Breastfeeding

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 60^th 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.