and oh so many firsts to record:
- first time I've had a baby make it back to birthweight (barely) at 2 weeks (!!!!!)
- first time I breastfed this baby on a public park bench
- first lovely spring picnic in Central Park with baby (ok, so we were wasting time between doctors appointments which made it a little less relaxing and it was rather cold, but still)
- first time I breastfed this baby in a Church (the site of one of the fusspot's classes)
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th meals out in fancy-ish restaurants with baby and toddler in tow (we've had a lot of company)
- first time I've had to eat pasta with one hand because my other hand is caught up supporting a sleeping baby in the Moby since the fusspot and I went to Rome a full year ago
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd time I've breastfed this baby in a bookstore (note above: cold in NYC and the children's bookstore is a great place to release the fusspot while I'm stuck hunched over in the corner flashing unsuspecting 3 year olds ...). And for the record, NO, I don't use a nursing cover. Never have, hopefully never will.
- first time in at least 4 months I've made it all the way through Friday night services (largely because the fusspot opted to stay home, so it was just baby and I)
- first time in years and years that I got so creeped out in a doctors office that I wanted to flee
Which is all to say that we are doing exceedingly well. Thus far the dumpling seems to be an even easier baby than the fusspot, who is already one of the most laid back babies I've ever met. Of course, no idea how long that will last.
I am feeling about 99% recovered from the deliver at 2.5 weeks postpartum and aside from a recurring fever related to clogged ducts/mastitis and the fact that "That baby eats boobies!" as the fusspot likes to announce, all is well. As for feeding the dumpling, it is exceedingly painful. Just like Nicky recommended, my lactation consultant suggested 12 hours nursing per side and pumping to let the other side heal, but by the end of 12 hours the dumpling has managed to seriously re-damage whichever side I'm using, and everyone wants us to avoid bottles for now.
The creepy doctors office above was the ENT surgeon to evaluate the dumpling for a tongue tie, which he does not have. However, she still wanted to do some type of intense procedure on him, which I refused. We've been back to the pediatrician, the lactation consultant, and the occupational therapist, and everyone is in unison that the dumpling has both an exceedingly strong latch and an exceedingly bad one. They also all agree that this time around there is nothing wrong with my breasts or my supply and very little that I can do besides wait. He basically will not open his mouth enough to latch on properly even though there is no physical problem anyone can find, which is no good. We're hopeful that the situation will improve in the next 2-3 weeks, but in the meantime we're back to finger feeds, ibuprofen, salt water rinses for open sores, etc.
Oh, and work, of course. Including an evening event tonight. The fusspot will be off to the neighbors and JD will come home (briefly) to watch the dumpling since he can't take a bottle yet (JD does finger feeds with either the SNS or an eyedropper).
3 comments:
Wow! A very busy 2-1/2 weeks!!! I hope you are getting rest when you can & I am so sorry about the nursing issues! Even though you are familiar from the fusspot I'm sure it doesn't make it any easier to go through!
Take care & congrats again on your dumpling!
Michael had a really strong and bad latch too. I still shudder when I think of the pain from it. I'd take the pain of natural birth over the pain from the first few weeks of breastfeeding him any day. You could have stuck him to the wall his latch was so strong. I really think he just had to learn that he didn't need to suck that hard. And I must have relatched that child a thousand times on the first month. Those were some long, hard days for me.
I ended up having to give my worst side a 48 hour break nursing break (and limited pumping) and that helped me heal a lot. And it timed up good with him finally easing up a bit and things became tolerable. Hopefully your little one figures it out soon, because I know that pain and I definitely feel for you.
Finger feeding did not work for us... it was just a big, time consuming mess. We ended up using our Breastflow Bottles and it made life a lot easier. The baby has to use suction and compression to get the milk out of them so it's a good bottle to use. And my baby definitely did not develop a preference for them... he never took to bottles unfortunately.
It sounds like you are doing pretty good. Keep it up.
WOW! You are rockin' it for 2.5 wks postpartum! I luckily haven't had those issues with the strong latch, but I have had issues with an incredibly stubborn bad latcher (ahemHENRYahem). He prefers to nurse out of the side of his mouth, and gets really angry when I correct him. This isn't a huge problem, and really only comes into play when he's tired or when I let him get too lazy, BUT, it becomes a huge problem when you're dealing with thrush, and now when we're dealing with teeth (that have a small gap between them, through which he likes to suck on the nipple. YEOUCH.).
All that to say that while I don't know about the strong and bad latch, I do have some limited experience with extraordinarily painful nursing sessions, and I really feel for you, and I really hope 2.0 gets the hang of it soon, and that you get over the mastitis/clogged-duct/fever cycle soon, too.
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