I am indifferent to the topic. I do it currently for several reasons:
- Bryn is getting exactly the amount of food she needs to grow healthy and strong
- She is getting all of my immunities
- TO SAVE MONEY. Lets face it, formula is expensive.
During our hospital stay, however, Bryn continued to nurse well but she was ravenous (ouch!) Colostrum, first milk, is really thick and yellow in color. It also is not in huge supply. We were instructed to nurse for 10 minutes on each side and I really watched the clock and prayed for time to pass more quickly because it felt as though my nipples would fall off. Palmer's Nipple Butter really saved my butt (or should I say my breasts) for the first few days. I actually developed blood blisters that eventually popped at about 1 week. Don't worry! It wasn't a ton of blood and it was not harmful to Bryn.
It took about a week for my milk to come in and when it did it was like Niagara Falls! I had to pump because I was so engorged. It was great to get a supply going though. Bryn wasn't drinking all I was producing and breast pads became my new best friend. Whenever I would shower, the warm water would stimulate "let down" (feels like pins a needles) and by the time I would get out of the shower I would be literally squirting everywhere. Keeping my back to the water was helpful.
I made the mistake of putting lotion on sore breasts one morning and lets just say Bryn did not like to taste of Bath and Body's Sweet Pea. She refused to eat until I washed it off. Palmer's Coco Butter Lotion did not disagree with her.
When my milk came in I started to notice our next challenge. GAS! My little peanut eats like she is never going to eat again. Gulp gulp gulping it right down. What took us 20 minutes to eat before now only took us about 10 minutes. Night time feedings were even more challenging. She would eat for about 5 minutes and fall dead asleep. No amount of tickling would keep her awake. Thinking she was done I put her down to sleep only to have her wake up screaming bloody murder. She gulped so much air she thought she was full and when the gas bubbles started to surface (either one end or the other) she started to get really bad gas pains. I burped her and she ate again the same way. It would take about an hour to feed her. Then another hour for her to fall back asleep because she was so worked up because of the gas pains. Leaving me only about 30 minutes to an hour nap between nighttime feedings. I was EXHAUSTED! Finally I found a great piece of advice about her "feeding personality". Feed her for 2-3 minutes on one breast and burp her and then switch breasts repeating about 4 times. It took half as long and we finally got the gas under control. The only thing this did not help was the gulping.
The only thing that people keep telling me is that once I figure out Bryn that she will change. Well that is certainly the case. She still gets gassy from time to time but not nearly as bad a she did before. She is learning to not gulp and that is helping.
We are now battling breast preference. She favors the left over the right because the pressure is not as high. I noticed when I pump that I fill up the right bottle twice as fast as the left and that explains why she likes the left. She can still gulp. Now she eats for 10 minutes straight without burping on one side at each feeding. I walk around lop-sided all day but it is worth it because eating on one side keeps her focused for the full feeding.
I don't dread feedings anymore. :) I actually cannot believe I am saying this looking back at how we were in the beginning with bloody nipples and a gassy baby but I actually LIKE breastfeeding Bryn. I feel a huge sense of pride that I am able to provide the nutrition she needs to grow strong and healthy.
A great book for any mothers or expecting mothers is So That's What They're For! by Janet Tamaro. She has so great advice for breastfeeding obstacles that are both modern and humorous.
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