In 2010, I had a breast reduction. It was for many reasons but first and foremost, it was because of my back and the strain they put on it. While they didn't look huge by any stretch, they were markedly uncomfortable and bras had always been an issue...

Fast forward to 2012 when DS was born. While I did my best to breast feed him - and was able to give him a little - I wasn't producing nearly enough to feed him solely by breast. So we supplemented with formula. I know I should have tried harder but as a first time mom, suddenly finding herself as a SAHM after nearly fifteen years straight as a student, and a myriad of other things, the idea of breast feeding even for my baby's benefit wasn't high on my list. So when we struggled with latching, feeding, the rawness after months, and the feeling of complete and utter failure, I quit. He was probably four months old when I switched to just formula. I used the excuse that he was teething and pushing teeth through but the truth is, I was just done.

Fast forward again to this month. DD arrived March 3rd and since then, I've been trying to breast feed her. As the lactation specialist pointed out at the hospital, with every child after the first it becomes a little bit easier to breast feed. And she thought that since my DS is so young, my milk supply hadn't completely dwindled from the first one although I had stopped breast feeding when he was so young.

She's three weeks old now and while I am still at it, I feel as if while her appetite is growing and I still put her to breast whenever she wants, she's not getting as much. We're supplementing with bottles of formula still but I really want to try and give her a better go of it than I did her brother. With the two of them, I don't have time for pumping - even at night, after DS has gone to bed.

Do you have any suggestions for increasing milk supply? Any other HB'ers have breast reductions and then try to breast feed? Should I try lactation cookies, etc? And if so, what should I try?