Hey Erin! First of all Congratulations on your pregnancy! And your decision to BF!!! I have three children. I gave up all too soon with my first and supplemented with formula per my pediatrician's instruction and was feeling guilty about it for MONTHS. Second pregnancy I vowed I was breastfeeding no matter what. Supply and demand, that's what is boils down to unless you have health issues. Within the first 20 min of the birth the baby should be on the breast! My hospital and new ped agreed and the second time around was difficult to get used to but a breeze after a few days! When my milk came in I had some issues with being engorged but once I got that under control it was smooth sailing. I hit a bump in the road a few weeks in, he hit a growth spurt and I didn't think I was producing enough. After some research, help from breast feeding acquiantances and from a lactation consultant, my supply was not low at all...he was just far more efficient and getting the milk and I was so used to the feelings that were associated with let down and such that there was no issue at all. If you need to supplement or beef up your supply, put the baby on the breast. Milk is based on supply and demand. You can pump in between feeding sessions as well if you want to beef up your supply. As for prolactin levels being low, your doc should be able to tell you why that happened and if not do some searching on the internet but take what you read with a grain of salt unless its from a verified or reliable source. If you do have to supplement do it with breast milk that you pump and not formula from a bottle. Once the baby gets a taste of the bottle too early on they rarely want to go back to breast because bottles are easier and less work for them. My father lives with a labor and delivery nurse/lactation consultant so that made my life easier! When I had my third baby, once she got her latch correct it was so easy to breastfeed and I did it until 13 months. Remember, the more stimulation, the more milk!! Good Luck!

This is so helpful! Thank you!

Erin, I am in a similar boat. I'm 37+ weeks with baby #2, and I had the worst time with my first. My dad is a pediatrician, as is my BIL, so both of them were like, "Just supplement with formula if you're worried about supply." They just wanted him to gain weight. I cried and cried and cried (and cried) because I felt so horribly guilty about it. Now don't get me wrong, my son thrived just fine on the breastmilk I was able to give him plus the formula, and the lactation consultant was awesome about not making me feel guiltier than I already felt, but I still wish I could have done better not even so much for the health benefits (because I had to force myself to overlook that to get over my guilt) but for convenience and cost. Formula is so expensive!!! Even with my dad and BIL sending me samples and coupons left and right, I still spent a LOT of money on it. This time I intend to be a lot more persistent and need to change a few things I did last time in order to get off on the right foot. (Also, I never had my prolactin levels checked, galactagogues did nothing for me (I ate oatmeal and took brewer's yeast, blessed thistle, and fenugreek), but I have purchased mother's milk tea for this go-round in hopes that it might give me a boost.)

Aaanyway, if it helps, my sister has two sons. With her first, she was like me where she had (at least perceived) supply issues from day 1, supplemented with formula, and then ended up giving up on BFing/pumping when she had almost nothing left, thus moving over to formula 100% by a couple of months (my son went all-formula at about 3 months). For her second, she had SO much milk, it was ridiculous. She could pump 8-10 oz in a sitting (her son would not latch to save his life, so she was EPing). Then a few weeks postpartum what she thought was pregnancy-related sciatica turned out to be a slipped disc in her back, so she had to have back surgery --> end of pumping and the beginning of formula. So while she was ok with doing formula the second time around because she'd done it before and because she couldn't pump and take pain meds (and she was out of commission for at least 2 weeks after surgery), she lamented the fact that she didn't have the awesome supply the first time around and the (possibly) crappy supply the second time.

I don't think she had any difference in breast growth during her two pregnancies. I haven't, personally, but we don't know how I'll do the second time around. However I'm hoping I follow suit and have an awesome supply this time! I'd love to be able to have a great frozen stash and, if my supply is really that awesome, donate to a milk bank.

Can I eat lactation cookies while I am still pregnant? (the last week or so?) Will that do anything for production or will it cause a problem for my babes?

It probably depends on what is in them... I know some ladies on the Fit, Fabulous, & Pregnant boards who already had their babies made them in advance and brought them to the hospital, and I remember one commented that the LC couldn't believe how fast her milk came in (and joked that it was a record), especially given that she'd just had her first baby. I was warned not to drink the Mother's Milk tea before delivery because it could cause contractions, etc., though at this point (39+2) I would welcome that, but I'm not sure if that's because there's all sorts of galactagogues in there. I think lactation cookies pretty much rely on oatmeal and brewer's yeast, and obviously there's no issue with the former during pregnancy. (I would try to find some reliable information on whether or not brewer's yeast is, but given that it's in beer, and aside from the alcohol, I don't think there's a problem with beer during pregnancy, so it's probably ok - but I would check to be safe!) If there's something else in there, I'd look it up if I were you.

If they are ok to eat during pregnancy, I'd hold off until 37 or 38 weeks so that you're not leaking colostrum or anything at, say, 30 weeks

I meant to make some lactation cookies and freeze them to bring to the hospital, but I forgot when I was in the early 30s, and now I have no energy for it, plus I'd have to go drive around to find certain ingredients, like brewer's yeast, which I know they don't sell at the two main supermarkets where I shop. You can buy them online, too, but they are PRICEY!