Breastfeeding The Second Time Around

Before I ever became pregnant I committed in heart that I would breastfeed. Well I had my first child, my delightful and very handsome baby boy and breastfeeding went nothing like I imagined and was far from the fairy tale painted in all the magazines in my OB's office. For the full journey refer to my post Breastfeeding and Humble Pie.

I felt completely defeated and like the ultimate failure that I couldn't grasp something that I thought should come natural to me. I mean literally natural to me. This only fueled my determination to breastfeed with cub # 2. And breastfeed we did. Some things I had to do based on my lessons learned from cub #1 and my journey so far with cub # 2:

• If at all possible don't supplement with formula and don't introduce the bottle too early.

With my son part of my trouble started when the doctor asked us to supplement with formula since my son dropped 10% of his birth weight while still in the hospital. Well I determined this go round that 6.5 lbs was still a good birth weight so I refused. Baby girl got back on track very quickly and we were off to a better start with breastfeeding. Here is the tricky part. I waited 6 weeks before introducing a bottle because I was too scared to mess up the good thing we had going. I was due to return to work at 8 weeks. I had so much trouble getting her to take a bottle. I will share that journey in another post.

• Don't use the breast shields.

Flat nipples or no-she will learn to latch onto what you got and will get what she needs. I had several breast shields with my first child because I was told our latching issues were due to the fact that my nipples aren't as pronounced as others (sorry to my male friend readers but if my journey can help other women I have to share). Those things only further complicated things. Didn't use them with the second child and we eventually got the hang of latching.

• Latching is a journey that I don't think you EVER master.

At least for me. Yeah nursing now at 6 months is pain free but I think this is because my nipples toughened up and not because baby girl actually learned how to properly latch. She does whatever she wants to my poor body. Which brings me to the next lesson...

• Babies don't care about you when it comes to the milk.

Bleeding, cracked, sore, raw, tender, peeling, scabbed over, and just downright mutilated they will wrap their chubby mouths around it and go for what they know. The soreness never goes away so buy stock in that lanolin stuff and keep some handy. Oh and at six months they learn the art of gnawing, biting, tugging, and digging their grabby little hands into your flesh. Yeah yeah remove them off the breast and say no. If your's is like mine they will find it funny and actually smile/laugh at you, latch back on, and do it again. Good luck!

• Producing milk is a science only understood by no one.

My milk production is all over the place. This I'm sure has a lot to do with the fact that currently my work environment challenges my ability to pump during the day when away from baby. Not that my boss and leaders aren't supportive of me pumping at works but more so because it is too difficult to fit in three pumping sessions when I have meetings scheduled all day and when I'm not in meetings I have other things I need to get done. It's difficulty to pull away to a lactation room, hook up my gear, pump for 15 minutes, clean all my gear, then return to my desk. I literally exhaust 30 minutes doing this. So most days I get in one pump. Well that royally messes up my production. I've tried it all; pumping an extra 8 minutes after she nurses, providing her bottles only when I am at work and allowing her to nurse for all the other feedings, drinking fenugreek and plenty of water, and setting aside quite time for baby and I to bond while nursing. Results....my milk production is low and I am not producing enough for baby.  It's a challenge that only leads to me stressing which I believe only makes all of it more difficult. My recent decision....pump when I can and nurse in the morning and at night. Any feedings I don't have breast milk for will be handled with formula and now solid foods as we are now introducing baby girl to solids. Oddly enough since I made this decision my production has increased by 2 ounces in only one week. We'll see what happens...

So I wrote a bunch to say this....each breastfeeding journey will be different because hey each baby is different. I'm glad that this go round I was actually able to breastfeed and dare I say it....I enjoy my little quiet moments with my bambino (except when she is gnawing and biting). I made it six months and I haven't quit the job; I've gone part-time. The biggest advise I can give on breastfeeding is do what works for you and baby.

A letter to my son

So I am definitely that mom taking tons of pictures of my little ones, saving them to Shutterfly and Snapfish, creating all types of memory books and scrapbooks. I am quite proud of the fact that my two year old son's baby book is up to date and full of loving memories of his life thus far. The other day I finally sat down in a rare moment of silence and managed to write my letter to him. My original desire was to have the letter penned before he was born but I could never settle on the words to say. After finally completing the short but what I feel to be the perfect letter, I decided the words were applicable to every one I love. So...I have decided to share it here. May you as the reader find yourself in these words.




My Dearest Antonio,

As your parents there is so much we want to say to you and so much we want for you. First and foremost we want you to know and feel that you are loved. We want a home for you filled with joy and laughter. We will endeavor to be good role models. In life there will be many things that will challenge or sadden you. It is our hope that you will be strong enough and confident enough to overcome them all. I can't promise that we will never fail you. I can't promise that you will love or agree with everything we do. What we do promise is to love you always and to give the best of who we are and what we have.

In life the bravest thing you can ever do is try. So try son. Try new things. Try to be good. Try to be loving and understanding. Do these things boldly. Trust in God and in who you are.

We love you son!