The Newborn Days:Breastfeeding
My little boy is 3 weeks and 5 days old, so almost 4 weeks, he’ll be a month old on the 18th so thats just around the corner. Hes getting so big and so clever, he seems to have learnt something new every day and so do I.
Today he rolled over, from his back right over to his tummy. Apparently they arent suppose to do this till about 6-8 weeks. Hes such a little star and so amazing with his ability to imitate too, Keith makes all kinds of noises to him and he now can repeat most of them back to you.
Its amazing how much goes into looking after a baby especially a newborn, you can read as many books as you want but nothing can prepare you for the reality of being a full time parent.
I breastfeed, im proud of that fact and if all goes well i plan to do it till hes a year old. The actual recommended period for breastfeeding is 2 years but we have decided we will be trying for another baby when Barry is 1 and i think that would be too difficult to manage. Breastfeeding is highly recommended but it takes a lot of patience, determination, love and support. Considering that for the first week to 10 days you feed every 2 hours for 30-60 minutes a time it basically feels like you constantly have a baby attached to your breast. which is more or less true.
Then there is also the countless problems you can run into, I had inverted nipples which meant that my baby couldnt latch on, so i was given a nipple shield which is a plastic nipple that fits over your own so the baby can latch. This worked BUT i accidently set it on fire while sterillizing it….dont ask ok!
Well i then found out nipple shields can cause weaning problems so that turned out ok that it was gone (a pile of ash)
So i tried technnique number two, using a breast pump to make the inverted nipple come out. This worked but only after a lot of expressing which then made my breasts over supply on the milk which equals engorgement and lots of pain.
Finally one day he latched, with no help at all, and has done to this day. I cried when he did it, because not being able to feed your baby the most natural way possible makes you feel some what inadequate as a mother.
So with this goal accomplished i can happily sit back and type this post completely one handed while i hold my son while he feeds and feel like every day we take another step forward over a bump in our journey as a family.