I am about to get brutally honest about our journey into breast feeding. It is something I feel very strongly about, yet never knew the struggles we would have. People asked me if I would breast feed and I always found it to be a funny question. What most people don't know is that I tried to breast feed Aiden. I did several months of supplements and pumping before he arrived. Sadly it was a very failed attempt. To me breast feeding Emma was a no brainer.
The last five weeks (tomorrow) have given me a greater compassion for those that choose not to breastfeed, or who quit early. Maybe some have a beautiful start and no problems along the way, but others, well our story is different. We have had numerous strikes against us in the last few weeks, many tears, lots of help from my sissy, and lots of calls and texts to my amazing lactation consultant! Yet we still aren't there.
Lets just start at the beginning.
Emma Grace was born with a tied tongue which caused minor latch problems from day one. When she spent her day under the lamps we gave her a paci to help console her in a way we couldn't. This happened to be the day my milk came in and lets just say I have plenty. Bowling ball hard breasts, tongue tie, paci...3 strikes and we ended up on a breast shield. We were able to wean off of the breast shield just in time for Mastitis.
Mastitis is no laughing matter my friends. It makes you feel like you have been run over by a mack truck. Then you actually have to drag your weary aching body up and live through raging pain as someone chews the death out of your chest...or so it feels. Now this was more of a problem for Mommy than Emma Grace.
Just as I recovered from Mastitis we hit a three week growth spurt and my already abundant supply revved up even more to accommodate her excessive eating. Yet that supply did NOT get the message that the growth spurt was over and well now we have BIG problems.
Feeding time looks like this...
It absolutely breaks my heart. I have so much milk with so much force that I literally make her scream and pull off. We writhe and fuss and fight through our entire feeding. She often pulls off choking and sputtering trying to breathe which is rewarded with a face full of milk forcefully squirted upon her. It is not fun.
I wondered for a time if we had an issue with the milk I was consuming, and maybe we do, yet I am almost a week dairy free at this point with no change in her. Serious research has been done on my part in addition to my many discussions with my lactation consultant. Oversupply and forceful let down actually closely mimic lactose intolerance in a baby.
What do you do about oversupply? Well the tricks seem endless and boy am I trying pretty much anything. These tricks require acrobatic feedings and great patience, plus a good bit of pain for this little Momma. We had our first "discreet" feeding today while Aiden's speech therapist was here. Lets just say that all we accomplished was a drenched Momma and an angry baby, looks like we will be staying home for awhile.
Oversupply does level out... at about THREE MONTHS. This means the difficult days of our journey are far from over yet even in the hard moments when I am fighting tears I know that it is worth it, that it is whats best for Emma Grace, and I refuse to give up.
Then every once in awhile I am rewarded with a smile, and it washes away all the hard moments, well almost!
I only struggled with oversupply for a short time but what helped for me was to pump a little bit before I nursed so my let down happened with the pump instead of with her. Hubs would hand me N and I would nurse her after that happened. Because I was going to go back to work, I would save the breast milk but you might not need to do that. Do you have a pump?
ReplyDeleteHey girl, I've been nursing for almost three years, and let me tell you, it does get easier after the three month mark. But it is terribly hard for those first three months! I remember the rock hard "num nums", how uncomfortable it was when the milk let down, and waking up with a soaking wet shirt in the middle of the night. Lila also nursed non stop! But once you get in the rhythm with Emma and your supply levels out, it is sooooo much easier than bottle feeding. You will stop leaking, and your milk will only let down and make you feel overly full if you have missed a feeding. It DOES GET EASIER, I promise! And I agree with Tricia, pump a little before nursing if you are really full to get the initial flood out of the way. Maybe that will help.
ReplyDelete-Adrienne
Just to echo what your other friends have said - IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER after 3 months or so. I also had oversupply and forceful let down and poor Aaron would get so upset. Everything will level out and you will be so incredibly glad that you stuck with it. Nursing your child just gets sweeter with time! Just wait til she's older and reaches to touch your face and smile while she is nursing - best feeling in the world :) Feel free to message me anytime on FB if you need some encouragement - I nursed Eli for 21 months (then got pregnant and he just weaned himself) and plan on nursing Aaron as long as he wants.
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