Sadie is growing and moving more each day. When Clark gets home, I will get him to take a picture of my growing belly!! Only 2 months and 29 days left!! :) Wow, it's going by so fast!!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
So, I went to my first breastfeeding class last night. They strongly encouraged fathers to go, but we had YoungLife last night and Clark didn't get to come with me. (Which he wasn't too upset about at all!) He couldn't figure out why he needed to come with me, I kept telling him, "for support, honey!" Anyway...it was actually very informative and I am glad that I went. I feel much more confident about being able to give Sadie the nourishment she needs. It was so crazy though at how many techniques you have to remember and oh my prayer is that she will learn to latch on easy and it won't be painful!! I hate pain and I am dreading that part so much!! How many of you girls out there breast fed and how many bottle fed? I would love to know the pros and cons of both! :) It was great being able to hear all about the reasons why I should breast feed and I am sold on it, but would love to hear from others!!
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After 2 wks of stressful attempts to breastfeed, I gave in to the bottle. I was so against bottle but realized that he wasn't getting what he needed and I wasn't able to enjoy being a mom. Stress level went way down once I changed. Mom and baby were both much happier and he's perfect if you ask me :)
One thing I wish I had known is that in those earlier days it is ok to supplement some with the bottle and it doesn't have to mean no more breast feeding.
Every situation is different and ultimately Mom and baby has to do what works for them.
-Christy-
I will say that for some breastfeeding comes really easy, and I pray that is the case for you... I had to learn a lot before having a successful experience. I breastfed Elizabeth for 1 month, but there were some other issues that contributed to our problems and why we had to stop. (I will tell you more about that later if you want). I breastfed Anna for 7 months and once again there were some other problems from the beginning which kept me from nursing her longer. With Nate I was ready. I had learned so much from my 2 previous experiences that I was ready to go!
A few of the things that I learned...
1) in the first month, nurse, nurse, nurse - it is so important to establish a good supply. I recommend against supplementing with formula the first month as it might (possibly) mess up your supply
Some babies will basically eat around the clock the first 2-3 weeks and that is okay... they are just helping mom build up her milk supply
2) have a tube of lanolin (I prefer lansinoh - the purple tube) put it on after nursing and before and after showers the first few weeks
3) if at all in doubt or if you are having struggles, talk about it and don't hesitate to meet with a lactation consultant. This was a mistake I made the first time around and I think that is why it took me longer to get it right!
I really wanted to breastfeed and was disappointed in myself when we had to do some formula... but I got used to it and never forgot to bring a bottle anywhere. It was working fine for us. Now, after nursing Nate for 3.5 months with only one bottle of expressed milk, I would hands down say that breastfeeding is easier. Oh man is it easier. We can just go. I just grab Nate and we are out the door. SO easy... not to mention how much better the poop smells compared to the formula poop smell! :)
Elizabeth was mostly a formula baby and I know that she is a genius (hehe), but it was sad knowing that she wasn't getting my milk. I still wish I had had a good pump to at least pump the milk out for her.
It is great that you are taking a class... I think that I just hadn't realized how many things can cause problems in a breastfeeding relationship... but if you stick with it and get help when needed you CAN do it! The first 3 weeks are the hardest and there are times you might doubt yourself, but if you don't have any bottles or formula in the house, then it is more likely that you will be successful!
Sorry this is so long!
Love,
Erica
I don't have any breastfeeding advice yet, but I'm planning to breastfeed if at all possible. We'll be taking a class soon too so maybe we can swap stories :-)
Anyhoo ~ I'm wondering if you lovely people have registered yet. I wanted to compare notes...hehe.
Girl, you are so smart! A class. Do you know I never even knew classes on breastfeeding were offered until my THIRD kid? It is very sad to say, but I had two complete failures with nursing before I had what I call success. Thomas and Sarah Grace nursed for, oh, about two weeks.
Thomas was, and still is, my guinea pig. You know, being the first and all. Top that with the stomach troubles and surgeries he had in the first ten weeks of his little life, and he got to be a bottle baby real fast.
Sarah Grace was just lazy, and frankly, I was gun-shy. All the discomfort and no results with Thomas. She would latch on, but then just hang out. After three weeks and a lot of weight loss, and some bum-fuzzled La Leche League ladies, I converted to bottles with her as well.
Elizabeth came along and I was determined to breast feed. After nine weeks, Elizabeth got her first bottle. I had a bacterial infection and had to take care of myself and supplement her to expressed milk and formula. Then the supply issues started up again, and at about 4 and a half months, she was totally a bottle baby.
I plan to try again with the next one, but after Elizabeth, I was told that most red heads have a really hard time with supply. Why it took three kids before someone enlightened me, I will never know. But it alleviated a lot of the personal guilt and defeat I was feeling.
I don't say all this to discourage you. In fact, I have a friend who had many of the same troubles I had, and she is still exclusively nursing her 13 month old. Well, you know, table foods, too. =)
I hope you did learn lots, and don't be afraid to reach out for help. In today's society a lot of folks are quick to say just feed them formula. And if you have to, or choose to, fine. But if you really want to nurse, keep at it friend!
I am still nursing Cecilia @ nine months. We are supplementing a little with formula as well. Due to an illness of mine and taking meds I had to "pump and toss" and since I knew I didn't have to pump to feed her I got a little lazy and my supply went down.
I'm not gonna pull any punches Laura, nursing has been hard! I was lucky that Cecilia knew just what to do from the moment I tried to nurse her just minutes after she was born. I dealt with some latching on pain in the first week or so but then it went away and I haven't used lanolin since. I have dealt with biting issues since Cecilia got her two teeth but we worked through that as well. Mainly she gets my milk through a bottle since I work full time. I have to pump three times a day while at work which really stinks. I much prefer nursing her than pumping...so it has been a labor of love.
The pros of nursing have been:
It is FREE!
It is convienient.
It is the best thing for your baby.
Your baby is less likely to have a bad reaction to your breastmilk than to formula.
The cons have been:
It is stressful (especially if you have supply issues like I have...and I didn't know about the redhead thing that was said earlier but maybe that is my problem)
You can feel tied down and over touched (by the time she was three weeks old...if Bart even wanted to hug me I was like "Don't touch me, don't touch me, Don't touch me!")
The main thing is don't let anyone make you feel guilty (ie- kooky Le Leche Leaguers and Gung Ho Lactation Consultants...trust me some of these ladies have organizations that have cult like qualities...) about your decisions as a mother. Not only do you have to do what is best for Sadie but also what is best for you to help you be a better mother for her! If that means breast feed by all means go for it. If it means realizing breast feeding is stressing you and your baby out then maybe you look at other options...like supplementing with formula some. Formula is not the enemy as I was duped into thinking.
Anyways...good luck and I'll be praying for you! Oh, and try to have some positive friends around to offer support and encouragement when you're going through those tough times ALL nursing mothers are sure to encounter.
Hey Laura...sorry I'm so late in responding to this...I'm not on the internet much these days!
I nursed Ethan until about 2 weeks before his first birthday at which time I switched to whole milk.
I'll be honest, the first 3-4 weeks were very tough. Ethan took to it very well, but I was exhausted from being up every 2-3 hours and it was pretty painful those first few weeks. But if you can remember that it will get better, you can make it.
After the first few weeks, it was really easy and not painful anymore. I was really lucky that I did not get any infections (as some of my friends were plagued with).
Honestly I did feel kind of tied down sometimes, because I was just never comfortable nursing in public (though some people have no problems with that at all) and unless I pumped, I was the only one who could feed him. But, it was a very rewarding experience and we saved a ton of $$$ by not having to buy formula! If we decide to have another child, I will attempt to nurse again.
However, if for some reason you aren't able to nurse, or don't want to, don't let anyone make you feel like less of a mother. Your child will be fine if she drinks formula! My sister in law just never even wanted to try it, and my nephew is just fine!
Bobbie
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