Mama’s Guide to Breastfeeding

– A First Time Mom’s Experience With Breastfeeding –

I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t 100% prepared to breastfeed. Sure I had a special breastfeeding pillow, some nursing bras and pads, and a pump, but I never really spent any time reading up or trying to learn the “proper holds”. I just thought it was natural and so it would come natural, but for me, it took a little extra work.

The hospital that I had Hudson at was pro-breastfeeding, so after our hour of skin-to-skin the nurses encouraged me to try feeding Hudson. Exhausted from being up for over 24 hours and pushing an 8 pound baby out, I lifted Hudson to my breast and gave it a try. But he wasn’t having it. He would grunt around my breast, but wouldn’t latch. And so it went for a few attempts until one of the nurses brought in a nipple shield and used a dropper of water to get him to latch. Finally he was able to eat, but we ended up leaving the hospital without him ever latching on his own, and I continued to need to use a shield for five long months.

I sought out a lactation consultant after leaving the hospital so we could work on his latch, and because Hudson was still continuing to loose weight. But even the lactation consultant couldn’t help, Hudson straight up refused to latch to my nipple. He would shriek and scream and push his head away anytime I tried. Basically in the end she told me, it’s something he will grow out of in a few months, and she was right, around 5 months out of the blue he started pulling the shield off while nursing and finally latched on his own.

But the struggle wasn’t just with Hudson latching, it was also with his poor weight gain. After a bout with jaundice and loosing a pound his first week, he was gaining weight at a pace that the  Doctors weren’t too happy with. And so the 3 step feeding cycle started. For an entire month I would nurse Hudson for 40 minutes, like I said he was a slow eater that didn’t know what to do, then pump for 15 minutes, then feed him the bottle of pumped milk. This process occurred every 2 hours, which left me with little to no time to shower, eat, and use the bathroom before starting the cycle all over again. It was exhausting. I wanted to throw in the towel and give up, but I mustered up the strength to continue to try and breastfeed.

I lived my life between feeds. Did I have enough time to get showered and dressed and go to the store before he needed to eat again? I felt like for four months my life revolved around a baby on my boob or holding the pump to my breast. My constantly leaking boobs left little white milk spots all over the hardwood floor, and dirtied my sheets just as soon as they came out of the dryer. Leaving the house was a whole ordeal, did I have the nipple shield, a nursing cover, burp cloths and a change of clothes in case he spit up?

But around 5 months we finally found our groove, both Hudson and I knew exactly what to do, he didn’t need a shield anymore, he would eat for about 10 minutes and be done and would go back and forth between breast and bottle. It was easy just the way I always thought it would be.

Around 8 months I weened Hudson, a bit sooner than I expected, but a hormonal imbalance resulted in daily hives all over my body. My options were take allergy medicine that made me drowsy while trying to take care of an infant or suffer through the itchy red bumps, so after 2 months of hives, I decided weaning might be the thing to help get my hormones back in balance. We finished off the milk stash in the freezer and transitioned to formula for 2 months before introducing milk.

My first time breastfeeding journey started off so difficult, but I stuck with it, and it did eventually become so easy and natural.

– This is my Second Baby, I Know Exactly What to Expect and Do, I Got This – 

I remember thinking, “this is my second baby, I know exactly what to expect and do, I got this” – boy was I wrong!

Even as a second time mom who had breastfed in the past, it still was a struggle the second time around. Graham was born and was instantly rooting for my boob to eat. He latched right away no problem. He didn’t have jaundice and stayed awake while nursing, all so very different than my first time experience with Hudson. But what remained the same was Graham also sucked at transferring milk. A pound lost and weighted feedings at the Doctor office resulted in me yet again having to do the 3 step feeding process.

The first time around I wasn’t working and Hudson was my only kid; the second time around I was trying to balance both Hudson and feeding Graham which felt like it was never ending. One of my favorite memes was a comparison between breastfeeding your first vs your second. While I can’t find it right now, it went a little something like this: 1st baby you are sitting peacefully in a forest of flowers feeding your baby listening to the birds chirping with the sun shining down on you, 2nd baby you are struggling to bat off your toddler who is climbing all over your shoulders while screaming in your face about a snack while simultaneously shitting their pants and coloring on the wall. It’s a real shit show.

I was exhausted, the long 3 step process coupled with a crazy toddler had me wanting to give up. I remember days of excoriating pain, where my toes would curl as Graham would latch. Everyone will tell you if you are breastfeeding right it won’t hurt, but I call bullshit. No one’s nipples are used to be sucked 24/7, there is sensitivity, chapping, bleeding and sore nipples no matter how good the latch. Of course weeks later it gets better, you get used to it, your baby gets on a more consistent feeding schedule and it all works seamlessly. But those first few weeks, horrendous.

But I am here to say, if you are struggling in that first month or so, it is completely normal. It does hurt. It is exhausting. You will want to give up. But you can overcome it all. It will get easier. It will feel completely natural. It won’t hurt. You will find your groove.

But until then, there’s a few things to help you through the transition.

• • Nipple Butter. My personal favorite was Earth Mama Organic Nipple Butter. It is made from  non-gmo organic calendula and oils, this nipple butter was very easy to spread and wasn’t sticky. It smelled like coco and left my skin feeling soft. I still use it now on my really dry skin and chapped lips.
    A close second is the Bamboobies Organic Nipple Balm. It was smooth, easy to spread and non-sticky. My absolute least favorite was Lansinoh Lanolin Nipple Cream. It was thick, hard to spread, had a weird scent and permanently stained my bras… no thanks!
  • Nursing Pillow. Again I tried a few different brands and of them I had a clear winner, a runner up and a don’t buy it product. My favorite nursing pillow was the Organic Caboose Nursing Pillow. This is a brand I first found via cloth diapering, and I actually product tested and modeled the pillow for them. But with that being said, between the boppy and my breastfriend, the Organic Caboose Nursing pillow was a clear front runner and here’s why. It was thicker and firmer than the boppy with a wider base, but also squishy and adaptable to you and the baby. Whereas the breastfriend felt like a stiff shelf that had no give to it and would (and did) send a baby flying off of it. The good thing about Boppy is it is available at all your major retailers, so makes baby registries easy. But given the choice, Organic Caboose was my favorite. I did ruin my pillow, because it is not machine washable, and I spilt coffee on it (second baby problems); however,  I am currently testing a new product for them, the Lactation Station, and let me tell you, this is so much better than the original! Look for a post with a full review coming soon!
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  • Nipple Shield! So whether your baby latches immediately or not, it is great to have a nipple shield for those days where your baby is cluster feeding and you just need a barrier to help save the nips! I always joked I had no idea why they made them clear because you constantly loose them, especially at 3 AM when you are just straight exhausted, and there was no carrying case (I used my pacifier case). Medela now makes a carrying case but they are still see-through so…
  • Milk Storage Bags. My favorite were the Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags. These can hold up to 6 ounces, lay very flat so take up less freezer space, and do not pop to leak. Also the price on them is great. Medela bags for me seemed to leak more than any other bags and had a wide base and narrow top, the Evenflo bags didn’t leak but also didn’t freeze as flat, and the Kiinde bags didn’t leak but also didn’t lay remotely flat and took up the most space. I never used it with the complete bottle system which seems like a great concept, so who knows maybe with baby 3 I’ll love it, but for now Lansinoh is my clear winner.

Nursing covers, I’m on the fence about. I get not wanting to expose yourself while out and about, but my kids hated being under the cover. They would constantly pull it off, so while in theory it was great it just didn’t work for me. But if you are going to buy one, check out Milk Snob they make a great multi-purpose cover. I instead preferred nursing wear, like Bun Maternity Nursing Hoodie or Undercover Mama Nursing Shirt. These allowed me to discreetly nurse without having to worry about keeping a cover in place.

I couldn’t live without my pump, so I’d highly recommend a double electric pump with a hands free nursing bra. I also bought myself a manual pump for the times I was in the car or traveling on a plane and needed to pump but didn’t have access to an outlet. I have used both Medela and Spectra and they are equal in my eyes. But I’ll go over them in more depth in a separate post.

So as a first time and second time mama, my advice on breastfeeding is this: it is tough, it isn’t easy, even if your baby is a fast nurser, who latches great and transfers milk amazingly, you have to prepare to pump while your baby is away. Grandma wants to babysit, great, oh but wait, I have to pump several times during the day to prevent matsis. It is definitely a sacrifice and an added pressure to feel like you are the sole provider of the nutrition your baby needs to stay alive. But in the end, I felt good knowing that my babies got the nutrients and antibodies they needed from me and that I was able to save money by not having to purchase formula.

In the end, you’ll find the groove that works for you and your baby. Whether you breastfeed for a week or 2 years, it is an amazing thing for your baby and there are some great products out there to help you along your journey.

xoxo, andrea