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 nursing in special circumstances. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!
As stated before, nursing was not a picnic at first. It was down right painful - both physically and emotionally. I didn't really know that anything was wrong when she first nursed, but later that day I was hurting. My nipples were cracked and bleeding.
Our first night was spent in the hospital, both of us crying. My baby was constantly hungry, and I couldn't understand why. She nursed and nursed, but never seemed to be satisfied. We all know when babies are hungry, and don't get fed, they cry. She cried, I cried.
I sat there in my hospital bed, and felt like a failure. How was I supposed to take care of this little person when I couldn't even feed her? I asked for the lactation specialist, but it took her forever to come. She latched Sophie on, but nothing was really explained. I felt like a bad mother having to ask for help, with something that was supposed to be natural. Eventually I cracked and asked the nurse to bring me a binky. Around 4 in the morning, Sophie finally fell asleep.
The next morning I was informed that she had dropped from her 6 lbs 12 oz to 6 lbs 4 oz. She "needed" formula. I passed on the nipple tube, and just fed her from a bottle. My boobs hurt so much, even showering hurt.
When we took her home, we stopped to buy a pump. If my baby was going to drink from bottles, she'd at least drink my milk. I decided to try breastfeeding again at our home, and it worked. It still hurt, because the scabs were healing, but it wasn't the same stabbing pain. A few days after I completely healed, there was no pain at all.
My baby was a pro nurser. Had she not "learned" on her own, I don't know how our nursing experience would have gone.
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: Special Circumstances
- Whitney @ According To Waddlebug: The (Un)Balancing Act of Motherhood—Breastfeeding a Dairy & Gluten Sensitive Babe
- Lexi @ Life As A Mommy—Nursing in Pain
- Guest Poster Angela @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl—Breastfeeding Twins: What I Wish I'd Known
- Natasha @ naturalurbanmama—Nursing in Special Circumstances: Preemie, Pregnancy and a Pair of Nurslings
- Heather @ The Bee in Your Bonnet—Whole Nine Months
- Timbra @ Bosoms & Babes—Special Circumstance: NICU Nurses and Nursing
- Guest Poster Kristin @ Nursing Freedom—Nursing in Public with Twins: My Story, My Thoughts
- And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s Blog today is Melissa Knighton—No Dairy, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, or Tree Nuts
1 comment:
I hate hospitals! Gah! I had the exact same thing happen when I asked for help from a Lactation Consultant. Just walk in, plop her on, walk out. No help at all. That's why I'm having a homebirth next time. Well, not only that, but that's a big part of it. :-P
Let me know if you have any issues with this next baby. I will come and help any time day or night and if I don't know how to help, I know a bunch of people who do!
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