(With all of the talk about breastfeeding I thought I might throw in my two cents.)
Breastfeeding can be a complete and utter bitch! At first.
By no means is the process conducive to baby + boob= plug-n-chug. There are so
many speed bumps on the road to enjoying breast-feeding that it can seem near
impossible. In fact at three 1/2 months into breastfeeding, I cannot really say
I thoroughly enjoy it. I'm just happy I can do it now without it totally
sucking. (Pun intended!)
Thankfully my son latched right on about 20 minutes after
birth. Unfortunately his latch and my technique were not so great at first.
By day three my nipples looked and felt like they had been through a meat
grinder. Thanks to “cooling gel pads” I was able to power through those first
days, no actually weeks, of beat up boobies. Seriously, if you don’t own
gel pads and you are in pain GO BUY THEM! Lansinoh and Medela make them. I
personally prefer the Medela ones, but both will return your nipples and areola
to working condition in 24 Hours!
For me the first 8 weeks were just awful! Breastfeeding became nature’s cruel
joke on me. It was nothing but painful, frustrating and the constant work at
keeping my supply up was beyond overwhelming. Without my husbands coaching and
cheerleading I would have probably given up.
Having a low milk supply, especially for a mother intent
on not supplementing with formula, is terrifying. I rented a hospital
grade breast pump, The Medela Symphony for $78 a month, to help keep my supply
up. For the first 8-10 weeks I was constantly having to feed and then pump for
ten minutes afterwards to help increase my supply, or if nothing else just
maintain it. Now I don’t go more than 5 hours without nursing or pumping to
keep my supply optimal. Yes, even at night and the wee hours of morning.
Because of all the hard work I take so much pride in
saying my son has been exclusively breastfeed. Now that both my son and I
have got the hang of it, the process is finally Plug-n-Chug. What’s more, we
have gone from 45 minute to an hour of feeding to now only 20-30 minutes at a
time. I try to enjoy the time down time while nursing, meditate and
relax. It’s not like I can get up and do anything until he is finished, so no
reason to worry about what else I could be doing.
Make no mistake about it, breastfeeding is a full time job
at first. Still, decades of studies prove that the benefits COMPLETELY outweigh
the trouble, pain and difficulty. If you want to breastfeed then set your mind
to it. Rent a hospital pump and work at it, be patient it takes on average 3-4
weeks to get the hang of it, and then another 2-3 months to achieve the
plug-n-chug status. I am so incredibly proud of myself for sticking with
it, powering through the pain, tears and sleepless nights. I have created a
great foundation of health and wellness for my son that will last his lifetime.
If you can do it, do it! Your child deserves the best chance at life possible.
