You just had a baby – really you just had a baby about an hour or so ago – and the nurse brings your new child over and asks if you would like to breastfeed.  Unless you have made up your mind before, (no you don’t think you will breastfeed thank you) you reach out for the little bundle and attempt to follow directions on how to feed the baby.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.  It can be due to millions of different things like you are exhausted -you just had a baby remember, or baby is too agitated, the room is too cold, baby isn’t really that hungry, you can’t get the position right, baby isn’t ready to suck……

If it works and your new baby latches on, it is the beginning of something amazing – breastfeeding!

I was one of the lucky ones that had success with baby latching on after giving birth.  I really don’t remember much of it other than the nurse trying to show me how to hold her while nursing.  It wasn’t that comfortable and I felt a little discombobulated, but I also couldn’t feel half my body so I figured it was a success due to my little one sucking away.  A couple hours later when I was woken up to nurse again, I tried holding my new daughter a more comfortable way for me, and away she went.  We were set and ready to go.

Nothing more was said about breastfeeding when we left for home and I honestly didn’t do much research prior to giving birth on breastfeeding.  All I knew was that it is natural, been done for years and years, and free.  It is also healthy for both baby and mom, so I just planned on doing it.  I had purchased a hand held breast pump a couple days before giving birth thinking it might come in handy later on to pump some milk for feedings with Dad – you know, just like those glossy scenes you see in the movies.  Yeah, right. 

We got home and had a couple fantastic days of nursing and sleeping and basking in the glow from our new daughter.  I was being very stoic about the sore nipples, and getting used the oddness of my breasts being exposed constantly in an extremely non-sexual way.  We were all cooing and ahhhing over the natural wonder of it all.  Then all hell broke loose and the realities of breastfeeding reared its ugly head.  Over the next couple days and weeks, I learned a lot about breastfeeding, much of it on my own and without help. Not all of these things are going to happen to you that happened to me, but I was definitely surprised that no one filled me in on some of these less than perfect parts of breastfeeding.

Our first issue:

You think your baby is sucking away and happy and you assume that everything is great.  Not so.  When baby first starts nursing, you are actually not producing breast milk yet.  Your baby is feasting on colostrum, which is a high carbohydrate, protein, and antibody concoction that works with new babies’ digestive system.  After about 3-5 days, your breast milk will come in.  Your baby will loose 10% of its birth weight during this time – DO NOT BE ALARMED!  It is normal and really nothing to worry about.  When your milk comes in, the weight should recover.

Our lovely daughter seemed to be nursing great but when we went in for her first pediatrician visit, my milk hadn’t come in yet and he was a little concerned about her weight.  I was told to start pumping and feed as often as I could.  It was also suggested that I visit with a Lactation Specialist.  I wasn’t ready to go that route so home we went, and out came the pump.  Colostrum is an interesting brownish orange color and I was getting about 1 ounce out of each breast.  Was this the right amount?  Should it be this color?  No one had told me.  Guess what – everything was normal.  We feed her tons and the next day my milk came in.  Everything was great!

Second frustrating moment:

That night was not so great.  We were up every hour on the hour and my breasts felt like softballs. What was the problem?  I had no idea what to do.  I discovered I had engorged breasts and it was not comfortable.  Baby couldn’t get any milk out of the softballs either so she was wailing.  It wasn’t a great night.  The next day, after a couple pain relievers and some research, I discovered that this happens to most women and to pump to expel more milk and used a hot pad prior to nursing and ice afterwards.  It helped, but I was still pretty uncomfortable and my little one was frustrated.  I refused to give up and kept on with breastfeeding.

Our next dilemma:

After a day or two, everything seemed to even out.  I was nursing every 2 hours during the day and a couple times at night.  The new problem was I had sore and abused nipples.  The pain was extreme when my daughter latched on for a feeding.  What to do?  I wasn’t going to stop nursing and she wasn’t excited about the bottle.  Then I found Lasinoh nipple cream.  It was my savior!  I put it on after each feeding and also after showering.  It really helped heal my nipples and it did wonders on my daughter’s chapped nursing lips.

The fourth fun thing:

So, we survived that and continued forth on our breastfeeding saga.  Once again, my daughter and I settled into our feeding routine and everything seemed to be working out just fine.  Then my breasts decided that they were going to set their own nursing routine and start leaking at all times.  What was I to do?  The first couple times it happened I ran and dug out the breast pump to pump away, but it didn’t change the fact that my breasts were leaking all the time.  Was there a problem with my breast milk?  Guess what – everything was completely normal.  I purchased some disposable breast pads and they worked out great. 

My daughter is now a couple months old and we are back on the happy trails of breastfeeding.  After the few things I went through on my path to get here, I did some research and found that I actually got out pretty easy.  There are many things that can cause frustration with breastfeeding and create complications.  If you have made the decision to breastfeed, don’t be daunted by the bumps in the road.  Keep on trying and stay positive.  There are experts out there to help and tons of websites devoted to assisting with breastfeeding issues.  What I learned is that there are no silly questions and to not be afraid to ask anything.  Most of the times, problems are normal and there is nothing to worry about.  Don’t be afraid of breastfeeding; just make sure you are ready to take on the issues that might arise.