Breastfeeding

At University Hospital
Lactation Consultant Katie

I always thought that breastfeeding would come easy to me. I mean, I had an easy pregnancy, easy delivery, fast recovery, and my mom never had trouble breastfeeding, why would I?

Well, Emma and her little tongue came along and breastfeeding became far from easy. Nurses at the hospital kept mentioning how much she liked her tongue, which made it hard for her to latch on to me. The hospital eventually convinced me to use a shield, which I was not happy about. But Emma had already lost 13 oz and unless she learned to nurse somehow, they were going to have to give her formula.

So I came home and continued to use the shield. This made for a very frustrating time. She still had trouble latching on to me even with the shield on. And because of this, I also don't think she ever got enough to eat, which meant she was up aaaalllll the time, especially at night, wanting to eat.

Before my mom arrived to be with me, I was on the phone with her in tears one day telling her of this. She quickly called Aunt Roberta, and Aunt Roberta immediately called me and began walking me through the process for the next number of days. She would call from Mexico about every day, and we would email each other back and forth on a regular basis. At the same time, I would be calling University Hospital what seemed to be every day, asking to speak to a consultant. I also went in twice to speak to them in person and get some hands-on help. I was determined to make breastfeeding work for me no matter how obnoxious I became.

Little Emma Girl is 12 days old today, and I am glad to say that this is her third day nursing without a shield! She is learning to latch on, but it's still a bit of a struggle at times. I will not sing victory quite yet.