Breast Feeding

I was told this would be difficult and we just needed to get through the first 2 weeks and then we were in the home stretch.  I had no idea this would be the MOST difficult part about having a baby.  We have really struggled and have just started getting into the swing of things  I can't even tell you how many times I've been in tears, literally bawling, because I didn't know if things would work, because of my pain and discomfort, and on and on.

I was worried about breast feeding even before Zoe was here.  And of course, those fears came to light.  She latched on right away when they put her to me after delivery.  From then on, we struggled.  The nurses attempted to help, but they really weren't very helpful.  The lactation consultants were so busy, they weren't able to come in and help until our second day there.  And of course Miss Zoe wasn't really ready to eat then.  Therefore, I was pumping and we were spoon feeding her the colostrum I was pumping.  I left the hospital with instructions to call to set up a lactation appointment once my milk came in.

I did my best to feed her in the meantime with not really knowing what I was doing.  She wouldn't latch on to my left side so I was exclusively pumping that side.  I finally coordinated it so that I could pump and feed her at the same time.  Since she was taking about an hour to eat, this was a lifesaver.  Of course, the hospital couldn't schedule me until the following week once my milk came in so I was doing what I could.  This resulted in so many tears.  I was so close to giving up several times.  Aaron gently reminded me why I was doing what I was doing (which I will admit, made me mad sometimes...I know he meant well though).  My mom made sure to tell me that no one would be mad if I decided to stop.  I was determined to make it work though.

I'll spare the gory details, but let's just say that my right side was pretty bad.  The lactation consultant said it wasn't the worst she'd seen, but close.  Well, when you don't know what you are doing and can only feed your child from that one side, I wanted to ask what she expected.  Thankfully, I'm on the mend and it's getting much better.  It was to the point I had anxiety once I got close to the 3 hour mark when she'd have to eat again.  It was such severe pain.

The appointment went ok and we had instructions to use a shield on the left to get her to eat from that side, pump 5 times during the day for 10 minutes after her feedings, and use gel soothies to help my wounds heal.

I then had a personal lactation consultant come to the house a few days later.  She was also super helpful.  Between the two appointments, we've gotten into a good rhythm so far.

At 2.5 weeks, we are using the shield on the left to get her to latch.  I've been told I should be able to ween her from this eventually.  I'm pumping usually 2 or 3 times in the morning after she eats.  It got to the point in the afternoon that I couldn't keep up with her demand and pumping.  I was running out of milk and needed to supplement with a bottle which in my mind defeated the purpose of pumping.  I then pump one last time before I go to bed and Aaron gives her that bottle before he goes to bed.  That way I can get a little more sleep since he stays up later than I do.  This has been awesome and I so appreciate his help.  He also takes care of her if she's super fussy late at night.  She had one bad day where she was fussy all afternoon until about 1:30 am.  He completely took over when he got home and stayed up with her until she fell asleep so that I could get some rest.  Poor guy had to go to work the next day.  But yeah, he's awesome :)  I'm so lucky that he's so willing to help.  It's still a little painful to nurse on the right but not nearly as bad as it was.  We've started using the shield on the right in hopes that it will heal a little faster.  I just pay attention to her swallows to make sure she's taking the milk.  There were a few times that I had to take it off because she wasn't really swallowing with it.

She's taking anywhere from 30-50 minutes to eat.  This should get faster once she gets a little older and isn't so sleepy while eating.  Right now, I'm taking her swaddle off at night and feed her for 20-30 minutes.  Then I change her diaper and feed her some more.  Then we put the swaddle back on and she goes back to bed.  Taking the swaddle off and then the diaper helps to wake her up a few times.  During the day, I strip her down completely and change her diaper, feed her for 20-30 minutes then put her clothes back on and feed her some more. She hates getting dressed so this helps to wake her up a second time :)  I've been promised that this will all get faster in the coming weeks.

Are things perfect yet?  No, I don't think so.  But, they are a million times better from where we started.  On the bright side, I have some milk in the freezer already from the pumping I've been doing :)  I'm glad I've stuck it out so far.  Now, I'm just praying that my supply increases enough since the doctor said she should be eating about 4 ounces per feeding by the end of this month.  That seems like so much!  If I pump, I get about 3.5 to 4 ounces from both sides so I'd have just enough.  I know though that my supply should increase over time to meet her demand.  Her birth weight was 7 lbs 15 oz and she's now up to 8 lbs 4 oz which puts her right in the 50th percentile for weight.  I can handle that :)  The doctor hopes that she's up 2 lbs when we are back for her one month check up.  Fingers crossed we get there!