Breastfeeding is a very new and exiting thing to do when you have your first newborn. There are a few things I wanted to talk about, what goes into it and what to expect during this magical and at the same time hard time of the parenting journey. Now, I would like to make it clear, I am saying that it might be a hard time for some women because all babies are different, but it’s an amazing experience. So, let me break it down by stages and tell you about my experience.
Stage One – Starting out
When you start breastfeeding, it might go very smoothly or be very difficult for both baby and mom. The first time the baby might latches, and sometimes they might forget how they did it that one time, so first advise is patience, it’s a big one. Just keep trying and eventually they will learn to do it on their own.
One of the ways to start and what worked for me after C-section, is by placing the baby belly down on your breast while you are laying down. Make sure you are comfortable laying down because baby can feel if you are tense. The baby will start looking for the nipple. You will be surprised how good they are in finding it, just by smell. This is one of their instincts to find the breast to latch on.
First week was really hard for me, I was trying different positions that did not work for me until I tried laying down with baby belly down on top of the breast. I was so nervous and scared that we will never learn, because I always imagined and planned to breastfeed my baby. When I was not able to latch the baby, I was still pumping to keep my supply up and my partner was feeding the baby.
Stage Two – Feeding and Nipple Pain
I do not want to sound scary or negative, I just want to share my own experience, and maybe you will find it informative and supportive. So, as you learned and got accustomed to feeding and you think you nailed it down. I want to share my experience of how the feeding part was for me, as it was not as easy as I had hope it would be, long story short, it was very painful in the beginning.
After a couple of days my nipples started to hurt really bad, like, I was in such pain that I could swear that giving birth was so much easier than the breastfeeding. But then after about a month pain started subside and then thereafter it disappeared completely. Usually, the pain stops after a couple of weeks, but for me it was a month or so.
You might be a lucky one that might not experience pain or have it for just for a few days. If nipple pain is not subsiding, it is best to consult the breastfeeding specialist to rule out any other problems.
There is a nipple shield that you can try. I tried wearing it while breastfeeding to help with the pain, it’s inexpensive and it did help me a little bit.
Stage Three – Storing
Once we established exclusive breastfeeding I noticed that I have an unusual problem. I was producing too much milk, so I decided to use it to my advantage. My baby had difficult time latching when my breasts were too full in the morning, so waking up earlier and pumping was my best option. This helped me to build a stash of breastmilk that I store in the freezer. Breastmilk it good for up to 6 months once frozen and it gave me a peace of mind to have an extra supply. I use these really cool milk storage bags that worked really well for me, and they have section for date and time to write down when it was frozen.
A little tip is to write down the time when milk was pumped. Breastmilk has different levels of nutrients during the day or night. For example, breastmilk at night has higher levels of melatonin to help baby fall asleep.
Leaking breastmilk was another problem that I never expected to have. Using milk collection shells or nursing pads helped a lot. Especially, when feeding the baby and having a letdown on the other breast, milk collection shells helped to save the milk that otherwise would be wasted.
Not everyone thinks of breastfeeding as a challenge, and it kind of is. On one hand it is so much easier because you do not have to worry about all the bottles and the food is always by your side when your little one needs it, and on the other hand it comes with so many challenges that you have to go through, and let me tell you, it’s totally worth it, at the end of the day it’s all about your baby’s health, so keep breastfeeding.
