Is eating your mother anti-Darwinian?
perhaps not, after all the babies of the Australian social spider eat their mothers.
(Ooooo wallet!)
Anyhow, so about my first 11 days of breastfeeding Damian…
I started off using nipple shields, though I only used they for a couple days, I got really nasty bloody blisters on my nipples from them. Surprisingly enough Damian latched on right away without them. Super suck reflex!
Damian definitely does not have any form of nipple aversion but I might be getting it! Don’t get me wrong, I love breastfeeding him, it releases all kinds of happy hormones in my body but my left nipple is a leaky bucket. I am not engorged or anything, if anything it is less full then the right side! I can completely soak through a cloth prefold diaper stuffed in my bra in 20 minutes if I am feeding him on the other side, or if I am sleeping. I also have developed a small cut that has scabbed over on my nipple. Wow that hurts when he latches. I don’t know what I would do without Lanolin (it is a greasy yellow skin ointment made from wool. It moisturizes and it safe for to use while breastfeeding.)
I also have been writing this journal entry since 2 this afternoon, it is now 7. Damian is constantly feeding today and my poor breasts are sooo sore. I’ve read he naturally does this just before a growth spurt (he should be having one about now, then again at 2 or 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, etc) but wow, today has seems to have been totally about my boobs and his wet diapers. Damian has been sleeping for about an hour now though and Michael is napping too. I probably should be but I need to take some me time (so I blog…)
Michael is being so awesome about it all, he is becoming the cloth diaper changing king. He was wearing the baby in a sling for awhile today which was really cute. If only he could help breastfeed too… Still I love breastfeeding.
Damian and I also took a bath today, which was really fun. Babies float! I totally didn’t know that, he loved being in the tub with me, he was so mellow and great (and didn’t want a boob for 25 whole minutes!)
Yesterday we had our first outing. We went out and got me some more nursing bras (so long B cup, hello D cup. A country could get lost in this cleavage) and then had a lunch stop over in Friendship Park, where Damian decided he wanted to poop and have lunch too. I fed him in the van, I am not comfortable enough with nursing to do it in public yet… Then we went grocery shopping, he was fantastic in the store, unless he stopped the cart for too long (he had this problem with the van stopping as well) then he started getting restless.
My main goal for this week before Michael goes back to work (next Monday) is to get Damian use to being in the moby wrap so I can wear him around while I work.. He doesn’t like the newborn wrap so I am going to try the kangaroo wrap tomorrow.
One handed typing now, just finished another feeding, sleeping (kinda) baby in arms. I’m going to post this now, sorry if it sounds disjointed.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Don’t be discouraged. You are doing wonderfully with a new first baby. You will adjust quickly. You might have use a soother for a few weeks. I determined not to do this at first but learned my lesson. Just don’t let others touch it.
Your Dad was 6 weeks old when we traveled by ship from Africa to Canada. We had a nursery on the one ship and there he went 4 hours between nursing without problem. It appears that when he saw me he immediately became hungry every 2 hours. Lots of love to the 3 of you.
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June 18th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I enjoy breast feeding my boys and did it to they were about a year old.
I wish I could give you some advise about sore nipples but i real don’t have any experiences in that area.
I heard people swear by bag balm.
Wishing you all the happiness.
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June 18th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Your twin cousins had to wait their turn to be nursed and learned to suck their thumbs pretty quickly. A soother would have been better though. Sometimes I had to let them fuss because I was too tired to hold them. They survived and so did I! The other thing I did was fill bottles with breast milk and freeze them because I had lots. Someone could give a bottle to give you a break.
Lots of adjustments. Sounds like you and Michael and Damian are doing well.
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June 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Ha Ha!!! Becka used my computer to leave a message on your site and I didn’t notice!! She will be shocked to read the last comment.
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June 18th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
What?! Me, Becka, with kids and breastfeeding?? O_o Oh my…(mother, you’re suppose to CHECK the comment box BEFORE sending it!)…
Sorry ladies, I’m afraid I don’t quite have the expertise for motherhood just yet, and it ain’t gonna happen for a loooooooooong time!
Aww…Damian with the wallet…
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June 19th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I had mastitis with Huck. Ow! I also pumped and froze my milk, and it was a nice break. But I can truthfully say that nursing my two babies was wonderful. Despite the pumping while they were in NICU, the mastitis, the nipple shields…Huck has been weaned for 7 years and I still have dreams where I feel the tingle as my milk lets down.
I couldn’t breastfeed in public. I was never so graceful. I used the fitting room at WalMart more times than I can count.
Can you tell I loved breastfeeding so much that I’ve thought about volunteering for La Leche?
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