Blogging and sharing my experiences

Hi moms!
I've been doing a ton of thinking about my blog.  I've realized that even if I never have one follower (besides myself :-) I still want to blog.  Not because I'm a good writer or because I hope to get rich doing this but because I wouldn't otherwise have these experiences documented.  My goal was always and will always be to help mothers breastfeed.  I don't have agenda, not to say every other breastfeeding site does, but sometimes I feel that I'm being pushed.  I never want you to feel that way.  Being a mom is hard enough, breastfeeding can be difficult to establish and no one ever wants to feel that they aren't doing enough. So, hopefully I will never come off pushy!

As I was on Pinterest tonight I came across a really small but powerful little post.  It showed some of the really important benefits of breastfeeding.  There are so many!  It's such a great thing to do for your baby, it's natural and beneficial for their health and yours.  I posted on my breastfeeding board if you want to check it out.  Powerful stuff I must say.

One last thing tonight before my grammar gets really awful and I start posting misspelled words, ha!  If you're reading this because you were searching for breastfeeding help....give yourself some major credit.   Researching and educating yourself if so important, good job momma!  You're a great mommy, who loves their baby, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.  Keep trying, keep at it, you can do it!!!!!

Must knows

-Is my baby latched properly?
"One really important tip I read somewhere was, when your baby unlatches from the breast look at your nipple.  If it's shaped like lipstick in a tube, the baby is latched on incorrectly.  I had been feeding my first like this for a good month, once I corrected the latch, my nipples started to feel much better."

-Is my little one getting "enough" milk
"The first week was really scary. I didn't know if I was producing enough milk.  The second day home from the hospital he still hadn't had a wet diaper (since being home). I called the pediatrician and she said she couldn't see the baby, I would have to take him to the hospital..gasp!  I supplemented with a bottle of formula and needless to say he went potty and pee immediately.  Talk about feeling inadequate.  I couldn't even feed my baby enough milk.  Still I didn't let that stop me.  I started pumping and that really helped my supply flourish.  Finally, I was producing enough milk to satisfy the recommend number of wet diapers a baby should have in a day.  Whew!"

-Can I drink alcohol while I'm nursing?
"Let me answer this for you.  No!  A sip of wine or beer won't hurt but in my opinion and only my opinion, you really shouldn't drink more than that.  But do your own research please, I'm just giving you my opinion."

-When and how to introduce solids?
"Always offer the breast before you feed your baby solids.  This will help insure you keep an adequate milk supply."


Just a few Must Knows as a breastfeeding momma!  If you can't answer some of these I've attached two great websites to do some research.
http://www.llli.org/ and http://kellymom.com/

The importance of feeling comfortable

I've encountered so many mommas who stopped breastfeeding earlier than they expected for various reasons.  Some of which, honestly, I thought were excuses. I just want to reiterate that when you are ready to stop nursing your baby, then stop.  One reason I was hearing a lot of was that,"it just wasn't for me." Maybe just maybe it was something else...something deeper? Could it have been a feeling of uncomfortableness (is that even a word)?  If you find yourself feeling resentment or feeling malaise while sitting down to feed your baby, first ask yourself why??  Is it because you have dishes sitting in the sink from three days ago, or because you just sat down to type that email and here you go again...no time for yourself!  Or have you or your baby (or both) just moved on and it's time to let go of breastfeeding?

  I remember when my oldest was nursing just for comfort, around 2.5 years old.  We would snuggle up to nurse and then he would latch on...at that very moment I would start to feel uncomfortable....looking back now I know it wasn't because I had "things to do" but rather it was the natural and instinctual "start of the end".  After about 1-2 minutes of nursing I would unlatch him and tell him that was it.  He was satisfied with 1-2 minutes of nursing because he wasn't in it to eat he just wanted comfort and surprisingly our beautiful season of nursing would naturally and gently come to an end.

 So, the importance of feeling comfortable while nursing is vital.

Please learn to relax and enjoy these moments, they will come to an end sooner than you might think. Once you are ready to stop nursing for whatever reason it's okay, don't make excuses, be honest with yourself.  Everyone is different and every baby is unique.  Nurse as long as you can, every ounce of milk you give your baby is a beautiful gift, even if it's for 1week or 3 years.

Follow me on Pinterest!

Hi friends,
Who doesn't love Pinterest?  I sometimes find spending way too much time there but I love the inspiration I get.  Follow me on my board Breastfeeding Mama.  Can't wait to see what you're pinning!

To pump or not to pump...

Do I need to pump? 

What kind of pump do I need?

I started asking those questions as soon as I found out I was preggers with baby number 1.  Here is the GIST!  You will probably need a double electric pump if you plan to go out without your baby a lot, you are returning back to work and plan on continuing breastfeeding, or if you produce too much or too little milk.  I have a Medela double electric pump that was handed down to me.  Yes, yes, all those experts say NOT to share pumps but I replaced all of the membranes, valves, and bought all new breast shields and it has worked out perfectly!  I used it the first few weeks to help establish a good milk supply and pumped every time I was engorged.  (I have a huge long story that I will share later about bottle feeding while breastfeeding).  Back to the pumps...if you are a stay at home mom that will rarely leave your baby then you probably will not need to pump as often or ever, so therefore a double electric pump is too much for you. Go with a manual pump or learn how to hand express your milk.  With baby #2 I only pumped the first couple of days of my milk coming in to relieve pressure, I haven't pump since.  So the question you need to ask yourself is... why do I need to pump?

Medela nipple shield

My poor nipples...yup I'm going there.  My nipples were so used and abused that I couldn't bear anything touching them.  I was using Lansinoh nipple cream religiously but my poor nipples were still sore and even bleeding.  The hospital originally gave me the nipple shield because they thought the baby was having a difficult time with latching and he probably was but I didn't think a nipple shield would help.  That little piece of silicone was just another reminder that I didn't know what I was doing...or so I thought.  Four days later I broke that sucker back out and used it while nursing because I couldn't handle the pain any longer.  Ahhh relief at last!  They were a temporary fix while my nipples were able to heal.  Thank you nipple shield for allowing me to nurse my baby through the pain.

Everyone has that moment...

Everyone has that moment of...what the hell am I doing.  I remember thinking that I would never be able to feed my baby enough, my nipples would always hurt, I'm never going to get enough sleep, I'm doing this all wrong.  If I could to back in time I would slap that girl, make her take a shower, tell her she was a super hero for just having major surgery after 4 long days of a failed induction, and to give herself a break.  So if you're me 3.5 years ago please relax!  Your milk WILL come, you will feel normal again, and YES you can breastfeed your baby.  Forge on momma!