Breastfeeding, Magic Milk

Warning to relatives: this post will contain human anatomy details you may not want to know about me!

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Breastfeeding isn't easy, at least for me. It may have seemed like that with Lil"bug, but the first six weeks were really hard. We saw the lactation consultant more than friends and family during that time. I tried every gadget known to Medela. Ultimately some things worked and some just drained my confidence. Some of those gadgets are so dehumanizing.

This time, Blueberry has a voracious latch BUT my nipples are still inverted (which means they pop in instead of out). She can't really get a mouth full. Luckily when the engorgement of milk coming in came- I'd just squirt her mouth full over and over, use the breast pump to keep high production, and called it good. That got us out of the hospital with minimum concern from the nurses. Still she was frustrated at every feeding and that is not good.

The thing is, I knew that when that phase calmed down we'd both be in trouble and she would not have learned to latch properly. I have a postpartum doula coming soon, but not soon enough. So in a quiet moment in the middle of the night I decided to get another set of silicon breast shields. I remembered that Lil'Bug learned how to latch using these and at 6 weeks old she had the hang of it, how much she was supposed to suck and how hard, and it was a good 3 years more after that.

I was right. I just fed Blueberry the best, longest feeding she has ever done. No crying, no head nodding trying to get a mouthful, no arching back. 30 minutes of continuous, productive latch with good suction.

I hate using plastic, but really, this is working. I wonder how many moms have given up either not knowing about the aid or intimidation from hospital staff about starving their babies. With Lil'Bug that last factor contributed to the start of my postpartum depression. This time, I actually rolled my eyes at one of the nurses. When they warned me about how I'd have to supplement, I responded, "Or I could pump breast milk and feed the measurable amounts to her, right?" Yes. So why exactly, in my situation, would formula be even mentioned. Gah.

That said, my babes are lucky I am so stubborn.

More pictures!

Aunt Bee!

Check out all that beautiful hair!

Such a proud big sister!

I am the happiest mom ever!

Little Sister, Meet Big Sister!

This is our first family photo!

Nana and June Bug.

Lil'Bug doesn't like the baby's name and insists on calling her Blueberry. Since June Bug came in May we are considering it......

later I will post a picture of little babe's hair. It is amazing!

And then there were four . . .

Junebug was born at 6:20 pm this afternoon by cesarean section. Mother and baby are doing fine.

MamaP was nothing short of heroic in her attempt to VBAC. Ultimately, complications related to thick meconium in the bag of waters and worsening fever caused us to make the decision for a C-section delivery. We are extremely pleased with the result - from the beginning, success for us was defined by our family walking out of the hospital together.

Junebug successfully latched onto the breast as soon as Mama was able, and has since nursed again. Currently mama is glowing, and baby is sleeping.

Thanks for all the support we received on the blog and in email - it really helped keep MamaP's spirits up.

We named her Holly Evangeline.