Ever since I was pregnant with Graem, we have talked about and read about inducing lactation for the non-carrying one of us. The idea of it always intrigued me, in that we both have the opportunity to do so, so why not? But I think we were just so overwhelmed with first-time parenthood and the process of actually inducing is tedious enough that Shawna didn’t do it the first time around.

I found nursing so enjoyable with Graem, and I attribute my bonding with her to it (I know, it probably isn’t the only reason I bonded), that I am pretty excited about doing it this time around. I also hope that it will help me bond with the baby, which I have a little anxiety about since I won’t be pushing this one through my na-na.

We’ve perused various webpages on the topic–I seem to have found all the ones that involve using hormones like the BCP and domperidone, while Shawna keeps finding ones that state that mechanical stimulation (i.e., breast pump or actual baby) will induce lactation. The lactation consultant at Graem’s pediatrician’s office is very excited at the prospect, but has never actually helped anyone do it; I emailed another local consultant who is a leading breastfeeding expert, and her experience seems pretty limited as well. One of the midwives we met with (who would be the one to prescribe the BCP/other hormones if we choose that route) had no idea how to do it, so at this point we’re not really sure where to go. Minimally I’ve started pumping for about 15-20 minutes a night, but if I really want it to work, I’m going to have to add more pumping sessions. Which will mean lugging the pump back and forth to work, since some sources insist on pumping every three hours! The good news is that some pages that Shawna read said that milk could come in as few as 11-13 days.

Actually hooking myself up to the pump brought back memories; but it was also sad to see that not much was coming out–except for some oily secretion. The prospect of pumping at work seems overwhelming now; it’s funny to remember how much I wasn’t bothered by it almost three years ago.

We’ll see how it goes…and I’ll keep posting about it.