in the hospital, Jaxon didn't get a "proper" latch. in fact it was downright painful. i was bleeding and raw and sore and scabbed over. the lactation consultants there suggested a nipple shield. i honestly wish i had said "no". this made it more difficult for us to feed and actually hurt worse.
for something that is supposed to be so natural, it sure is difficult.
at one point, he wouldn't even take to the shield. so, my baby, who was SUPPOSED to be a natural born, water baby but came into the world on an epidural and a c-section wouldn't breastfeed. no nipple, no nipple shield, just crying and screaming and losing weight and dehydration.
the woes of a first-time mom.
when we were discharged from the hospital, he weighed 7lbs, 5 oz... a bit lower than his birthweight of 8lbs, 1oz, but all still within the normal range. by this point we had given in and given him some formula here and there so he would eat, but this was done with MUCH hesitation. we didn't want our baby to be a formula baby, just like we didn't want him to be all drugged when he was born. but things change, i guess.
the day after we were discharged, he had gone for more than 16 hours without eating and hadn't had much in the way of dirty diapers. we were worried, so we took him to an after hours clinic. he was definitely dehydrated, weak and had lost a whole pound since he'd been born. according to the doc, we were in "emergency" territory now. they sent us home with a pack of formula and me crying b/c things just weren't happening the way i had envisioned for the last 10 months.
we brought a lactation consultant to the house (a friend of mine) and she worked with us extensively for about 2 hours. why couldn't the ones in the hospital be more like her?!?!?
i started pumping and continued to try to feed Jaxon--who continued to not be very interested, and my husband began finger feeding him with a curve-tipped syringe. we would put expressed breastmilk into the syringe and Jaxon would suck on my husband's finger while my husband slowly squirted breastmilk into Jaxon's mouth. of course, at this point, we still had to supplement with formula.
it began to work. Jaxon started gaining weight (we had borrowed a scale) and he seemed to like the milk. plus, since i was pumping, i had more milk and we were able to stop supplementing. we continued to work with the latch.
it was a very tough few weeks. there was lots of crying--from both me and Jaxon. there was lots of frustration--from all of us. and there was quite a bit of pain involved as well--for me.
now, Jaxon is 3 weeks and a day. he loves his mommy and wants to nurse pretty frequently. sometimes the latch is still pretty painful, but mostly we've gotten the hang of it. gone are the feedings with the syringe. sometimes, i miss that simply b/c it was so cute to watch my husband feed our son this way... and it saved me from having to get up in the middle of the night every time to feed him (as long as i had pumped).
but, at the same time, i am glad we are past it. it was difficult and very trying. not the way i had hoped. i am glad now that Jaxon and i get to bond during his feedings. i am glad that he prefers me to formula or the bottle or to the syringe.
if i ever have another child and end up in the hospital again, i will know better what to do and what not to do. and i will definitely not hesitate to bring in my friend to work with me instead of the consultants at the hospital (not that they aren't educated, they just can't give you the time and attention you need to make it successful).
and so we go.
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