A new diagnosis; not colic

After we learned from the pediatrician that Aya had colic, I decided I should also call our lactation consultant to get her advice. I didn't think that screaming after feeding was normal or okay. Mary Kay agreed, and after listening to Aya's symptoms, suggested I was probably producing too much milk and overwhelming Aya's little developing system. I loved the questions she asked to help address our situation. They felt important and comprehensive. They felt like they were pinpointing a problem and not just addressing symptoms. She wanted to know Aya's birth weight, discharge weight, current weight, and all the details of what her feedings were like. After listening thoughtfully, she said it seemed as though Aya might be gaining weight too quickly. She also said that because Aya was gulping and choking her way through feedings, my letdown was probably very fast and forceful which is common with oversupply. Additionally, Mary Kay wanted to know what Aya's stools were like. I told her they were green and had wondered why I never saw the mustard yellow ones I thought breastfeed babies were supposed to have. These green stools also turned out to be a sign of oversupply. And so, the education on oversupply began.

There are two different kinds of milk mother's produce, foremilk and hindmilk. Foremilk comes first; it is a thirst quencher, high in lactose, and looks like skim milk. Later in the feeding, the fat content in the milk increases with each letdown. This later, more calorie dense milk, is called the hindmilk. It is creamy and thicker, and higher in calories. That is why it is important babies learn to empty one breast before going to the next, so they get a balance of both kinds of milk. When a mother produces too much milk (or more than the baby needs), an imbalance of foremilk and hindmilk is the result. Babies' tummies fill up on the early foremilk and don't have enough room for the hindmilk that comes later in a feeding. This imbalance will cause gas, fussiness, colicky symptoms and possibly reflux. The fact I switched Aya to the other breast each time she came off of the first breast crying only made the problem worse. As I switched her to the other side she was once again overwhelmed by additional foremilk, making her tummy hurt more .

I was so happy to hear there may be help for our little Aya, and relief for us too. The process of decreasing my milk supply was about to begin.