My Breastfeeding Experience

I have been meaning to post about my experience with breastfeeding for quite some time!  So here it goes...

I always knew I wanted to breastfeed.  My mom had breastfed my sisters who are 10 & 13 years younger than me, so it has always been very normal/natural for me, and it was never a question for me.  I went to the breastfeeding class at the hospital I gave birth at when I was about 30+ weeks pregnant, and it was very informative, but really, how much can you really learn about breastfeeding until you just do it?

I was hoping to be able to attempt to breastfeed Carter right after he was born.  Unfortunately, due to the internal stitching up that had to be done immediately following Carter's birth, I didn't get to feed him in the minutes/hours afterwards.  I was pretty upset about that and still hate that I missed out on that time together, but in the moment, I was just worried about both of us being okay.  

The few minutes we did get together as a new family right after Carter was born.

I'm honestly unsure of the timing of his first feeding (besides that it was probably the next morning), but I am oh, so thankful that I had a great nurse to help me out.  I felt completely clueless about actually getting things started, but she was patient and showed me lots of tricks.  She had me use a nipple shield to start, although now I am really not sure why!  The hospital had these on hand, thankfully, as that is not something that I packed in my hospital bag.  I did, however, bring my Boppy, and I was super thankful for it!  I was so weak after giving birth and was hooked up to an IV for at least 24 hours afterwards, so it came in handy. 

Carter's first day in the hospital.

Carter would have stayed latched on and sucking 24/7, so after 30 minutes of nursing on each side (even when there was no milk...just a little colostrum!), we would take him off and give him his pacifier.  I consulted with the nurse before doing so because if it was going to help him or me out I would have just let him stay there, but she told me after that long it was really not worth anything.  

My milk came in at the hospital on day 2 (Sunday) morning (after having him in the wee hours of Saturday morning).  It was just like I was nursing him and things were fine and suddenly he was choking white stuff.  It definitely surprised the both of us!  I was thankful to see that things were working the way they were supposed to, though.

The Lactation Consultant at the hospital came by on our last day there, but Carter was in the nursery either being circumcised or under the lamps for his jaundice, so we couldn't really practice with her there.  However, we had to come back the day after we were discharged to have his jaundice levels checked so we made an appointment with her then.  We went in her office and she weighed Carter man before I fed him.  Then, I showed her how we had been doing things and she said he had a great latch.  She showed me easier ways to hold him as well.  Then, she stuck him back on the scale to see how much he was eating.  She was amazed at how much he had sucked down in that little bit of time!  She did comment on how engorged I was, which I didn't even realize because how in the world do you know what is normal when you have never had milk in your boobs before?!  She sent me home with newborn size diapers that she had put water in and froze.  They work perfect to stick in your bra/tank in those early days!

About a week or so in, although I was having little pain, Carter spit up a bit and it was a little bloody...cue the mom freak out.  Turns out it was from my nipple!  Of course, I couldn't just nurse from the other side while it healed as my supply would dry up on that side.  So I consulted the LC and she told me that it was okay for Carter to nurse on that side, but if it made me feel better I could pump it to try to heal faster and just feed him it from the bottle.  It was so strange feeding him pink milk, and seeing pink spit up.  Thankfully, due to lots of lanolin, it completely healed in a couple of days and I never had the problem again!

In those early days, I fed Carter every 2.5-3.5 hours, 24 hours a day...but really I just fed on demand, not by the clock.  He slept right beside me in the bassinet so we could easily feed and go back to sleep.  I did my best to keep myself well fed and hydrated, but it can be really hard doing those things while taking care of a newborn on very little sleep.  Snacks and easy-to-prepare meals are a must!  

I tried to wean Carter off of the nipple shield several times, but it just never happened for us.  We used that thing until he stopped breastfeeding altogether!  It was partly out of habit and partly his preference.  It was a bit inconvenient to have to worry about having a nipple shield with us when we were out and about and keeping it clean and ready at all times, but it worked for us and never gave me any supply issues.  

I went back to work when Carter was 9 1/2 weeks old.  It was also the beginning of tax season, so I was busy and working overtime every week.  Thankfully, my pump worked great for me and have a job where I can shut the door and take some time to do it.  I pumped 3 times a day most days.  In the beginning, I would usually be able to freeze some for back up.  But, closer to the end, I was dipping into the stash just to keep up.  

By the time Carter was 5 months old, I could tell my supply was on it's way out.  I tried drinking lots of water and being sure I was eating plenty, but between the stress of tax season and the stress of trying to make enough milk, it just wasn't working.  We started some formula around 5.5 months, and after clearing out the freezer, we were done.  Considering my goal for breastfeeding was 6 months, I was proud I had made it that far.  However, I still had lots of guilt with quitting, which seems to be the norm no matter how long you nurse!

What surprised me the most when we quit breastfeeding was the pain of the milk drying up.  I literally could barely move for about a week!  It was miserable...and I leaked for about 2 weeks until it was all dried up.  I pumped a little just for some relief but it just extended the pain longer.  Ibuprofen and ice packs if you can stand it are just about the only thing you can do!  I was about this.close to driving to Walmart in the middle of the night to try the cabbage leaf trick, but I never gave it a shot!

I think the best breastfeeding advice is just to know that it is going to be tough, you aren't always going to love it, and it takes lots of dedication to keep going with it.  I feel like I expected all of the above, so it wasn't a big surprise to me, but I can see how it could be hard if you weren't expecting it!  

My favorite breastfeeding products were my Medela Pump-In-Style Advanced, Lansinoh breastmilk storage bags (they are bigger), Lansinoh breast pads (they are much, much softer than Medela...and I used A TON!!), the Boppy pillow, lots of nursing camis/tops, & good nursing bras from Motherhood Maternity (I wish we had a Target nearby so I could have tried more of theirs!).  An extra set of pump parts is a must for a working/pumping mother too!