After my baby registry post, I had a few people that reached
out for breastfeeding advice. I thought I’d put pen to paper (or the computer
equivalent of that), and just start writing out every single thing that comes
to mind. I remember scrambling to find good, solid advice, especially when it
came to returning to work and pumping, so I’ll be sure to pay extra attention
to this part of the timeline in hopes that this may benefit some of you.
I’ll also note here that I was able to breastfeed Oskar for
a full 13 months and August for 10. I also want to note that I don’t judge, and
certainly don’t care, if somebody doesn’t breastfeed because they can’t or
don’t want to. This isn’t a post to sway you one way or the other. It’s simply
my experience, my advice, and what to expect if this is the path that you
choose to take.
My milk drunk nurslings
When I was pregnant, I read four whole books, cover to
cover, and took a breastfeeding class at the hospital where I was scheduled to
deliver. If you’re wondering how much preparation to do, I’ll be the first to
admit that what I did was complete overkill. I’d recommend investing in The
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding since it’s a fairly comprehensive resource for
any and all issues you have during your nursing journey, and can flip to the
relevant section when you hit a bump in the road. I also want to be fair.
Nursing is the hardest I’ve worked at nearly anything in my life. It is so, so
difficult, especially in those early weeks and even months. As wonderful as
husbands can be (and my husband truly was), there is little they can do during
those around-the-clock nursing sessions where you are chained to a chair,
feeding a growing and never satisfied baby. Yes, husbands and partners can keep
you company, bring you all the things, and change diapers. But the burden is
90% on you, 10% on them, and that’s the only way to split it. It’s reality. You
will be in pain, you will likely cry. A lot. You will be exhausted, you will be
frustrated, and you will search the ends of the earth for answers to how to
make it easier. But then you make it. And it’s so beautiful and so bonding and
makes you marvel at the level at which you’re connected and made for each
other. As is true for so many other aspects of life—it’s hard because it’s
worth it.
Day 1
The awkwardness of nursing. You quickly learn how difficult
something that seems so natural can really be. You’ll be nursing an hour or so
after delivery for the first time, assuming all goes smoothly. Use every
lactation consultant made available to you, and if you THINK you know what
you’re doing, it still doesn’t hurt to confirm. Hopefully you have your trusty Boppy
with you at the hospital, and prop that puppy up high on top of 2 or 3 pillows,
so that when baby lays across it they are right at nipple level without you
having to hunch over. It’s all about getting baby’s latch as deep as possible.
The better the latch, the more easily baby gets milk (or colostrum, which
you’ll produce the first 3 or so days until your milk comes in), and less
amount of pain you will have to endure. This is where the above book is really
helpful. I’d read the section on latching a few times through leading up to
your delivery date. The section on the different ways to position baby is also
useful, just to give you ideas, but you wont know what works best and is most
comfortable for you until baby is here. Every baby is different, but both of my
boys nursed for about 20 minutes, about every 1-2 hours, in the first days of
life.
Day 2
The soreness. The unbelievable soreness. Whoever says that
nursing shouldn’t hurt if you’re doing it correctly is just not right. Or
human. No matter what, there is pain. Sometimes the amount of pain that brings
you to tears every time you bring baby to breast to nurse. There are a few
things that help. Make sure you are keeping your nipples exposed to air as much
as humanly possible. This means wearing robes over top of nothing at all.
Lanolin and nipple creams are your best friends, and slather these on after
every time you nurse. My absolute favorite is Mother
Love Nipple Cream, which applies really smoothly and evenly. All are safe
for baby to ingest, so no need to wipe off before nursing. Breastmilk itself
has amazing healing powers. Apply to any sores or tender areas. If you need to
get dressed, use these Nipple
Shields under your bra to protect your nipples from rubbing on fabric. When
you’re in the hospital, ask for as much stuff that they have on hand. I was
given several tubes of Lanolin and some nipple shields to take home with me. If
nursing is what you want to do, please don’t get discouraged and know that the
pain is very real, but only temporary. At the 2 week mark, it magically and
completely disappears. It will be smooth sailing from there.
Day 3-4
Holy. Moly. Your milk comes in and your boobs are hard as
rocks, let alone humongous. I think I remember mine pulsating and being burning
hot to the touch. It is a very uncomfortable sensation, but one that will level
out adjust in the following days. Please, please, know that nursing is 100%
supply and demand. The more you nurse OR pump, the more milk you make, so a
remedy for day 1 of your rock boobs is NOT to pump. You’ll create big time
over-supply and have a whole new world of problems. If you’re getting NO
relief, you can always hand express a little bit to relieve some of the
pressure. Also use cold compresses. Once my milk came in, both of my boys took
longer to eat. Oskar was eating for 45 minutes per session, about every 2
hours. Fun fact: the interval between sessions is measured from the BEGINNING
of the last time you nursed. Example: if you nurse from 12:00-12:45pm, and nurse
again at 2:00-2:45pm. This is considered nursing every 2 hours, though really
you only get a 1hr15min break. August was a little more efficient and took
about 25 minutes. You can see how demanding this gets. New babies are hungry
ALL THE TIME, and there is very little time to do much else but nurse. It’s
mentally draining, so go in with a game plan. Have books and TV series that you’ve
been wanting to start. Call friends on FaceTime. Make sure you have company. It
was helpful for me to have a few different Boppies around the house—one on the
living room sofa and one in the nursery, so I had a few different places
already set up and ready for me to nurse instead of having to haul my stuff
around. I also really recommend having a little basket of nursing essentials:
nipple cream, a burp cloth, a water tumbler, your nipple shields, a snack, etc.
I’ll also give you more TMI: when you’re nursing on one side, your other boob
leaks milk the entire time. You’ll need a cloth or rag to keep dry. So many
people often think that baby is hungry and isn’t getting enough milk because
he/she is nursing ALL THE TIME. This is new baby life. As long as baby is
producing wet and poopy diapers (5-6 pees and 3-4 poops a day after day 4), he/she
IS getting enough milk. You’ll also be going in for several weight checks in
those early days and weeks, and these should reassure you as well. This also
leads me to YOUR diet, mama. Drink more water than you thought possible, and
then drink some more. It is so vitally important to your nursing success.
Healthy fats are everything, and any way to incorporate avocado, peanut butter,
any type of nuts, salmon, etc. will help you in your journey. I really liked Kind
Bars because they were easy to eat while nursing. Nursing burns more calories
than you can even imagine and the more successful you are at it, the faster the
baby weight will melt off. Don’t worry about how much you’re eating, as long
as it’s reasonably healthy and balanced. I also always made myself oatmeal (a
nursing superfood that really helps with supply) first thing every morning
(note: you can’t use instant oats. They have to be the real deal). I highly
recommend this nursing
bra and this sleep
bra at night (yes, you will now need to sleep in a bra because your boobs
will leak), both lined with these nursing
pads. Size up one from your normal size in both.
Day 5 to 3 months
Settling into new mom and nursing life. The more you nurse,
the better your supply and production will be. It’s as simple as that
(typically). There is no such thing as nursing too much. The more consistent
you are, and the more you’re putting baby to breast, the better you’re setting
yourself up for long-term success. It is critical to get your supply where it
needs to be, especially if you are returning to work. It may be frustrating,
and it is incredibly demanding. But think of it as vitally important work that
will make your life so much easier in the long run. I jotted a few notes down
in the boys’ baby books, and while every baby is different, perhaps this can
serve as a baseline:
Oskar: started sleeping in 6 hour stretches at the end of month
one (beginning of month 2)
August: started sleeping in 3-6 hour stretches at the end of
month one (beginning of month 2).
I “dream fed” both at 10pm prior to putting them back down
for that longer stretch of sleep in order to get some rest myself. This means,
that though they typically fell asleep earlier, I would keep lights dimmed and
noise machines on and nurse them one final time. Both snoozed through it, but
got a full belly, allowing me to get a little bit of sleep.
Both ate at 3 hour intervals through the day.
I would hold off on introducing a paci until the end of week
one, because August got some serious nipple confusion and we had to work
through some stuff to get him to latch appropriately again.
I knew I had to return to work at 12 weeks postpartum with
both boys, so pumping became a part of life around 8 weeks postpartum in order
to begin to build a stash. It is not recommended to pump prior to establishing
a good, solid breastfeeding routine. Please don’t rush it. Plus, who wants to
hurry up and put their boobs in a vacuum any earlier than they need to? Figuring
out the pump in and of itself takes a little while, so take your time getting
it set up and watch a Youtube video or two if you need help. You’ll turn into a
ninja in no time. My method to starting pumping was very successful with both
kids. Your milk supply is at its highest in the early AM hours. Both boys woke
between 6-7am to nurse, and I would only nurse them on one side (which was
plenty for that first session of the day because you have so much milk early in
the morning). I would then go ahead and pump from the other side, store that
pumped milk in these
breastmilk storage bags, and freeze them in 3oz quantities. I really like these
bags WAY more than Medela’s because they lay flat and have a 6oz capacity
(instead of 5) for when baby begins to eat more. I tried to make sure I had a
week’s worth of milk (conservative) prior to sending them to daycare, meaning
45-50oz in the freezer (3oz *3 times/day * 5 day work-weeks). Speaking of deep
freezers, I really recommend investing in one if you have the room.
Breastmilk freezes and stores for up to a year in deep freezers, and I really
hated having my every day freezer full of breastmilk bags and no food. This
made all the difference. I also recommend introducing a bottle around 8 weeks.
Try the bottles compatible with your breast pump first so you can pump into and
feed from the same one. This will save you double the dishes. Some have found
that even Medela’s slow-flow nipples are too fast for breastfed babies that are
new to bottles, and I happened to agree. You’ll know if baby is choking or
dribbling milk when taking a bottle, meaning they can’t keep up with the flow. My
hack for this was to use these
preemie nipples and these
bottle collars (note: the collars ONLY, not the nipples), which are both compatible
with the Medela bottles.
3 months and beyond
Back to work. So many feelings even typing those words, but I’ll
stick to nursing and pumping. In the beginning, you’ll want to send baby to
daycare with three 2.5oz-3oz bottles (assuming they eat every 3 hours, and you
work an 8a-5p day). Also send in an extra frozen bag of breastmilk so your
daycare provider has it on hand in case any is accidentally spilled or if baby
is very hungry that day. Your daycare provider will make note if baby does not
seem satisfied after eating, or is eating at more frequent intervals, both
which would signal that they are ready for more oz/feeding. Though both of my
boys would have slept a little longer, usually until 4:30a (which would have
thrown off my schedule and supply for morning), I always set my alarm and
nursed both at 3am. I did this until they were able to sleep completely through
the night. I then nursed them between 6-630am, and they ate at 9am, 12pm, and
3pm at daycare. These are also the times I pumped. Try your hardest to stick to
baby’s schedule, since you’ll need to be in sync. Like I mentioned in my
previous registry
post, treat yourself to extra sets of pump
parts so you don’t have to be constantly washing and packing the same set. Also, get a pumping
bra. It
will save your sanity. I also included recommendations on amounts and sizes of
bottles in the aforementioned Registry post, which should get you everything you need
for your back to work and daycare life.
And, that’s it! All of my sincerest advice I have to give to
you, because I really believe in this whole breastfeeding thing if you can get
it to work for you. Please breathe it all in and enjoy it as much as you can
while it lasts. I cried the last time I nursed both boys. While it was
certainly a relief in some ways, it was also the end of a chapter. I wish I had
a photo or two of me nursing them both because it was such a huge part of our
lives for so long. So take some! Please let me know about your experience, and
if you have any other tips or tricks. Happy nursing, friends.
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