My Breastfeeding Journey - Part 2
From March 1st until March 13th, my husband and I would spend our days at the hospital with our baby and we would sleep at our house at night. During the day, I used the hospitals pumping room and while I was at home, I used the hospital grade pump I got before I was discharged. I would bring in any and all milk I pumped at home to the hospital so they could store it and use it for feedings for my son during his stay.
There were a few times when they helped me try breastfeeding but I was overwhelmed because the baby was already starving when we were trying plus he had oxygen in his nose and then the leads for the monitor on his body plus the oxygen saturation monitor so there were just too many tubes and wires for it to even be comfortable for him to breastfeed. I tried with a nipple shield and he just did not take to it. He couldn't figure out exactly what to do plus it wasn't coming fast enough as he was used to bottles which flowed much for freely than a breast.
After the few times of trying with him I decided that while he was in the hospital it was just easier to pump and feed him by bottle. I didn't want to get him or myself frustrated with breastfeeding.
On March 13th we finally were able to being our baby home with us and we were thrilled! Since I was already in a routine with pumping, I just continued to pump and feed him by bottle. I knew I wanted to try to breastfeed again but I wasn't ready quite yet. Then one visit from the visiting nurse came and she said: Let me help you. So she helped me and he actually breastfed using the nipple shield! It seemed SO easy compared to what I had gone thru before. I think that since we were in a comfortable environment and I was more relaxed, it worked MUCH better. He got tired pretty quickly since he had to work much harder at breastfeeding than he had had to at bottle feeding.
Well after this success, I continued to pump but I also tried to get him to latch during feedings. I would give him half a bottle, try to breastfeed and then finish the bottle. Of course when I was on my own I couldn't get him to latch but I kept trying. Then one day I tried again after he had just had a full bottle. I let him do a full feeding and then tried to get him to latch and he did! He latched and nursed for 5 minutes on each side and I was ecstatic! I knew this was the start of a beautiful thing!
So, I started to breastfeed him a little bit after each feeding to get him used to it. Then I switched to exclusively breastfeeding during the day and bottle feeding at night. I would pump just enough to get us thru the night feeding and I would breastfeed during the day. This was working out well and I was just so happy that I was actually successfully breastfeeding!
Then, we had a trip planned for the last weekend of April. I talked with my husband and said, what should we do? Should I bring the pump? Should I bring the frozen milk I have? Should I pump a lot before we go and bring the fresh milk? Should I bring the hand pump? Should we bring formula just in case? Or, should I just breastfeed the entire trip and if we need to supplement with formula for some reason, we will buy some.
We decided that it would be easiest all around for me to just exclusively breastfeed day and night for the trip and if for some reason it wasn't going well or my supply was screwy, we could always buy formula if we absolutely needed to.
Now it has been about 2 weeks and I have been exclusively breastfeeding! At the beginning of this week I realized that the baby wasn't gaining weight like he should have been, so on Monday I kept trying to get him to latch without the nipple shield and he finally did and since then, we have been breastfeeding without the nipple shield and he has been gaining weight over the past few days, which is perfect!
I had been using the nipple shield because that was the only way he would latch. I did try on and off to get him to latch without the shield. I would feed with it for a few minutes and then take it off and try to get him to latch on and he was confused and wouldn't latch but I just kept trying and now this week we have been shield free and it has been wonderful!
Without the shield, I believe he is getting more milk. It sounds like he is getting more and he is satisfied for longer which is great. Also, for the past 3 night, he has been sleeping thru the night! He has not been waking up for a feeding so hopefully we are on a good path for that and that will continue!
I have been going to the breastfeeding support group that is offered at our local hospital on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays afternoons and that has been a HUGE help in my breastfeeding journey. I am able to watch my babies weight, reference the lactation consultants, get my questions answered and my concerns addressed. I am also able to meet and talk with other moms, which is really nice too. Every time I am at the group, I always think how amazing it is that we are all there, with out babies, and we are all freely breastfeeding! It is really awesome to see all of us doing the best thing for our babies!
I can't express how happy I am and how proud of myself I am. I feel really good about myself that I have stuck with it and I am successfully breastfeeding!
There were a few times when they helped me try breastfeeding but I was overwhelmed because the baby was already starving when we were trying plus he had oxygen in his nose and then the leads for the monitor on his body plus the oxygen saturation monitor so there were just too many tubes and wires for it to even be comfortable for him to breastfeed. I tried with a nipple shield and he just did not take to it. He couldn't figure out exactly what to do plus it wasn't coming fast enough as he was used to bottles which flowed much for freely than a breast.
After the few times of trying with him I decided that while he was in the hospital it was just easier to pump and feed him by bottle. I didn't want to get him or myself frustrated with breastfeeding.
On March 13th we finally were able to being our baby home with us and we were thrilled! Since I was already in a routine with pumping, I just continued to pump and feed him by bottle. I knew I wanted to try to breastfeed again but I wasn't ready quite yet. Then one visit from the visiting nurse came and she said: Let me help you. So she helped me and he actually breastfed using the nipple shield! It seemed SO easy compared to what I had gone thru before. I think that since we were in a comfortable environment and I was more relaxed, it worked MUCH better. He got tired pretty quickly since he had to work much harder at breastfeeding than he had had to at bottle feeding.
Well after this success, I continued to pump but I also tried to get him to latch during feedings. I would give him half a bottle, try to breastfeed and then finish the bottle. Of course when I was on my own I couldn't get him to latch but I kept trying. Then one day I tried again after he had just had a full bottle. I let him do a full feeding and then tried to get him to latch and he did! He latched and nursed for 5 minutes on each side and I was ecstatic! I knew this was the start of a beautiful thing!
So, I started to breastfeed him a little bit after each feeding to get him used to it. Then I switched to exclusively breastfeeding during the day and bottle feeding at night. I would pump just enough to get us thru the night feeding and I would breastfeed during the day. This was working out well and I was just so happy that I was actually successfully breastfeeding!
Then, we had a trip planned for the last weekend of April. I talked with my husband and said, what should we do? Should I bring the pump? Should I bring the frozen milk I have? Should I pump a lot before we go and bring the fresh milk? Should I bring the hand pump? Should we bring formula just in case? Or, should I just breastfeed the entire trip and if we need to supplement with formula for some reason, we will buy some.
We decided that it would be easiest all around for me to just exclusively breastfeed day and night for the trip and if for some reason it wasn't going well or my supply was screwy, we could always buy formula if we absolutely needed to.
Now it has been about 2 weeks and I have been exclusively breastfeeding! At the beginning of this week I realized that the baby wasn't gaining weight like he should have been, so on Monday I kept trying to get him to latch without the nipple shield and he finally did and since then, we have been breastfeeding without the nipple shield and he has been gaining weight over the past few days, which is perfect!
I had been using the nipple shield because that was the only way he would latch. I did try on and off to get him to latch without the shield. I would feed with it for a few minutes and then take it off and try to get him to latch on and he was confused and wouldn't latch but I just kept trying and now this week we have been shield free and it has been wonderful!
Without the shield, I believe he is getting more milk. It sounds like he is getting more and he is satisfied for longer which is great. Also, for the past 3 night, he has been sleeping thru the night! He has not been waking up for a feeding so hopefully we are on a good path for that and that will continue!
I have been going to the breastfeeding support group that is offered at our local hospital on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays afternoons and that has been a HUGE help in my breastfeeding journey. I am able to watch my babies weight, reference the lactation consultants, get my questions answered and my concerns addressed. I am also able to meet and talk with other moms, which is really nice too. Every time I am at the group, I always think how amazing it is that we are all there, with out babies, and we are all freely breastfeeding! It is really awesome to see all of us doing the best thing for our babies!
I can't express how happy I am and how proud of myself I am. I feel really good about myself that I have stuck with it and I am successfully breastfeeding!
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