nursing the newbie: how's it going?

[ex-stasis]

I just wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing with nursing their newborns? We had a few days of really sore nipples, blisters and a baby that refused to latch properly, but we seem to be working it out now. Emeth is obviously getting some quality nutrition--today at his 10 day appt with the midwife we discovered that over the past 5 days he has gained 9 oz!!! Yikes! He's made up for what he lost post-birth and then some!

Ok, I just had a brag a little there... but how are you doing nursing your newborn?

Mamas with older kids.. how do they react to the constant nursing?

[MommyTeesa]

9 oz - WTG, mama!

So far, very well! (crossing fingers) Of course he's not quite 2 days old. He has a great latch, but is still so sleepy nursing isn't constant. So far my daughter is fine with the nursing, but it SOOOO early, I'm sure she's going to be fighting for attention in devious ways.

[roadfamily6now]

Good job!!

[clavicula]

i also have a great nurser, she gained 24 ounces total in 2 weeks! she has a good latch, so we are lucky.

great to hear you are doing great mamas!

[emiLy]

We are doing well here too. Gosh, it's SO much easier the second time around! Henry knows what to do, I know what to do. My milk is coming in already (thanks to nursing throughout pregnancy I'm sure).

My 3.5 yo is still nursing, just to sleep at night. She woke up really early this morning and I thought I might have a chance of getting her back to sleep, so I offered to nurse her this morning too and she was gulping. She didn't go back to sleep, but she did poop a few hours later. (Breastmilk is such a great laxative!) The most wonderful part is it doesn't hurt AT ALL to nurse her anymore.

[MonkeyPrincess]

We're doing great, too. Katelyn latched on right after she was born and has been nursing wonderfully since. My milk came in the day after she was born and I never got engorged or had painful letdown (like I had with 3 of my other kids). Although, she must've had a growth spurt last weekend because she was nursing constantly for over 6 hours a couple days in a row during the evening, and that brought on ALOT of milk. Wed I started feeling sore, and through the night I was in so much pain! I was shivering and sweating and my boob hurt so bad I literally couldn't move. My mw asked if I had read streaks, and I didn't think I did when she asked but I asked my dh and he said there was. I knew I had to nurse her as much as possible, but it hurt so bad I cried whenever she nursed. I also used a heating pad. Yesterday, I stayed in bed all day nursing and catching up on sleep and I'm completely better now. So its all good!

[turnipmama]

The first 24 or 36 hours were hard, she was so sleepy and didn't seem that interested, but now she is doing great!
I would like to think it was good preparation but it seems too good to be true!
She nurses great, has gained 8 oz, and I didn't even get engorged. Being a pessimist I am waiting for the other shoe to drop (i.e.-thrush, mastitis, ect.) but so far so good!

[Synchro246]

Originally Posted by emiLy

We are doing well here too. Gosh, it's SO much easier the second time around! Henry knows what to do, I know what to do. My milk is coming in already (thanks to nursing throughout pregnancy I'm sure).

My 3.5 yo is still nursing, just to sleep at night. She woke up really early this morning and I thought I might have a chance of getting her back to sleep, so I offered to nurse her this morning too and she was gulping. She didn't go back to sleep, but she did poop a few hours later. (Breastmilk is such a great laxative!) The most wonderful part is it doesn't hurt AT ALL to nurse her anymore.

It's soooooo good to hear that it may not hurt at all to nurse the toddler after the baby comes. :
Good warning about the poop too. I'll probably NOT let S-man go diaper free for a little while after the baby is born (at least until I get the hang of having two children and his proable new pooping patterns).

[emiLy]

Update - it WAS painful tonight to nurse Delia. But it was on the couch instead of side-lying, which is how we usually do it so I could have been mostly that. I don't care though because she gulped down one and a half sides leaving plenty of awesome hindmilk for Henry (plus the other side again for him!) AND fell asleep at 8 PM. She REALLY needs a full night of sleep, and our bedroom darkening tactics are currently failing so getting her to bed earlier is the only way right now.

Also, ECing is going well now. Henry's fallen into a pattern so I've taken him twice to the bathtub to pee and poop right when he's waking, then he's been diaper free! Which is really not like me - I was SURE I'd have waterproofing on a newborn. I'm sure I will, though, as he is peeing more and more. We shall see! The tricky part is aiming. I've given up attempting for now - the tub I can manage. And I'm going to use a big 5 quart ice cream bucket at night I think, so I can put his whole butt down into it and he can pee into the side. My friend asked why I wasn't peeing him into the sink and I said because he'd be peeing on the mirror!!!

And now I just realized what you were referring to, and went off in a totally different direction. Oh well.