This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on The Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about Birth Experiences and Breastfeeding. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!
For my birth experience, I didn't really know what I wanted. I was 17 for crying out loud. Thanks to the "Bringing Home Baby" show, I was horrified that something would go wrong.
Our birth ended up going along just fine (for the most part). I was in labor for a little under 10 hrs, and didn't have to push very long at all. Once they cleaned all the ick off Sophie, the nurse dove right in my shirt to latch on my baby. I was horrified that it would hurt, everyone said it hurt for the first month or two. Lies, all of it.
No body told me that when you nurse the right way, it isn't supposed to hurt. There I sat, with bleeding nipples, and a baby that wanted to nurse constantly, because she just couldn't latch. I had no idea. I just knew I was in pain.
Eventually the a nurse came in to tell me that Sophie had dropped too much weight, and she needed to get formula in her. I was given the option of just putting a little tube up to my boob, and letting her "pretend nurse." The idea of giving the girls a break was too much to resist. I ended up just bottle feeding her until we got home from the hospital the next day.
On the way home, I had Denny stop at target and buy me a pump. If I couldn't nurse, I was going to be sure that she still got mommy milk. Turns out it wasn't really necessary. Once we got home, she was pro. I don't know if it was drinking from the bottles, using her binky, or what, but she could now latch perfectly and ate like there was no tomorrow.
I didn't feel informed when I had my baby. I didn't really know any better. If Sophie hadn't mastered nursing magically, I may have just been too defeated to keep going. Luckily this time around I know what to expect. I know how it should feel and what to do.
That is how my birth experience affected our breastfeeding.
Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.
Our birth ended up going along just fine (for the most part). I was in labor for a little under 10 hrs, and didn't have to push very long at all. Once they cleaned all the ick off Sophie, the nurse dove right in my shirt to latch on my baby. I was horrified that it would hurt, everyone said it hurt for the first month or two. Lies, all of it.
No body told me that when you nurse the right way, it isn't supposed to hurt. There I sat, with bleeding nipples, and a baby that wanted to nurse constantly, because she just couldn't latch. I had no idea. I just knew I was in pain.
Eventually the a nurse came in to tell me that Sophie had dropped too much weight, and she needed to get formula in her. I was given the option of just putting a little tube up to my boob, and letting her "pretend nurse." The idea of giving the girls a break was too much to resist. I ended up just bottle feeding her until we got home from the hospital the next day.
On the way home, I had Denny stop at target and buy me a pump. If I couldn't nurse, I was going to be sure that she still got mommy milk. Turns out it wasn't really necessary. Once we got home, she was pro. I don't know if it was drinking from the bottles, using her binky, or what, but she could now latch perfectly and ate like there was no tomorrow.
I didn't feel informed when I had my baby. I didn't really know any better. If Sophie hadn't mastered nursing magically, I may have just been too defeated to keep going. Luckily this time around I know what to expect. I know how it should feel and what to do.
That is how my birth experience affected our breastfeeding.
Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.
- Sylko @ Chaotic Mama—Breastfeeding Carnival: Birth Experience
- Emily @ Baby Dickey—How Ryan's birth affected breastfeeding
- Kimberly @ Monkey Tales Mama Thoughts—Birth and Boobs
- Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes—Birth Experience
- Shelley @ Lousy Mom—Birth Experience
- Kimberly @ Fertility Flower—Transformative Power of Birth
- Claire @ Geeky Gaming Mama—How did my births affect breastfeeding?
- Natasha @ naturallurbanmama—My birth experiences, also known as Night and Day!
- Kaitlin Rose @ Bring Birth Home—Giving Birth at Home Positively Affected Breastfeeding
- Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—Dealing With the Opposition
- Whitney @ According to Waddlebug: The (Un)balancing Act of Motherhood—My Birth and How It Affected Breastfeeding
- Lexi @ Life As A Mommy—Birth and Breast
- And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is Laurel Miller-Jones—Laurel's Birth Experience and Breastfeeding
2 comments:
I'm amazed that the nurse was so proactive in getting baby to breast. . . too bad she wasn't a little more informative :P I love that you were a very young mom who had the resolve to nurse your baby! Congrats to you both. . . and I think a lot of mothers would love it if their babes "magically" learned to latch!
I had similar problems with Melody. Mastitis, trouble latching, thrush, you name it and we dealt with it! There definitely isn't enough info or support out there for moms that are new to nursing. Or maybe there is and it's just hard to find! I know I would've thrown in the towel if it wasn't for Jared's support. Definitely helps to have a support system!
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