Nursing Mamas Thread - Page 6

[The4OfUs]

Helen and Korin, I'm glad things are looking up for both of you!

[mcimom]

Originally Posted by chiromama

My friend Jackie came to the rescue. She lent me her PIS.. I went and bought all new hardware (tubes, shields, membranes etc)basically, she just lent me the electrical part of it. It's SO MUCH GENTLER!!! Of course it took me 25 mins to get an ounceout of one breast (Ruby had just drained the other one). Hopefully with some practice, I'll end up getting morewith time. I'm hoping to only have to pump once a day to build up a decent supply, since i'm going back very part time.

yay - i meant to rec a medela as well, but never got around to posting - always nak - right? i am pumping to build a small supply too - i'll be going back after labor day but not sure if it'll be part time (i hope!) or full time. this is the first baby that my dh will be the sahp to - he's sahped while i wohmed before but never with a baby only 3mo old...sigh. i really hope i'm only pt. anyway...i just pump whenever it seems like a good time - i'm engorged, he's full. i usually get b/t 4-6oz in 15min if i'm really full, i figure that'll make a bottle. i need to stock up and then hopefully when i go back i'll just be making what he'll need each day. i've never had to seriously pump b4 so i hope it works.

alright, dds needing oj...

glad to hear harper is doing so well yay!!

[*guest]

Originally Posted by grace's voice

Helen, so glad to hear you had the tongue freed, it makes such a huge difference. Why did they need to put in an IV though? When we had Behny's done it was done by our Naturopath and he just put a clamp on the frenulum, crushed it (which numbs it) and clipped it with scissors. It took only a few seconds. He still pops his lip under too though, and I can't pull it out, its too small. So now it bleeds from him sucking on it with my nipple. But still my nipples have healed quite a bit since we had his tongue clipped. It will get better and better by the day.

Holly, I was all prepared to get a simple office visit too! But our ped referred us to a pediatric ENT who is also a dentist, and he explained that her particular anatomy ruled her out of his comfort level for the in-office procedure. Her frenulum started at the very tippy tip of her tongue and ran very far back in the mouth, while also being very short vertically. So he actually totally removed it and cauterized it to give her full range of motion and prevent a lot of bleeding. The whole thing was done under general, and the IV was just a precaution because of her size (she's about 8.5 pounds now). But I figure better now than when she's a few years older. He thought it was enough where her speech and eating lumpy foods would be compromised.

Anyway, the lip thing is tough. I have no idea how to train her to do it on her own. And she still uses her "mandibles of steel" to clamp down instead of working the tongue fully, so we are seeing the LC tomorrow and the chiropractor on Wednesday. I am hoping some adjustments can help her relax the jaw a bit. I hope your situation continues to improve!

[chiromama]

Helen, I hope your Chiro does CranioSacral, If not.. ask her if she knows someone whodoes.... It's brilliant! (I'd do it for you if we weren't on opposite ends of the country!).

I pumped again this morning and was SO MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL!!!! I got 3 oz in 15 mins from both breasts. One was completely engorged and produced the most, as Ruby had just nursed on the other side. Yippie!! I now have 4 full oz in the fridge. I think I'll have Ryan give her a bottle some time this week so we can see how she takes it.

Ok... Question.... If I'm only going back to work for two half days a week, how often should I pump? OUr LC said we should give her a bottle once a week for a couple of weeks before i go back so see how she takes it, but there is no need to do it everyday. Any thoughts? I may cross post this question in BF.

[grace's voice]

Originally Posted by mommitola

Anyway, the lip thing is tough. I have no idea how to train her to do it on her own. And she still uses her "mandibles of steel" to clamp down instead of working the tongue fully, so we are seeing the LC tomorrow and the chiropractor on Wednesday. I am hoping some adjustments can help her relax the jaw a bit. I hope your situation continues to improve!

It took Behny a few days to figure out exactly how to maneuver his new tongue, and he still does use his jaws from time to time, esp if I'm really full or when I nurse him sitting up. We still nurse lying down most of the time, but we're paracticing sitting up as often as my cracked nipples and his blood blistered bottom lip can handle.

[*guest]

Originally Posted by grace's voice

It took Behny a few days to figure out exactly how to maneuver his new tongue, and he still does use his jaws from time to time, esp if I'm really full or when I nurse him sitting up. We still nurse lying down most of the time, but we're paracticing sitting up as often as my cracked nipples and his blood blistered bottom lip can handle.

We saw the LC this morning, and she showed me a modified angle on both the cross cradle and football hold that was awesome! I wish I could show you, it made a lot of difference. It gives me the control to allow her head to tip back a bit so she opens much wider. And then I sort of scoop her on and catch the lips open. Sometimes I have had to flip the top one, but we're still practicing. I wouldn't have got it from just looking at diagrams online, let's put it that way. She was telling me to save lying down for when she's a little bigger and we're in better practice. I wonder if sitting up/changing positions more could help you? If you can stand it, obviously! Hope it gets better.

[chiromama]

helen, I'm SO GLAD the LC helped!!! that's great! I hope Harper gets the hang of it soon and your BF relationship smooths out.

[mommy2girlies]

Ok, so all this talk about how good he's nursing and how we're not having any problems has come back to bite me in the butt!!!

I guess since I have over active letdown and when my milk lets down I think J.C is slipping off a bit to gulp as much as he can as fast as he can and I haven't been realizing that he's not latched on properly, cuz all of a sudden in the last few days my nipples are on fire!! They're red and hurt! and it hurts so bad when he nurses. I've looked at my nipples after I pull him off to find a more comfortable latch and my nipple either has a white line horizontally in the center or looks like a lipstick, a bit tilted....

Im really trying to watch how he's latching and trying to get him to open his mouth really wide then shoving his little mouth on my nipple trying to get as much as my areola in his mouth as I can. When I do that its much more comfortable, but since my nipples are already a bit sore, it still hurts! OUCH!

[chiromama]

I'mw ith you on the new nipple pain. I think the thrush has made it's way to me now.. yeeeouch. Not really burning, but more of a bruised sensation... as a matter of fact, my whole boob is sore on one side. Just brushing up against them hurts

[ckhagen]

Ok, I've got a question...

Is anyone else having really super painful letdown?
With DS1 I was (unbeknownst to me) already losing my milk supply at this point and I never ended up producing a normal supply, it was always just barely enough.

This time around has been much different and I seem to have a solid supply so far. In fact, I have so much that every time my milk lets down I feel like someone has just stabbed me in the chest. I could almost cry most of the time when it happens. The pain is only during letdown, not constant and I don't have any symptoms of mastitis or any other problems. I don't stay engorged or anything... just during the 10 seconds or so of letdown I feel pretty horrible pain.

[OwensMa]

My letdown is much more painful then with DS1. Extremely achey.

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by OwensMa

My letdown is much more painful then with DS1. Extremely achey.

: Me too - well, I dunno if it's painful, but it's uncomfortable, for sure, for about 30 seconds while I let down, then it's fine.


Korin - I'm glad pumping is going better!

Helen - Glad that the LC helped!

Kelly - Ouch. So sorry you're having problems...I hope you can get healed up quick.

I think our thrush is finally gone, and things are looking up for us. Whew!

[The4OfUs]

[Rant]

Has anyone else who's not pumping been having people telling you that you should start pumping? I'm frankly getting a little irritated with people telling me that for various reasons I "should" pump.

I work at home, DH and I are homebodies and always have been (meaning if we have "date night", it would be having a nice dinner we cooked, and renting a movie, so we're home anyway), and quite honestly, I'm too damn lazy for what it takes to pump...sterilizing bottles, washing the pump, warming the bottles, etc. etc.

If I was working out of the home I would obviously pump, or if DH and I went out a lot before kids and wanted to keep that going, I would want to pump. If DD was older and didn't need to nurse every 2-3 hours anyway, I might pump in between feedings. I get all that, all of those very valid reasons for nursing moms to pump and am 100% supportive of pumping as a fabulous way to give your baby breastmilk (my dearest friend IRL exclusively pumped for her daughter for just under a year, and I her for that!) BUT, I don't get why people who know me are insisting that I consider starting pumping? I pumped for about 2 weeks when DS was about 6 months old, and it was too much hassle and no real benefit, so I stopped. Don't they remember that? I understand my ped suggesting it, she doesn't know anything about me. But my family and friends? What gives?

Then I feel like a freak when I try to explain to them why I don't feel the need to pump right now. I'm starting to feel like not talking to anyone about breastfeeding. Maybe it's that people are projecting their feelings onto me, feeling that they need to get out, but I just don't feel that way - and it's fine with me if other people feel that way, honestly it is, I don't put any judgement on anyone, but I feel like people judge me and think I'm being a martyr or a weirdo for not going out without my children.

I mean, I understand that sometimes moms neglect themselves and sometimes marriages get strained because of a new baby, and that sucks, so I guess it's good that people look out more for new moms now and tell them to take breaks and date their husbands again, so I get that part of it, but these are people who know me IRL telling me this, and they should know that I don't neglect myself, and DH and I have never been ones to go out a lot. Apparently they seem to have forgotten we're a little "different" than the norm.

Oh well. I know they mean well and are just looking out for me, but I've had so many people mention it recently that I'm feeling a little defensive and irked.

OR.....maybe it is me, maybe I AM a weirdo. [/end rant]

[eco_mama]

Yes. I've only had one person tell me I should pump. That was my dh's grandma. Bless her heart..I know she was just (in her eyes) trying to "help" my out with that idea. Like you..I'm at home and dh is a wahd. We also are quite the homebodies and even when we do go places...we go places that our dc can go too. But my dh's grandma said I should "get to pumping" so other people can feed him. Um, why does he need that when mommy is home all day with him? Dh really doesn't care about feeding him...cause naturally he knows it's impossible. I would pump if I "had" to for a specific reason but other than that, it's pointless to me. I read other stories about women who have countless problems breastfeeding and only WISH they could bf w/o any problems and I feel SOO blessed that I am able to provide bm naturally to my dc. : I've never had any problems (knock on wood! ) Of course the occasional sore nipples but who doesn't? Right?

[chiromama]

Speaking of sore nipples.... What is going on over here? I have sore bruisy feeling breasts, my nips are very sensitive and on one side,a couple of the bumps (I am too tired tot hink of the name) on the areola are incredibly sore. I don't fit into any pattern for mastitis, or a plugged duct, i dont' think. Any thoughts??? Thanks mamas!

[*guest]

Originally Posted by chiromama

Speaking of sore nipples.... What is going on over here? I have sore bruisy feeling breasts, my nips are very sensitive and on one side,a couple of the bumps (I am too tired tot hink of the name) on the areola are incredibly sore. I don't fit into any pattern for mastitis, or a plugged duct, i dont' think. Any thoughts??? Thanks mamas!

Could it be the exciting new pumping activity? I try not to pump longer than 5-10 minutes or it hurts.

I've got very similar feelings the past few days (the bruised thing made me think thrush in the breast, but Harper has no white patches in her mouth), but then I realized my stupid bras are all too tight. Doh.

[chiromama]

I havent' pumped since sunday morning when I got 3 oz. My bras can't be too tight cause I'm not wearing any. just tank tops. What else you got?

[cymbeline]

Originally Posted by chiromama

Speaking of sore nipples.... What is going on over here? I have sore bruisy feeling breasts, my nips are very sensitive and on one side,a couple of the bumps (I am too tired tot hink of the name) on the areola are incredibly sore. I don't fit into any pattern for mastitis, or a plugged duct, i dont' think. Any thoughts??? Thanks mamas!

I vote plugged duct. Have you tried a hot shower or warm washcloth? If yr nipples are bright pink or red, then it might be thrush. But the bruisy thing says watch out for early signs of mastitis. I usually get a warning a few days before: sore boobs, warm spots or lumps... acidophilus, Emergen-C and lots of rest helps.

[chiromama]

i am t hinking it must be the thrush..... i called my nd for nystatin. we shall see!