Adventures in Breastfeeding
Posted by Me Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:26:01 GMT
Thursday and Friday of this week have been really fun over here…NOT! Little Jack has been having a tough time nursing. He used to be a champ but as of 3am on Thursday Morning that went out the window. He has been the most fussy baby at the breast – pulling off the breast with grunts and “Eh” sounds. Even crying at times. It has been most unfortunate. He would only feed for 2 mins at a time. I then take him and burp him which takes forever and even if I do succeed he’s still ultra-comfortable. Most of Thursday was spent in this haphazard eating manner. I thought by the evening he’d have settled down, but alas no such luck. I think LOML & I were up with him for most of the night – trying to nurse him (me), trying to burp him (LOML & me), trying to rock him to sleep (LOML) without much luck. Eventually around 4:30am we laid him down on the co-sleeper and he was able to drift off. He slept for about an hour or so and then I fed him again or at least tried to and had him sleep for another 2 hours. It’s been nuts to say the least.
At 9amon Friday, I called a local La Leche League Leader to ask for some advice. E. was very helpful and asked me a lot fo questions to see what might be going on. I think we determined that I have too much foremilk and a strong let-down. To alleviate some of this, I am supposed to pump both breasts (thank goodness for the Medela Double Pump-In-Style Electric Pump!) for a few minutes. Then, I nurse Jack on one breast while pumping the other for as long as he will nurse. I repeat this every 2 to 3 hours! By pumping first I reduce some of the foremilk which seems to give him some trouble. He often sucks so strong at first that he chokes once milk comes down hence swallowing more air and becoming uncomfortable. E. & I also think that this causes him to only get the foremilk and not the hind milk since he fills up on the watery stuff first. With that in mind, E. also suggested I only feed Jack on one breast for 3 feedings (all the while pumping the other). After 3 feedings I switch breasts.
We have done a few sessions thus far and it’s been going ok. I don’t pump as much though – adjusting here and there especially during the night time feedings. Right now, he seems to get hungry quite often like – this morning he was on an every hour kick so I tried not to pump too much to make sure there was stuff for him to drink.
It’s a work in progress. It certainly is a whole lot more work these days to feed the little one, but it’s important. I felt so bad on Thursday when he didn’t feed properly. We’re working on it. It was funny though when I first did the nursing him on one breast while pumping the other thing – he did eye the pump on the other boob so suspiciously – like “What are you doing on my boob?” And then for a while he was trying to keep up with the sucking rhythm as if he wouldn’t be outdone. It was funny to watch him check it out rather skeptically. Now, he is used to it and couldn’t care less. :)
So, we’ll see how it goes. I hope things get better on the feeding front and eventually we can transition him to sleep in the crib in his room. One thing at a time I guess. Right now, he doesn’t sleep for very long anyways. Last night I was up every 2 hours. If I lay him down in the crib for a nap during the day I am lucky if I can get 15 minutes out of him. He wakes up crying wondering where everybody is.
Other than feeling like a cow most of the day, things are all right. We went on our first errand outing today (Costco, Target & Whole Foods) and he did quite well. I chose to carry him in the Baby Bjorn since he really doesn’t like just chilling in the car seat. Hopefully that’ll change sometime. In any case, it was fun getting out of the house and getting stuff done. We got him some new clothes which I have to stick in the laundry.
Yesterday we went for a picture day with LOML’s family. It was fun and Jack was well behaved. He was alert and checking out the lights at the photo place. I think we got some good shoots with everyone. After that we had lunch at my in-laws. Jack slept through most of that after his most eventful morning. We got home napped and then chilled out for the rest of the evening while LOML headed out for his monthly poker game.
Overall, the weekend is going all right. Jack is still fussy – esp in the early evening/night. I hope this improves as he gets older. I guess only time will tell.
In any case, I have to start on some laundry and then it’ll be time for another feeding session. Lovely! :)
