Congrats on your little one! What kind of pump do you have? If you don't already have a dual electric pump such as a Medela Pump in Style, I would look into renting a hospital grade pump. That can make a huge difference. I know it's exhausting, but you should probably try pumping at least once in the night as well. Have you felt your milk come in yet? In the beginning, it's hard to miss (at least for me, and although I had enough milk, I didn't have an ample supply). Many women get there milk after a day or 2, but for me it took a full week, so you may be taking a long time to get your milk, too. I would get into see a lactation consultant right away - if you like the one at the hospital, check to see if you can make an appt with her. Ask her about a supplemental nursing system. That provides a way for your baby to latch onto your breast, stimulating your body to make milk, avoiding nipple confusion, and providing formula at the same time. When things get ironed out with your supply, you can removed the supplemental system. Also, I highly recommend seeing about getting her back to your breast, as a baby is far more efficient that any pump, but, it does sound like she was having major latch difficulties for you to have bloody nipples so hopefully the lactation consultant can assist with her latch. Oh, I swore by the nipple cream at motherlove.com - awesome stuff that I applied after every single feeding the first month or so. Good luck, and keep us posted!

Congratulations on your bundle of joy : ) I have to agre with Cherbear74 that the Medela pump in style is a great pump. They are pricey but if you know someone who has one and no longer need it .... my nurses said that one was perfectly safe to use after another person as long as you buy brand new parts. Don't reuse anything someone else used parts wise.

Okay on to the milk production... I felt the same way you did . My milk wasn't coming in well. Mine finally came in really good about the second week so DON"T GIVE UP : ) Maybe have your little one nurse on them even if the milk isn't all there. I kept nursing and supplementing with formula and then my milk came in about 10th or 11th day.. I think maybe it helped for my baby to stimulate milk production by nursing even though milk hadn't come down yet. Also, in the hospital my nurse recommended using a syrenge with a tube attached so i could nurse and baby would still be fed without using a bottle. You can ask your lactation nurse for one of those and get her to show you how. Don't give up : )

congratulations!
Is she having latching problems? If not, I'd let her get on your breast...she can stimulate more milk than a pump can.
I also just wanted to add that I never felt my "milk come in"....it was just in. I've also never felt my let down...and my dd is 11 weeks old. I also rarely feel engorged either....I have to touch my breasts to see how they feel. So I don't think everyone feels milk come in and letdowns and things. I would watch your baby and listen to see if she's swallowing...and then pay attention to weight gain and things.
good luck!

Congrats on your baby girl! I had a ton of trouble breastfeeding. We tried on and off for weeks and eventually I have ended up pumping exclusively and bottle feeding breast milk (which has it's advantages and disadvantages). It took a long time for my milk to come in and then it felt like I was producing very little at a time. Your LO isn't eating much in a feeding so that is what your body makes. I remember when I pumped my first 1 oz I was so excited I took a picture! If you want to bf I would find a lactation consultant. I hear they work wonders. If you are going to continue to pump I would rent a hospital grade pump and/or get a Medela Pump in Style. Keep up the great work!

I also had latching issues and after days of him pushing away at my breast and screaming, I have decided to pump and give him bottled breast milk. My milk did come in around day 3, but that was after pumping every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, even though I wasn't getting anything at first. I have continued to do that ever since and my supply is increasing daily. Maybe keep pumping, especially during the night too b/c the lactation people said that I should not go longer than 4 hours w/o pumping or my supply did decrease and during my first week home I pumped 1 day every 2 hours to increase my supply and it worked. Pumping and feeding is hard but it does get a little easier as time goes by - as with this whole new routine, your body and you will adjust.

I've also heard that eating oatmeal (real oats, not instant kind) and raspberries works as well as drinking 1 beer a day. I've been doing all of those (a beer every other day) and my supply seems to be good so take that for what its worth - I was willing to try anything. Good luck and hope it gets better for you!

Oh - I had bought a medela pump but returned it after the lactation people at the hospital told me just to use the rented one from them (Ameda brand) since I'd be using it so much I would wear out the one I bought and the hospital grade one was stronger. So if you aren't renting one from the hospital now, maybe look into that.

Congrats on your DD! My milk took 5-6 days to come in and then wasn't great. I too never felt my milk or a "let down". I had to suppliment in the beginning with formula as well. I found that having my DS on the boob even tho milk was not coming in was much better than pumping. I also used a LC and she recommended a nipple shield to help with my sore nips.

Also, I heard dark chocolate, oatmeal and beer help as well! Stay away from mint tea.. and altoids even...that can take away from what I have read. I hope that helps! Hang in there.. I promise your milk will come in and it will get easier! It took me until week 7 but after that it has been clear sailing.

Congrats on your baby!
You didn't mention if you were also bf or just pumping. I would assume you're nursing too. With both of my kids I over-produced my milk but I couldn't start doing that until a few weeks had passed. I would give it a little more time.
Good luck!

Thank you so much ladies. I'm going to go ahead and see a lactation consultant on Thursday. I've continued to pump and get about 1 oz every 2 hours (with the Madella pump in style). I sure hope the lactation specialist is able to help me get Olivia back on the breast. From what I've been reading and from your suggestions, it sounds like that's what I may have to do to increase my supply. In the hospital, it looked like she was latched on properly (at least that's what the nurses said), but I don't think she was since it resulted in bloody nipples. One nurse mentioned that it looked like Olivia was thrusting with her tongue. Thank you for all your help!!! I'll let you know how it goes Thursday!!

So before I left to see the lactation coach on Thursday I called the office to find out if I should feed my baby before the appointment or hold off. The women I spoke with asked why I was coming in and I explained my situation to her letting her know that I was pumping but had very little supply. I let her know that I attempted to get Olivia back on my breast but she wanted nothing to do with it and the nurse said "Well Yea . . . what do you expect, you shouldn't have waited so long to come in, now you've dug yourself a hole" !!! I broke down and cried when she said this to me. She made me feel like such a failure that I didn't go in to see her. Today I purchased a nipple shield for breastfeeding and to my surprise it worked!!! Olivia is actually latching on with it and I'm not bleeding!!! I'm pretty sore (which I'm assuming is normal the first few days??), but otherwise it's going great. Thank you ladies for all of your help!!! I'm hoping that my supply will increase now that she's latching.

I'm so sorry you were treated like that - I'm infuriated that they would treat you that way, and at their ignorance to be honest. MANY babies take weeks or even months to latch on correctly. I'm glad the shield is working for you, but I still encourage you to see a LC - a different one. I don't know if the shield is a long term solution, but it's good in the short term. Hugs!

also check for tounge tie... my first had mild tounge tie and barely got anything out of the breast though she was "latched properly" hers wasnt fixed till she was 7 mo old and two weeks after she forgot how to nurse... could have tried to get her bach to it but i was exaused and sore so i just kept pumping. the secnnd had it too but was fixed at birth. which i think has grown back...

another thing is my kids have thrush issues like they get tounge pain but the tounge hardly ever gets coated with white.

see if your dr will give you a script for APNO (all purpose nipple ointment) that stuff is awesome.

I am so sorry to hear about how you were treated. That is just unacceptable Check out the La Leche League International http://www.llli.org for advice and local assistance. I had a LC come to my house which made me very comfortable as well as my DS.

Glad to hear the nipple shield is working. It was a ,ice saver for me!

Keep in mind that that woman was probably not the lc, but a receptionist. By all means, see that LC, or another, but do continue to get help. If you need some great articles on latching, with special diagrams, send me a pm and I can e-mail them to you. Be sure to do a lot of skin-on-skin too.

It is always better to see an lc late, than never! That woman was incredibly rude. But I am sure that she was not thinking!

Here are some links for you!

starting out right
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:breastfeeding-starting-out-right&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

finding a bf support person
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:finding-a-breastfeeding-support-person&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

is bb getting enough milk
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23:is-my-baby-getting-enough-milk&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

nipple shields
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74:nipple-shields&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

versus lactation aids
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25:lactation-aid&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

sore nipples
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:sore-nipples&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

when bb does not yet latch
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54:when-baby-does-not-yet-latch&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

when latching
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75:when-latching&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

on expressing bm
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16:expressing-breast-milk&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

finally, soem video clips on how to do it right:
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=13

You may also want to look into herbs for low supply, if it is indeed the problem:

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21:herbal-remedies-for-milk-supply&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

Good luck, keep it up. BF does depend to a large degree on your determination.

I'm a bit late in even commenting on this, and I do hope you have had great success since you first posted!! But in case you are still having any issues, I would suggest you contact your local La Leche League chapter and find a consultant to talk to. I had some supply issues about a month or so ago (my DD is now 9.5 months old) and the LC I talked to was AMAZING!!! So nice, and extremely helpful. She suggested I take Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle to help bring my supply back up, and to also pump some as well. It all worked wonders!! They have local meetings for breastfeeding mothers to get together, or you could probably even have one come to your home.

Anyway, I hope you and your daughter are doing great, and have a wonderful bonding time while nursing! Congratulations on your sweet little girl!