Only Words...
Sorry Sorrry Sorrryyy... No pics today because i am doing this one handedly and nursing simultaneously. (edit: yay! pics at the end!)
I hate to be another trite mommy-blogger, but lets just talk for a second about the Miracle that is Breastfeeding, shall we?
I'll be nice and start with the pros:
- I am losing alot of weight, and that's good because I look like a deflated balloon-animal: the cow.
- I think it helps me connect with my little girl, which is also good because she gets passed around alot and I know that at least every couple hours I can demand that it is "my turn" with her.
Okay that sums it up. The Cons?
- It hurts. and it is really hard to get mad because you know it is like "the best thing ever" and "so good for your kid" and "going to make her a genius" and "if only Hitler had been breast-fed..." But gah! that whole "let down response thingy" that SUCKS. The books all cleverly describe it as "pins and needles"...I can see that, as long as it is the amniocentesis size needle that they are talking about and the pain they are refering to is that size needle being jammed in your boob over and over and over again.
- My child bites. Enough said there?
- Latching? Damn near impossible. Still after three weeks using the shield thingy they gave me in the hospital. Not sure if she will EVER learn to just nurse from the boob. So she is starving and trying to latch on and sort of randomly banging her face into my chest...
I guess that is enough bitching. (for now). Am sorry that there are no pics this time...Any advice on the whole nursing thing? I could use the encouragement right now. (edit: don't you dare tell me to "hang in there"...)
Okay, in a freak moment of generocity, my little girl fell asleep long enough to let me put these up! wooohoooo little Sophie!
It is *very* cold here right now...think "teens" with windchills. eeep!
FIRM pillow. (Boppy is squishy.)
Cross-cradle hold - hand on back of baby's neck.
Keep trying (I did not say hang in there.) Alliclaus was seven weeks old before we saw any real success. (Comment this)
She looks so freaking cute with her mouth open like that!!!!! (Comment this)
I was glad to hear about your breastfeeding misadventures. I so badly want to give it a go for all the same reasons you mentioned, but I am afraid that I will fail miserably. I know that if I hear a realistic description of how it goes, I will be better prepared! (Comment this)
I was literally sobbing when my baby had to latch on because I was in so much pain. I was actually on prescription painkillers to get through the first month or so. But my cousin once told me if I wanted to do it, I'd do it, so I put up with it. My daughter wasn't weaned until 14 months, so we did eventually figure it out!
I had been super anal about a proper latch. Then I realized that no one told my mom or my grandmothers how the latch was supposed to look, so I stopped worrying about it. As long as the baby got my nipple in her mouth and was getting milk, I was happy. Did it make me sore longer? Probably. But it worked for us.
I also ditched the lanolin. Instead of helping it was actually making my nipples more sore and the nurse told me that happens sometimes.
As far as the shield, I really only needed it on one side. When it was time to nurse on the side she didn't need the shield, I let her eat her fill, then switched her and didn't use the shield. Because she wasn't starving and convinced she'd die, she was able to concentrate a bit more on latching. So in your case maybe you can nurse with the shield on one side, then try the latch on the other.
Good luck! By the time my baby was about 7 months it was completely second nature and I had a harded time with weaning than my baby did! (Comment this)
Love the little cap with ears! (Comment this)