Nursing: Part Two
I saw the amazing Laurie Flower and she helped me so much! I explained to her everything that led up to yesterday and for the most part she sat shaking her head at what people had told me to do (and what they didn't inform me of in the first place). I was doing a lot of things wrong! The session was $75 and it was totally worth it. She also weighed Joanna: she's back to her hospital discharge weight of 8lb 15oz. I'm going to have a huge freakin' party when she's at her birth weight. This whole ordeal is super stressful and guilt inducing.
My biggest boo boo? Using formula in the first place. A mother's milk production is stimulated when there's a baby there to drink it. When I pump or supplement, it's not giving my brain and body the signals I need to make more milk. So rather than worry that she's not eating enough and trying to pump as often as possible, I need to:
Thankfully, Joanna is latching well and is doing a great job. She has great duck lips and stays awake for the most part. When I poke and prod and pull off her socks, she stays awake for the feeding.
Oh, and did I mention no more pacifier?.. We'll see how that one goes. Since she's not having an issue with latching, I may just minimize the pacifier rather than throw it away completely. Soon after the session, I brought her with me to worship practice and the whole no pacifier thing was a poorly timed instruction. She howled for 5 minutes before I finally gave in and shoved her beloved friend into her open pout. Within milliseconds, she was content and glassy eyed. Phew.
Yea, we won't be throwing away pacifiers quite yet.
My biggest boo boo? Using formula in the first place. A mother's milk production is stimulated when there's a baby there to drink it. When I pump or supplement, it's not giving my brain and body the signals I need to make more milk. So rather than worry that she's not eating enough and trying to pump as often as possible, I need to:
- Nurse every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night.
- If she's asleep, wake her up.
- No cigarette hold
- No squeezing between your index and middle finger. Instead she recommended a C hold: using my entire hand and shaping it like a C.
- Mother's milk tea and lots of it.
- I'm instructed to drink 5 cups a day of this licorice nastiness. Bleh. I just gulp it and go.
- Fenugreek and other herbs
- Burp her when she gets squirmy rather than try to reattach her right away.
- No more pacifiers.
Thankfully, Joanna is latching well and is doing a great job. She has great duck lips and stays awake for the most part. When I poke and prod and pull off her socks, she stays awake for the feeding.
Oh, and did I mention no more pacifier?.. We'll see how that one goes. Since she's not having an issue with latching, I may just minimize the pacifier rather than throw it away completely. Soon after the session, I brought her with me to worship practice and the whole no pacifier thing was a poorly timed instruction. She howled for 5 minutes before I finally gave in and shoved her beloved friend into her open pout. Within milliseconds, she was content and glassy eyed. Phew.
Yea, we won't be throwing away pacifiers quite yet.
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