The Girl in the Red Shoes

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The Breastfeeding Diaries: Laura from The Hunter’s Wife

Hey y’all!  I’m Laura from The Hunter’s Wife.  I blog about our daily family life, vacations and every DIY project I can get my hands on!  I’m married to an incredibly supportive and loving husband, Tony and together we have a precious (and incredibly active) 9 month old baby boy, Hunter.

I want to thank Julie for having these guests posts on her blog and for allowing me to be a part of this amazing series!  I’ve enjoyed reading every single one of your stories!

I knew I wanted to breastfeed before I was pregnant.  It’s just something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do and be able to provide for my child.  Thankfully I’ve had very supportive family and friends to encourage me throughout this journey.  I had heard how difficult breastfeeding can be and I wanted to make sure that I was fully prepared to tackle this thing head on.  I read just about a bajillion books and went to a breastfeeding class. Both of which were EXTREMELY helpful!  I fully encourage every new mom or soon-to-be mom to educate yourself and learn as much as you can because it really does help out (Especially if you do have problems)!

Thankfully breastfeeding has not been a huge challenge for me.  We’ve definitely had to overcome some hurdles and go through some rough spots, but all in all, I count myself as one of the lucky ones.  I remember the very first time nursing my son in the L&D room about 20 minutes after he was born.  It was incredible.  Hunter latched on like a pro and started nursing like a champ!  I was so proud and happy that I was able to provide this for my child!

Everything seemed to be going great up until Hunter was about a month old.  I was sitting on the couch nursing him and out of nowhere, he unlatched and started screaming, and would not latch back on!  No matter what I did or how much I tried to calm him down, nothing seemed to work.  Everyone tells you not to stress out when you’re breastfeeding, which is true, but almost impossible not to do!  He did the exact same thing the next time I tried to nurse him.  I remember wanting to give up right then and there!  I was so incredibly stressed out and didn’t know what to do or how to fix it.  I started dreading the next time I would have to nurse him, because I knew the same thing was going to happen again.  I felt so defeated. So, I started researching and trying to figure out what was wrong and why my baby wasn’t nursing anymore.  Thankfully my sister-in-law had given me a book about breastfeeding called “The Nursing Mother’s Companion” (I like to call it the Breastfeeding Bible!).  After a ton of reading, I was able to figure out that I had a very fast let down and that it was making it hard for my baby to nurse.  The book gave me helpful tips about various positions I could hold my baby in to make it easier on him and also that he would adjust and that it was something he would eventually get used to. Insert sigh of relief!  After that little hiccup, nursing was fairly easy and we didn’t really have any problems.

When Hunter was 3 months old I started pumping once a day.  I had pumped before that here and there, but nothing consistent.  I started noticing that my supply was slowly decreasing when Hunter was almost 5 months old.  Normally I would be able to pump about 8 oz with no problem, but now I was pumping barely 5 oz …and I started freaking out.  I had heard that fenugreek worked wonders when needing to increase your supply.  So I went to my local health food store and picked up a bottle of fenugreek supplements and they started working instantly!!  It was like a miracle!  I was back to pumping 8 oz and couldn’t be happier!  After about a week of taking the supplements my son became incredibly sick.  He had a fever (his first fever EVER) and diarrhea.  My husband (being the amazing man he is) started researching like a crazy person.  We found out that Hunter is one of the rare cases where his stomach can’t tolerate my milk with the fenugreek supplements.  While I was taking the fenugreek I started producing a ton of the front milk (the sugary stuff) and almost no hind milk (the good fatty stuff).  That’s why he got so sick …I made my baby sick!  I felt horrible!  A decision I made had hurt my son!  I beat myself up about it for the longest time.  Thankfully he was only sick for a few days, but it was truly the worst thing I’ve ever been through.

I immediately stopped taking the fenugreek and was back down to pumping only barely 5 oz.  Back to the research board I went …and I’m so glad I did!  I found out about a wonderful little trick called Power Pumping!  You pump in 10 minute intervals for an hour (10 minutes on/10 minutes off).  Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand, so therefore, the more you demand the more your body will supply!  After power pumping for a few days I was able to increase my supply up to 7 oz!

Since then, its been smooth sailing for us!  My goal is to be able to breastfeed Hunter for at least a year.  It’s definitely been a roller coaster and there have been times where I just wanted to give up, but I’m so thankful that I’ve stuck with it!  It is truly one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done!

Thank you all so much for reading!  I hope this post has been helpful.  Remember, us momma bears are in this together!

If you would like to share your breastfeeding story please email me at thegirlintheredshoes @ gmail. Be sure to catch up with the rest of the Breastfeeding Diaries at the top of my navigation bar.


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Comments

  1. Thanks for this post. My baby is also allergic to fenugreek and was incredibly fussy when I was taking it. I've never heard of power pumping, something I'll have to try!

  2. I've never heard of power pumping either, but am always looking for a way to increase my supply a bit, as my little 5 month old man is a BIG eater!!!:) Thanks for sharing!

  3. this is so encouraging to read! i am not a momma yet, but i know i will be a breastfeeding mama…it's something i already look forward to providing for my future babies!! thanks for your words. makes me more excited about the next chapter…whenever God nudges us in that direction! 🙂

    xx
    elise

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The Breastfeeding Diaries: Laura from Stories from Austin

Hi everyone! My name is Laura and I blog over at Stories from Austin. I live in Austin, TX with my husband and my daughter, M, who was born over Thanksgiving weekend 2012. I am a stay-at-home mom, but I also do about 12-15 hours per week of contract work for my former company. It’s a great set up for now, as it allows me to stay home with M most of the time but still keep my foot in the “working world”. I go into the office 2-3 days per month for about 4-5 hours at a time (this is an important detail for later).
 With a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, M has been exclusively breastfed since birth.
Sometimes I can’t believe it’s been over 6 months because breastfeeding in the early days was harder than labor. Yes, HARDER THAN LABOR.
Before M was born, I was determined to breastfeed her if at all possible. I read a ton of books (my favorite was The Nursing Mother’s Companion), read blogs, and felt like I had a good grasp on the ins and outs of breastfeeding. I could write an entire blog on why I think nursing is beneficial to baby, mom, and to society and I think the low rates of breastfeeding are a major public health issue (and I have a Master’s degree in this area). I think more laws need to be created to protect breastfeeding in public, employers should encourage pumping in the workplace, doctors should be more educated regarding breastfeeding and I wish all moms had access to education and support regarding breastfeeding. 
I went into labor on my due date (how often does that happen?!) and delivered M 10 hours later (Birth Story Part 1 and Part 2). I had hospital birth and overall it was a good experience. I had an easy labor/delivery and I’m thankful for that. M was placed on my chest as soon as she was born, but I didn’t push her to try to breastfeed immediately. It was such an overwhelming time and my husband and I pretty much just stared at her for an hour.
I tried to feed M about 2 hours after she was born. The hospital where I delivered was working on their “baby friendly” designation, so the nurses were all trained to help mothers who wish to breastfeed. It hurt like hell when M first latched on, but the nurse was impressed and said her latch looked perfect. I winced in pain so I de-latched her. Tried again, and more pain. Again and again, pain, pain, PAIN. This didn’t seem right. The nurse took a closer look at her latch and again said M was perfectly latched and wasn’t sure why I was in so much pain. She said nursing might hurt a little bit, but I shouldn’t be in excruciating pain.
I honestly assumed that I was a wimp and wasn’t dealing with the pain well. That first day was painful, but I was on a lot of pain meds and she was only feeding every 3 hours or so, and it wasn’t unbearable.

On day 2, it still hurt and her latch was checked again and again I was told it was fine. We worked through the second day, but breastfeeding was a struggle and getting more painful. Starting at around 6pm the second night, the cluster feeding started. Holy geez—M wanted to feed every 45 minutes (no joke). We fed, and fed, and fed all night long. I struggled getting her latched, and many times my husband would help, but I tried to let him get some sleep since I knew he was exhausted.

On day 3, I was discharged from the hospital and the pain was intense and I was developing sores. My milk was clearly coming in (my discharge nurse asked me if I had ever had a breast augmentation because she didn’t think my milk could come in that soon for a 1st baby), and I hoped I would see some improvement in the next day or so. On day 4, the pain was even worse. If I had it to do over again, this is where I would have called a lactation consultant. Instead, I suffered through, caked on lanolin, took pain meds, and hoped for improvement.

On day 7, I had a total meltdown. I was in so much pain and it wasn’t improving. M was nursing 12 times a day and I was exhausted. My husband and I discussed giving up and giving M formula, or exclusively pumping (we hadn’t bought my pump yet) for awhile. I decided to call every Lactation Consultant (an LC) in Austin to see who could see me first. We would do this and then reevaluate whether or pump, give formula, or continue breastfeeding.

After calling 8-10 Lactation Consultants, I found an LC who could come out to our house the next day. I credit her with saving our nursing relationship. She spent nearly 2 hours with us, and observed M and I through 2 feedings. Turns out, there was a problem. M was a tiny baby, with a tiny head (5th percentile for head at birth) and therefore has a tiny mouth. She had a great latch, but it was shallow since she was small. She also had a powerful suck and was eating as much as a 9lb baby (and she weighed exactly 7lbs when the LC weighed her) and I had a lot of damage, which made the problem even worse. The LC gave me some techniques to help deepen the latch and said I’d see the biggest change once M grew a little bigger. Basically, I had to wait it out if I wanted to continue nursing.

Knowing everything was ok and that it would get better once M grew made me feel better. The LC also told me that most of the time 80% of a successful breastfeeding relationship is dependent on the stubbornness of the mother. I took that phrase to heart and was determined to make this work.

The 2 week mark was tough, because she cluster fed for 3 days, but somehow we powered through. Slowly, things started to improve. At 4.5 weeks, the left side had zero pain. At 6.5 weeks, the right side had very little pain. It took until 9-10 weeks for the right side to have no pain, even though it looked like it was completely healed. My husband was my cheerleader during these weeks and having such a supportive partner is another reason why we’ve been able to have a successful nursing relationship.

Ever since the pain disappeared, breastfeeding has been amazing. I love the connection that I have with M, and I love that it makes me slow down relax with her 6-8 times a day. Sometimes I can’t believe how close I was to giving up and I’m so glad that I chose to continue.
I’ve always breastfed on demand, and I fully believe that is the best way to keep up your milk supply. We had days early on where M was basically attached to me. Learning to nurse in the Ergo was one of my greatest accomplishments. Finally figuring out how to sidelie nurse in bed is another great accomplishment (hellooooo sleep!). There are a lot of things that didn’t get done in those early days since so much of our day was spent nursing, but looking back on it now I’m glad I didn’t stress that my house was dirty of that we got take out for the third night in a row.

The most difficult part of breastfeeding has been that M is TOO GOOD at breastfeeding and refuses to take a bottle. When it came to introducing a bottle, we did everything by the book—we held off introducing a bottle until she was 3.5 weeks old, and then my husband would give her 1-1.5oz every other day. She took it like a champ for a few weeks. Then, when M was 6 weeks old, she decided she wasn’t going to have anything to do with an artificial nipple (she won’t take pacifiers either). I detailed our bottle debacles here. After battling with her for weeks, we eventually gave up the bottle battle and started working with M to drink from a sippy cup/regular cup. Since I don’t leave her for long periods of time very often, we decided to figure out work-arounds rather than pushing the bottle on her.

Since I do go into the office a few half days per month, her bottle refusal has been a huge stress for me. My husband has a flexible job and often takes half-days to stay with M when I go into the office. When he is with her, he brings her up to my office once to eat. After a lot of stress and tears, we decided this is easier than battling with a hysterical child for an hour and maybe getting her to take 1/2 oz. On days my husband doesn’t stay with her, my step-mom has been watching her. She will offer the bottle to M, but she refuses it and seems more content to go hungry until I get home rather than eat from a bottle. I feel terrible that’s she’s hungry and just wants mommy. I spoke with our pediatrician about this, and she said since M can go a long stretch overnight without eating she will be fine not eating while I’m gone. That’s reassuring, but it doesn’t make the guilt go away.

I never thought bottle refusal was much of an issue until I had a baby and brought this up to some of my mommy friends. In my group, it’s very common for the babies who have moms who stay at home.

When I tell people about her refusal, I get a lot of comments about how it must be stressful to be “chained” to the baby all of the time and how I can never leave her with anyone. It’s actually not that bad and I do get time away from M on occasion but I have to stay flexible. If I want to go do something, I wait until I’ve fed her and then I’ve got 2-3 hours before she needs to eat again. If I didn’t come home to feed her I would have to pump anyway, so it’s really not a big deal. My husband and I even occasionally get a date night!

We’ve been trying to get M to drink from a sippy cup for about 2 months now and she doesn’t seem that interested in it. In the past few weeks she’s been loving drinking water out of regular cups.When I went out to run a few errands a few weeks ago my husband warmed up some milk and put it in a regular cup to see if she would take it. Lo and behold, she drank 1.5oz of milk out of a regular cup with no fussing–we were shocked! Apparently this little person thinks she’s too cool for sippy cups.

After drinking milk from a “big person” cup.
I have a few bits of advice for new moms related to breastfeeding. First of all, research Lactation Consultants before you have the baby. Heck, make an appointment with an LC as soon as you have the baby—you can always cancel the appointment. Second, it can hurt. A lot. I’m active in a mommy group and I’ve talked with many of them about the early struggles we had and many of them reported extreme pain early on, despite the baby having a good latch. For some people, it hurts like hell for awhile even though the experts say it should never hurt. Lastly, if it works for you and your family, then it’s not a problem. A lot of people think that we should have done whatever it took to get M to take a bottle, but we didn’t. We gave up and figured out a different solution. I also nurse M to sleep for most of her naps, despite a lot of people saying that’s “bad”. But it works for us, so it’s not a problem (this advice can apply to a LOT of things related to parenting!).

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll stop by my blog and say hello!


Comments

  1. totally agree about BFing being harder than labor! A never got the hang of sippies since she never really did bottles, she was able to figure out the straw cups and now uses them all the time – thank goodness because i didn't want to revert to bottles!

  2. We had the same issue with the small mouth – My LC had me use a breast shield until she was bigger (4 months when she finally could latch properly). 1 year and 2 weeks and still going strong (perhaps a little too well!) Baby C also refused all bottles, sippy cups and she is at daycare 9.5 hours a day. Luckily I was close and could run over and feed her. To this day she refuses to eat at daycare – or sleep. My pediatrician called it reverse cycling. So someone still eats through the night. I will sleep ONE day.

  3. I love the LC's quote about the relationship being dependent on the stubbornness of the mom! Arden wanted nothing to do with bottles either, so we also moved straight to sippy cups and regular cups. One benefit is that we won't have to break the bottle habit–right?! 🙂 Great post!

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The Breastfeeding Diaries: Laura from Tiny Toes, Little Nose

Hi Everyone!  I’m Laura from tiny toes, little nose.  I have been married to my husband, Conor, for almost 3 years and became a mom to the sweetest little boy, Liam, 10 months ago.  I’m a stay-at-home mom and love every minute I get to spend chasing Liam around.  I am a huge advocate for breastfeeding, so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my experience.  Liam has been exclusively breastfed, which is something I am extremely proud of.  I absolutely love breastfeeding and feel that the bond it creates between mother and baby only grows stronger with time.  While nursing a newborn has its magical moments, nothing compares to the sheer joy an older baby shows before, during, and after a nursing session.  I can’t imagine stopping anytime soon!

Breastfeeding is something I knew that I always wanted to do.  My mom breastfed my brothers and I and always talked so fondly of the experience.  When I became pregnant, she bought me La Leche League’s book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, to get me excited about the journey that was ahead of me.  I read the book cover to cover and absorbed all the information in anticipation of Liam’s arrival.  I also attended my local La Leche League meeting during the last month of my pregnancy.  I wanted to get myself established with this group of women beforehand, so I had the support once my baby was born.  I loved being surrounded by so many nursing moms and hearing all of their advice and stories as I anxiously waited for Liam’s birth.

I had a long and traumatic delivery (which you can read about here) and could not have been more exhausted once Liam was born.  However, nursing him was my top priority!  I wanted to try breastfeeding immediately.  After a little latch check on my nurse’s pinky finger, Liam latched right away.  It was the most natural thing! Liam would start to fall asleep not long after beginning to nurse, so I would rub his little ears to encourage him along.  The following day, nursing was still going well for us; my chart even read that I was “breastfeeding with minimal assistance.”  I was so proud of the two of us!  The first night we were home with Liam went fairly well.  Both my husband and I were exhausted and slightly worried that he wasn’t getting any colostrum even though he was latching and sucking like a champ!  I was able to hand express some colostrum, so I felt confident that Liam was getting something for all his efforts; we decided to trust my body and trust Liam’s instincts.  My milk came in 3 days after Liam was born and he continued to gain weight at an excellent rate.  During the 1st week, my nipples were slightly sore, but no bleeding or cracking.  I attribute this to the excellent latch Liam had and finding a nursing position that worked well for us.  I did use coconut oil to make sure my nipples wouldn’t get too dry from all the nursing, and it seemed to work perfectly.

Since Liam was born, I have always nursed him on demand.  I am comfortable nursing in public and in front of others; so, whenever the baby is hungry, he eats!  And he eats a lot!  Nursing on demand helped me immensely when establishing my supply and fit right into my parenting style (I would
consider myself to follow many “attachment parenting” practices).  Breastfeeding came relatively easy to me, but not without a few struggles along the way.  When Liam was only a couple of months old, I started noticing that he would frequently choke at the beginning of a nursing session.  I had such a powerful letdown, sometimes he just couldn’t handle it.  This resulted in him popping off my breast numerous times and breast milk going everywhere!  I had to change my shirt and bra multiple times a day.  I even embarrassingly sprayed down the lady sitting next to me at a La Leche League meeting once!  I had somewhat engorged breasts on a fairly regular basis and noticed that Liam was starting to have a bit of mucus in his stools.  All signs pointed to an “oversupply”.

I of course asked for assistance at my next LLL meeting, and the women were so helpful!  I learned that if I laid way back while nursing Liam, the let down wasn’t as powerful and he could handle it better.  I also began more of a block feeding schedule (feeding on one side for multiple nursing sessions before switching to the other breast).  These two things helped immensely and Liam and I were right back on track.  I would still say I have a bit of an oversupply, but I’ve learned to manage it.  Sometimes when Liam is teething or not feeling well, he doesn’t eat nearly as much; therefore, I quickly become engorged.  I used to occasionally pump on those occasions, but now I just hand express enough to make myself comfortable.  Also, at 10 months post partum, I still have spontaneous let downs!  It blows my mind and is the strangest thing to be shopping or doing laundry and bam! all of sudden, milk is coming!  Because of this, I still wear nursing pads daily and have actually soaked through them on occasion!
These little speed-bumps in our nursing relationship have always worked themselves out!  I absolutely love breastfeeding and can’t imagine raising Liam any other way.  It totally works for me and my family!  I have no plans to wean Liam anytime soon.  I hope that he self weans when we are both ready, but if not, I may start that process myself when my husband and I decide we are ready for baby #2.  For right now, I can’t imagine not having the special time we share while breastfeeding.  Liam is so busy now that he is mobile; I just cherish the moments he settles down in my lap, looks up at me with his beautiful blue eyes and relaxes while getting a “snack”.  Even though he nurses throughout the day and night, I love every moment!

For any new or expecting moms out there, I highly recommend reading The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and attending your local La Leche League meeting while in the last month or two of your pregnancy.  These two things will be a huge help and confidence booster as you head into your nursing relationship with your baby.  Trust your body and that it will provide for your child!  In the event that you experience any difficulties, I encourage you to surround yourself with supporters. Know that numerous women have worked through a multitude of breastfeeding struggles and gone on to nurse their babies for many months and even years!  You are about to embark on what I feel is one of the most wonderful and amazing journeys in a woman’s life.  Embrace every minute that you can, it truly is one of the most special gifts!
All photos courtesy of Haley Sierra Wedding Photography

You can catch up with the rest of the Breastfeeding Diaries series at the top of my navigation bar.


Comments

  1. What a beautiful post! I'm Laura's new follower! Such an incredible story she has! I'm so jealous that all these women have had such success with breast feeding! My son wanted nothing to do with it! Looking forward to the next post!

  2. Great advice for expectant mothers……even if you have no difficulties breastfeeding, it is good to have a reference book and a support group!
    Nice post.

  4. Thanks for sharing Laura. I am proud of you and Liam. Similar to your story, my Mom was a member of La Leche League and breast fed me until she was pregnant with my little sister. I know who to turn to when my time comes. Please say hi to Conor and Liam for me.

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