education

When I was growing up I wanted to breastfeed my babies. I had a neighbor who breastfed and a second cousin and a woman down my street who I did not know, but heard she breastfed. I had boobs and I wanted to have babies, the thought never crossed my mind that I would do anything other than breastfeed my babies one day. Now, as an adult, I know that some people do not grow up with these ideas. I have learned a great deal about parenting that I did not know back when I was playing with dolls. So, now I know, education is important. If I, as a mother of four, who has breastfed all my babies, want other moms to have this wonderful experience, I need to find a way to tell them that breastfeeding is rewarding and worth the time it takes to get the hang of it! It's hard to know the best way to educate. I post on Facebook. I have this blog that I don't think anyone sees. I wrote an article for New Beginnings, but that is the La Leche League magazine, so those readers already know breast is best. I have started writing an article, here is what I have so far: I Breastfed My Babies and You Can Too! When I had my first baby I did not know that I would go on to become an attachment parent or a breastfeeding advocate. I was an attached parent before I heard of the term or Dr. Sears, and I breastfed because I’d had size D breasts since about seventh grade so I was well aware of my boobs and I always intended to use them to feed my baby one day if I was lucky enough to become a mom. I became a mother for the first time on February 27, 1997, I was 21-years old and a full-time college student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I was married and living about eight hours from all my family. I was uneducated about child birth when I was pregnant with my first child, I skipped the part of the pregnancy book that talked about labor and delivery because it scared me. By the time I had my second child seven years later I had a birth plan, but the first time, I didn’t know a thing. I labored at home for only a short time before going to the hospital, I was only three centimeters when they admitted me, and I labored in the bed as much as I could because I was tired and a bit of a wimp. My second baby and third, I would labor at home for more than half my labor… Knowledge is power. My first daughter, I had an epidural, contractions slowed, they broke my water, there was poop in it, my blood pressure dipped pretty low, she was finally born after almost twelve hours of labor and I didn’t get to hold her for fifty minutes. I tried to give her the breast right away and didn’t know how to hold my breast for her, I just pushed her face against it. I didn’t know how to breastfeed, who does with their first baby unless they have been educated? I was only with her for about an hour, maybe less, when they said she had a fever and took her to the NICU. She was a full-term baby and nice and pink and a healthy 7 pounds 10 ounces and had I known what I know now I would have pushed for her to stay with me. I don’t remember much of the first 24 hours of her life, I remember trying to nurse her in the NICU but not being successful. I mostly remember the next day when they brought her to my room and I could not get her to suck because I couldn’t get my nipple in her mouth. I had inverted nipples, I’d never heard of such a thing! Fortunately there were good lactation consultants at the hospital and they helped me. We had our ups and downs, I did not know the term “latch on” then, I just knew I needed my baby to open her mouth wide enough to get my nipple and as much of the areola as possible in her mouth. I had a hard time, I was inexperienced, she was crying and frustrated, it was a hard start. The second night we were in the hospital and the first night she was in my room I walked down the hall during the night to the nurses’ station to ask for a pacifier because she was fussing or crying. I think I left her alone in the room! Times would change for me by the time I had my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th babies. We kept working with the lactation consultant and eventually she gave me a nipple shield that my daughter could suck on when I had it over my nipple, it would draw my nipple into the shield and she had something to hold onto. I was only supposed to use it for like two weeks, but I used it for five months until one day I left it at home and had to nurse her and figured I may as well try without it and I did and then when I got home I threw my nipple shields away. So I say now, to new moms who may be having trouble, use a nipple shield, as long as you are exclusively breastfeeding I don’t think it will hurt your supply, I used one and my daughter went on to nurse for four years and two months. So, other than learning how to get her to latch on, did I have any other problems? Sure, I leaked a LOT, a lot, I’m talking boxes of breast pads, wet shirts all the time at night, but after a few weeks my breasts got the idea how much they needed to make and the leaking lessened. I had cracked, bleeding nipples as well. Looking back this was probably because of lack of experience, or using the nipple shield too long or whatever, but I got through it. I told myself I was ONLY going to breastfeed and I was so so determined. Back in early 1997 they sent me home with a diaper bag and formula and bottles and I took them home and later donated them to a mom I knew. I did give my daughter a pacifier and she took one for about five months. Pumping is an important thing to mention when talking about breastfeeding in my opinion. There are different kinds of pumping, pumping to increase supply and pumping exclusively and pumping to be away from baby. I am LUCKY I never had to pump exclusively and I think the women who do it are Top Notch, seriously, I don’t even know how to describe my admiration for these moms. They are awesome. Some moms pump so they can leave their baby to go shopping or out with friends, some moms pump because they work full or part-time. I pumped to ensure my supply. Pumping for your supply, or pumping to increase supply. First I will say I have a cylinder pump, it is old, my aunt gave it to me and she probably bought it in 1988. I never HAD to pump so I never invested in a good pump. I understand some hospitals and some WIC offices rent out pumps and I think that is a great idea, sometimes I think I should rent one just to pump and donate, but for now I am good just nursing my son on demand. So, pumping to increase supply, this is how the breasts work, when you take milk out they replace it, it is really as simple as that. Supply and demand. So my thought was, I will take out more than my baby is taking and trick my breasts into making more so I have more. More more more, I wanted to have more than I needed because I felt that if I did not have enough I would fail and that was a really big deal to me. I used to nurse her on say, the left, then pump the left until nothing came out and if she nursed on the right too I’d pump that one too, but if she did not I would save that one to start on the next time. o Alternate sides. o Left right left right left right, how many boobs does my mom have? o Pins, bracelets, etcetera. o Established breastfeeding. o Helpful friends and relatives. o Rules for the first month. o Other foods. o Trust the IBCLC more than the doctors, the story of my appendectomy and my 7-week old nursling. o To go out or not go out. o Keeping track of eating, pooping, wetting, sleeping. o The husband. Okay, I have a little list there of topics to touch on! Alternating sides, when you are first nursing you want to alternate the boob you start on. By the way, I always say boob, I don’t say breast, I have no idea why, but that is how it is, I’m 37-years old so I am going to just keep saying boob. So, if I sat down to feed my baby and gave her the right boob then the left then at the next feeding I would give her the left boob and then the right. This is just a good rule for starting out, once breastfeeding is established you can do whatever you need to do, the left one feels fuller but you started on that one last time? The right one was the starting boob last time but she fell asleep right away so you want to nurse starting on that one again? Whatever you want, by the time you’ve been breastfeeding for a solid month or two and you are confident that you are only going to breastfeed your baby then do whatever you feel is right. A mother has good instincts when she learns how to listen to herself first. I have breastfed all four of my children, and I have not used one drop of formula for any of them, and my son had open-heart surgery when he was four months old. Other than graduating from college as a divorced single mom working two jobs, breastfeeding is the thing I am the most proud of. How did I do it without formula? These are my rules for the first month: 1. Breastfeed your baby as soon as possible after birth and for as many minutes as possible. 2. Every time baby wakes up, squeeks, opens her mouth, puts her hand to her mouth, offer the breast. (My second daughter was at my breast sucking for 45 minutes at a time every hour or every hour and a half during the time we were in the hospital and for the early days at home). 3. Hold your baby. (I visited a friend in the hospital when she had her baby, when I got there the baby was in the bassinet and other than when I was holding the baby while I was there she was not being held by mom. Come on mom, hold the baby, no matter what you are feeling holding the baby is very likely to make you feel better, there is science behind this). HOLD YOUR BABY. I could write pages and pages and pages and do a lot of research and list resources, but I am just going to say it many times, hold your baby, a lot, as much as you can, hold your baby. Mammals are meant to be held in their mothers arms when they are newborns. Being held helps them with their heart rate and breathing and body temperature and it helps mother feel connected to her baby. Just, trust me, hold your baby. 4. NO (this deserves all caps) NO BOTTLES. NO PACIFIERS. NO THUMBS OR FINGERS. (I have a finger sucker, she is almost six and she started sucking her fingers when she was one month old. She was not a comfort nurser and did not like any pacifiers. Now, almost six years later I am annoyed with myself that I did not put a sock on her hand when she was too little to pull it off.) ALL your baby’s sucking needs should be satisfied at the breast, I would say for at least a month, but I think three months is a better goal. Why? Because sucking stimulates milk, the supply and demand thing again, the more time your baby is sucking the more milk your breast will make. For crying out loud, don’t waste good sucking on a bottle or pacifier! Please please, your baby should be attached to your nipple most of the time in the first month. Really and truly.