...breastfeeding! What did you think I was going to say? Beer?
I am sad to say that my breastfeeding experience has come to an end with Tucker. From the instant Tucker was born we had issues, we had incompatible blood types which caused his blood sugar levels to plummet after the umbilical cord was cut. On top of that, he was severely tongue-tied. The nurses tried to get him to latch, but they were unsuccessful. They checked his blood sugar levels and said they would have to give him some nutrients. Initially he received formula from a syringe only, but after more unsuccessful attempts at getting Tucker to latch he was supplemented formula via a bottle throughout our duration at the hospital. One the last day the lactation consultant was back at work after the holiday weekend. She helped me get Tucker to latch, but recommended that I get his tongue clipped to aid the process and his life down the road. She also recommended a nipple shield, what a lifesaver!
On the second day home my milk came in, then breastfeeding became easier in the sense that Tucker didn't have to work so hard to get my milk to flow, but more difficult in the fact that I had anxiety every time he needed to nurse. I would get restless legs and would want to do doing anything besides nurse him. If he stopped to swallow or take a breath I would lay him down. This was detrimental, of course, because he would be hungry and want to nurse again 10 minutes later.
I had been pumping so Nick could help with feedings and to have milk available to give to Tucker when he wasn't latching well. My Mama suggested I just pump instead of getting frustrated with nursing. I decided to give it a shot. It was horribly painful at first and I saw a major decrease in my milk supply. I did some techniques including power pumping (10 minutes of pumping, 10 minutes of not pumping for an hour, every other hour) I took handfuls of vitamin supplements, I ate the milk-producing foods, and I drank the tea. This allowed me to make enough milk to bottle feed breastmilk...then we went on a weekend vacation in triple digit summer heat.
My milk supply dropped again, upon returning home I gave in and fed Tucker some formula to supplement the pumped breastmilk. Much to my surprise he didn't die or have any adverse reaction. I realize how crazy that sounds, but breastfeeding his heavily promoted and I knew that I was just going to be the perfect (haha) breastfeeding mama, turns out I wasn't. I'm certain I had postpartum depression which was centered around feeding Tucker.
After my Mama left and Tucker's tongue had been clipped I decided to give nursing another chance, much to my surprise Tucker did great with it! Then he cut 2 teeth at a time every 3-4 weeks. After his 4th set came in he was in too much pain and self-weened. I was, and still am, devastated. Everything had been going so well. I tried to pump to keep up but never produced enough. I continued pumping and supplementing formula. Then came the day when I wasn't producing anything during my pumping sessions. At just shy of 7 months our breastfeeding journey had come to an end.
I know I gave it my very best effort and did all I could to breastfeed successfully. It was a very big learning experience for me and I feel confident that I will be even more successful the next go around. If nothing else Tucker can brag that he had milk straight from the tap, pumped from the keg, and out of a bottle.
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