Is there hope for me?

TaroTea

Hello ladies,

Long time lurker here. I'm venturing out from underneath my rock because I desperately need help!

DS is 6 weeks old. I wanted so badly to exclusively breastfeed him, but I hit so many obstacles (jaundice, latch issues, bloody nipples, formula being introduced in the hospital, having absolutely ZERO alone time with baby to recover/bond, an infection in my entire abdomen from my c-section that basically incapacitated me, weeks of antibiotics, etc.) during these past several weeks that he's mostly formula fed right now.

My supply is shot because of it... I can sometimes pump 1oz from my left side, but my right side seems to be pretty useless. I've tried pumping on his schedule, but after the first session nothing really comes out, so after a while I get discouraged and quit for the day.

(Side note: I have fibrocystic breasts, so my right side is pretty lumpy... could that cause breastfeeding issues?) 

He really enjoys being on the breast, he's very relaxed and snuggly, but as soon as I take him off of it, no matter how long he's been nursing, he cries for food. I will admit, I don't put him to the boob every feeding because it doesn't seem like he's actually getting much to eat; he'll audibly swallow for the first few minutes, after that, it seems like he's sucking just for the sake of it.

He's been eating 3-4oz of formula at a time, and I have no idea how I can catch up. I just got some "Motherlove More Milk Special Blend", which I'll be taking starting today, but what else should I do? I know I should be nursing him as much as possible, but will my supply increase even if he's sucking an empty breast? How do I make sure he gets enough to eat?

 

TL;DR: I formula fed my baby for his first six weeks, and I feel like a failure. I want to fix things, if possible.