Who knew that boobs could be so complicated. Before having Caden boobs were boobs that came in small, medium, large, real or fake. Now boobs have a whole new meaning to me.
I never knew how much went into breastfeeding and how demanding it actually is and how many issues can come along with it. I mean seriously what did they do in the old days when they had inverted nipples or a low milk supply? Did the baby starve?
Luckily, I don’t have any big problems breastfeeding Caden. I did however have a low milk supply in the beginning but am taking some Mothers Milk capsules and pumping after each feeding to build it up. Apparently it’s pretty common. I honestly thought that milk just came flowing in. I didn’t know you had to work for it and can lose it so easily.
My first appointment with the lactation consultant I found out that I wasn’t feeding him enough. Who knew that I was starving my child. Once I found out what babies are suppose to look and act like after a feeding, we started feeding him more and he turned into a completely different baby. Mellow, alert and got the milk drunky face, as we like to call it. His whole body relaxes and becomes wobbly with his eyes wide open and alert as he can be.
Since he wasn’t getting enough milk in the beginning, we have had to supplement with a bottle of expressed milk and a couple of times we had to supplement with formula.
It’s so easy to get stressed out and I see why people go to formula so quickly. Breastfeeding is a full time job. If I’m not feeding him, I’m attached to the pump. If I’m not attached to the pump I’m trying to chug water to keep my supply going. It’s exhausting and if you aren’t 100% committed to doing it; your more then likely going to give up and go straight to formula. With me breastfeeding I have to watch what I eat, can’t really drink; although I had my first beer the other night – it was amazing and I can’t wait to have another one 
I can’t go anywhere because I don’t have enough supply in the fridge yet if he gets hungry so baby needs to be with me at all times. At night I’m the one doing all the night feedings and not getting sleep. There was a couple of times where I almost threw in the towel and said forget it. But then I think about all the benefits and knowing that it gets easier as time passes I stick it out. I say to myself just get to 1 month and see how it is and then make a decision. We are now on week 3 and it’s so much easier already. He still takes a while to nurse but he should get quicker as he gets older.
I went to a follow up appointment with the lactation consultant and she says he’s doing great, and getting plenty to eat. In fact, he’s getting more then enough. She also told me that I don’t need to be waking him up every 3 hours during the night anymore that if he sleeps, he sleeps. If not, then he’ll wake me up; which he does for sure. So, that’s pretty exciting. She also told me that once I get my supply in the freezer and fridge then it’s completely fine to give him a few bottles of expressed milk if I wanted a night out or wanted an afternoon out which is awesome. The only thing is that I didn’t realize is that even though he’s getting expressed milk, I still need to pump. Basically anytime baby eats, I need to pump to tell my body that it’s time for the baby to eat. So again it’s more demanding than I thought.
At night he doesn’t eat as nearly as much as he does during the day and he usually falls right back to sleep. During the day he eats a ton but he’s getting quicker. In the beginning he honestly would nurse for 3 hours if I let him. 3 hours I stayed up one night nursing him because I thought he wasn’t getting enough food. Little did I know half the time he was using me as a pacifier. Now I won’t let him nurse more then an hour, and if he’s still hungry I’ll give him a bottle of expressed milk and pump. It’s way too draining to sit there and have a baby suck the life out of you … literally.
I will say this, as demanding as breastfeeding is, it’s also pretty convenient. On Sunday, Nate and I went to church and then ran some errands after wards. Caden got hungry in between there and I just sat in the car and nursed and then we all went on with our day. That’s super convenient, no bottles, no formula, no water, no cooler … just me and the baby.
If you have breastfed, when did it start getting really easy for you?
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