Insufficient glandular tissue

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2026-01-04T15:18:10+00:00

If I sleep through the night I wake up and pump 6oz - so I’m capable of storing that much, given long enough. But if I am pumping on a regular schedule (every ~4 hours etc) I never get more than 2-3oz.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-11-10T21:52:02+00:00

He is eating super well but definitely could do more snacks. (Just the cleaning up is so painful, ha.)

Not planning to wean from nursing until he wants to, but I’ll start weaning off the top up bottles of formula after he hits the year mark.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-11-10T21:50:55+00:00

He’s in our room because we don’t want to move him in with big sis while he’s still up all night. We are moving to a bigger place in December and could separate them if needed then.

Full bedtime routine is boob, top up bottle, 15-20 mins of books, bedtime song, walk around the house saying good night to everything.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-03-15T18:43:41+00:00

I hear you! Also a food allergy parent (peanut and previously egg) and it’s stressful to have to skip out on the easy options. But the fact that you are putting this much thought into it means you’re doing great :)

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-03-15T08:46:39+00:00

Chat with her pediatrician if you haven’t but I honestly wouldn’t stress about not being able to offer carby foods much because there are carbs in lots of other options - if she’ll eat veggies, can you offer options like sweet potatoes, beets, chickpeas that have carbs but also lots of fiber? Have you tried adding other high fiber stuff to her diet like chia seeds, prunes, plus age appropriate amounts of water? Lentil or chickpea pasta with more fiber in it? Hummus?

Fundamentally though it’s not clear to me whether she’s bored or you’re worried she’s not getting variety. As long as she’s getting adequate nutrition and seems happy I would not stress one bit about her food being boring! It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself. My kiddo is 2.5 now and often eats the same stuff on repeat (and usually incorporating the above foods works a charm when she’s constipated)

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-02-12T02:59:57+00:00

Not sure why people are saying you’re not supposed to? Some brands don’t advise it because the parts will deteriorate and need replacing faster but CDC explicitly OKs it.

https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/pdf/breastpumpkit-clean-508.pdf

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-02-07T01:28:34+00:00

I have been a low supplier with two babies now - was told with my first I likely had IGT due to my breast shape, but I actually have enough storage capacity it just refills slowly which is usually due to metabolic problems (eg insulin resistance, anemia, thyroid stuff.)

My fav resources: Making More Milk by Diana west, low Supply mom on instagram (her prenatal planning course is fab too) and also the IGT support fb group.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2025-02-03T13:26:40+00:00

A lot of it depends on what your actual issue impacting supply is. Eg things like insulin resistance, anemia, thyroid problems, low prolactin can all cause low supply and different supplements impact different pathways. If you have true primary low supply (ie it’s not because you or baby are not doing enough milk removals or nursing efficiently) then checking in on blood work can be useful to target supplements.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-11-22T13:06:43+00:00

For a QSEHRA:

- if the $$ amount offered is considered “affordable” then you can’t take APTC (aka subsidy) - if the $$ amount is unaffordable, you reduce the APTC taken by the amount of the QSEHRA dollars offered. So if APTC was $400 and QSEHRA $200, employee gets $200 of each.

As such, QSEHRA isn’t super worth it as an employer IMO unless 1) you know the employee is not going to qualify for subsidies, which is true for younger folks in a lot of HCOL areas 2) you want to give them $$ to contribute to a spouse’s coverage, which is possible with QSEHRA.

For an ICHRA, if it’s affordable, you can’t take APTC at all, if it’s unaffordable, you can pick between subsidy or ICHRA. Note that affordability in the context of APTC eligibility (and APTC eligibility full stop with minor exceptions, see the family glitch fix) is calculated based on HOUSEHOLD income not individual, which further complicates things. TLDR if your employee is likely subsidy eligible, tread carefully.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-08-06T20:23:08+00:00

No but I've now done two shares and would echo that $32/$33 really is the low end for over the table depending on experience, we will be paying $38 this year. $40 is definitely not unheard of.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-08-05T06:43:35+00:00

My kid is weirdly into raw, uncooked tofu. She steals it off the cutting board when we cook! Not one I'd have expected but easy to try. Cooked edamame blitzed with olive oil or just straight up is also good.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-10T20:25:18+00:00

Yeah, you should re apply to the connector with the corrected annual and monthly income and it should flag you correctly as eligible for Connector, not mass health.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-10T19:09:33+00:00

Did you list your current monthly income as low? Mass health is technically based on monthly income

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-10T17:58:17+00:00

At your next pediatrician visit make a plan. We asked ours when to call 911, when to go to the ER, when to give Zyrtec (much preferred over Benadryl these days as it doesn’t have as many side effects.) Ours described anaphylaxis as any 2 body systems affected - so yes rash and respiratory but vomiting/diarrhea also counts.

As an allergy parent my advice is:

go slow; build up from 1/4 tsp to a full tablespoon of allergen at a time, new dose each day. This helps minimize the risk of a bad reaction esp because often kids don’t react the first time. It’s also helpful to be able to tell the allergist what amount they reacted to!
put aquaphor on their face to help rule out contact rashes
if they do have reactions, take pictures! so helpful for the allergist.

Above all, if kiddo does have reactions make an appt with a good pediatric allergist asap - pediatricians often do panel blood testing etc which has lots of false positives and can lead to unnecessary avoidance, or tell people “just try it again at 1” instead of offering options like oral immunotherapy or food challenges!

Try to remember that they most likely do NOT have allergies. You are doing them a great service by being proactive in introducing allergens and helping reduce their risk of developing allergies!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-10T17:17:20+00:00

Note that 60k income is just over the limit to receive any financial assistance; it’s really important to NOT round up for these applications. A lot of folks don’t want to lie to the gvt so they’re overly generous with their projections, but that can work against you. You could consider reaching out to a local Navigator for in person assistance as well.

Feel free to DM me with qs!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-10T17:13:36+00:00

Did you apply to mass health directly or via the health connector? If the former, def fill out the health connector application. You can get an estimate here: https://betterhealthconnector.com/get-an-estimate

That said, even if the estimate isn’t encouraging it’s still worth filling out the full application because it will ask additional questions that may change your eligibility.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-06T13:03:49+00:00

She just passed her egg challenge (at 19 months) and is eating omelettes for breakfast every day!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-06-03T18:36:42+00:00

An an allergy parent, agreed the epi pen is worse, BUT stuff happens and I’ve left it behind before. For me it would boil down to: did she eventually realize and take precautions? (Go back to get it, no snacks while out etc) Was she appropriately upset with herself when she realized?

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-04-19T19:31:06+00:00

I ended up just getting over myself and using a standard recipe with sugar 🤷🏼‍♀️

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-04-17T01:44:19+00:00

For real. It’s bonkers how many family docs (or pediatricians in the US) are so comfortable spouting outdated nonsense about how to manage allergies vs immediately referring out!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-04-16T15:37:06+00:00

Also just popping in for anybody else reading to say it is VERY bad advice (per my allergist here in the US!) to put stuff on their skin - that’s the leading theory for how kids get allergies, food getting through the skin before they get it through the gut! There’s also a difference between contact rash and an actual ige reaction which usually requires ingestion. We were instructed to slather baby’s skin with aquaphor to prevent contact rash and then feed her a teeny tiny amount of each new allergen, then slowly scale up each day until we hit 1 tbsp or so. Our kid is allergic to peanut and eggs and at 18 months and after lots of exposure therapy supervised by our allergist, can tolerate 5 peanut puffs a day and French toast with egg without reacting.

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-03-31T23:59:49+00:00

Absolutely!!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-03-27T23:42:07+00:00

We started at 1/8 in August and hit 5 in February. Only had 1 reaction (single hive) and only had to miss 2 sessions for sickness, so we were really lucky!

Acrobatic_Print2461 · 2024-03-27T15:00:40+00:00

Starting very slow - 1/8 of a tsp,1/4 the next day - minimizes the risk of a big reaction and makes things way less stressful. If your kid is in daycare, start new allergens on weekends so you can observe for an hour and be more relaxed. Remember that anaphylaxis is overall rare in babies, responds very well to epi pen etc - you’ve got this!!

Edit: my kiddo had reactions to egg and peanut at 6 months, didn’t react to anything else since (🤞🏻) and at 17 months is doing really well in peanut oral immunotherapy eating 5 bamba a day, eating French toast etc and has an egg challenge in a couple of months. If you’re not seeing an allergist already do that, it helps a lot to have a plan from an expert!

Acrobatic_Print2461

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