Encouraging Breast Feeding

by Megan
(Pittsburgh, Pa, USA)

I'm a first time mom to a little boy, now 8 months old. He was born 3 weeks early, and only 6 lb 8 oz, and 21 inches long. We had to stay in hospital for him having jaundice, then went home and used a bili blanket for a week. This all made it hard to breast feed. Not only did he not want to eat because of the jaundice, he wanted to sleep all the time, the bili blanket had a huge cord, he was down to 5 lb 13 oz at the lowest, and he refused to latch on.. I just kept pumping and feeding bottle which makes for very little sleep when the doctor wanted us to feed him every 3 hours.. it took him 40 minutes to only eat 2-3 oz, and then I had to pump for the next feeding which took another 45 minutes.. then not even an hour and I had to start all over again..

I tried and tried to get him to latch but now from bottle feeding he didnt care for a boob! Around 4 weeks I was told about a nipple shield.. Which worked.. but every time I would take it off, he wouldnt eat off of me. But atleast I was getting him to eat off of me and not have to pump.

Then at 7 weeks old, he had an inguinal hernia that kept growing because he also had colic, and screamed from 7pm-midnight every night. The doctors said keep pushing it back in, which my husband and I are nurses, so we kept pushing it back in. Then one day I noticed it had grown down to his testicle and was moving across midline into the other testicle and was very difficult to push back in. I called the doctors and they of course kept saying push it back in or bring him into office and they will push it back in. Our apt for the surgery doctor was not for another month. Feburary 11th, a friday night at 11pm, he was very upset and 8u jninconsolible and my husband and I looked at each other and said its time to take him to the hospital.

So we went to the childrens hospital, and interns and residents tried pushing it in and had trouble and finally said, lets just fix it in the morning after he had not eaten for 8 hours.. Now come on!! Try dealing with a breast fed baby not eating for 8 hours.. luckily they gave us sugar water to keep dipping a pacifier in. So he had his surgery and it was late evening before he was awake enough to try and even take a bottle. I kept pumping and the nurses kept putting it in the freezer for me. The second day was a whole new set of nurses and first she couldnt find my milk and the freezer, then by the time she did, and thawed it, my baby was starving... so I figured I would just try breast feeding since he had not ate much in three days.. And he was like a pro. You never would of thought he ever had an issue breast feeding and latching on.. I guess all that hard work finally paid off after 7 weeks of trying.

Well I still wasnt out of the clear because I was like a new mom breast feeding their new born. My nipples started to hurt so bad every time he ate, I cried and crindged and clenched my teeth because it hurt so bad. So I called a lactation consultant for any advice, and tried many things, but my issue was that my nursing tank tops and bras were too tight. Before pregnancy I barely fit into a 36B, now after baby and breast feeding I wear a 38D. I never would of thought I needed a size like that.

To any new mom breast feeding or having issues, my advice is never give up... The breast milk is so wonderful for them. Nothing is better!! Now at 8 months he is 21 lbs and 29 inches long!