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Breastfeeding Testimonies |
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"It never really occurred to me that there was an option
other than breastfeeding. While I was pregnant and
weighing options and doing all of my research, breastfeeding
was the one thing that I didn't have to consider; thinking that
breastfeeding can not be that hard. Birth was easy, breastfeeding
was not. My daughter was tired and I was tired. She didn't really
seem that interested in nursing. Stacy the lactation nurse came
through and worked with us, we figured out that I had flat
nipples and my daughter just couldn't get a good latch.
The next week was full of highs and lows. We'd get into entire
afternoons where I couldn't get her to latch on. I sat down and
asked myself why breastfeeding was so important to me. My
primary reason was to give her the best nutrition available.
I realized that she would get her nutrition if I pumped and bottle fed.
With that realization, so much pressure was taken off of me.
Once I was more relaxed she too became more relaxed, and latched right on!
Every day since then, breastfeeding has been effortless.
My daughter latches on easily - she practically chews a hole
in my shirt if I'm not fast enough!" Judi, Baton Rouge LA |
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"I breastfed my first born son for until he was thirteen months old. He was born via a c-section and over that time we went through a lot of obstacles; engorgement, latching issues, him having brain surgery at 4mths old, and then teething. It was a difficult journey but I stuck with it when I was only eighteen, because I knew it was what was best for him. When Daniel was in the hospital for two months with his brain problems he could not eat, and I exclusively pumped for the majority of the time until he was able to eat again. To keep my supply up, I took vitamin supplements (more milk plus). I can proudly say my son has NEVER had formula. Now I'm 22 and I have a daughter, who was born via a completely natural VBAC. I'm still breastfeeding her and she will be a year old in August of 2009. Although we have not had as many obstacles as I did with her big brother, we did go through e ngorgement again during hurricane Gustav, without power, in the heat! Oh wow, I really don't wish that on anyone. We're going to be breastfeeding until she decides it's time to stop." Kristen, Prairieville LA |
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"When pregnant with my son I just assumed I would breastfeed. My son was born in June 2006 via an all natural birth in the hospital. It was probably about an hour before I began to breastfeed. I was on a birth high and felt confident about nourishing my son. My son was tired after a fifty hour labor and was hard to wake and feed. He only latched on good a couple times but would quickly fall asleep. Once we finally came home he began to eat often. I was so engorged by this point that it was hard for his tiny mouth to get a good latch. My nipples were almost flat against my breast. This gave way to cracked and sore nipples. I realize that this had everything to do with him not sucking enough those first couple days. I never imagined something as wonderful as feeding your baby could be so painful. I drew a lot on the strength from my birth; I had endured fifty plus hours of labor and pushed my son out all on my own. I knew if I was capable of that I would master this breastfeeding thing. And I did. The troubles and pain subsided and I gave birth once again to a beautiful bond between my son and me. I gave birth to my second child, a daughter, at home in October of 2008. I was surrounded by family and friends and gave birth in a tub in my own bedroom. Again it was a long and hard labor and there were many times I had to draw on my inner strength. My daughter began to nurse eight minutes after being born. She was never separated from me; briefly she was taken out of my arms so I could get out of the tub and into bed where she was then placed next to me. I nursed her continuously for the rest of that day and night, with her sleeping soundly in-between my husband and I. By morning, my milk had come in. I suffered no engorgement and had no problems with sore and cracked nipples. Our relationship as a whole got off to such a wonderful start. There is nothing else that gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment than to have birthed my babies and breastfed them." Amy, Saint Amant LA |
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Conquering Obstacles |
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"When my son was two weeks old, we left San Francisco to move to Lafayette, Louisisana.
My 2 week old son wanted to cluster feed, and his father wanted to drive straight
from California without stopping to Louisiana! Being the prudent mother that I was,
I refused to take him out of his car seat, which meant I was twisted up like a
pretzel leaning over him to nurse. Being only so flexible, I ended up with
plugged ducts on the side he couldn't reach. I was in a great deal of pain on
that side. I finally convinced my husband, after twenty hours of driving,
to stop for a few hours. I cried and nursed him on the opposite side,
and cried, and nursed, and cried. I was convinced that side would explode,
or at least it felt that way! The sad thing was that this was more painful
than my birth with no pain meds! We finally arrived at our destination
and of course everyone wanted to hold him, but I NEEDED to feed him.
Thankfully, we never had any problems after that!" Sandy, Denham Springs LA |
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"Nursing with my daughter got off to a great start after our homebirth; she latched on within 8 minutes and stayed attached for the next 24 hrs. My milk came in the next morning! She was a great eater and had no latch problems, I enjoyed nursing her from the start which was something I a ppreciated since my son had latch problems among other things and I did not really enjoy breastfeeding until he was about 5mths old. At 10mths old, my daughter developed thrush, so of course I also developed it. My nipples became so cracked and sore I literally cried every time she latched on. Since she was so old I started introducing more table foods to her, so I could give my nipples a break. I spent a couple days at home "airing out" and coating my nipples with Vitamin. E oil. For three weeks nursing was not only a chore but something I dreaded, this depressed me so much. Not once however, did I consider giving her formula. I knew that we would get over this and nursing would once again become enjoyable, I just knew I had to endure this and get through. This was yet another of those times I had to think back to my birth and how I felt much the same way but somewhere deep down I knew I could get through it. Finally the thrush ran its course and once again I was nursing all day everyday and loving it! I could barely remember the pain and was so thankful that I didn't give up." Amy, Saint Amant LA |
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"I had a planned c-section because of Complete Placenta Previa. I did not think that this was going to make a big difference when it came to breastfeeding. My baby was born and as soon as I was in recovery I tried to breastfeed. He was too sleepy to even try to eat. The nurses at the General were great though and never once mentioned formula. They told me that he had fat that he could live on for a while. On the second day after he was still not showing interest, I finally broke down and pumped, I got a good bit (2 syringes) and fed that to him. It was like that set off a magic switch and from then on he was really interested in eating. I was so excited to feel him latch on and to feel my uterus contract. The first night home my baby did not wake up to eat, so we set the alarm to feed him. That was very stressful, but the night after that (and ever since) he has been waking up and eating regularly. My milk came in on about day 4 and my breasts were HUGE! My baby had trouble eating because it was so much milk, so I would pump sometimes and massage my breast. When my baby was about 4 weeks old I spent two days topless, airing out and that really helped. Now, sometimes its pain free and that makes me super happy." Melissa, Baton Rouge LA |
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"I always knew I would breastfeed and decided to wing it. I had no idea what I was doing, but my first was such a great eater. The latch was good and he was efficient. I had a VERY overactive flow which drowned him out to the point that he no longer wanted to nurse in most positions or in public. All he wanted to do was nurse laying down, in our bed, in the dark, in total silence. A pin would drop and he would stop for hours. He also turned into a reverse cycler (nursed all night, only 2x during the day). I had postpartum depression but didn't really accept it until my son was around six months old. These issues felt like it were making my PPD worse. I knew, however, that if I quit nursing, the PPD would not go away and then I would feel even more depressed knowing that I didn't make it. I knew it was the right thing to continue, even if I had to stay inside the house. I ended up going on Zoloft for my PPD. Around ten months old, my boy finally figured out that I wasn't drowning him anymore and decided to lie down in my lap and enjoy the cuddles. It was heaven. By then I knew I would nurse longer than a year, and I wanted to go to two! I stopped Zoloft when he was 13 months old and was pregnant two months later. I nursed my first son till he was 18 months old. After giving birth to my second son, breastfeeding has been a DREAM! I don't have an overactive letdown and I never became engorged. He is efficient and doesn't waste a drop! Plus he loves his momma's cuddles so I have the best of everything with this little guy. I guess I appreciate it a little more, as I'm sure other mothers do after their struggles. I like what one mom told me once, that when nursing gets hard, just think of all that milk going to grow his little body, his eyelashes, his nails, even those poor little tears that come out of his eyes is the water that came out of your breast. How cool is that?" Jenny, Lafayette LA |
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"Aloe was born sucking her tongue. She loved it. Unfortunately she loved it so much that she had no interest in actually opening her mouth wide enough to try to latch on. We had the wonderful support of a lactation specialist at the Baton Rouge General who tried all sorts of things with us, but in the end we still went home with Aloe sucking mainly on my nipple. Ouch! That first week and a half was incredibly hard--sore nipples, cracked nipples, and blistered nipples galore! But, magically, as soon as my milk came in she started to open wider and wider (which makes sense, I mean, now she actually has a reason to open wide!). Luckily, I got some great advice from a friend who said to try to work through the pain for the two weeks and then reassess, then work through any obstacles the next two weeks and reassess, then continue troubleshooting through any new problems for the next two weeks and reassess. By then, you're at six weeks and will likely be getting the hang of each other!" Jessica, Baton Rouge LA |
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Beating the Odds |
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"My son was 7 weeks premature. I worried about how tiny his little mouth was, and I pumped around the clock, afraid I would lose my milk while he was in the NICU - but when I was finally allowed to put him to my breast he nursed like a champ. I am so glad I did not give up before he had a chance to show me what he could do." Kate, New Orleans LA |
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"When Lydia was in NICU, I couldn't nurse her or even hold her. I could only look at her hooked up to machines. I was DYING to hold her! Instead, I spent all my time pumping around the clock. That was my way of loving my baby those first few days and it helped me get through it. I knew I was doing the one thing that I could do for her that she needed me to do. I felt like that kept me connected to her. I'm also convinced her unexpected speedy recovery had a lot to do with my milk." Claire, Zachary LA |
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Breastfeeding Essentials |
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"One of the most helpful essentials for breastfeeding, particularly in the first few weeks, was a supportive and attentive husband. He always made sure I had a full glass of water and a snack by my side as I nursed our daughter. Other essentials for me included natural nipple butter for sore nipples, a carrier like the Beco, Moby, and a basic sling for quick and easing nursing, a Boppy pillow for upstairs and downstairs, 4-5 sleep nursing bras (comfy) and 2 wireless underwire-style nursing bras, a few nursing tanks for the summer and fall, and a pump to get me out of sticky situations like engorgement, uneven breast supply, etc." Jessica, Baton Rouge LA |
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Feeding on Demand |
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"They had my son on a feeding schedule while he was in the NICU, every 3 or 4 hours. I used to show up early, and hang around later to try to stretch that time out, but he lost weight and it took forever before he was cleared to come home. When he finally came home, free of schedules and routines, the first thing he did was cluster feed for almost 6 hours until he was finally truly satisfied! Soon we fell into our own sort of routine - multiple small feedings over an hour or two, 3 or 4 times a day. In between he slept peacefully and gained weight. We did not need anyone else to tell us how often to nurse - all we needed was time to figure it out together." Kate, New Orleans LA |
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Weaning |
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"I remember the very last time my firstborn nursed. He was 23 months old and since we had night-weaned a month earlier he had simply become too busy as a toddler to slow down and nurse. It had been about a week since he'd last breastfed and I was breastfeeding him again to comfort him during an illness. I held his long, feverish, lean little body and silently said goodbye to my breastfed baby. I knew he wouldn't come to me for milk again. Weaning was perfectly mutual, perfectly natural, and perfectly amicable. I would gladly have nursed him longer but he simply didn't need it anymore, and I couldn't help but be proud and wistful watching him grow out of this at his own pace as he grew out of so many babyish things." Kate, New Orleans LA |
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