Breastfeeding Faves

         

It never fails, the second I pick up my laptop, Jake wakes up and/or starts crying. We're starting to struggle with naps now, and putting him to bed as well. We're working  on this now, so I hope to do a sleep post eventually.

         Today's post however is about my favorite products I use when breastfeeding. I saw Ali Wong's netflix special the other day and more than once I found myself shouting in agreement to my tv. She said she wanted to breastfeed because it's free...and then pointed out...no it is NOT. If you breastfeed, you need help, and these are the products that have helped me.

1. My Brest Friend Nursing pillow. Note I didn't say nursing pillow. I have 3 nursing pillows. One is used for Jake's tummy time, the one I REALLY wanted, is now used as a regular pillow, and then there is My Brest Friend. I first used this at the hospital, and that was the only place I seemed to get any success with nursing in the beginning, and I was far more comfortable with it on. It's huge and basically is a combination of a pillow, a belt, and a shelf. Because of the belt part, I don't have to keep readjusting constantly. BONUS It has a pocket on it for a water bottle or cell phone. Drawback, this has become Jake's favorite napping place...thus our napping issues.

2. Lanolin. Remember my last post when I said breast feeding WILL hurt, this helps. In the beginning when I was blistered (yes blistered) I put this on like I had a lifetime supply, and it soothed so much, when I wanted to cry. I need to remember to put it on more now, because even though I'm not generally blistered ( I am right now, Jake pulled back out of nowhere yesterday), I can still get very dry.

3. Avent Breast Shells. Yes I said shells. I heard about the product called milk collector, and Was about to buy one online, when I went into Toys R Us. I can't go in that store for just what I went in for anymore. No I have to go around the entire baby department and think if there is anything we need, or want...ps I put back rattle slippers the other day and kind of want them now. Anyway back on track, that's exactly how I found these. They were in a completely mangled box, last one, and I haven't seen them since because I would kind of like another set. What they are is a shell, the pack comes with 4, 2 ventilated and 2 not. They come with a silicon backing with a hole in them. Your nipple goes through the hole. The ones without the holes are for milk collection, while the vented ones can do both, just on a lesser scale for collection. I really didn't think I would use the vented ones, but OH MY GOD, they're amazing. In the early days, I had times where the softest brush would mae me want to cry, and these gave me space and air to heal...not to mention I was leaking about an ounce a day that I could now save.

4.Nursing bra. So some of these are pretty obvious, and this one takes the cake. I have seen the price tag on nursing clothes, and it's ridiculous. I only bought one type of clothes that were actual "nursing" clothes, and that was the bras. I'll be honest though, I'm not CRAZY about the ones I have. I live in an area that doesn't have a lot of options for maternity and nursing items. We either need to go to Moncton or online. Walmart does have some options that I have been using, but I was busty PRE Jake, I'm worse now, as a result, the largest size Walmart provides seems snug to me still. H&M offers proper bra sizes on their site, so I may still invest in theirs.

5. Tank tops. No, not nursing tank tops, flat out, tank tops. If I go into H&M, I can buy a 2 pack of nursing tanks, or get 4 regular spaghetti strap tanks for the same price. I feel like I have a new "mom wardrobe. My bottoms are always skinny jeans with really good stretch, Yoga pans, or leggings (usually athletic ones) with a longer, more flowy top. It's funny because I have always been a tight tshirt and jeans type girl, all my tshirts are now flowy. And under these tops, a spaghetti strap tank. Nursing tanks might be a little easier, but the regular ones work no problem, and at the cheaper price, I'm ok with it when there is a stain on the top because some of the fatty milk has leaked.

          I was going to include my pump in this post too, because I do really like it and my biggest fear was buying the wrong one...because pumps ain't cheap. However, I think I will do a post some time about pumping, and will talk about my pump then.

K, Luv Ya, Bye!

Nancy

Breastfeeding, What they DON'T tell you

       

Before Jake was born, I was determined to breastfeed. I swore up and down I was going to. I did so much research to make it happen right away, and it did not work. Yes, I do exclusively breastfeed now, but it was a long road. I'm not a preachy person who is anti formula, because in the beginning Jake was supplementing with formula. I wanted to breastfeed because there are a ton of benefits yes, but at the risk of sounding cheap...it's cheaper. Here are 5 things I didn't know before, that I have learned along the way.

1.You're going to need to pump. I took a prenatal class where they had an entire class on breastfeeding, it was all about how to hold the baby, latch and when your milk will come in. They didn't mention the pump AT ALL. So I didn't have one when we first took Jake home. It's also true that on the first kid, the milk often doesn't come in right away. A combination of the fact I had a C section and was too out of it after he was born to nurse, and I had Gestational Diabetes so they had to get on getting him fed RIGHT away, I needed the pump right away. The hospital provided one while I was there. The upside to not having it already, I was able to get the same brand as the hospital, and they encouraged me to take the parts home that I used there...yay free extra parts!

2.It WILL hurt. I was told up and down, if it was done properly, it won't hurt. How many times have you tried something in your life that you just nailed right off the bat? I can't think of many, and Breastfeeding was no exception.  Between desperately trying to make it work, having difficulty with holds, and being terrified I was going to break the baby, I didn't do it right. Your kid doesn't know EXACTLY what they're doing. Instinctively yes they have the tools, but they haven't perfected anything, and you guys need to nail it as a team. When Jake started successfully exclusively breastfeeding, we were still getting our groove, and I got blistered, bruised and just all around sore. I used a couple different products to HELP, and I will share them in future posts

3.It may take a while. This works in more than one way, starting to successfully feed, and the length of time it takes. It can take a while to get your milk built up, and for your kid to successfully latch. When I was trying over and over to get Jake to latch, I read some people can take up to two months, but the average point was about 6 weeks. Yeah it can take 6 weeks to get the kid to do it on the regular. As a result EVERY time it was time to feed, I would TRY and get him to latch, and usually, didn't work. I had to use a shield for a while because he wouldn't open wide enough. So Cale would bottle feed and I would pump at the same time. The upside was considering I was pumping I was able to go to breast milk exclusively pretty quickly. The other thing is there can be health issues that slow things down, for us it was Jaundice. Jake would fall asleep as a result, to the point they told us not to bother trying to get him to latch until it was gone. It was about week 7 when it clicked and we started exclusively breastfeeding.  The other way this works, in the beginning the kid is trying to build up a supply, so they want to nurse a LOT, even if they aren't eating, sucking to build it up. I had days where Jake would just go ALL day, this has been until REALLY recently actually.

4.You're going to need support. Your hormones are already all over the map, so when it doesn't work exactly how you want it to, you're going to feel defeated, you could have some breakdowns too ( I had SEVERAL). You will need a support system. Cale was my rock, and I could not have gotten to it without him. I had friends who would lift me up. Unfortunately I had people who seemed to be against me at times. Some would point out how I may not get my supply up, or be able to keep it up. I also had a family member who watched me struggle and felt the need to point it out to me and tell me all the things I was doing wrong, or why I was going to have difficulty. This was right after we started successfully breastfeeding, and from some one who didn't breastfeed themselves. I wanted to ask why they wanted me to fail, because that's how it felt to me. My hormones had calmed down a LOT at this point, and I had family who had breastfed lifting me back up, so it didn't get to me fortunately...but if that had been there in the first couple weeks, it would have sucked.


5.You'll need to feed more frequently. There are DEFINITELY pros and cons to breastfeeding or formula, a debate that continues. One that I didn't realize, you're going to need to feed more often. Here is the score, Breast milk is easier to digest than formula. The upside, less spit up, also breast milk doesn't stain like formula. The downside however is your kid digests it quicker, so you need to feed more frequently. I didn't realize this. Would this have changed my mind on breastfeeding early on? Quite possibly, there were multiple times early on where I almost gave up, and if I had known this then, I may have thrown in the towel. Where I made it to the other side of my struggle when I learned this, doesn't change a thing.

         We're close to a month now of successful breast feeding and I'm so proud I stuck it out. That being said, it has been time consuming and frustrating on more than one occasion, and if/when we have a second, I don't know if I could do it with two little people, but that remains to be seen. Second children can be a very different experience from what I'm told.

K, Luv Ya, Bye!

Nancy

My First Mothers Day

       

          Today has been my first Mothers Day as a Mom, and it's been a good day. That's sayin something because I haven't enjoyed a Mothers Day in over 25 years...I don't actually remember enjoying one or sharing one with my mom.

          While I haven't enjoyed any that I can remember, my worst was last year. Last year it was a combination of things. Cale and I had been trying actively for the little man now known as Jake for a year and a half, and Mothers day was rubbing it in my face, on top of the typical downer. Also last year I was looking down the barrel of the age my mother was when she passed. My mom already had 2 kids at this point, and here I was struggling to have my kid, and become a mother on a day celebrating mothers.

         This year has been the polar opposite. Jake slept in this morning, giving me a little more rest. I woke up to a gift of my favorite chocolates, and a T shirt I had coveted for a while (pic above). I got to share the day with many women I love and respect, and wish them a wonderful day. Jake has been more co-operative today than normal, and we had some fun play time. It hasn't been an eventful day, but I enjoyed it.

K, Luv Ya, Bye!

Nancy

Mom Post #8, 2 Months Old

     

           It's 9:00pm, and I sit here thinking where I was 2 months ago this time. I'm sure I was being prepped for surgery, to have a C Section. 2 months ago today, my little man was born weighing in at 7lbs 10oz. Today he weighs about 11lbs12 oz. He has grown so much in 2 months and I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. In some ways I've learned SO much, in others, I still feel like I'm trying to keep afloat. 

          As painful as it is at times to pack up his clothes (another sleeper went in the box today), I kind of love seeing the ways he's grown. Jake is super sturdy, and can generally keep his head up on his own now. Also every time Cale hands him to me he smiles, and the way he looks at me just melts me. He loves when we put him in front of a mirror, bright colours, and the cantina music from Star Wars...seriously, I sing it and he gets amped. Cale hates it by now, but he really does love it. I'm also seeing the newborn look fade away. A LOT of newborns look alike, and while I could have picked Jake out in a crowd, I saw it. Now he's getting his own looks, however it seems to be a little different all the time. I see Cale a bunch. Today I saw me. One thing that is super special to me, his eyes. They seem to switch back and forth between blue and grey. This is special because my dad's eyes changed colours. I was hoping there would be something of my parents in Jake. Where my son will never know them, for there to be something of each of them there, it would just mean a lot. Not hard to have something of mom, I look like my mom, but dad's eyes, that's awesome, hopefully that sticks around. 

       Two months already. I can't believe it. 

       K, Luv Ya, Bye

       Nancy 

Mom Post #7, Not sure what to blog about

     

We're in a seriously transitional time with Jake right now, So pin pointing a blog topic was difficult. The thing is I enjoy blogging and some times when I can't come up with a topic, I continue to put things off. So I guess I'll just do a little run down of what's going on with us.

        Jake is almost 8 weeks old. A week from today he will be 2 months old. As a result, we've seen some big differences in him. For example he smiles at me, a lot. Especially if dad just changed his diaper and brings him to me, he knows now this is meal time. Dad is so helpful with feeding time, he actually doesn't know what to think when He's at work and it's all me.

       We're starting to be able to get in some play time lately, but there are definitely day where it's become harder. The main reason for this is that we're finally successfully breastfeeding. This has been a long process, and I planned to do a post on breastfeeding...it might be a few posts at this point, it was 7 weeks before we were 100% successful...and I'm thinking 100% is still a little more than what we're actually at. I have at least 1 more appointment with the Mother Baby Clinic for breastfeeding. This is where we're going to discover if we're doing a good job or not, and honestly I'm anxious because I'm not sure we are...today we're having some issues...he's feeding and passing out (because he needs to sleep, and won't nap). But he's fed 3 times in 4 hours. Like I said gonna do some breastfeeding posts in the future.

      Jake really likes the car too, it's become a bit of a pacifier honestly (oh and he likes his lobster pacifier too lol). When he gets fussy (and I have to point out we're lucky, it doesn't happen that often) If we're going in the car he chills out. He often falls asleep, but if not, he'd watching out the window, with a thoughtful look on his face.

      While I posted in the past about the emotional roller coaster thing, it's been a lot of fun watching the ways he's grown. I want to say it's several little things. I can't get over how much more sturdy he is. In the beginning, we were so awkward, worried we'd break him, and to be fair he was a lot more floppy. I can sit him up in the corner of the couch now. I generally put him there while I put on my breastfeeding pillow and sing the cantina music from Star Wars. Actually if he gets fussy and I sing this, nine times out of ten he chills out. I love my little Star Wars fan. I realize I'm posting this the day before Star Wars day, and Jake was born on Mario Day...The geek is strong in this kid. I just need to get him something Walking Dead, and I'll be a happy Mama.

K, Luv Ya, Bye

Nancy