Saturday, May 30, 2009

Thrush?

So at 6 weeks of breastfeeding things were going great! Then I started getting a lot of nipple pain. I know that reddened painful nipples can be a sign of thrush, and so can a fussy baby so that is probably what I had. The baby had no white spots in her mouth which is a sign of thrush in the infant, but that didn't mean that I couldn't still have it. The physician's assistant at the hospital gave me Diflucan and said that it most likely was thrush. In two days I was seeing my OB/GYN for my 6 week postpartum check so I could follow up with her then. My OB decided to give me a weeks worth of diflucan and some nipple cream. After a few days of this they felt a lot better.



Then they started to hurt again just as bad so I went in and met with the hospital's lactation consultant. She watched my baby eat and said her latch was great while she's actively eating, but then she starts to slip off when she is 'comfort nursing'. The pain and reddened nipples is a sign of bad latch so that's why she wanted to watch my daughter eat.



So because when she comfort nurses she is 'clamping down' on my nipple and not taking in as much of the aereola I am supposed to stop comfort nursing at every feeding. Once and a while is okay she said, but to make sure it isn't hurting.



So, if I did have thrush, it should be gone now with the Diflucan. Tomorrow I am going to take a little 'break from nursing' and pump for most of the feedings to let my nipples rest. That's okay though, I'm sure her daddy will be thrilled to feed her expressed breast milk!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

milk came in

Day 4: Engorgement. Yikes! My breasts were HUGE, and getting pretty tender. I honestly couldn't have my arms up against my side because my boobs were in the way!

By that night my milk was starting to come out. Day 5 milk was just pouring out constantly. I kept thinking to myself how weird it was that milk is coming out of my boobs.

Does it take that long?

The first 3 days our nursing sessions would last a good 45 minutes to 2 hours! Yes, I still had blisters the whole time. Especially on the right side because she seemed to like that side better! The purpose of her nursing so long is to get my milk supply to come in. Breastfeeding is supply and demand, so if you feed on demand your supply will try and match up with that.

I will say when I got home, Day 3, I was way more relaxed about the whole thing. I didn't have hospital staff in and out, I have a comfy bed to sit on, and it was just me and my daughter. It felt amazing to sit on my bed! My butt and back were so sore from the hard hospital bed....and probably sore from labor too :) !

Start of Something New

It all happened so quickly that I don't remember exactly what moment in time I first breastfed. She was born at 9:50 in the morning, and I remember looking at her for a while before the nurses took her and had to suction her a little. I believe within 30 minutes I was attempting to nurse my daughter for the first time.

I read a lot of literature and even took a breastfeeding class offered by the hospital to get a head start, or at least know what to expect. From what I read I knew it may not come easily as some may think. And it didn't. I was able to express some of the colostrum when I attempted to get her to latch. That way she would at least get the nutrients that she needed, as we worked to get 'the latch'.

I also read that lots of nurses and doctors are not educated on breastfeeding, which is true, we learned nothing about it in nursing school! So I went in with the intentions of denying any formula that the staff wanted to feed to her because of her 'not getting enough'. I knew my body was producing what my little one needed, right from the beginning. The hospital I delivered at was very pro-breast is best so I was only offered formula once because I kept complaining of the pain I was in. The nurse said she could take her for a few hours and give her a bottle so that I could rest. I said "No, I came in prepared to say no to a bottle because I thought I might want to give in!" She backed off right away and was totally accepting.

I was exhausted, my body hurt, the hospital bed was hard, and my nipples HURT!!! I got blisters on them! I never remember reading about blisters! Ouch! The best way I can describe it is: a blistered sunburn that someone keeps rubbing...but with more nerves because it's on your nipples! LMAO...I can't believe I nursed through that!

Friday, May 22, 2009

A little background...

I gave birth to my daughter on April 9th, 2009 and have been exclusively breastfeeding her. This is a blog all about breastfeeding (BFing), my BFing story, good BFing links and information, and for others to share their BFing successes!