Breast Feeding

The nurses asked me if I was going to breast feed Anna. When I said 'yes', they showed me how to position her and tried to help her latch on. But she didn't latch on, instead she screamed the entire time we worked with her. After a few minutes of screaming and frustration, we decided to try again later. Anna calmed down immediately and fell back to sleep on my chest.

Dave finally joined us and my parents were there admiring the newest member of our clan. Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Michael arrived a little later for Anna's coming out 'party'. It was fun to show her off to my family while relaxing comfortably in my hospital bed. Part of me didn't want everyone to leave, but I knew it was time for us all to get some rest. Dave left shortly after my parents and brothers, and Anna returned to the nursery so Mommy could finally sleep!

They brought her to me throughout the night to breast feed, but she continued to 'refuse'. She screamed as soon as I cradled her on my chest and put her mouth to my breast. And she calmed down as soon I gave up.

The nurses reassured me that we'd figure it out the next day with the lactation specialists so I quickly returned to sleep not spending too much time worrying about it. After all, she was perfectly happy returning to sleep so maybe she just wanted to rest after our ordeal!

The problem solving started the next day. Laurie, my birth class teacher, was the lactation specialist and she spent quite awhile with the two of us trying to show Anna, and me, what to do. We decided that she had a weak suck so she showed Dave how to feed her with a tube. The tube attached to his finger which he placed in her mouth and she had to suck just as she would on a nipple or bottle. We fed her like this all day, trying to breast feed her at different points but to no avail.

The problem solving continued. Laurie told me to spend 'skin on skin' time with her, which would help her to become more comfortable, encouraging her to latch on. She also helped me try different positions and even gave us a bottle with a more difficult nipple which would help to strengthen her suck.

The nursery graciously used this bottle for one feeding at night but reverted to the typical bottle for the second feeding as the first one took close to an hour; the second one only took 20 minutes.

Anna was born on a Monday and it was now Wednesday. According to her chart, she was peeing and pooping well, and the pediatrician confirmed that she was doing great. She gave us an amount of formula to shoot for during a 24 hour period and we and Anna willingly obliged.

We were tired and frustrated but never imagined the real reason for Anna's difficulty. There's more to this first small struggle in Anna's life, but I will save it for another post. It's time for bed!