The Milk Bar

Before I was pregnant, I used to hear women say that breastfeeding was hard. When I finally fell pregnant, everyone told me to stick with breastfeeding for as long as I could. So admittedly, I was prepared for breastfeeding to be the next hurdle (after labour of course!). I had friends who had some troubles - mastitis, low supply, nipple pain and abscesses, but otherwise I didn't really know what to expect. My thoughts were that breastfeeding is a natural process, so it should come naturally right (not necessarily easy though)??? I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Sam was quite jaundiced following his birth, which meant we needed to wake him every two hours for feeding, as he was too lethargic to wake himself. This routine was tiring but the jaundice mixed with the effort to feed made Sam so tired he kept falling asleep which made everything that little bit harder. So on Day 3, after several attempted feeds, which all ended in a sleeping baby with an empty tummy and a very stressed, emotional mum, the midwives suggested we started cup feeding. This involved me expressing the milk (this was the strangest feeling, I felt like a dairy cow!) and Sam would lap the milk with his tongue out of a medicine cup. It was so cute, he looked like a little lamb drinking and it was such a relief to see him actually drinking.

Cup Feeding at the Hospital

When leaving the hospital, this was still our strategy. I would express, Mr J would cup feed (eventually this turned into bottle feed) Sam a little to quench his thirst, we would then try to get Sam to latch and to actually breastfeed and when it became all to much, we would cup feed him the remaining milk. I wanted so desperately for my little man to feed, I felt like failure because I couldn't carry out the natural task a mum is meant to. So I reached out. Through a friend, we contacted a Lactation Consultant and this was the turning point. Our very first feed after seeing the consultant, was a full, proper breastfeed. Hallelujah!! We gradually gained our confidence and within two weeks, we were exclusively breastfeeding. Looking back, now I can understand when people say that it takes time for both the baby and mum to learn how to breastfeed. It does come naturally but not easily!

Something that I really wasn't prepared for was my milk leaking everywhere, all the time and there wasn't an off tap! Every feed I would need to change my clothes, Sam's clothes and go through several burp clothes. We were really messy at breastfeeding! Nobody had mentioned this to me before but I am reassured that it will eventually settle down.

I can now happily say that on the days of complete privacy in our home, feeding is a joy and there is nothing hard about it. The only days I find myself saying "Ow" are when Sam has a growth spurt and seams to feed all day! I'm not as confident feeding in public (even with my beautiful breast feeding cover) as we can still be quite messy but we are getting there.

SIDS is something else that has been on my mind and I'm guessing is on the mind of all mums with newborns. It is so upsetting to imagine walking in to the unimaginable.....I can't believe research hasn't helped us to understand this condition more. A slight tangent here, look at this shock advertising campaign from Milwaukee, USA in 2011. The reason for the advertising was developed with good intentions. 

To give you a little background, several years earlier another SIDS advertising campaign, "Back-to-Sleep", had a fantastic outcome. The campaign encouraged parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs and not on their belly or on their side. As a result, the rates of SIDS declined dramatically.

Over time though, the rates plateaued and this coincided with the increased popularity in bed sharing or co-sleeping. Now, a lot of things that I had read while pregnant, made me think that it is okay to co-sleep with your newborn (to promote bonding, easy feeding, better sleeping etc) if mum was breastfeeding, as she was less likely to go into a deep sleep. Hence the purpose for the advertising! It is a bit in your face, but after doing a little research of my own, the risk of SIDS for bub is 18 times higher if they co-sleep, compared to sleeping in their cot. This risk is higher again if bub was premmie or exposed to cigarette smoke! So perhaps the advertising is justified.......what are your thoughts?

Phoebe

xo