Saturday, April 16, 2011
An entry about my boobs.
I promised myself I would be completely open and honest in this blog and that means a discussion about my boobs is not off limits. Mysteriously, they are producing a bit of milk so today I am going to L & M hospital to rent a breastpump. I'll use the pump from now until the baby arrives and see what I can produce. I know that babies are the best breastpumps but I would like to try to increase my production before the baby arrives so I'll have to rely less on a supplemental nurser when the time comes. For those of you who don't know, a supplemental nurser is a bag with tubing that hangs around your neck....the tubing connects to your breast (with a bit of tape) and feeds the baby supplemental breastmilk or formula if you are not producing enough milk. I know my friends...some of you are saying "Fantastic idea! I am so happy that you are going to try breastfeeding!" Others are saying, "This is ridiculous, formula is fine - why go through this much trouble!" I have no false expectations. If I can't produce milk, I will use my donated milk, formula and bottles. If there is a possibility that I can, however, the health benefits, increased bonding and cost reduction (we all know how expensive formula is...never mind organic formula) are well worth the effort. Again, some of you are saying that you still bond perfectly well with a bottle-fed baby but please remember that in most cases, that baby grew inside of you for 9 months! Talk about a bonding experience! Adoptive parents have a slightly different bonding experience. The closer I can get emotionally and physically to this baby, the easier the bonding will be. Of course, I haven't even met the baby and I feel bonded to her already. Still, I have the time to try this and I have always been pro breastfeeding. If I can't carry a child, I would at least like the experience of breastfeeding like so many other natural mothers get. I am a little concerned about latching and the use of the SNS since they will be unable to help me in the hospital:/ I called a local La Leche rep that will hopefully be able to come out to my house and help me should the baby not latch properly. So, off I head to L & M for this next little adventure. Wish me luck:) Also, were my camera not broken, I would post pics of the nursery etc. Alas, we may not even get it back before we get the baby:/ My mom will be lending us a camera for the time being and I'll post pics soon.
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Natasha I wish you the best of luck with breastfeeding. Don't let anyone try to deter your efforts. It is the most amazing bond! I've done bottle and breast, and I had to work very hard @ breastfeeding with Arden. He was sick and there were so many critics. But, I stuck with it and it was worth the hard work - even the SNS that was a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteI agree, stick to your guns and go with breastfeeding! I had to use a supplemental nurser with one of the kids and they are very helpful. I also had trouble with latch with Hannah (first kid, never nursed before) and I got a nipple shield cuz I was totally flat - life safer! LLL should be able to help with all that stuff.
ReplyDeletebreastfeeding my first baby was one of the hardest things i had done up to that point, and i had lots of milk. everyone said to stick with it. i am really glad i did.
ReplyDeletedon't forget that just because this baby did not grow inside of you ,the bond between you is none the lesser. it is nothing less than miraculous to be placed with each other for life.
I too am very much in favor of breastfeeding, and I wish you the best of luck. Breastfeeding is more than just about feeding, it is a very deep bonding experience. So much so, that I chose to nurse Julia until she was 2 years and 3 months old. At the end, she was only nursing once, just before bedtime, but the whole nursing experience is something that we really enjoyed, so we were in no rush to stop. Honestly, the main reason I chose to stop when we did was that I was trying to get pregnant with #2. I am really enjoying your blog, and I love that you're being completely honest. Good luck with the pumping.
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