19-5-2009 - WHAT NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT BREASTFEEDING! ATTN:MOMS2B & NEW MOMS

My mood while writing this blog: OK

Ok, so i really didnt feel like typing right now, but i have really been wanting to share my expierence with my daughter after she was born.

So, when i was pregnant with my daughter i was so pro-breastfeeding. I had nipple rings that i took out (that was a big commitment) and i had told every person on that L&D floor not to stick n e thing in my baby's mouth unless it my nipple. After i had her they let me breastfeed her right away. I was super excited. I didnt mind waking up all the time to feed her even though i just had her. i would just glare at hubby and feed my lil one. I had asked a couple of nurses to help me to get her to latch on and they would toss my boob into her mouth and go on about thier business. i am sure that a big part of my story has to do with the lack of attention given by the hospital team. It seemed like aniyah wanted to be latched on constantly, she latched on great go deep suction and everything.

Now, let me go back a little bit, when i was only 19 weeks i started to see that colustrum in my bras.

Well, we went home and she was still attached to my boob, no biggie, well 24 hrs later i had realized that she hadn't peed or pooped. I quickly called the dr because as any mom knows that not good. she had me bring her in right away and she in just that 24 hrs had dropped a good chunk of her nb weight. Her dr admitted her into the hospital right away. I had explained how she was ALWAYS hungry. They told me that maybe she wasnt getting enough food and suggested bottle feeding her and they also suggested a whole battery of tests, before the end of this it included constant blood work, 4 YES 4 spinal taps trying to retrieve spinal fluid to test. Turns out, she was hungry. While we were at the hospital, they gave me one of those high dollar pumps to use.... apparantly all that was coming out was what i had been seeing in my bra since 19 wks pregnant. My poor little baby had been starving since she came out. I felt and still almost 2 years later i still feel guilty. My baby had to go through all that just because i wasnt feeding her, even though i didnt know it didnt make me feel n e better. The children's hospital that i was in sent me a lactation specialist. This woman came into my room and proceeded to tell me that its ok that not much had been coming out and that it was normal for her not to have peed or have any bms. WHATEVER!!! ANY mommy knows thats not normal! Anyway, shes a good chunky little girl now, she recovered from all the drama....

Point is, whenever you have your babies or if you already had your babies, check your boobs. See if the hospital has a pump you can borrow just to see how much is actually coming out. They always say its fine, and there is plenty coming out. When i pumped for close to an hour i got only about 1oz thats not near enough to hold over a baby..........