When is enough enough?

unaveragejane

I am beyond frustrated with my attempts to nurse and pump. My baby is 11 days old, and as yet we have had possibly 2 successful breastfeeding sessions. When I pump, I typically only get an ounce or less total. My milk was very slow to come in, and still seems to be in low supply. He also had difficulty latching. We finally resorted to bottles and formula around 4 days old b/c he wasn't getting enough to eat. Now he prefers bottles. I got a nipple shield, and that helped a few times with getting him to latch and eat, but my supply is still so low that he winds up screaming at my breast when it won't come in. I have never felt my milk "let down." At this point, the only let-down I feel is that I am having such a hard time with this. I wanted so much to nurse or at least pump and give him breastmilk, but I wind up in tears every time. I am having a very hard time coming to grips with the idea that I might not be able to do this. I think it would be such a relief to give up on BF and rely on formula, but I feel like a huge failure if I go this route. On the other hand, I feel like the stress and anxiety this is causing is not good for either of us. So how do I know how long to push it and when to let it go?