Adventures in Breastfeeding: Not for the Faint of Heart
Halfway through my first pregnancy with my daughter I began reading pregnancy and baby books. I made the decision to breastfeed. It wasn’t a hard decision to make because I wanted the best for my baby. From everything that I read she would get the best start in life if she had mother’s milk.
I was all set to nurse this growing child but nobody told me that the process would be as challenging and shocking as it turned out to be. The books said I should prepare my breast for the new experience. These same books showed women baring their breast on beaches and rooftops. Apparently, sunbathing speeds up the nipple toughening process because of the heat and wind exposure or something like that.
[Note from editor: It's a shame this advice is still given in some books because it's not a good idea at all to "toughen" up the nipples while preparing to breastfeed.]
I knew I wouldn’t be doing that; I had gotten in enough trouble for baring my breast, which is why I was in this situation in the first place. I’d have to just wait it out and do the best I could after she came. I went out and bought a breast pump, breast pads, and storage containers instead. Those same books had pictures of calmly nursing mothers with quiet content children. My experience however would be anything but serene.
When I went into labor with my daughter I was prepared to have a normal birthing experience. Twenty hours later I knew that my dreams were futile. Instead I underwent a cesarean section and delivered a healthy 9lb 5 oz wide-eyed baby girl. Those first hours together were spent checking bandages, checking the baby, and wishing she would wake up just long enough to nurse.
I learned later that newborns sleep quite a bit during the first few days of their life. They’ve had an exhausting experience; in the mean time I was exhausted and desperate for relief. My milk was coming in and beginning to get engorged. When she finally did wake up she had a hard time latching on. I was learning new terms but with the help of the resident lactation consultant we made a little progress. All was well until we got home.
Back at home I soon learned that I still had a long way to go in this new experience. I was having a hard time feeding the baby and she was getting hungrier by the minute. I read that I shouldn’t give her a bottle or a pacifier because it would interfere with the breastfeeding. In desperation I called a friend and asked her to bring some ointment. The latching on and nursing process left my nipples raw. I was almost in tears because I couldn’t get it right, I was in excruciating pain, and my baby was hungry. I finally called La Leche League and a representative came right over. She was a sight for sore eyes.
With her tutoring I was nursing my baby like a pro. I learned the proper way to get her to latch on. It was very important that she was not sucking on the actual nipple but that it was completely in her mouth. She only needed to suck on the area around the nipple to massage the milk ducts.
Since I’d had a C-section I was still healing and could not hold her like I normally should. My new nursing coach showed me how to stack pillows on my lap and lay the baby on the pillows. She would be high enough up and able to suckle in comfort without causing me discomfort.
I used the ointment faithfully until my nipples toughed up. The initial latch-on was still a toe-curling experience for a few weeks but after a while even that part stopped hurting. Even after we got the hang of nursing the right way latching on was such a painful ordeal. There were times when I thought I would pass out because it hurt so much. After a few months we were sailing through pain-free.
For 11 months my daughter had the benefit of my breast milk. She and I bonded beautifully and after six months we were as beautiful together as the pictures of the mothers and babies in the breastfeeding books I read during the later parts of my pregnancy.
© 2008 Samantha Gregory
Samantha Gregory is no longer a breastfeeding mommy but her experiences are still quite valuable if not humorous. Lately she’s been writing and managing Rich Single Momma, a motivational and encouragement blogsite for single moms who are ready to move up to the next level in their lives.
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