The Great Debate
We had our first visit to the community health center yesterday, and not only did I get a new midwife to speak with (Janet), I also got to visit with the lactation consultant, Barbara. But, before I get to all the advice Barbara gave me, I'll quickly recap our time with Janet.
I'll start off by saying that I think I like Janet. She seemed very personable, very nice and was a real sweetheart to Kira; who, by the way, has shot up to 8lbs 2oz (or 3.750kg) and apparently is .50grams above the weight she should be at. (Nothing like attempting to make me feel like my baby is fat) Even though Janet said her weight gain was "good", she didn't fail to point out that she is, infact, a little higher than what she should be. Considering Kira had lost 10% of her birth weight (which Janet said was normal), I think her weight gain is absolutely astounding.
She's also 3cm longer, making her 55cm long now, and her head circumference is up to 36.5cm, instead of the 34cm it was at birth. Her reflexes are perfect, hydration is perfect; in short, everything about her growth spurts has been perfect, except of course, that pesky little half kilo that has put her "over" weight. Don't think for a minute I'm going to stress over that, or anything of that nature because I'm not, but it really did annoy me that Janet inferred my child could gain too quickly if I'm not careful.
And what brought me to that conclusion, was that after I told her I was breastfeeding but supplimenting with formula, and how often, Janet promptly exclaimed that it was all "garbage" and I should speak with Barbara. You can well imagine how that left a little sour taste in my mouth regarding her. So, while I really liked how she took care of Kira, I didn't like so much how she made me feel periodically through the conversations.
Now, onto Barbara. Let me just say I loved this woman. She was so wonderful and actually showed me the RIGHT way to get my demonette latched correctly. I did it successfully twice on each breast yesterday before I left her office so of course I was all overjoyed and enraptured and all the rest of it. I thought, Finally, I can breastfeed exclusively!
(Also, you have to love a lactation consultant who advocates beer as a means of increasing lactation; now if I only liked Guiness, all would be super)
Well we got home yesterday afternoon, and do you think I could get her to latch right? Sigh. Double Sigh. No, I could not. I got her on twice last night properly, but then delatched her thinking I'd done it wrong!! Triple Sigh. Of course I couldn't get her back on properly after that, no matter how hard I tried. It was really very frustrating, and then of course, the same thing has happened today.
But! At least now I know how to do it, and I just need to keep working on it and perservering. Barbara did tell me that I should try and breastfeed through the day all the time, and IF I need to, give her the formula of a late afternoon/evening. She also said that if a supp bottle is needed during the day, only give her 40-60mls so she's not completely full, so she doesn't sleep as long, thus giving me more opportunities to breastfeed and get the milkflow coming to where it needs to be.
Apparently that's the problem as well as having never been shown how to get her to latch properly. The milk is there, but it's not flowing quickly and I'm not producing as much as I should be, because Kira had always been improperly latched, thereby causing the breasts to not drain properly. Who knew? So, my "homework" is to get the latching thing down pat.
Though BIG KUDOS to me for doing it right last night (even though the latch was not as strong as it could have been), after I'd fed her, she slept for three solid hours! WITHOUT FORMULA!!! You can't imagine how jubliant I was.
It really is frustrating though, to know I could get her latched properly yesterday so she was feeding really really well, and today I can't do it to save my life. I'm trying not to stress about it (apparently that hinders milk supply) but I'm so utterly frustrated that whatever I try isn't working. I remember exactly how to do it - it's just getting it right. I'm plodding on with it though, slowly but surely. I'll get there...eventually.
3 comments:
I didn't know that there is a "right" or "wrong" way to attatch a child to a breast!! Well, you learn something new every day... Oh, and maybe if you drink enough Guinness you'll start to like it... but then if you drink it that much, will you get Kira drunk through your breastmik? Did Barbara cover that? Well good luck sweetie, I'm sure you'll get the hang of the latching thing; like you said, the most important bit is that you now know how. Love you!
If you can't get into Guiness, try just a nice full bodied darker beer. Ale's just don't cut it.
Both my girls were off the charts as far as height and weight and both were breast fed. Tell that Janet that you aren't raising an anorexic! I could understand her concern if you were feeding her "food" already, but she's just getting your milk and some formula! Give me a break!
My ex had a cousin who started cereal and fruit in the hospital! She thought the only way to have a healthy baby was to have a fat one. Needless to say, my ex's family all thought I was some kind of hippie nut to breast feed. In fact they tucked me in the bathroom to nurse the baby at a family Christmas party! At 18 I went feeling like a nauty child, now I'd tell them all to take a hike!
Real Oatmeal is great for increasing your milk supply, too.
At any rate, you're doing great! Keep up the good work.
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