Or, subscribe via email
Supporting
I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding and have written several articles on the topic. I thought I knew what I was in for as I welcomed my daughter into this world and began to breastfeed her. All my friends with babies told me about the challenges they faced and I had read a ton on the subject so I figured I was well prepared for the fact that it was going to be hard at first. What I quickly found out is that you can never really be prepared entirely for breastfeeding or how hard it is. It is certainly important to do your research, talk to friends and family members with babies, and take a breastfeeding class, but at the end of the day remember you are new at this, the baby is new at this, and breastfeeding is challenging.
Having my husband there to support me and encourage me was a big help. He had attended the breastfeeding class with me and we had talked about the fact that I would be breastfeeding the baby ahead of time so I think that really helped. Without his encouragement I think I very likely may have given up.
The first feeding, right after the delivery, went really well. She also fed fairly well during that first night, with only a few latching problems but I was told that is to be expected as she is still learning what to do. The next morning a lactation consultant came in to meet with us and talked to us about latching and showed us a few techniques. It was helpful definitely, but I still felt like I had no idea what I was doing, I was just winging it. However, the baby seemed to continue to feed well, although I quickly found out that she is a lazy eater and likes to fall asleep a lot. We made it through the day and night though without much trouble. The next morning another lactation consultant came in to talk to us before we headed home. She showed us a few different ways to hold the baby during feedings, how to get her to latch on well, and a few tricks to get her to stay awake (like striping her down to just her diaper and going skin-to-skin with her). After this consultation I felt even better than I did the day before.
When I left the hospital a couple of days after my daughter was born I felt like I knew a little bit about what I was doing and that things were going well. Things quickly deteriorated once we got home. She fed OK for the first day we were home, however, our pediatrician was concerned that she wasn’t getting enough fluids (not many poopy or wet diapers) so he recommended that we supplement with formula until my milk “came in”. I would breastfeed, then supplement with up to an ounce of formula, and pump what ever was left in my breast. It seemed to work out well and she started wetting more diapers and taking more poops so we were all happy.
The next day was a nightmare though. She woke up and decided that she would not take to the breast. My milk had come in so I was beginning to get engorged. We worked all day trying to get her to latch on with no success. My breasts became more and more engorged and painful as the day progressed. When she was still refusing the breast the next morning I decided to call the hospital lactation consultants to see if I could get in for a visit. I talked to a very helpful lactation consultant who advised me that she didn’t think it was worth coming in, especially since I was so engorged, she thought we would be able to handle this just fine at home. She suggested a few tricks for getting my breasts a little softer to see if the baby would take it. She said to use a warm compress for about 5 minutes prior to the feeding, then pump a little bit to soften the nipple and areola so it was more inviting for the baby, and then after the feeding use a cold compress for 20 minutes to help relieve the pain. I tried her little tricks and the baby latched on the first try. Success, she was breastfeeding again.
The challenges didn’t end there, I’m not sure when they end actually!! Breastfeeding continued to be hard for the a little while. My baby continues to fall asleep a lot during feedings so I just have to work on keeping her awake and sucking. She goes through bouts where she wants to eat every hour, and sometimes will nurse for over an hour at a time. All of this is completely normal. Our pediatrician has been very reassuring. As long as the baby is putting on weight (which she is) and wetting/soiling enough diapers in a day then we can be assured that everything is fine.
A few things I have learned and a few pieces of advice I can share with you. Babies go through growth spurts and will need to nurse more often or for longer. The best thing you can do is to nurse on demand so that your milk supply will increase as necessary to meet the demand of your growing baby. Don’t get frustrated (easier said than done I know), if you are frustrated or the baby is frustrated the feeding is not likely to go well. If in doubt about something call your pediatrician or a lactation consultant, it always helps to know something is normal. Remember that breastfeeding is a lot of work and is hard at first, but it will get easier and is the best thing you can do for your baby and yourself. Stick with it, it does get easier.
We seem to have gotten ourselves into a good rhythm now. The baby still falls asleep a lot but I’m able to get her to wake up pretty easily now. Our feeding sessions are much more efficient and she is sleeping well at night (going about 3-4 hours between feedings). I know that I will face more challenges as we continue to figure out this breastfeeding thing together, but I feel more prepared having made it through the first few rough patches.
My daughter decided to make her appearance a little early. I was 38 weeks and 2 days when I went into labor. I woke up that morning feeling some contractions but I wasn’t quite sure it was the real thing cause they weren’t that close together, coming 15 to 20 minutes apart, and weren’t really that strong. I decided I would see how things went figuring I was just having more painful braxton hicks as I had heard that those could get pretty intense as you approached true labor. I started timing the contractions and went about my day.
I had my regular scheduled appointment with my doctor that day so I figured I would just see what he had to say about the contractions and take it from there. By the time I was getting ready to leave for my appointment my contractions were about 10 minutes apart but still not real strong. For a few minutes I considered calling my husband to come home and take me to the doctor’s office but decided against it. My doctor checked me out and we talked about the contractions I had been having all morning. I was 3 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced (I had been 2 centimeters and 80% the week before). He said I was definitely having “positive” contractions and that I would likely have the baby in the next couple of days. He did warn me though that the contractions could abruptly stop as well and it could be longer than that before the baby arrived. He said to make sure we had everything ready to go and to just keep an eye on the contractions. The instructions were to head into the hospital when the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, my water broke, or I just felt like things had really changed. I went home still having contractions every 8 to 10 minutes, and still not that strong. After talking to the doctor I figured it would probably be another couple of days.
Boy did things changed when I got home. I called my husband to tell him about the appointment, and about the contractions, as I had not mentioned them earlier when he left for work figuring at the time they were just braxton hicks. After giving him the scoop and telling him I would call him if things changed I hung up and laid down on the couch to take a little nap. Within a few minutes I was hit with a much more intense contraction which was followed 5 minutes later by another contraction. I timed the contractions for an hour and they were coming consistently at five minute intervals and lasting about a minute. I called my husband and asked him to come home cause at this point I was freaking out a little. It was very apparent that this was the real thing, our baby was on her way. When my husband arrived home we decide to keep timing the contractions for a while to see what was happening and then decide from there whether to go to the hospital. With stop watch in hand and my husband running around gather a few last minute things for our bag I timed contractions that were pretty intense and coming every 3 minutes and still lasting about a minute each. It quickly became apparent that it was time to head to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at about 6pm, 12 hours after the first pangs of contractions early that morning. I was sent to the triage room where I was hooked up to the fetal heart beat monitor so they could get an idea of how the baby was tolerating the contractions, and contraction monitor so they could see how often the contractions were coming and how intense they were. While a nurse asked us a million questions I started suffering through contractions that were now coming every 2 minutes and lasting a minute. It felt like I was hardly getting a break before the next contraction hit. Once the questionnaire was complete the nurse checked me and determined that I was 5 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. I was in active labor. Within a few minutes I was transfered from the triage room to a labor and delivery room and my doctor was called. I was hooked up to the monitors in that room and I sat on the birthing ball (which by the way is really helpful during contractions) while I waited for my epidural. Arrangements were made for the anesthesiologist to come in when he was available to give me an epidural, which I was told could be a little while cause they were going through a shift change. Luckily he arrived within 15-20 minutes cause my contractions were now coming every minute or so, there was literally no break, they were just one right after another.
The epidural was administered and I was again laying peacefully in bed. Surprisingly the epidural didn’t hurt going in. It felt a little strange but was far less painful than an IV. Once the epidural was in place I was given some pitocin, which is used to help ensure the contractions don’t slow down too much. Often an epidural will slow down labor so the pitocin helps to counteract that. My husband and I turned on the TV and started watching “My Name is Earl”, wondering when our daughter would decided to come out. The nurse came in to check me every so often and I just tried to relax and rest knowing the big event was drawing near.
At about 9:30 or so I felt what I thought was my water breaking so I called the nurse in. She checked me and said she thought it was the “fore bag” as my bag of water was still intact and hanging down into the birth canal. She advised she could not tell how dilated I was because of the bag of water being in the way and she was going to have the on call doctor come in to break my water. The on call doctor was busy with another patient so I had to wait. When she walked in the room she started to tell me what she was going to do and what it feel like all of a sudden I felt a big gush of water, apparently my body decided her services weren’t needed. My water decided to break on its own. The doctor checked me and determined that I was 10 centimeters dilated and the baby was at -2 station, we were ready to go. I was told to relax as best I could, they would call my doctor and the nurse would come back in so we could start pushing.
At 10:30pm I started pushing. The baby was already in a good position and my early pushing was going well. After about 15 to 20 minutes of pushing my doctor called in to see how things were going, they told him to make his way in as my baby was ready to make her appearance. I continued to push with the nurse and my doctor arrived a few minutes later. He joined in the pushing excitement and we continued to make good progress.
After an hour of pushing my daughter was born. She weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 21 inches long. Unfortunately when she came out her one arm was up beside her head. After the placenta was delivered my doctor checked me and found that not only did I have a tear in my perineum but I also had a couple of tears inside along the vaginal wall. For two hours my doctor worked vigorously to stitch me up. My husband was over with the baby and when she was ready he brought her over so I could get a good look at her and give her a little kiss. Thank goodness for the epidural cause I didn’t really feel much as they stitched me up and I was able to remain calm. My doctor said in most cases like mine they would have had to take me to the OR but since I was staying very calm they were able to do it right there and I didn’t need to be separated from my baby.
I was finally able to hold her and begin the first breast feeding session a little over 2 hours after she was born. It went well. I was understandably exhausted at that point as it was almost 2am but I was so excited to be holding my little girl that I hardly noticed I was tired. Shortly after I fed the baby for the first time they began getting things ready to transfer me to the room we would be in for the remainder of our stay, however, I became very lightheaded and dizzy. My blood pressure was checked and it was really low. They decided to keep in the labor and delivery room for a little while longer until I felt better and my blood pressure stabilized.
Around 4am we were finally in our room and settling in for the evening. I fed the baby again and we all fell asleep for a short time.
Our stay at the hospital was about 48 hours. We had wonderful nurses and lactation consultants helping us figure out how to care for our little baby and taking care of me. We are so thankful for all the nurses that helped us during our stay, they made things so much easier. Leaving the hospital a couple of days after the delivery with our little bundle of joy was like nothing I can explain with words. It was amazing to think we had entered the hospital as a couple and were leaving as a family 
.
New parents are often terrified that their little one will get sick and they won't know what to do. They also are that familiar with what is "normal" for a baby and are often on the phone with their pediatrician's office on a very regular basis. Don't worry, every new parent is the same way. That little baby is the most precious thing in your world, you want to keep her safe, so your pediatrician will often say call away.
Here are a few things that should prompt an immediate call to your pediatrician.
- If your baby isn't eating approximately eight times a day, or waking up at night to eat.
- If your baby isn't urinating at least three to four times a day, or having a bowel movement at least once a day.
- If your typically happy baby is extremely irritable or crying inconsolably, or is extremely and uncharacteristically lethargic.
- If you baby is having a lot of trouble breathing (if her nostrils are flaring, she's making grunting noises or her chest is retracting (pulling in with each breath)).
- If your baby has a 100.4 degree F temperature or higher when taken rectally.
There will be many times when you don't know if something is normal or OK so be sure to call your pediatrician when you feel the need. Most pediatricians will be open to this and will have people on their staff that will be helpful and understanding. If you don't feel your pediatrician is meeting your needs then change pediatricians.
It is often when a mom returns to work that she ends up giving up breastfeeding. Continuing to breastfeed after you return to work can be difficult and requires a lot of commitment but it can be done. If providing breast milk to your baby is important to you it is worth the extra effort.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding through one year of life (and longer if mutually agreeable). For moms who work and have to leave their babies at daycare it can be difficult to follow these recommendations. It is often easier just to switch to formula. If continuing to breastfeed is important to you what can you do to make the transition back to work successful? Here are a few tips:
- Discuss your intentions with your manager before you go out on maternity leave. By having a plan in place prior to the arrival of the baby your return to work will be easier. Be sure to discuss specifics including how often you will need to pump, where you can pump (a private, quiet room is ideal), and any other issues/concerns that either you or your manager has. It wouldn’t hurt to write it all down and have both of you sign it (kind of like a contract).
- If you will be unable to pump at work talk to your pediatrician and a lactation consultant about your best options for continuing to breastfeed. Perhaps you can pump more at night, or do some sort of alternating between formula and breast milk.
- Invest in a good pump. Talk to a lactation consultant and friends who have used a pump for recommendations. You will likely need to drop a few bucks but it will be a good investment. Some hospitals do rent breast pumps so call your hospital or talk to your doctor to find out.
- Be sure you have all the necessary supplies likes storage bags, bottles, and breast pump cleaning supplies. By purchasing this stuff prior to the baby’s arrival it is just one less thing to worry about later. Again, ask for recommendations from other moms, lactation consultants or your pediatrician.
- Line up a support network.
- Choose a childcare provider that will be open to your continuing to breastfeed and will not supplement your child’s diet with formula unless you ask for that.
- Talk to other moms about the problems they ran into and how they were able to overcome them.
Continuing to breastfeed after you return to work is possible and since breast milk is the best form of nutrition for your baby it is something worth trying. Talking to a lactation consultant, other moms, and your pediatrician about your concerns can be helpful. Planning ahead is key to a successful transition, and remember planning begins before the baby arrives.
One of the great challenges of pregnancy is coming up with a name for your little bundle of joy. You will get advice and recommendations from everyone. Remember that naming your baby is a personal decision between you and your spouse. You don't have to listen to all those recommendations or use any of them. This is your baby and naming her is ultimately up to you and your partner.
As you go on your search for just the right name here are a few helpful websites.
Naming your baby will seem like quite the daunting task at first, but don't worry, you will eventually find just the right name. Don't worry about what other people think, you can't please everyone. Do your research and talk it out with your partner. Good luck to you 
.