Lactation Struggles: Who Says Breastfeeding Is Always Easy?
Let me first say if you are having lactation or nursing struggles YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
In the hospital everyone makes you feel that breastfeeding is critical and "everyone is able to do it so you should too". I call bull shit! (I am sorry for the swearing but it is well deserved.)
I came home from the hospital with my brand new baby in the NICU. I had a c-section so I was not able to go see her as often as I would have liked and when I did go it was a pretty painful journey 1-2 times a day. And my milk started to go down. I was pumping every 3 hours, not getting much sleep, worrying about Olivia and only getting around 30ml per breast after 20-30 mins of pumping.
I was so frustrated and could not make myself feel better. I was inconsolable about my milk production. I felt like such a horrible mother. I was SUPPOSED to be able to do this. That is what my body was made for, right? It's not normal to not be able to feed your baby so what was wrong with me? My husband could not help or understand and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone.
Then this satirical article came out on Babble.com - "Formula Fed Baby Enters Medical School" (http://www.babble.com/baby/formula-fed-baby-enters-medical-school-satire/). It was posted on Facebook by another Mom and the timing could not have been better! If you have not read this and have had lactation or nursing struggles then read it. It helped me realize that everyone does not have an extraordinary breastfeeding experience and actually it takes a lot of work. Here are some examples of people I spoke with that helped me through my struggles:
My story: Olivia latched in the NICU but when she came home was not having it. We have worked and worked and worked at it and she now latches with the help of a nipple shield 2 out of 5 feedings. She pinches my nipple pretty badly so I cannot really feed her directly more than 2 times per day as it can be quite painful so I don't want it to affect milk production. She nurses best when she is super hungry. We still have to supplement with formula after each feeding. On top of the 2 feedings I am pumping 3-4 times per day so Olivia is getting approx 60% breastmilk.
I go back to work in Nov so who knows how my milk production will do with that. Only time will tell.
In the hospital everyone makes you feel that breastfeeding is critical and "everyone is able to do it so you should too". I call bull shit! (I am sorry for the swearing but it is well deserved.)
I came home from the hospital with my brand new baby in the NICU. I had a c-section so I was not able to go see her as often as I would have liked and when I did go it was a pretty painful journey 1-2 times a day. And my milk started to go down. I was pumping every 3 hours, not getting much sleep, worrying about Olivia and only getting around 30ml per breast after 20-30 mins of pumping.
I was so frustrated and could not make myself feel better. I was inconsolable about my milk production. I felt like such a horrible mother. I was SUPPOSED to be able to do this. That is what my body was made for, right? It's not normal to not be able to feed your baby so what was wrong with me? My husband could not help or understand and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone.
Then this satirical article came out on Babble.com - "Formula Fed Baby Enters Medical School" (http://www.babble.com/baby/formula-fed-baby-enters-medical-school-satire/). It was posted on Facebook by another Mom and the timing could not have been better! If you have not read this and have had lactation or nursing struggles then read it. It helped me realize that everyone does not have an extraordinary breastfeeding experience and actually it takes a lot of work. Here are some examples of people I spoke with that helped me through my struggles:
- One friend of a friend told me that she would pump for 40 minutes every 2-3 hours and only get 1-2 oz of milk.
- Another friend told me that she tried and tried and tried to nurse with her baby but they just refused to latch. So she pumped for about 6 months and then moved for formula.
- Another friend told me that nursing was so strenuous on both her and the baby she decided to stop after 1 month and go to formula exclusively.
My story: Olivia latched in the NICU but when she came home was not having it. We have worked and worked and worked at it and she now latches with the help of a nipple shield 2 out of 5 feedings. She pinches my nipple pretty badly so I cannot really feed her directly more than 2 times per day as it can be quite painful so I don't want it to affect milk production. She nurses best when she is super hungry. We still have to supplement with formula after each feeding. On top of the 2 feedings I am pumping 3-4 times per day so Olivia is getting approx 60% breastmilk.
I go back to work in Nov so who knows how my milk production will do with that. Only time will tell.
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