Breastfeeding

Over the past three and a half weeks I've spent a lot of time feeding Jolyon, and I'm feeling pretty confident about it now. Getting to this point has been a bit complicated at times, and I'm very glad we took advantage of the breastfeeding class offered by our health care provider. Breastfeeding is not as simple as "apply baby to breast" -- there is a definite technique to making sure the baby is applied *properly*, which if not followed can lead to very sore nipples. (Basically, he has to have his mouth open very wide, and then be shoved onto the breast before he has a chance to close it again.) I was trying to do this, and generally thought I was succeeding, but my nipples got very sore anyway in the first week - from what I've heard this is pretty much inevitable. Soreness was not helped by the fact that by about day 3, Jolyon wanted to nurse seemingly all the time, since my milk had not yet come in and he was hungry. There was one particularly rough night spent on the couch in which he would fall asleep while nursing, but as soon as I tried to move him, he would wake up and want to nurse again.

The next day we visited the lacation consultant, who was super helpful (another win for Group Health). By that time my milk was started to come in and my breasts were very swollen ("engorged" is the less-than-appetizing term), which made it hard for Jolyon to latch on. The consultant prescribed a hospital-grade breast pump, which helped by 1) removing some milk to make it easier for baby to latch, and 2) allowed Jenny to take over some of the feedings with a bottle, giving my nipples a break. The first night of this was rough, as pumping before the feeding resulted in enlarged nipples (from being sucked into the pump), which made it very hard for Jolyon to latch, which resulted in 10 minutes of crying before I could successfully feed him, which resulted in a distressed mama. The other technique the consultant showed me, called "reverse compression" I think, inolved pressing down right around the nipple to soften the area, and that worked *much* better for allowing Jolyon to feed. I also used Medela-brand gel pads on my nipples, which worked even better than lanolin since there was no chafing. For several days the feeding schedule went: 1) heat packs on breasts 2) compress to soften 3) nurse baby 4) pump while Jenny feeds baby more with bottle 5) ice packs on breasts. This got pretty tiring to do every 2-3 hours, and I was very relieved when the engorgement was over and all that was involved was 1) nurse baby.

I am still pumping a couple of times a week, so that Jolyon does not forget how to take a bottle - this will be very important when I want to start working and Jenny will be responsible for feeding him for many hours at a time. So far the Medela Freestyle breast pump has been successful (although at first I did not plug the tubes in all the way and it felt more like a nipple vibrator - I spent several minutes wondering why it wasn't working until Jenny figured it out). I am excited about the hands-free attachment options, though I haven't tried them yet.

In addition to the breast/nipple pain, I also had back pain in the beginning, which I think was due to the combination of recovering from birth and having to sit in the nursing position for long periods of time. I also had to use both hands for nursing at first, one to support Jolyon and the other to support the breast, which required sticking my elbow out at a weird angle and I think make the backache worse. At our second visit with a lactation consultant (a week after birth), she said I was ready for one-handed feeding and showed me how to support his head with my elbow, and prop up the breast on his arm/chest. Being able to use one hand to hold a book or glass of water or scroll on the computer makes the feeding sessions a lot less tedious. While breastfeeding is a bonding experience with Jolyon, I can't simply gaze adoringly at him the whole time, as I learned in the first couple of days that this makes my neck hurt, so being able to do something else at the same time is nice (especially since feeding takes up many hours of my day).

The consultant also demonstrated the "side-lying" feeding position, in which I get to lie down while nursing! It's much trickier to get a good latch this way, so I only felt confident enough to do in the past couple of days. It started when Jolyon and I were taking a nap during the beginning of the heat wave that's been going on in Seattle for the past few days. He woke up hungry, and I was too hot and tired to move, so I decided to try the lying-down thing. It works! I can lie down and even doze while feeding the baby! I've done this for the past couple of nights, and it makes the nighttime feedings (usually 2 per night) much more pleasant and relaxed, since I'm not dealing with the head-bobbing falling-asleep-while-sitting-up of previous nights.

On accessories: I was told by multiple sources that the Boppy brand U-shaped pillow was a must-have for breastfeeding. While I got one as a baby shower present and it is helpful, I'm not sure that it's a requirement. The large, squishy log-shaped pillow they had at the lactation consultants' office worked slightly better, since the Boppy tends to slide away from my body. The "My Brest Friend" pillow might be worth looking into for any mothers-to-be reading this, as it actually fastens around the waist and provides back support (I always use additional pillows behind my back). Or just try some household pillows of different shapes to see what works for you. Of the pillows in our house currently, the Boppy is still best for baby-propping, so I'm definitely happy using it, not least because it has extremely attractive hippo-themed slipcovers sewed by Jenny that match our crib sheets and changing pad covers. But at night, no more pillows required except the one under my head, hooray!

One last thing: possibly the strangest aspect of breastfeeding is that I now leak milk on a regular basis. I have some washable nipple pads that help stem the flow, but only partially - if it's a leak of any substance, I soak through the pads pretty quickly. It's usually preceded by a tingly feeling - hearing Jolyon cry definitely provokes it, but sometimes it's random as well. My bras and shirts always have a substantial amount of milk on them by the end of the day. And if I'm feeding Jolyon on one side, I have to wad up the burp cloth to catch the leaking on the other side (clearly my breasts don't understand that the baby cannot be in two places at once) - otherwise we end up changing Jolyon's clothes with every feeding since I lactate on him.