by Julie Hearty
 Where
do I start... our daughter was born on March 24th 2002, I
had an easy delivery only 6 hours from start to finish, with only 30
minutes of pushing. For whatever reasons, I didn't get to nurse for
the first time until she was nearly 6 hours old. I called the nurse in
to help me, she came and
we tried to put the baby to the breast and she refused, she just
wouldn't latch on. The nurse swiftly looked at me and said, "Look,
your nipples are flat and your baby wont take the breast, you won't be
able to breastfeed, we have to give her a bottle or she is going to
starve" Being a new first time mom, I unknowingly let her give the
baby a bottle... That was big mistake #1!
After that, at each feed I would try to latch the baby on and get her
to nurse but she would not latch on.. it was an endless fight , I'd
try, she'd scream, the nurses would ram her poor little face into my
breast which would just make her scream more. I started to pump to get
my milk supply going. We would try for 15 minutes to get her going and
then we would give her a bottle. I finally saw a lactation consultant
in the hospital on the Tuesday morning, 2 days after the baby's
birth. She tried to help and she would succeed at getting the baby to
latch on but then the baby would suck for 5 seconds and let go
screaming because now she was used to how easy it was to get milk from
the bottle. The vicious circle had begun with that 1st
bottle...
On the Wednesday, I went home and that morning my milk came in. I was
sent home pumping every 3 hours. Within 2 days I was pumping 8 to 10
oz each time I pumped! I had enough milk to feed the neighborhood! The
latching on was not working so I had given up. I was so disappointed
because my whole pregnancy I had looked forward to nursing my baby. I
had come to the conclusion that I would just pump my milk and feed it
to my baby via bottle.
When the baby turned 3 1/2 weeks old, I could no longer take the
pressure of the demands of pumping and we switched the baby over to
formula and I stopped pumping. On the fourth day of formula only, the
problems began, 1st the baby developed severe diarrhea and
she would scream all the time. We took her to see our pediatrician (
at the time, we NO longer see her) She recommended we put the baby on
soy formula so we did that. The poor baby then became constipated and
would scream every time she tried to have a bowel movement, she also
started projectile vomiting. After that we tried every kind of formula
on the market but nothing made her better.
After 3 weeks of this I looked into re-lactation and decided that I
was NOT going to give up until my baby was getting nothing but
breastmilk and I wanted her to be breastfeeding at the breasts not
with a bottle. That is when I came in contact with Joan Fisher, my
wonderful lactation consultant. She truly was the one who got me
through my re-lactation period. I truly had no more milk. I had been
pumping again for about a
week when I first spoke to Joan and I was lucky to get 1 ounce a day!
And I was pumping every 2 hours! She suggested I get on domperidone in
order to re-induce lactation. I did that and then purchased a Lact-Aid
device which would allow the baby to latch on to my breast and get
formula through a tiny capillary tube. It worked! The baby would latch
on and actually nurse! I was SO thrilled! Within 1 week of using the
lactaid at every feeding and using the domperidone I had a full milk
supply and was able to discontinue using the lactaid. My baby was now
exclusively breastfed! I could not have been happier and my wonderful
little baby was now happy again and thriving. She started gaining
weight again and hasn't stopped since. I had once consultation with
Joan for positioning at the breast as I was not doing it properly in
the beginning and the baby was
pinching me. It only took 2 hours and we were a happy nursing couple
and have been ever since. I am proud to say that I now have a
exclusively breastfed baby who is one of the happiest babies I have
ever seen!
I cannot say just how happy and proud of myself I am for having
achieved my goal but I am reminded everyday when I look into my
nursing baby's eyes and she lets go to give me one of her big smiles
as if to say, "Thanks mommy!" I plan on nursing my daughter until
she is good and ready to wean and not a day before. I guess my message
to all you new moms or moms to be out there is that breastfeeding may
seem difficult in the beginning but with the right help and support
and most of all perseverance, you too can achieve this wonderful gift
only you can give your baby!
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Breastfeeding
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