Rough starts

There were issues in the beginning with both of my children.

They were born full-term, one at 39 and one at 37 weeks. They had no medical issues. But they just had issues latching.

I'm going to tell you the story of my first.

The first wanted to suck on her upper lip. I figured "we'll get it." The nurses tried to help but they weren't helpful. I tried over and over and over again. I was frustrated, but determined. My husband said he had never seen me so patient toward anything, this was definitely a first.

She wasn't gaining weight and was a little yellow and my doctor got concerned. I was still very determined to breastfeed. I bought the pump, darn it, and I had opened it! We were going to do this!

In the first few days, my doctor suggested a nursing vacation.

Vacation?

I interpreted this as "taking a break from breastfeeing." I was immediately relieve. Oh, good, I thought, we'll take a break and try again in a few days.

But that's not what it meant.

She meant, the baby and I get in bed together and do nothing but nurse. I immediately said no in my head. I had things to do. I had a house to clean, gifts to unpack, thank you cards to write, announcements to get out...I couldn't possibly take a two-day break from everything.

You do hear the sarcasm right?

After a day of crying, both her and I, my husband and I decided I needed help. We just weren't getting it. We called our hospital and the amazing lactation consultant met with us and showed me what I was doing wrong. We determined my baby needed stimulation farther back in her mouth to let her know something was there. Nature wasn't helping me in this area so we resorted to a nipple shield.

BAM! That was what she needed.

I was given strict instructions to feed then nurse for a few weeks, probably a month, to make sure my supply was well established given that nipple shields can make it a little more difficult for little babies to nurse.

It took a bit, but we got the hang of it. We even got such a great system down that I was able to balance my laptop on the couch nearby get work done while I was feeding her. (This time around it was replaced by an iPod Touch, but that's a story for another time.)

It was really a tough start, but we made it six months.

Don't let rough starts taint the whole process.