Lactation Bites

Hi, all!

After a nice long 16 weeks of maternity leave, I started back to work last month. Luckily, I get to work from home, but that can definitely get interesting with a baby along for the ride. I cut back my work hours to help manage it all, but that’s left little time for blogging still. I think eventually we will get into the swing of things over here, but for now, I’m barely keeping afloat with work and Henry! Does anyone have any tips or is it just one of those things that gets better as your kiddo gets older and requires less attention? Or does that just bring on a new set of challenges? Time will tell!

Anyway, I don’t make much of anything from scratch in the kitchen anymore, but I have been making these Lactation Bites (or Boobie Balls, is what my husband calls them) all the time. Anything that requires minimal ingredients and no baking is a win in my book. When I started pumping to try and build a stash for times I’m away from Henry, I realized quickly that I definitely do not have an oversupply of breastmilk. How was I supposed to feed him AND have extra to save? After talking to a friend, she suggested making these bites to help build up my supply. I do think they help give me a little boost and I now have a small freezer stash of breastmilk which is a big victory in my book! There are a zillion different recipes for them out there, but I thought I’d share how I make them. The oatmeal and flaxseed are the two big important ingredients here in helping your supply.

• 2 cup dry oatmeal
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup flaxseed
• 2/3 cup raw honey
• Combine all in a bowl. Wet hands and roll into ball size of your choice. Set in fridge to cool!

Ta-da! That’s it! Believe it or not, I have messed these up. Sleep deprivation is SO real, my friends. Luckily, Henry has been sleeping through the night for the last month or so (::knock on wood::), so the world is becoming a little less blurry again. We are at about 5 months of exclusively breastfeeding, which I’m super proud of! Breastfeeding is something that I knew would have its challenges, but it’s so rewarding. I also feel very fortunate we’ve been able to go this long. Stay tuned for a blog post in the next month or so about our experience as I’m making the super tough decision to probably stop soon. Oh my goodness, I got teary-eyed typing that. Okay, more on that topic another time. Have a great week!

Xo, Anna