Disclaimer: If you have no desire to hear about my breastfeeding journey no need to keep reading :) I'm also in no way a lactation consultant or expert!! Oh, and also I do advocate trying to breast feed, but do not have any judgement whatsoever towards moms that formula feed. just FYI!
Ok, I was one of those moms-to-be that when asked if I was going to bfeed I'd reply, "eh, I'll try..if it works, it works. If it doesn't I'm not going to beat myself up about it." So, it was much to my surprise when it just "clicked" for us and I wanted to exclusively bfeed. I remember actually crying when he latched for the first time. I think I was just shocked that it was actually working! I felt needed by him and I just had a strong desire to provide for him in any way he needed {food}.
I delivered on Tuesday and by Friday my milk came in..holy cow, literally. I said to Jordan, "this is what I'd look like with implants!" Bradley was nursing every 2 hours or so, on demand.We never had any issues or pain with latching..the only thing was the first few times I nursed I needed to use the lanolin cream because my nipples would get really dry, which is to be expected. Then that Saturday (4 days later) I had to go to school to take a final. My first time away from my baby! I knew I had to pump. I had bought a Medela manual breast pump because I didn't want to spent a lot of money on a pump if bfeeding didn't work for us. So I pumped with the manual pump and within 10 minutes I had 6oz. I was pretty impressed with myself! I had heard bad things about using a manual..that it hurt, that it took forever, etc. But I didn't have any issues with it at all.
I did cry when he was given his first bottle. Especially with it being only 4 days after he was born, I was worried he'd have nipple confusion, etc. I was nervous when I got back from my final that he wouldn't want to nurse anymore. Luckily, it didn't phase him. Anything with food he wanted!! I was so relieved that I actually started to not mind the bottle. I could pump a bottle really quickly in order for Jordan to feed him while I was showering or something. I felt like it took a lot of the pressure off of me to basically be sitting around bra-less, waiting on when the baby needed to eat next. So, now we always have a current bottle in the fridge just in case I needed someone else to feed him. Also, I learned that I am not a public bfeeder. I have NO issue with women nursing in public, but I can't bring myself to do it..not even at my grandmother in law's house at Christmas. I think because I am too uncoordinated to nurse discreetly lol.
Around 3 weeks old, Bradley started to latch, take about 3 gulps and pull off the breast and gasp for air. I did not understand what the heck was going on and it worried me because he would get very frustrated on the breast. Because I had such a positive experience with the lactation consultants at the hospital, I went to visit their bfeeding clinic. As soon as I showed them our issue they knew what the problem was. Turns out, I have an over active let down which basically means I spray him like a water hose when he latches! So, I was told I needed to start pumping more because I was becoming over engorged. Which was fine because I needed to start building a freezer stash for when he starts going to daycare. That solved that problem. Also, they recommended I cut out dairy and go gluten free for a week or so to see if that was effecting him as well. They were thinking he may have silent reflux. I was more than willing to change my diet for him and was gearing up to do so. However, by correcting the over active let down issue by pumping more I didn't need to anymore. All was right in our bfeeding world again! Yay.
I plan to continue bfeeding until he's done. I mean, obviously I'm not going to nurse until he's 8 or anything, probably only until he's one year old or so. I plan on practicing baby-led weaning or whatever keeps working for us. I feel like I've been pretty go with the flow when it comes to having a newborn and learning what works for our family to function. This just so happens to be working for us at the moment! Thanks for reading :)
Ok, I was one of those moms-to-be that when asked if I was going to bfeed I'd reply, "eh, I'll try..if it works, it works. If it doesn't I'm not going to beat myself up about it." So, it was much to my surprise when it just "clicked" for us and I wanted to exclusively bfeed. I remember actually crying when he latched for the first time. I think I was just shocked that it was actually working! I felt needed by him and I just had a strong desire to provide for him in any way he needed {food}.
I did cry when he was given his first bottle. Especially with it being only 4 days after he was born, I was worried he'd have nipple confusion, etc. I was nervous when I got back from my final that he wouldn't want to nurse anymore. Luckily, it didn't phase him. Anything with food he wanted!! I was so relieved that I actually started to not mind the bottle. I could pump a bottle really quickly in order for Jordan to feed him while I was showering or something. I felt like it took a lot of the pressure off of me to basically be sitting around bra-less, waiting on when the baby needed to eat next. So, now we always have a current bottle in the fridge just in case I needed someone else to feed him. Also, I learned that I am not a public bfeeder. I have NO issue with women nursing in public, but I can't bring myself to do it..not even at my grandmother in law's house at Christmas. I think because I am too uncoordinated to nurse discreetly lol.
Around 3 weeks old, Bradley started to latch, take about 3 gulps and pull off the breast and gasp for air. I did not understand what the heck was going on and it worried me because he would get very frustrated on the breast. Because I had such a positive experience with the lactation consultants at the hospital, I went to visit their bfeeding clinic. As soon as I showed them our issue they knew what the problem was. Turns out, I have an over active let down which basically means I spray him like a water hose when he latches! So, I was told I needed to start pumping more because I was becoming over engorged. Which was fine because I needed to start building a freezer stash for when he starts going to daycare. That solved that problem. Also, they recommended I cut out dairy and go gluten free for a week or so to see if that was effecting him as well. They were thinking he may have silent reflux. I was more than willing to change my diet for him and was gearing up to do so. However, by correcting the over active let down issue by pumping more I didn't need to anymore. All was right in our bfeeding world again! Yay.
I plan to continue bfeeding until he's done. I mean, obviously I'm not going to nurse until he's 8 or anything, probably only until he's one year old or so. I plan on practicing baby-led weaning or whatever keeps working for us. I feel like I've been pretty go with the flow when it comes to having a newborn and learning what works for our family to function. This just so happens to be working for us at the moment! Thanks for reading :)
3 comments:
I never got any milk and so my first born was basically starving. We didnt figure this out until we went back to the hospital to see the lactation consultant. From there I had to pump like every 45 minutes to try to build up supply. Finally I gave up. I was constantly hooked to that stupid thing. Formula was great for him. With my second son, I didnt even try. I didnt want him to starve like my oldest did. Good thing because I never got milk with him either. No idea why. Maybe because I was overweight? Like 260+ lbs? Who knows. Regardless I am glad that it is working for you! He is a beautiful little guy!
go bradley and go mommy! Breastfeeding is definitely hard work, I'm glad it is going well for you guys so far!
I'm so happy that it's been easy for you! My first son was a piece of cake, but my second son (19 months old) was pretty difficult to get him to latch on.
With my second son I decided that I would breast feed for 6 months to a year, I ended up going 15 months with him. It's such a bonding time that I had a hard time giving it up. I don't think he had any issue at all though. :-)
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