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May 2011 Moms
Anyone else feeling confident with breastfeeding?
All I had heard during pregnancy was how hard this was going to be, so I have been stressed out about latching and positions and nipple confusion for 9 months. But 30 min after birth she latched on for her first feeding. The 3 days until my milk came in were the worst part, worrying about dirty/wet diapers and supplementing formula. My nipples are sore, cracked and worn down, but lanolin is a godsend! Now that is over I feel pretty confident that we are on the right path. Im not trying to brag, i know its going to be different for every mom and baby, but i feel so thankful that its been better than what id imagined. I'm also nervous that I'm overly confident and things aren't going as well as I'm thinking they are. But I think all us new moms worry we are doing something wrong. How has it been for you? Any tips on keeping up on supply and continued success?
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Re: Anyone else feeling confident with breastfeeding?
Don't worry about being over-confident. If things are going great, enjoy it! Even if you do run into problems down the road, most nursing problems can easily be resolved.
As for keeping up supply, just keep feeding baby on demand. Follow your baby's cues and you will be fine most of the time.
Me!!! She latched on well right from the beginning. My milk took about 4-5 days to come in, so that was a little stressful, but she was having the amount of diapers that she should have so I knew it was ok. I don't think I'm overly confident because we've had two pedi appointments and she had gained the appropriate amount of weight for both of them.
I haven't had any issues with supply or sore nipples or anything. I'm just going to keep up with what I'm doing (although pedi said after two weeks old, let her go as long as she wants at night...don't wake her up to eat). At one month I am going to start pumping so that DH can give her a bottle for her evening feeding.
I was really stressed about it not working out, so I am super happy and thankful that it did. I know it's not easy at all for some people. My sister had a horrible time with it and got mastitis.
Me too!!
I'm feeling confident as well. I was also nervous that it wasn't going to go well because all I've heard is how hard it is. I expected to have a really difficult time and so far I have been very fortunate. She latched on right away. At first I did have some trouble with her latching on the left, but after the LC came in the room one time we got that down. By her one week appt. dd was back to her birth weight and the pedi said they like to see them back at their birth weight by 2 weeks so that made me feel great. She's been having tons of wet and dirty diapers, and things have been going great!
Having that said, dd will only be 4 weeks tomorrow so I'm sure I could still run into issues, but at this point it's going well and I'm so glad to hear that you ladies are having such a positive experience as well.
My baby is fat and growing, nothing hurts anymore, and I think it's all going great. I've started nursing in public and I really don't mind it.
I don't think I was over-worried - I think my preparation all payed off. And I got lucky with a happy hungry baby, of course.
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Raising Bean
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Things are going great for us too!! I often forget that Avery is only 3 weeks old because things have been so easy. My first was a completely different story!
I think that most problems that we might have will be easy to fix. My first went on a nursing strike around 6 weeks, so that's a possibility. But, with some skin to skin and lots of snuggle time, we fixed that. I also have issues with pain in my right nipple, which is Reynaud's Disease. I took procardia for it with my first and it solved that, and at least this time I know what the issue is and don't think it's yeast!
Don't feel bad for being confident, enjoy that things are going well and probably will continue to go well!!!
Things started out really well with great latch. It went a bit downhill for a bit but I think we're on the right track now. Ironically, I felt pretty good about the whole thing until our first appointment with a lactation consultant. She made me doubt myself and make me feel like we were doing a bunch of things wrong. I was really upset for a day or two but I got over it, listened to my instincts and things have been much better since.
We have another follow-up with a LC tomorrow and I'm hoping DD's gained back some weight and we're on the uphill climb.
I'm also having an easy time. He latched right away (we tried nursing about 20 minutes after he was born, as soon as the placenta was out, I was stitched up etc) and no real supply issues (I feel like I am running out when he clusterfeeds at night but hasn't been a problem yet and the cluster keeps getting shorter and shorter).
For the first 5 days I was waking him every two hours to nurse even at night. Now I do that during the day and let him wake me at night (I was going bonkers). He was 7lb13oz at birth. 7lb1oz two days PP and a week and a day after that he was way up at 8lb8oz. He gained 1lb7oz (almost a pound and a half) in 8 days. . .
I think with a yeast infection on your nipples you get white spots and a lot of pain while nursing. I never experienced that, luckily!
I'm not sure about low supply, my guess would be an unhappy/hungry all the time baby. But I think this can be easily confused with cluster feedings and a baby who just needs to nurse often.
Mastitis is an easy one. I just got done taking meds for this. It's the worst thing ever but does go away quickly with treatment. It comes on quickly with a fever of 101 or above (lower can just mean a clogged duct/which can lead to mastitis if not dealt with). Also, pain in your breast, horrible pain while nursing, red streaking across your breast and my nipple got really red.
Me too. nipple cream rocks. I think in the begining your nipples hurt and alot of women give up. use the nipple cream every time you nurse and the pain is gone. I am so thankful for my supply and my great eater. I am also thankful that when I was in the hospital I asked seriously every nurse for help on BF and honestly each nurse gave me great tips!
I too pray that this last. I enjoy my time with my little girl. I love knowing that my body can do this and do something that I was nervous to do.
I saw a t-shirt that was pro breastfeeding that said "I make milk, what is your superpower?"
After a lot of worrying before being pregnant that I wasn't going to be able to make milk (I had fertility treatments to get pregnant, so I just think my body needs help with everything now), I now have a baby that has gained almost 2 lbs in 3 weeks, and I actually enjoy breastfeeding, especially when my breasts are filled with milk. It feels so good when he sucks some out!
I am breastfeeding the girls and never thought that I would be able to handle feeding 2. I did not think that my body had the ability to make enough milk to feed both girls. They each gained 12 oz in a week. I am anxious for their appointment next week to find out how big they now are.
BF'ing is going awesome for us as well. I had no issues BF'ing DS and did so for 18 months so going in I was pretty confident. She latched on probably 15-20 min after birth and she has nursed like a champ since. Agree with pp, the days before your milk comes in is the hardest because they simply aren't being fully satisfied and want to nurse and nurse and nurse! (DD did anyway). Over that hump, and my nipps are fine now (they were a little sore in the beginning, nothing that some lanolin and time didn't fix).
I actually love breastfeeding and missed it once I weaned DS. It was something I was honestly really looking forward to my entire pregnancy and I am so glad and grateful DD is a natural!
Things are going good over here. I saw a LC today just to make sure things were as positive as they seemed and to ask a couple questions about pumping timing, etc. It's been 8 days and LO is back to his birth weight so I'm stoked about that. My right breast is a bit of a slacker. While feeding at the LC, Grayson only got a half an ounce from the right side, and then 2.5 ounces from the right breast in the half the time he took on the right (they weigh him before and after feeding from each breast)! So...I've got to keep feeding from both breasts at each feeding for now but he's happy, healthy and gaining weight so yeah, we're happy.
The first week was torture, my nipples were scabbed, and not a single nurse or LC could tell me what was wrong. They kept saying "her latch looks great", "you're doing fine". It was so painful that I would count and breathe as if it were a contraction anytime she latched on. I even had a nurse come to the house! I tried reconnecting with the lactation consultant at the hospital about an appt, and she said- I kid you not- "if you expected it not to hurt at all maybe you had unrealistic expectations about breastfeeding". My nipples were bloody and scabbed!!! Sorry for not expecting that!
Week 2 my nipples healed (thanks to magic nipple cream) and things have been great ever since!! Keeping up on supply by feeding frequently (on demand) and pumping 2-3 times daily during naps. So far so good!!