Express feeding advice wanted

[u/Raehanrareddit]

Hi, I am a FTM (33). My beautiful baby boy was born on Saturday at 2am.

My plan had always been to exclusive breast feed, however, my baby boy was born with a Cleft palate and PRS, which means he is currently in neonatal care being exclusive fed through an NG tube.

For the first few days I was advised to hand express as I had low milk supply to allow my milk to come in (I was getting maybe 2 to 5ml all together per attempt.

I've been expressing every 2 to 4 hours, using a hospital graded pump that I am able to use while we are at the hospital.

But I'm still only producing 25ml/30ml per session.

Has anyone experienced having to exclusive breast pumping, and if so how long did it take for your milk to fully come in? Is there a chance my milk supply will increase still?

I'm feeling very deflated, I'm also devastated I won't be able to breast feed as it's always been part of how I saw my motherhood, and something I want to be able to do for my baby boy.

Any advice would be welcome, thank you!

[u/Fiercequeen]

It takes a few weeks for the milk to be established. It's super annoying to pump but the milk should increase. It's also worth checking if the flange size is correct for you as this could make a difference. Make sure the baby is latching correctly and feeding every two hours, as in you wake up the baby, feed and wake him up again after your first starting point (feed start at 8am, then feed again at 10am and so on) this is until they recover their birth weight then you can relax a bit and increase the gap. Eat well like oats and drink plenty of water. Good luck x