Just like birth, I’ve heard stories from many seasoned moms
about how difficult breastfeeding can be. I knew I wanted to try my best to
make it work for us, but also that in the end feeding my child was the most
important thing.
It took S a little more than 2 weeks to regain her birth
weight and it was stressful not knowing if I was producing enough for her
needs. It was always incredibly difficult at night when she would cluster feed
every 45 minutes to an hour, which wouldn’t give my body the time it needed to
produce more milk. Eventually, Mr.A and I devised a plan where he would give
her a bottle of pumped milk at night just before bed which would give her
enough milk to last her a couple of hours. Once we began doing this, she would
seem much more content, go to sleep easier and earlier, and sleep more than
just a couple of hours. This gave him time to bond with his daughter in the
evenings, as well as giving me a much needed respite.
Thankfully our pediatrician was incredibly supportive and
encouraged me to be more confident with breastfeeding. Also, a friend is an LC
and was also very helpful and supportive in those early weeks. Once we got over
the 2 week hump, everything began to come more naturally and also became much
less painful.
Once she passed her initial growth spurts and my milk supply
seemed to stabilize, her evening cluster feeding decreased substantially
allowing me to keep up with her needs plus more.
She has begun to sleep for 4-6 hour stretches in the night
which is wonderful since I get more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time,
but also painful because I become incredibly engorged. I’ve been fortunate in
that I can feed her in the middle of the night and still pump and additional 4
or so ounces. This has allowed me to build up a freezer stash of milk which can
be used for while I am at work, away for an evening or even potentially a
couple of days.
While at work, I have also been pumping but am pumping more
than double what she consumes in the same time period. For now, I’ve just been
saving what she needs for the following day, and freezing the remainder.
Fortunately, I have not had many issues with breastfeeding
and even credit it with my rapid postpartum weight loss. I am guessing that she
is getting more than enough, because she is growing so quickly already. Her
length was nearly off the chart the last time we were at the pediatrician, and
her weight is following the appropriate curve at around the 60th percentile.
I am so thankful that things have worked out up until now, and am hopeful that
we will make it to at least 6 months, if not a year.
