Thursday, February 16, 2012

Still Playing Milk Maid

I wanted to do a little update on my breastfeeding experience. I posted here about the early weeks and I will say it has gotten a million times better.

For some reason I was holding off on seeing a lactation consultant because I just kept thinking that it was going to get better as everyone kept telling me. Well, after many tears, many frustrations and being sick and tired of the pain, I "gave in" and decided it was time to see someone on E's 5 week birthday. I went to our local hospital and had an appointment with a really nice lady. She showed me how to get Eleanor into the football hold and of course, that day, Eleanor latched right on with no problem, there was no pain and she ate straight through and got 3 ounces. She did confirm that I had been dealing with a pretty severe nipple crack and assured me that these techniques should help. I was so happy, thought our problem was solved with this new position and a few tips she gave me and went home. At her next feeding I tried the same thing and could not get it right. I was frustrated again to say the least.

I tried the new position for a few days and could not seem to get it and was still having pain. After a few days of this, I decided this position was just not for me/us at this time and went back to the cross-cradle hold. With the tips the lactation consultant had given me, though, I was able to finally get her latched on properly and my crack began to heal.

Around week 6 I was able to get my baby latched out without pain, without dread and without frustration. I was so thankful.

Here we are at her 11 week birthday and nursing is going well.

We do have a new challenge though. I don't know if she gets distracted, has to go poo, or has some gas but she does really well for about the first 5 minutes of her feeding and then kind of comes off and on for the rest. She doesn't necessarily do this at every feeding but definitely at least once or twice throughout the day.

We are feeding about every 2-3 hours during the day and about every 3-4 hours at night.

I am obviously hoping she will be picking up some longer stretches at night here soon but for now, I am content knowing that she is seeming to get the correct nutrients as she always seems content after she eats whether it be by falling asleep or just coming off on her own.

I still stand by the fact that I love breastfeeding. I am so thankful that I get to be home with her and basically still feed on demand.

I haven't really done much "public" feeding, just mostly at other peoples' houses which I am always comfortable with since it is usually people I am very comfortable with. I don't know how I feel about all the controversy with women feeding in public with no cover. In Seattle I am pretty sure they passed a law that a women can feed in public but has to be covered. Maybe this has already been a law but there has been a lot of talk about it lately. I guess I kind of feel like if a woman is comfortable with feeding in public with no cover, is discreet and doesn't completely expose herself, then why not? It's not like people should be sitting around staring at her!

Another challenge we are having is getting her to always take a bottle of breast milk when we offer it. Like I said I am feeding her a lot of the time but it would be nice to know that she will take a bottle when we want her to. I don't know if we are just not offering it enough {most likely this is the case because I never offer her a bottle when I am home because it is just so much easier to just give her my breast rather than pumping and making a bottle} or if she truly has just built a very strong preference for me. Maybe once she gets a little older and we keep offering she will get better.

All in all, I think we have made some great strides in our breastfeeding adventure. My husband remained very encouraging during the touch parts and was always supportive whether I was crying or just needed a drink of water. {He's still really great about getting the water. Oh, and about tears if there ever are any!}


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sometimes my little girl does the on-off thing too. It usually means she has a burp! Once I hold her upright and pat her til it comes out, she goes back to nursing great! I think it's because she sucks so fast in those first few minutes. You might try it with E and see if it helps. Oh and she will take the bottle if she's hungry enough!

Those early weeks are SO tough, I remember wincing and holding my breath when she latched. So glad you got those kinks worked out!

I didn't think I'd be a public feeder either but then found myself nursing while walking around target. I'm one who will always use a cover and hey, you go ultra do what ya gotta do. If the general public has a problem with it, they can just deal in my opinion.