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My husband and I have been hoping to adopt for the last year or so (we are doing independant domestic infant adoption). Our homestudy was approved in March of 2012. I followed protocol with birth control and Domperidone starting in February 2012. I started pumping in July. I have been pumping for 10 months and still don't have a baby. Our first adoption happened very quickly, so I wanted to have milk ready if that should be the case this time around. Unfortunately, it hasn't been. I was amazed at how well my body responded to the protocol. At my highest I was pumping about 18 ounces of breast milk per day. Now, I am down to 12 ounces per day. I am SO tired of pumping! I struggle to pump 5 times per day to maintain my supply with the hopes that a baby finds us soon. I know I could pump more to increase my supply again, but right now there's no point. I have donated thousands of ounces of milk over the last year, which makes me feel good, but I really just want a baby of my own to feed! Is anyone else out there pumping while waiting for a baby to feed? It is so important to me to be able to nurse our baby as I didn't do it with my son, and I still feel guilty about depriving him of that bond and the superior nutrition that it provides, but sometimes I feel like I want to give up! Just looking to hear other peoples stories.
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This forum has really dried up, but I am on a closed forum on Facebook that I'm sure would be more than happy for you to join! There are others who have been through the same thing, or are going through it right now. I know its difficult to know what to do when you have a milk supply and no baby yet. Some just go to pumping a few times a day until they know something and then use their frozen milk in the Lact-Aid, as needed. Anyway, send me a PM if you are interested in the Facebook thing and I will pass it on!
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I did birth control with Domperidone for 4 months before I started pumping. It took about 2 weeks to get more than drops and about a month to get sprays. I was getting about 10 ml each breast by 2 weeks. My supply was at its highest about 2 months in. Now I get about an ounce from each breast every 3-4 hours but I only pump 5 times per day. I hope to be able to increase it when there's a baby, but have been very pleased with the results so far.
It sounds like you are both doing fine! Drops after just a week is par for the course! I'm sure it will increase gradually. For many moms, replacing the pump with a baby at the breast makes a huge difference. If you would like to join the Facebook group, let me know! I sure wish I'd had something like it back when I was starting to try to nurse my own kids. I had to do everything by trial and error. I only had the babies' suckling to stimulate milk production, but produced up to 12 ounces a day, from that alone, and 16 when I started drinking fenugreek and fennell tea. Even a few ounces of breast milk a day can do wonders and 99% of moms can provide that, relatively easily.