Just a few things I've learned about breastfeeding...

Let me say in advance if your not comfortable reading about breastfeeding or the anatomy of a woman's breast, now is probably a good time to stop reading. This post is purely for all the readers and women out there who are breastfeeding or thinking about breastfeeding and need a little moral support.

Ok I'm no expert on the matter unless you count my personal experiences with two VERY different baby boys. Actually before deciding to breastfeed Connor I was really completely ignorant on the matter, I've really spent practically no time with other women who breastfeed other than a few cousins who either briefly tried it or did it while I was living in another state. So other than my fifteen minutes with my lactation consultant in the hospital with Connor we went into the whole business almost blind. Honestly if Connor wouldn't have been a relatively easy baby to breastfeed I'm fairly positive I would have, like so many other moms, given up in the first week. It was actually a surprise visit by a WIC lactation consultant who made a suprise house call who pushed me in the right direction and answered all those questions you want to ask but are not brave enough to and all the ones I would have never thought of.

So needless to say it breaks my heart when I listen to moms on twitter and facebook giving up on breastfeeding. Mind you I would be the first one to admit that I think of giving up on Dylan at least once a day, he's an awful nurser and the "breastfeeding environment" of my town is really awful. I thank god every time I think about it that not only was the little town in IL that Connor was born actually very breastfeeding friendly but Chris's family was SO supportive. No one ever made me feel uncomfortable or excluded if I need to feed him, even if that meant feeding him at the dinner table. I think the last thing a mom wants to do is hide in a bathroom, especially a public bathroom, when they need to feed their baby.

My experience thus far with Dylan has been much more frustrating. First of all anyone who says that breastfed babies do not colic or spit up was sorely mistaken. Dylan cries 80% of the time he is awake unless he is eating or napping. He throws/spits up on me or himself more times in a day than I can count and lets not even talk about what happens if you try to supplement him with a bottle. Mind you none of the above is his fault and to make it only fair he did start off his first week in life with an awful cold which lead to a ear infection which is where many of our nursing problems began if you ask me. In the hospital he was a fairly good nurser though it seemed to take FOREVER for my milk to come in.. it is still not anywhere close to near what it was a month out with Connor and I still really struggle with having enough milk to make it through the day. The problem started when that ear infection begin and he almost completely stopped nursing on the right side. Mind you no one ever told me that though your nipples may look fairly similar one may be far more cooperative with the whole process than the other. Sure I knew about inverted nipples and things of that matter, none of which I suffer from, but stiff nipples? Not to get into mucho detail with you guys but lets just say that my right nipple is extra "firm" where the left one is "soft" which when you have a baby who is already nursing badly only adds to the problem. Dylan would just loose all suction when I moved him on to the right side due to his ear hurting and without good suction the right side's already stiff nipple wouldn't work. If you by chance have the same problem I've found the solution for this is to just massage the nipple before you attempt to let the baby latch on, it will really help both you and your baby be far more comfortable. We still struggle daily with our breastfeeding woes but I will tell you that a month into the whole ordeal things are slowly getting better. I wont lie, I wonder at least 40 times a day if switching to formula full time would be easier and even possibly help Dylan with his colic issues. Though I know rationally that his colic will NOT get better on formula, I sometimes fantasize that if I just give him bottles he'd stop crying.. three hours into listening to him in any given day.

So I may not be an expert and I certainly have my days where I want to give up too, and believe me if you're not feeling the breastfeeding and you want to give up its totally your decision! I don't think anyone should ever guilt themselves or others into breast feeding a baby. I won't lie it's not super easy, and its VERY time consuming. I will say that at least with Connor it became something I really looked forward to once we got the hang of it. Though he weaned himself and was totally ok with stopping once he did I spent many nights crying after he was in bed as I missed our time together. With Dylan I'm not there yet, getting our rhythm going when he's always so crabby has been much harder. I'll even admit that though I'm head over heels about him I even sometimes dread feeding him as I'm just worn out most afternoons from attempting to keep him happy as long as I can during the day. Not that I don't melt when he does have a good day, or even a good 10 minutes and he latches on and makes those happy sounds while he nurses... there is still just NO replacement for that.

So needless to say I was really convinced that this baby would be easy like the first one. I thought that since I was a breastfeeding champ the first time that the road with Dylan would be just as gold, needless to say I was sorely mistaken. Did you guys experience the same things? Do you have any questions about breastfeeding you want to ask, your free to use an anonymous post or email me privately if your shy, or maybe if I don't have the answer another reader will. I'm even totally open to listening to you bitch and moan about your problems... I've done enough of that on my own. heh.

I'm also all ears if someone has some suggestions for a colicy baby. I've tried a pacifier, a vibrating chair, swings, slings, baby wraps, gripe water, swaddling, the vacumn cleaner, the car, you name it.. some of them give VERY short term relief others only make him worst. For the most part the only thing I've found that gives him any relief is to just sleep... thankfully he does sleep most of the night its just daytime that is the problem.

The Medella Swing at least makes breastfeeding easier..

To say that Dylan and Connor have their own personalities is an understatement. Though even I have problems at times telling which baby is which in their newborn pictures their personalities at the same age couldn't be more night and day. Actually Connor was the dream baby.. rarely cried, was a fabulous nurser, and rarely got sick. Dylan on the other hand has had not only his first cold already, but an ear infection, an awful allergic reaction, on top of all the regular baby stuff like baby acne and a infected tear duct. Though I honestly expected as much, I knew I wouldn't have it so easy twice in a row and seriously enough Dylan isn't that bad, he's just very different than his brother.

What I didn't expect was how diffrent my breastfeeding experience would be from one baby to another. I felt like a breastfeeding superhero with Connor. My milk came in fast, he latched on and was a great nurser from just a few hours after his birth, and I had more than enough milk to pump and feed Connor almost from the beginning. This time around however it has felt like an uphill battle. I really have to admit I used to get frustrated with women who didn't at least try breastfeeding as it was SO easy for me the first time around I couldn't imagine why you wouldn't at least do it while you were home for the first few weeks. Who's to say if this had been my first experience if I would have been so excited about the whole process, though we are finally getting into the swing of things as Dylan nears a month old.

Speaking of swinging into things, Medella was kind enough to provide us with a Medella Swing to review and it has been a great tool. My milk supply has not come in as strong as it did the first time around which has to do alot with the fact that Dylan has had this awful ear infection and as a result he's a terrible nurser. He tries but he just can't seem to keep a good suction long enough and as a result my milk production has been a little lower than it should be. I'm pumping as I can to help build it up but it seems every time I sit down to pump Dylan wants to eat. heh. So the last thing I want to do is drag out a huge bulky breast pump when I know the moment I get started I'll get interrupted. Not to mention I'm going to have to start back to school this summer and the one thing I really hated about pumping the first time around was lugging my huge breast pump with me in the car. The Medella Swing breast pump has been a great answer to this issue.

The Medella Swing, compared to other Medella breast pumps very small and is super compact. The size alone makes it the perfect option for someone who is looking for an occasional pump or more importantly a travel pump. I honesty could not imagine lugging around my huge double breast pump again and half the time I did the first time around I made excuses not to use it as using a double pump even in your car is not all that discreet. Though having a double pump at home is a great luxury and time saver I find more than not I end up just pumping one side while my baby nurses on the other side or even after he is done and is asleep on the other side. At least the first time around I ended up with more than enough milk and that was a possibility, so far that's not this time around but I'm hopeful as Dylan is starting to nurse much better now.

The Swing offers many of the same features as the larger Medella pumps including two phase expression which mimics the way a baby really nurses, as well as the same breast shields as well as the option to use the personal fit shields if you need them. Really the biggest difference between the Swing and the larger pumps is the fact that this is a single pump unit (you can only pump one breast at a time) and there is no built in carrying case, though it does come with a string bag to store it in. The entire pump is enclosed in what looks to be a large disc. Though the benefit is that the entire pump will fit pretty nicely in a larger diaper bag, desk drawer, or even tucked away in your car. Really if your looking for a portable pump you can't get anything nicer or more discreet as the entire unit is fairly tiny. Not to mention it carries a price tag of almost half of some of the other Medella pumps which is great for moms on a budget as well. Really my only complaint at all is that it does not come with a car power adapter which would have been very convienat though it does run on batteries if needed.

You can learn more about the Medella Swing on the Medella website or purchase your own on Amazon!

Uses way past nursing..

Blessed Nest sells the most divine nursing pillows you could ever imagine...

When Connor was breastfeeding, I used one of those highly marketed half donut shaped pillows which we honestly loved (so much so I had three, two of which were of different brands, but needless to say we never left home without SOMETHING).

My biggest complaint about the super puffy stuffed pillows is the fact that they are a bit hard to manage unless your sitting strait upright in a chair. This is great in comparison to using just a plain pillow or nothing, but they leave you hanging when it comes to nursing laying down or if you want to get comfortable in another position.

The Blessed Nest nesting pillow on the other hand will form to you, no matter what position you choose. The inside is stuffed with buckwheat which gives the pillow weight and it also allows the pillow to bend and curve to whatever position you've chosen. This picture shows a football type nursing position, one I found VERY difficult to achieve with those traditional pillows and a really great position to use if your nursing a very tall baby, twins, or especially helpful if you've had a c section and your avoiding laying the baby across your stomach. I used a football hold often the first few weeks with Connor and I ended up making a makeshift ramp with pillows, but the Blessed Nest nesting pillow would have made it SO easy. I am actually jealous looking at that picture as it seems so natural for her and not at all awkward like I found it to be at times with my pillow fort.

Honestly though well past breastfeeding is when the Blessed Nest nesting pillow really shows its true value. When all your other nursing pillows have made the way to the attic, that Blessed Nest will still be hanging out in the living room (or in your bedroom in my case) still proving its worth. I LOVE to use mine to watch DVD's in bed. I in the past would end up propping myself up on pillows while I laid on my stomach at the end of the bed to watch movies and always without fail my arms would fall asleep after a few minutes, so I would end up adjusting my pillow fort again over and over trying to get comfortable. Needless to say the first day my Blessed Nest showed up I tried it out.. and not only was it super supportive (no pillow fort needed) my arms were happy and I didn't end up driving anyone in the room with me crazy, as I'm no longer constantly fiddling with pillows... and If I end up falling asleep during the movie I don't end up feeling like someone kicked me in the head from having my neck cranked up on all those pillows. I think I actually sleep better on the Blessed Nest nesting pillow than I do on my regular pillow at times.

Connor appreciates my Blessed Nest nesting pillow as well. We take naps on the floor at times and it makes a great long pillow we can both rest our heads on. His favorite way to use it though is actually as a little baby sofa of sorts. If I leave the pillow on the floor of his room he will usually drag some toys over and sit on the Blessed Nest nesting pillow while he plays. It apparently makes a super good ramp for crawling as well as he spends a lot of time doing that.

Ive heard the nesting pillow makes a great doggie bed as well... sorry dogs, I'm not giving it up!

Visit Blessed Nest to learn more about their products!!

I never knew something so simple would become so valuable.

While we are on the subject of baby wearing I thought this would be the perfect time to bring this up.

I stopped breastfeeding sooner than I would have liked. I had hoped to make it to at least a year if not beyond but we ended up winding down slowly after Connor turned six months as he just became so active and so wiggly it got harder and harder to manage him. It was almost impossible to keep his attention and though he did a great job nursing at night during the day it was almost torture to get him to nurse longer than a few minutes at a time before he was halfway crawling all over me and grabbing everything in range.

I don't know how many times I thought to myself.. there has to be a way to distract this kid long enough he can eat peacefully without driving me insane, or injuring one of us in the process. If I had only been told about these necklaces sooner, we might have met our goal or at least stayed feeding longer than we did.

Milk Please Mommy make the most fabulous nursing necklaces that not only solve that problem of how to keep your child preoccupied while nursing, its also a great keepsake to remember that time you shared together and a fun learning tool. Its a great way to keep those little hands busy without subjecting yourself to constant pinching, pulling, and hair twirling which many breast fed babies do at some point in the nursing experience. Connor has the Baby Boy High Contrast Necklace and we love to take it with us on trips outside the house. Even now that we are well past breastfeeding when I need a quick distraction I will get it out and we talk about all the different colors, textures, shapes, and of course his name on the necklace. Connor is just fascinated by it and its the perfect solution to the "screaming baby in the middle dinner syndrome".

Speaking of learning necklaces, the Extrasensory Exploration Nursing Necklace would be a perfect tool for not only those breast feeders who have to be playing with something while they eat, but that sliding ring on the necklace would be a great distraction for a toddler.

With that said, the Nursing Necklace is not designed to be an infant toy, and is not suitable for teething, toddlers should be supervised when playing with a Nursing Necklace as though they are designed to withstand tugging and pulling care should be taken so that your little one does not accidentally swallow a bead.

While your over at Milk Please Mommy check out their mom jewelry too as mother's day is fast approaching and they have some great selections!