Even before my baby was born, I had read so many books and
blogs and internet sites that praised the benefits of breastfeeding (hereinafter,
“bf-ing”) that I already knew I was going to breastfeed (hereinafter, “bf”).
In my excitement though, I didn’t mind the “fine print” that
warned of the difficulties that came with the decision to bf. In my mind, I thought, “How difficult can it
be?” Apparently, in my case, it can be
VERY difficult.
I gave birth in Delgado Hospital (I intend to write a separate
blog to share my experience in this hospital.) and right after giving birth
(vaginal delivery), the nurses tried to at least lay my baby on my breast,
skin-to-skin, while I was still in the delivery room. Of course, there was little to no sucking,
but it was a start.
Throughout my pregnancy, I did not experience what others
would describe as “leaking” of milk from the breast. This made
me apprehensive because I thought it might mean I didn’t have milk to give to
my baby. Little did I know that this was
the least of my worries on bf-ing.
In the hospital, we chose not to room-in. Instead, I went religiously every 2 to 3
hours to try to bf my baby. Looking back,
most of my sessions with my baby then had me wondering if she got anything from
my breasts. Half of the time, I just
stared at her after a few attempts of offering her my breast… because she was
fast asleep (or she just fed). Still, I
came every 2 to 3 hours. Without
fail. Because I was still determined to
bf.
On my last day at the hospital, the lactation expert was
there to check proper positioning and latching of the baby. Yes.
There is more than one way to hold a baby to our breast and feed
her. There is also a wrong and a right
way to latch. Latching simply means the position
of the mouth of your baby to enable her to suck milk from you. Believe me when I say that it is worth
learning the right way to latch because wrong latching can result in a very
frustrated and hungry baby, and a sore and painful breast for mommy. Wrong latching is the cause of painful cuts
on your nipples. For proper way of
latching, simply research online. There
is a wealth of information out there on the topic.
Back to my story. As the lactation expert checked for proper latching, she discovered a horrible fact: one of my nipples was inverted, and the other one was too short for my baby to latch on correctly. She then proceeded to tell me: “Mahihirapan kang mag pa-dede, hija. Kelangan mong tiyaga-in.” (“You’ll have a very difficult time bf-ing. You’ll need a lot of patience.”) I almost cried. She then proceeded to take my baby away from me for a while as she gave me a breast massage to encourage production. By massage, I mean a painful mashing of the breast—too painful, that it should not even be remotely associated to the word “massage”. I had to grin and bear it, though, and lo and behold, after around 10 minutes, she was able to express a bit of “liquid gold” from my breasts. She then gathered the milk into a small glass vial and helped me feed my baby.
At home, I proceeded to feed my baby (although I wasn’t sure
if she was getting any milk from me) anyway I saw fit, in any position I could
use to encourage her to latch properly.
For almost 4 days, she’s feed only from the breast with a short nipple,
and could not latch on to the one with an inverted nip. This meant excruciating pain starting day 2
for me. The breast with the short nip
took a beating and, as predicted, the nip cuts made me cry and almost quit
bf-ing altogether. Then, one session, as
I was praying so hard while crying in pain, and just as I was about to give up
on breastfeeding altogether, I offered my inverted nipple to my baby. Perhaps due to hunger, she latched! From then on, baby has latched on both
breasts ever since.
Another problem I encountered was the poor milk supply (or
so I thought). With this, I got help
from the lactation expert from the hospital who gave me home service. She massaged my whole body and massaged my
breasts again. She gave me tips on
taking care of the baby and, although typically, a few more sessions would have
been needed to increase my milk supply, that one session was the last time we
met.
My daughter is now almost 5 months old. She has been exclusively breastfed since I brought her home from the hospital. I am happy
to see her healthy, save for a severe allergic reaction to dairy in my diet
that landed us in the hospital before the new year (saving this for another
blog). I and working, so I pump at work
to feed her throughout the day, and she directly feeds from me during the
night.
Yes, I can just quit anytime. And Lord, do I miss having wine. But seeing my baby and knowing she is getting
the best food to help her grow made me stick to breastfeeding. I’ll do it for a year, God-willing. And will do it again for my other baby/babies
in the future. :)
