Hello ladies!
I stumbled upon this board and got super excited! A little background... I just turned 25 and have a 5 yo DD who will be 6 in April. I am due May 13th. DH and I have been together since 2010, and married since 2013. This is our first together. With DD, I was 19 yo when I had her, and had very little support concerning BF. She never latched properly and I didn't have the resources or any mild knowledge of BF in general, and eventually gave up and FF. (I didn't even know pumping was an option!) This go around, I REALLY want to BF. My SIL has tried to inform me as much as she can, but she and her NB are still getting the hang of it as well. I was wondering what you guys have found most useful in your BF journey. Such as must have's, good to have's and the not needed's. I am really nervous and I want to exclusively BF without bottles, but I know DD and DH will want to feed the baby as well so I really am not sure what route to go here. my SIL is a SLAVE to her pump as well... every 2 hours regardless, she is pumping. It seems very time consuming to pump... but I just want to do what is best for my baby... Any help/advice is greatly appreciated! TIA!
Re: newb to the boob
As far as preparing and staying comfortable while nursing. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is a nice resource and some hospitals may offer breastfeeding classes, through I ended up not taking one. Things that I consider essential are a nursing pillow, lanolin or nipple butter (to get through those first three weeks), some really good nursing bras and a nursing tank, nursing cover if you feel the need. For pumping you will probably want a hands free pumping bra and some breastfeeding friendly bottles.
One thing that I didn't expect was how long I would be nursing him, especially during those evening cluster feedings. I would sit there, nursing him on and off, for hours. So when you sit down to nurse make sure you are comfortable. Empty your bladder beforehand, have a tall glass of water ans some snacks handy, have some entertainment too.
Good luck mama!
I'm not sure why your SIL is pumping every 2 hours and that is really not neccesary in most cases.
2010: Infertility
October 2015: missed miscarriage #2 at 11 weeks (trisomy 22)
Mom to Carter (6), and Calianne (1).
Proud VBAC, natural birth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering momma!