Daughter has been exclusively breast fed since day one. I've pumped some so that she could have bottles of breast milk, but no formula. We have some formula because we heard that some women who have C Sections have difficulty with milk supply. With how she's growing and the amount of diapers she's going through, this is not an issue! Thank God!
But her latch is an issue. She is no good at the wide latch. I'm in pain. I developed a blister on my right nipple last week... so I exclusively pumped from that breast and fed her from the left (followed by her heart breaking cries when I set her in her swing and I pumped to give her more milk) for a solid day and the blister went away. So I started nursing normally again, but her latch was the same. Ouch!
So, tomorrow I have an appointment with the lactation specialists up in Fargo. It's over an hour away, so my mom is going to come with me so that Daughter won't have to ride in the back by herself. Thanks, mom! Hopefully they'll fix things... right now, I can only nurse using a nipple shield (which I'm very thankful were invented!) but hopefully they'll be able to show me how to get Daughter to latch properly and nurse successfully :)
Honestly, this has been very hard on me. Knowing that I can make enough milk to feed her, but not do so in a way that isn't excruciating for me, is tough. Both physically and emotionally. But Mat's wonderful (again!) and he's calmed me down and dried my tears when we have to resort to a bottle (our store is slowly depleting faster than I can replenish it) rather than nursing our baby girl. Hopefully, we can figure it out tomorrow and the nipple shield holds out till then!
I think nursing is the most underestimated task of early motherhood. It IS hard.
ReplyDeleteI hope the LC can help you, but if she can't, know that it's ok to keep using the shield. I nursed Matthew for 25 months with a nipple shield the entire time. He never did bottles or formula. He just never could latch-I was too shallow for him apparently. But it did not impact our nursing relationship or my supply. I sometimes am a little wistful that there was not that direct contact between us, but I still got to breastfeed him as long as he wanted and that's what mattered. He weaned when he lost interest in nursing.
Nursing is hard. I fought latch issues, preemie issues and supply issues. And although at now almost 26 months it still has it's challenges I think the first few months were the hardest. Leland used a nipple shield until 7 months - he just couldn't latch without it. Praying for you. You are doing amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree - nursing can be very hard! I could never relate to some of my friends whose nursing experiences were without any difficulty at all. My experiences were excruciating! I was raw, I bled, I cried and my body ached from tensing up with every latch. My babies spit up blood in those early weeks. I tried a shield and it brought temporary relief, but I missed the contact, so I decided not to use it after a few days. For me, the first four weeks were the most painful. By eight weeks, I was totally healed up and nursing was a joy. For the twins, my doctor wrote me an Rx for some nipple cream that worked wonders. I was only sore for about two weeks and didn't have any bleeding. You can read about it here - http://breastfeeding.about.com/od/nippleproblems/qt/triplenipple.htm
ReplyDeleteNursing is so hard! We had tons of issues with Keller too. Praying that my nursing relationship with this one will be different, but trying to brave myself for going through a fight again. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteYeah- whoever said nursing is easy and natural was just lucky. We had issues in the beginning too- but it is SO worth it. And it does get easier- hopefully the LC will help you. Two months from now when you're able to leave the house without worrying about formula or sterilized bottles, it'll be great. And 10 months from now when your daughter is playing all day, you will so appreciate that quiet special moment you get when you nurse right before bed. (That was my favorite time of day.)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!