My blog posts of late have been a confusing tangle of rabbit trails that lead to nothing but loose ends.
And I despise loose ends nearly as much as I despise continuity issues.
(Such as, why can Tinkerbell make anything fly in the rain but herself? Even if her wings are wet, couldn’t she just sprinkle pixie dust on herself and float?!?)
At any rate, I figured I better tie up some things around here.
First of all, Secret Agent Mommy.
I purposefully left the ending of that post vague so that I didn’t have to defend my purchase to those of you who weren’t in agreement with my methods, but since most of you figured it out anyway, and many have asked how it’s going, I guess I’ll come out of the drug-taking closet.
Yes, I ordered Domperidone to help my milk supply.
With, might I add, the full blessing of Noah’s Pediatrician.
And actually, it shipped from Vanuatu instead of New Zealand, coming in a very conspicuous package labeled “Non-Restricted Pharmaceutical”..
(Waiting for you to Google where Vanuatu is….)
(Okay – welcome back.)
As I was told would be the case, they came in manufacturer’s packaging and even a few pesky Vanuatuan packing peanuts..
(Bet you didn’t know that they had packing peanuts in Vanuatu, did you? Learn something new every day.)
I started taking them as soon as the package arrived, and began to notice a difference in my milk supply within 12 hours.
And within 2 days, my milk supply had doubled!!!
After taking it for a month, I’ve gone from giving Noah 18-25 ounces of formula a day to only 6-10 ounces.
Those tiny pills are pure awesomeness.
And no, there have been no side effects – except for a whole new set of nursing dreams – instead of dreaming that I have no milk, I’m having nightmares about throwing out dozens of bottles of breastmilk that I – horror of horrors – let ROT in the fridge.
(In my dream, I tasted it before throwing it out, rotted curds and all. It was NAST-Y.)
So go ahead and roast me, all ye naturalies, but I hope that you’re at least horribly conflicted in said roasting, since taking these pills has allowed me to nurse more and formula less, which is pretty naturaley of me, if I may say so myself.
(All in fun, I stress. I love all of my naturaley friends.)
Next. Chris and my uber-geeky weight-loss plan. Thank you all for your compliments on Noah’s dedication post – as many of you noticed, the diet is most definitely working.
In five weeks, I’ve lost 15.2 pounds, and Chris has lost 16 pounds. We’re both lighter than we’ve been in over ten years. Here’s our before and now pictures:
Before:
(sorry – I don’t have any “before” pics where I’m not hiding my post-baby belly with a kid)
The Lose It app is completely to blame for our weight loss – I haven’t exercised at all (except for nursing, which probably also deserves some weight loss credit). But there is most definitely some magic in simply counting calories. Lose it is a free app (they really should charge for it – I’d pay for it!), and I think you can even use it for free online if you don’t have an iPhone, although not having it with you everywhere you go would make it more tedious to use.
I thought you’d also like to know that I took your advice.
Remember when Ashley and I decided that we were absolutely done with our weekly routine of going to lunch with all of our kids in tow?
And so many of you encouraged us to not give up?
Well, we gave it another try, then another and another, and it actually wasn’t so bad. We haven’t had another catastrophic lunch since, so we’ve decided we can handle it after all – and who knows? Maybe even with a few more kids thrown in for the fun of it.
Or not.
But at any rate, we didn’t give up! We pressed through! And we succeeded!
And finally, we have a new cousin around here! Andi:
Isn’t she beautiful?
Noah is thrilled to have a cousin his size to bully around:
And Andi’s older siblings are pretty thrilled too.
Or they would be if they weren’t so exhausted from all of the excitement.
So there you have it. More than you ever wanted to know about International Drugs, Weight Loss, Lunch, and Babies. If I left anything out, feel free to ask!
Oh – I almost forgot one last update.
My Breast Pump? Hasn’t said a SINGLE WORD to me since I exposed it’s chatty ways.
I’m so glad that you posted about taking domperidone to help your milk supply, I think more women need to hear about it and know that there are options out there when supply is challenging! My SIL is currently taking it with her second child and is having a good experience with it too.
And of course you look fantastic :)
It really is great stuff – the weird thing is, it’s even immediate! I took one too many the other night and I woke up in the morning in MAJOR PAIN with so much milk. I took one too few, and had less milk. Amazing stuff!
Ooh, Ooh, I know where Vanautu is. Survivor went there one season. And again I will say you rocked the blue dress! I wonder what the difference is between the Lose It app and My Fitness Pal? I have the latter but I am in no way trying to use it right now.
I knew I recognized that island from somewhere!
I don’t have My Fitness Pal – does it keep track of calories and workouts?
I so wish I had know about domperidone when I was nursing. I struggled with low supply too, but with a lot of work was able to do about 50% formula/breastmilk and kept it up for a full year. Even pumped, froze, and brought home milk when we went skiing in Alaska!
Traveling with a pump is lovely, isn’t it? I took it on our tenth anniversary trip…so romantic!!
That’s super awesome about the milk supply and weight loss! And you are a brave soul to keep up with lunch! I’m honestly not sure the last time I took mine to a restaurant that didn’t serve french fries and have a playplace.
I guess something about going once a week has them trained…like little monkeys.
So glad to hear about all the success! More milk, weight loss, lunch in public with kids, I think you are ready to conquer the world now.
… if only I could get a good night’s sleep, maybe I could!!! And by “good”, I mean at least, say, 12 hours. :)
I am glad your milking. But if Noah grows a third eye, don’t say I didn’t tell ya’…
:)
I shall come fall at your feet and beg your forgiveness for not heeding your advice! ;)
Oh, and p.s. – thanks. Now I have that song stuck in my head.
[daydreaming]what ever happened to that band anyway…
Thanks again, now I’m going to waste another hour on google.
It’s Peaches by Presidents of the United States! :) I love that band!
I had wondered how many people would get the title reference!
Well done all round. You look gorgeous in your blue dress. It’s a pity you couldn’t take a wee holiday to Vanuatu to pick up your pills. :) I haven’t been there, but have been to Fiji and Samoa which are similar Pacific Islands and can recommend.
Oh definitely!! Any beach would be awesome right now! But alas, too much to do for the people here in Alabama – I’d feel so guilty taking a vacation right now. Hopefully I can get over that by July, when we are going to the beach!
Thanks for the updates. That’s awesome that you milk supply has increased so much. The weight loss is awesome too. You inspired me to sign up for Lose It online — I really feel off the bandwagon last week with my diet, and I have managed to find excuses to stay away from the Post Partum Boot Camp video workout. :) Seeing how fabulous you look has inspired me to be more diligent in watching what I eat. I’m happy for you that you made the weekly lunch work — I used to go to lunch with my best friend every week day when I lived in Birmingham. I miss her so much,and I miss those lunches. That’s definitely not something to give up if you don’t have to. Andi is beautiful! Congrats to J.C. and Lindsay.
So happy to hear DPD is working for you; I knew it would! It’s one of those rare drugs that you actually see/feel results from. AND congrats on losing weight! So jealous! I was actually told not to make sure to eat an extra 500 calories a day and not to exercise because doing so could decrease your milk supply. Hope none of that happens to you. But I guess the DPD would cancel it out. Anyway, so glad DPD is working for you!
Well, since I’m using lose it, I’m actually putting in about 500 calories a day that I’m “exercising” by nursing, so that gives me 500 extra calories a day I can eat. Not that I always eat them, but that’s the idea, anyway! :)
Damn, I wish I had heard about this stuff a year ago. I totally would have gone for it. There was many nights I cried along with my daughter when she desperately wanted to nurse more and there was just nothing left.
And OMG! Congrats on the weight loss!
It really is a miracle drug. I used Reglan with Ali, and it didn’t help at all – just caused post-partum depression. Not cool.
So glad the drugs are working out for you! Haha, that sounds funny. Noah is a blessed little baby to have a Mommy who cares so much for him as to order drugs from a foreign country. :)
I am goign to check out the Lose it app online. I downloaded it onto my husbands phone. I think it will help him. He is always complaining about needing to lose weight but he eats JUNK at work. Maybe this will help him be more aware of all that is going in. :)
Way to go on being brave enough to conquer the lunch with kids!
And Congratulations on the new niece! How did I miss that they were pregnant again?? Love all the curly hair in that family. Must be where Ali gets it from!
Downloaded the app today! Of course, I won’t be using it for about six months, but I wanted to go ahead and get it in case they decide to start charging for it between now and then!
So glad the Domperidone is working for you! It was a God-send when I was nursing both of my kiddos… and I am even one of those “naturaley” people. :) It is a shame we have to order it from foreign countries!
Thanks for the reassurance!! Maybe all the naturaley people won’t beat me up after all! :)
I’m so glad the Domperidone worked! I hadn’t heard of it until you mentioned it. Why isn’t it available in the US????
I also noticed your weight loss in that blue dress….you look smoking! Good for you! I have struggled with my weight pre and post baby, and I know how hard losing can be.
I think there’s some political thing with the FDA. I wish they’d approve it, though!!!
I feel as though I have missed out on so much…I’m backtracking, but I promise not to comment on every single post!
So glad your “secret” medication has worked so well!
You and Chris have done an awesome job on the weight-loss plan, I still have the last 5-10 lbs to lose, looks like I might need to get the lose it app.
Way behind on my blogs – but so glad to hear this is working for you!