Breastfeeding has been a struggle for us from the beginning. My breasts never grew, were never engorged when my milk came in (at least, no more than they are after a stretch of a few hours), and my daughter was born with a tongue-tie. She finally figured out how to suck correctly after about a month, but by that time, my supply had already been somewhat stunted, between my own physiological issues and her ineffective suck. I'm taking Motherlove More Milk Special Blend and just started Domperidone. DD is only getting a few oz of formula a day, and I'd like to get away from it entirely.
Our current problem is slow milk flow. DD either falls asleep or drags my nipple around in frustration long before she's satisfied, feedings last between an hour or an hour and a half - and frequently bleed into one another, especially if I give her an oz or two of expressed milk or formula to try and satisfy her before putting her down. DD can't nap more than forty-five minutes at a time, because she wakes up screaming for milk. She's gaining weight properly and having enough dirty diapers, but every waking minute is spent at the breast, on the bottle, or fighting to put an overtired baby down to nap. Besides that, because she wants to nurse so frequently, I can't pump between feedings to boost my supply - she usually wakes up within minutes of a pumping session.
I realized last week that I know nothing about her except her hunger cues, her hungry cry, and when to burp her. Our whole life together has been a struggle to get her fed. I haven't had the presence of mind to figure out what tired or bored or lonely looks like, and rarely have the patience or energy to play with her. I'm so frustrated, and being able to give her a bottle in twenty minutes and have a whole hour or more to spend just enjoying her, teaching her, playing with her, and being able to put her down, confident that she's not still hungry - man, that's looking really attractive.