Just guess the topic of this post...yep...breastfeeding. Gentlemen, if you are squeamish on this topic, best to just skip it. Ladies, you are welcome to skip it as well. I believe it is fairly G rated...
I've put the text into a comment so it is easy to skip down to the other posts with pictures.
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About Me
- 1988ndgrads
- Mike and Teresa, proud 1988 Notre Dame graduates. Happy to announce the arrival of Addison Shea and Lily Irene on June 28, 2006 and the arrival of Kelsey Anne on April 14, 2008.
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2 comments:
Here's Teresa's post:
A few weeks ago (or has it been longer?) Mike and I attended a breastfeeding class intended for mothers returning to work. In addition to some basic breastfeeding info, the instructor demonstrated different breast pumps. Needless to say, the thought of something sucking milk out of my up-til-now benign breasts was not appealing, but for the most part I didn't feel the need to run screaming from the room. But one pump in particular deserves special mention. Most of the electric pumps have suction that is applied to one or both breasts at the same time with a simple vacuum that you cannot visualize. But this one had these special accordian type expander things and it would apply suction to one breast then the other. Picture a dairy farmer with the left hand on one teat and the right on another and milking the cow in an alternating fashion. You now have a visual of this one pump. Without hesitation, I said "Moo" loud enough for the other 10 or so students and the instructor could all hear.
Little did I know at the time how familiar I would become with breastpumps. As I mentioned in a previous post I believe, before Lily was sent to Children's Hospital on the day she was born, I pumped colostrum. I used a hospital grade pump and pumped both breasts and got what appeared to me to be a significant amount of the stuff they said was colostrum. Not bad for my first try, I thought.
With Lily expelled to another town, I felt it my duty to not only feed Addison from my breast, but also to pump for Lily. I had visions of sending off Mike's mom, Brenda, with loads of the richest, most precious substance in the world...mother's milk. Little did I know. While Addison seemed to be getting what she needed while she nursed for 15 minutes, when I attempted to pump for Lily, I'd spend 15 minutes with the highest level suction on both breasts and when I was done, I'd check for my full bottle at the end of the breast pump and....3 drops. The amount was so pitiful it didn't even make it to the bottle. My 3 drops were about 2 mm from where my breasts ended. Of course, I didn't see that 3 drops warranted the armoured truck delivery to Columbus that I had envisioned, so Addison was the lucky recipient via careful syringing. My additional pumping attempts in the hospital proved to be just as fruitless. None-the-less Addison seemed to be doing OK with whatever magic was happening when she was feeding.
With great concern for my babies, I asked every nurse I could about the lack of volume, Addison's apparent contentment, and how do I get to where I need to be. One nurse recommended having Addision nurse then pumping. The idea being Addison was getting the flow going and so I'd be able to continue with the pump. And guess what I got with that methodology...3 drops. Hmphf.
Fortunately at some point last weekend my milk finally "came in". How the body turns that stuff on is a miracle that definitely amazes this gal.
So this is good. Now I'm able to definitely see that Addison is getting her fill. And Lily arrives home. Because of the size and location of Lily's cleft palate many folks have said they believe she'll be able to nurse from my breast. I'm all ready to give it a try. First attempt...total no-go. Lily has no idea what I'm trying to do, her jaw remains clamped shut, and her lower lip is tucked deep under her top lip. I'm still new to this breastfeeding thing, but I'm fairly certain the baby must open her mouth for it to work. After about 1 minute of trying, Addison is crying for her food. Lily gets a bottle and Addison gets to take her place in mom's lap.
And now a word that no woman who has her milk finally "come in" wants to hear...engorged. That would be the state of affairs with my right breast on Monday and Tuesday. I attempt relief by pumping my right breast and manage somehow to make things worse. I beg Gram and Pop to go to the store for frozen peas to be applied to my breast for some swelling relief. Truly not something a woman wants to ask of her father, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I found a suggestion on line for manually expressing your milk, so I work on that on Tuesday. As I'm expressing, I suddenly remember this is like liquid gold, so I ask Mike to act as catcher. If you can imagine the scene. It is then that I turned to Mike and ask "Is this what you imagined it would be like?" Fortunately somewhere between expressing, peas, warm compresses, light pumping and getting Addison to nurse from the effected side, the engorgement has been relieved.
Now the latest challenge is continuing to work with Lily to see if she'll nurse. I doubt it. But I have taken to feeding her from her bottle the breastmilk I've pumped for her. The goal now is to provide as much breastmilk to Lily as possible. Apparently babies with cleft palates are prone to ear infections and receiving mother's milk helps to prevent this. Basically I'll be nursing or pumping or feeding with most of my time for the foreseable future.
MOO-OO-OO!!
I think that we hear about these things when we are pregnant but choose to ignore them! I know that it is hard to believe but pumping will become routine. I got to the point where I could read a magazine! I know that Lily and Addison are both VERY grateful for your efforts. Don't forget to drink LOTS and LOTS of water.
p.s. I feel obligated to provide unsolicited advice because I am sure that you aren't getting enought! : )
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