I know I'm really lucky as so many of my friends have had problems, I think it's an amazing thing the body does and if your lucky enough not to get mastitis and have enough supply for the demand it truly is wonderful, yes I know who'd have thought it??? ME an earth mother!!!
I use to think it was an odd thing growing a 'thing' in your body then it feeds off you! I also found some people too in your face about breastfeeding bearing breasts in public daring confrontation, which put me off ( see earlier post ie ' its the most natural thing in the world, so is sex but we shouldn't do it in Starbucks, well we should at least be discreet!!! With bf not sex!!)
As soon as I was pregnant I knew I would breastfeed for aslong as I could (up to a year if possible, not one to have an 8 year old on my boob!)
And I thought I wouldn't get hung up if I couldn't, now I realize they were just the words of prepregnant me, and if I hadn't been able to breastfeed for any reason I would be devastated!
Ah prepregnant me, my ideals, views, thoughts....I didn't know jack!!! But that's a whole other post.
Back to bf, my tips?
Get advice before (from a friend who's done it and loved it! Who will be your go to girl if it gets rough, your 'come on stick it out' girl, I didn't need this luckily, cause she'd have scared the s*** out of me! Only joking jen x )
Get advice when you are at hospital, I got the lactation consultant there as many times as I could, she was great and great fun too which helped take away from the fact she had my boob in her hand! She would get me set up with pillows around me so baby was laying across me, then grab my boob wait for baby to open wide the push baby right into boob squish right up til it latches! You almost feel like your smothering the baby, then ease off.
So grab boob...stroke nipple near mouth...wait for mouth to open wide...quickly ram babies face into your boob, hey presto nipple in mouth & attached V quick forceful motion and relax.
I also wanted to feed as soon as she was put in my chest after delivery, but I ended up with a csection - so in recovery I asked the nurse to help me feed and get her latched on... I did it (my eyes were rolling and I was repeating myself but she latched on for a few minutes!)
When you first feed it doesn't feel like much a little dragging then eventually sore nipples, then once milk comes in you get the real dragging pain like gravelly sand being sucked out your nipple for a few seconds at the start of each feed, this sometimes is accompanied by searing stabbing pain...but all totally bearable minor pain and soon disappear, I honestly can't remember how long it hurt for as it hasn't hurt now for so long.
When your milk comes in, approx 3-4 days after birth you boobs swell like melons tight and fairly sore. After this time they may start to leak, mine started a week or so after the birth so I wore pads day and night and only stopped recently as I had good supply!!
I started off 5-10 mins each side, every 2/3 hours sometimes 4, occasionally she'd sleep six and they say to wake her, crazy I couldn't wake her!
You start on alternate boobs each time ie the last boob you fed her you start with that one next time ie
8 am Left - right
12 right - left
4 left right
Etc
Few weeks later...
She started feeding closer together so I took it to 15mins each side.
Few weeks after that...
she started only taking one boob, so I dropped it back to 10mins each side every 3/4 hours
From about 6 weeks she was sleeping 10 hours at night, Though I'd wake up with super-tight painfully engorged boobies, but the sleep was heaven!
After 3/4 months she just takes one boob at a time now (two boobs last thing at night) sometimes I forget which boob I gave her last because you should alternate and give her the same one twice and end up with a massive melon!
I pretty much feed on demand.
I recommend 3-4 hours apart feeds in day but from about 4-5 weeks I started feeding the last two feeds before bedtime closer together like 5pm 8pm 10pm so she's full for bedtime.
I also always did the last feed in bed lights low and generally put her into her bassinet awake but sleepy unless she'd actually fallen asleep on the boob.
I used a 'hooter hider' the first few months now i go under my T-shirt from the bottom, this hides your boobs and babies face a little and because i always wear a tank my skin is covered too I can do this quite discreetly even in Starbucks!
If we had lots of people in the house I'd feed upstairs, bad? Good? She now is easily distracted if there is a lot of noise when feeding! If theres kids around forget about it! She loves kiddies!
Ameda gel breast-pads the lactation consultant gave me some but it might be worth having some just in case (you'll use more than one set anyway they go a bit weird after too much use)
Wear them in your bf tank first few weeks, take out while feeding, wash with cold water and let air dry somewhere cool we left on windowsill they were then perfect cool temp to replace ahhhh! Feels nice when nipples feel tender in first few days!
Forget getting fitted for bras, honestly they never get size right! Also they feel too bulky for easy feeding. Just a personal choice, but I go for bf tanks target do great starter ones, just cotton with a bit of hidden support, get the size you normally are prepregnancy, I went bigger and they now don't fit right (they are generous in the body)
I also got two nighttime feeding bras like loose cotton crossover bras these were great in first few days under nighty and nightshirt now.
I also just bought a new tank a little more form fitting for under all my summer white ts & tanks it's via amazon again! Motherhood maternity spaghetti strap double front clip down, I love it as it holds me in and up!
Get breastfeeding log sheets, again I got these from my wonderful lactation consultant but you can also download off the Internet, I like them when they have a page a day,(I'll post a photo if one) places to note pee, pooping amazingly you can forget with all that lack of sleep you wont remember if it was todays poop or last weeks you are remembering! and if your little ones poorly it's the first thing the docs ask how many wet diapers, my doctor took copies of mine for reference in my notes they were so concise! I also used mine as my brain as I seem to have checked it in to the hospital and forgotten to pick it back up!
So what also went on the sheet ... shopping lists, when I took pain meds, if I gave Bailey Tylenol, list of presents & who bought & if I sent thank yous, doc appointments, moods & if when she cried for long periods, if we'd been out all day, when we went in long walks and most importantly when she slept or napped!
It was brilliant I kept it going for 3 months! Kinda miss it now!
You also start to see patterns, she cried before bedtime sometimes 2hours when she didn't have long naps in the day or if we hadn't been out in the fresh air, I maybe wouldn't have known this if i didn't relook at my log.
You amazingly start to realize you and baby are getting into good sleep patterns! And can use the log to tweak your baby's sleep routine (b slept 10 hours a night at 6 weeks- as I realized she slept longer if I put her to sleep later 11pm or after, any time before that she cried and would then wake a few times at night also walks in evening tired her out to sleep longer : )
Breastfeeding definitely is a suck it and see kinda project, read books (I read breastfeeding for dummies and what to expect when your expecting) talk to friends who have, did your mother bf? Chances are you'll follow her pattern, my mum had so much she donated it to the neonatal baby unit (without use of a Breast pump! My dad would drop it off each morning!)
Talk to your partner, I knew Steve was weirder out by bodily functions! We'd spoken about it and I knew he was ok with it but didn't want nitty gritty now he doesn't care it's all natural in caring for our baby, but had he though it weird or off putting I know I would've felt differently about it, you need their support esp if you're having problems or are exhausted.
Steve also made sure I didn't fall asleep whilst bfing by just being aware and in the first few days in hospital we would wake together and try and keep each other awake, he also took winding job for while he was off work, that really helped me.
Good luck enjoy!
R x
