Breastfeeding Guest Post: Part 2

This is a continuation from Part 1 that I posted yesterday. The guest blogger is my good friend Allie, who struggled with infertility for four years and is now the proud mommy of a six week old baby boy. She has had amazing success with breastfeeding thus far so I thought I'd do a little Q&A with her.

• what did the first latch feel like?

This is a tough one to describe.  For me, I'm sure this experience was different than for most first time moms.  The incredible emotions surrounding Arie's first latch was after 4 years of infertility and having a long unmedicated labor and a traumatic delivery.  There were so many emotions surrounding his birth and he was immediately on my naked chest right after he was born and he had latched within 15 minutes or so after being born.  Emotionally, my son latching for the first time felt like a miracle coming to life.  All of my hopes and dreams had suddenly come true and it was right in front of me and physically happening.  Physically, although this took a major back seat, it felt like I was pinched super hard  in a really not nice way on my nipple.  I had no help until about 18 hours after he was born with a lactation consultant, so my first 18 hours was just about like the first latch. Painful but somewhat successful.  

 

• did your nurses try to push formula on you in the hospital?

No, my nurses and the hospital pediatrician did not try to push formula on me at the hospital at all.  In fact, formula was never mentioned at all.  The hospital where I delivered him was a very pro-breastfeeding hospital, that I picked for that reason (as well as being pro unmedicated birth)  They never even asked me how I was planning to feed my child, but upon arrival, I had told the nurse that I planned to breastfeed and it must have been marked down in my chart and never mentioned again.

I did have a pushy nurse who tried to push pumping on me.  I refused to pump because I didn't think it was necessary.  I asked repeatedly the first day for a lactation consultant, but the place was super busy (there were 25 babies born the day my son was born.)  Arie slept a LOT the first day to the point where I was very concerned.  I asked the nurses several times why he was sleeping so long (It turned out it was because of his circumcision and jaundice... the lactation consultant explained it to us when she came)  The nurses wouldn't listen to me that I couldn't wake him up and suggested that I pump to feed him.  I told them that I didn't want to use a bottle at all and they suggested that I pump and feed him with a syringe.  I explained again that he had no problem whatsoever latching, it was that he wouldn't wake up to eat that was my problem.  The nurse ignored me completely and came back with a breastpump.  I asked for the syringes and she told me that they don't have syringes.  Um what? You just told me to use a syringe.  I did not use the pump and just continued trying to get him to wake up.  She also said that I needed to use a nipple shield.  Uhhhh no, I don't.

When the lactation consultant came in several hours later, she was furious that the nurse dumped the pump in my room.  She was also more that furious that the nurse told me that I needed to use a nipple shield because of the shape of my nipples/areolas.  She assured me that I did not need the pump or the shield if I didn't want it and that my son would be perfectly capable of eating once we woke him up and that the pump would cause more damage to my supply than good since he was already latching.  She helped me wake him up by undressing him down to his diaper and helping me take my top off so that we could do skin to skin.  She explained the benefits of his skin on my skin and how that was going to help him.  After about 2 hours of help, Arie had been able to feed for about 25 minutes on each breast. She also taught me the hamburger hold and how I had to hold my breast and pinch my areola to make it fit comfortably in my son's mouth for him to have a successful latch.  I still have to do this at 5 1/2 weeks old. 

 

(Hamburger hold... don't mind the middle finger... that's really what I was taking a picture of haha) 

The breast pump stayed in the corner of my hospital room taking up space until we left.  

• My baby was screaming from hunger before my milk came in. Shouldn't I give him formula?

In my experience, Arie didn't scream of hunger.  He screamed because he was cold or because his diaper was wet or because he wasn't being held skin to skin.  Some of what I learned in my research was how valuable and important the colostrum that I was producing was to my baby and that colostrum IS breastmilk.  Colostrum acts as a laxative to help the baby get all of the meconium, tar like poop out of their system that has built up since they have been swallowing amniotic fluid in the womb.  Colostrum is incredibly vital and necessary for newborns and it has every nutrient that the baby needs.  Some falsely worry about the baby not getting enough in the first days but what they aren't realizing is that the baby's stomach is so tiny that a table spoon or two is ALL that will fit in their stomach and all that they will need to consume in the first few days.  If your baby gets it's cord blood after birth, your baby is well equipped to handle the first few days after birth where all they consume is colostrum.  Colostrum is high in calories and protein.




from Kellymom.com - http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/ 
http://kellymom.com/pregnancy/bf-prep/how_breastmilk_protects_newborns/

So, your baby is not starving.  There are several reasons why your baby could be crying, but the maximum stomach capacity is hardly variable.  Your baby does NOT need that much colostrum/milk at ALL until your "milk comes in."  And also, "Milk coming in" is a myth.  Colostrum is still breastmilk.  It is specifically designed and intended for your newborn baby.  Your BEST bet on getting your milk supply to meet your baby's needs is by keeping them at your breast as much as possible.  If you allow your baby to nurse (even "comfort nurse") for 30+ minutes, that is how your body will be signaled that it's time to release more milk. 

• What do you have against formula? It's seems so much easier!

This is a tricky question because I don't want formula feeding moms to take my choices and feelings about formula personally.  What I do is what I believe is best for my child, and to each their own.  So, please take this not as a judgment but as my personal beliefs being stated.

I believe that God designed my body to sustain a pregnancy while I carry my baby.  I also believe that God designed my breasts to sustain my baby after it is born.  After researching exactly what is in breast milk and how it works and the countless benefits for my baby, I personally believe that following God's plan and design for motherhood is how it should be for me.  I believe that there is a reason that my breasts produce milk and my husband's do not and that it is 100% natural for me to be the sole food provider for my child.

Now as far as formula being "easier"... I have never heard anything more ridiculous.

Here is what I know and have seen with formula feeding moms:
-They need bottles... and often times, moms have to try several different brands of bottles and nipples in order to get the most successful match for their baby.  Bottles are expensive.  Nipples are expensive.
-With bottles comes with washing bottles and nipples and sterilizing.  Sometimes requiring special equipment which costs money.  Also, the amount of time it takes to wash bottles and mix formula is time away from your child and time away from every day life.
-Formula is EXPENSIVE.  Often times, babies struggle with formula and parents have to try several different options before they settle on the formula that works best for their child without causing too much gastrointestinal distress.  Formula runs out, so if you are not constantly keeping an eye on your supply of formula, you may find yourself in the middle of the night having to run to the store with a screaming starving baby.
-Formula has preservatives and often gets recalled.  I could not imagine the stress of constantly watching the ingredient lists on cans of formula to make sure that there was nothing unsafe for my baby to consume.  I could also not even imagine the stress that would come with finding out that I had been feeding my child a formula that had been recalled because it was unsafe.
-Formula poop stinks.  There is absolutely a difference in the smell factor of the bowel movements of an exclusively breastfed baby and a formula fed baby.
-Formula is not natural.  There is nothing man made that can compare in benefits to breast milk.  There is unending research that shows the benefits of immunity in breast milk and how each meal is specifically tailored to your baby each time they eat at the breast as opposed to formula which has exactly the same content each time your child feeds.
-Formula is stressful.  You have to watch exactly how much you are feeding your baby each time because you have to measure it out.  You don't want to underfeed them and you don't want to overfeed them.  When your baby is crying, you have no idea how much more or possibly how much less formula to give them in order to satisfy them.
-With formula, you need water and electricity.  In the event of a natural disaster or power outage, it becomes stressful to find a way to feed your child. 

With breastfeeding (exclusively, no pumping) I have no equipment to buy.  I have no amounts to measure, nothing to sterilize or wash, nothing extra packed into my diaper bag while I'm out.  I do not need to worry about running out, if my baby still seems hungry, I put him back on my breast and he has the freedom to eat as much or as little as he wants.  I never have to be concerned with the amount of ounces he is eating since my breasts have no gauges.  In the event of a natural disaster, I have the perfect food for him at the perfect temperature no matter what time of day or year.  By the amount of diapers I change and my baby's healthy weight gain, that's how I can tell if he is getting enough to eat.  Is he sleeping peacefully and is he content? Then he's eating enough.  Easy peasy.  Also, no watching the clock for a schedule... since I can't overfeed my breastfed baby, I don't have to watch the clock to make sure he goes a certain amount of time between feedings.  He can eat whenever he's hungry and that makes it much less stressful on me because if he gets hungry an hour before his scheduled time to eat, I don't have to find some way to occupy him and pacify him to pass the hour before it's time to feed him.


 To be concluded...