages, but all had had artificial nipples for at least a few days. Most of them had latch issues, and I really saw a difference in milk production in relation to it. I could never get some of them on the breast far enough. I just had to do the best I could.

What part of March is your baby due? My grandson is due the 15th and we are excited! Best wishes to you with your baby!

Darillyn

Thanks Darillyn, that was really helpful. I never knew you could send back the lactaid if you are not gonna use it. I expect our hospital to be supportive to some extent because I had a tour with them earlier on and they told me their policy is to keep the surro in one room after delivery and the bio mom and baby in one room if the baby is ok to be with you. They also told me they have lactation experts in case I want to nurse and need some help. They said they have dealt with lots of surro deliveries and know what to expect. Our due date is the 17th. We started off with twins and our due date was 02/23 but along the line one of them stopped growing, they called it vanishing twin syndrome and that pushed our EDD from Feb to Mar.

I just wanted to give an update on how the pumping is going. I started pumping about 15days ago and on the first day I made about 1oz total which I did not save. On second day, I made about 2oz and it increased from there, now I am making an average of 15oz per day and I pump 5 to 7 times a day and once at night. What are the chances that I can exclusively breastfeed and do you girls think I will need the lactaid? I have almost 2gallons stored in the freezer.

Wow, that's incredible!
Sounds like you will do well with EBF. Way to go!

It sounds like you are doing great. That is better than my response even with the baby with me. I think I was up to about 12 oz after 2 weeks. That is when I stopped supplementing and just nursed on demand and my supply kept up with her need. She was ebf from 2 weeks on.

I doubt you'll need a lactaid. In the first few days, she'll only be drinking 6-8 oz a day. You will probably actually have to pump after feeding her at first to keep your supply up. Once she starts eating more, my bet is that you'll just increase with her need.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Jennifer

Thanks Linda and Jennifer, I truly value the support I get here. I will let you know how it goes when baby gets here.

Hi Cutie,
Curious how things turned out when your LO was born, how nursing is going? We are due to have our baby in 6 weeks via scheduled rpt csection. Our surro has chosen not to pump colostrum for us but I have a significant amount from a couple donors.

I just finished my meds 2 days ago and have been pumping. I have breast fed my older mamma born daughters & was always very successful. I am producing a steady stream of clear fluid from my "better" breast & am up 2 cup sizes in my bras.

Hoping you have good news to report & congrats on your journey!
Mmkmom

Hi Mmkmom, thanks for checking in. Our son was born in mid March and I gave update on how the breastfeeding is going, sorry you didn't get it. Here is the link to the thread http://www.asklenore.info/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=14073&page=2#Post14073 He has been exclusively breastfed from the time he was 30mins old to now that he is 2months old. I am so glad that things worked out fine and we did not need the lactaid. I was really amazed because this is the first time I am breastfeeding. With the way things are going, am thinking we will just do exclusive until 6months before introducing solids. He is a feeding machine and am glad to be a match to his demand. He is also growing bigger by the day.

I am sure you will have success since you've breastfed before, I wish you luck all through. Good to hear you got donated colostrum, our surro pumped for us and I syringe fed them to baby. Let me know how things go.

I forgot to mention that I pumped a freezer load before baby was born and we haven't even gotten to that.

Cutie,
Congrats! Sounds like things are awesome.

I am hoping for the same success. I tend to wander in & out of this board but am now cking more frequently since we are getting closer. That's prob how I missed your progress.

Again, congrats. Sounds like you guys are in heaven!
Mmkmom

Thanks Mmkmom, I will be checking in to see how things go. I bet you must be excited by now.