All About Breastfeeding

Russel was born in February, and I had anavalanche of colostrum the next day. I was in awe, and in pain. My 36A breasts measured DD. Maybe if my mother or grandmother had breastfed, I would have known it was hereditary but not even my sister did.

I was engorged for weeks, and used a moist heat pad on my chest, nursing as often as Russell would allow. Husband Ryan and I found "shared parenting" works best. He took some weeks off work, cooked and cleaned and took charge.

Ice-filled plastic bags soothed my sore mastitis-afflicted breasts; massage also helped. I didn't have a fever, but my breasts were hot, sore, and swollen to the collar bone. I drank lots of fluid, took extra Vitamin C, and unfortunately got angry in the early days. Penicillin helped. Ryan microwaved wet washcloths for Russel and I (one minute or less) for comfort while nursing.

At six months, I still had to pump for comfort's sake, and could generate a pint of milk in 24 hours. I am a leaky faucet. I don't wear nursing pads,
because I am prone to plugged ducts and cakey breasts.

Ten months into nursing, Russell still chokes on the spray. I have powerful let-downs, physically and mentally exhilarating. I still have lots of milk but a little less by earlier standards.

At 15 months I am so glad to still be nursing. I would not be as creative, loving, spiritual or feel as valued if I had not become a nursing mom.

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Breastfeeding Woes and Triumphs
For Rhonda
Who "Grew" A Soul......

I have a friend, who for reasons much too complicated for this article,was not able to produce milk so that she could breastfeed her child. It is a rare occurrence, but nonetheless, a very painful one if you are the woman who is devastated by this reality of breastfeeding. When all you have ever known is the fantasy of crisp white nightgowns, antique rocking chairs and breast milk that flows abundantly, a glitch in the system is enough to rock your world. In your mothering daydreams, you are a blissful new Mama filled with the serenity and joy that is one of the many beautiful side effects of giving sustenance to your newborn through the womanly art of breastfeeding. The oxytocin hormone flows and you are utterly and completely at peace knowing that you are the source of all of your babe's nutritional and emotional needs. What could be more perfect than that?

Unfortunately, perfection isn't always what you get when you aspire to be the sole source of nutrition for your babe. For many women, breastfeeding is as easy as breathing. For others there are many little bumps in the road. Hence, the rise in Lactation Consultants in most areas. In days of old, there were wet nurses to help when supply was an issue or if Mom was not available. Having absolutely no breast milk after birthing a new babe is an extremely rare occurrence. However, this is not much consolation to the devastated and sorrow filled Mom who had always planned to feed her baby's body, heart and soul through breastfeeding.

MORE:

http://www.compleatmother.com/breastfeeding_woes.htm

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THE COMPLETE FORMULA?

The other day the phone rang at The Complete Mother site and the caller wanted to know about purchasing The Complete Formula. I asked where she had heard about this product and she said that she had learned about it from our magazine.

I wondered if this was a prank call? But the woman seemed so earnest. I asked what she intended to do with The Complete Formula and she said, "To feed babies."

I told her we were a magazine devoted to breastfeeding. She still wanted to know about ordering cases of The Complete Formula. I told her "The Complete Formula is breastmilk."

She asked, "How can I get some?"

I told her it comes out of women's breasts naturally after they give birth. That it is the best nutrition for newborns that exists.

She then asked how much it cost. I could tell she wasn't understanding what breastfeeding is about, or else wasn't listening.

I repeated that breastmilk is The Complete Formula and we had non for sale. That women got it for free from their own breasts in order to breastfeed their babies.

She then said, "Oh, I'm a nurse at XXX hospital. One of the patients here asked us to look into getting The Complete Formula for her. I feel so stupid now. The Complete Formula isn't formula at all. Thank you for your time." She then hung up.

I was laughing so hard at having someone so thoroughly misunderstand what the Complete Mother Magazine is all about. But it gave me an idea. If universal code labels were preinted up on sticky paper and affixed to nursing breasts, do you think the government would approve payment for it as a formula?

Yvonne Cryns (wife of editor Greg Cryns)

Understanding Breastfeeding
by Rev. Vivian Dietemann, St. Louis, Missouri

Knowing how to breastfeed should be as common as knowing how to brush your teeth.

My mother told me the family doctor said I had inverted nipples, and would never be able to breastfeed. (This same man told her she had thin, watery, blue milk that didn't have enough fat in it, so she weaned me at six weeks).In the military hospital, I was not allowed to "have" my baby for several hours after he was born.

On the second day, when I returned from lunch, my baby was missing from his bed. He had been taken to be circumcised. The baby that was returned to me was not the same; biologically he was, but psychologically and spiritually, he was no longer quiet, and cried a lot. I swore I would never let anyone do that to a child of mine again.My son couldn't latch on to my breast because he couldn't get a hold of the nipple.

He cried and cried and I put him on formula.When I found out I was pregnant again, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I attended La Leche League meetings, read books, and purchased nipple shields. What I didn't know was that if I wore them constantly, then stopped, that I would get a breast infection. So then I wore the shield without missing a day, and slowly weaned my breast from their use a week or so before my due date.I was celibate since 4 1/2 months pregnant.

Had I known love-making would help my labour along, I might have considered calling a male friend to help things along. I made a fuss about not having an IV or fetal monitor during labour. They let me nurse my son in the delivery room for 15 minutes, and again in the recovery room for about 20 minutes before he was taken to the nursery. We didn't have any trouble latching on and I made sure he was not circumcised.I closely monitored how many wet diapers he had, knowing that at the first sign of problems my mother would suggest he wasn't getting enough.

I did have four breast infections during the first year, but we worked through them using a small hot water bottle on my breast.At about 10 months he can down with a virus, and by the end of the week was so listless he refused to nurse. I expressed my milk for a day, to keep up a milk supply. He started again, went back to exclusively breastfeeding, and refused solids for three weeks. By the time he was a year old, he was eating table food again.

People always tried to feed him candy, cookies and Kool-Aid. I purchased a T-shirt that said, "Don't Feed Me Junk

Mother%uFFFDs milk is just the thing!

Would you nurse her at the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?

I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I%uFFFDd nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.

Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her %uFFFDtill she%uFFFDs full!

Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy%uFFFDs milk is the best start!

Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare to complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.

As for those who protest lactation,
I have a perfect explanation.
Mommy milk is tailor made
It%uFFFDs perfect food, you need no aid.

Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast%uFFFDs the perfect food!

I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk%uFFFDs the perfect food!

We make the right amount we need,
The perfect temp for every feed.
There%uFFFDs no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.

Thos nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can%uFFFDt be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.
I will not let my baby cry,
I%uFFFDll meet her needs, I%uFFFDll always try.
It%uFFFDs not about what%uFFFDs good for you,
It%uFFFDs best for babies, through and through.

I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads, leave me be ma%uFFFDam.
I will nurse her, Mom I am.

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Thrush, and Nursing on One Side

By Heather Fairley,

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

When Sam got to be a month old he got colicky. Soon after, we got thrush, and I went to several doctors, and was given yellow liquid for his mouth and cream for my nipples. The liquid never did work.

I went to a specialist in Saskatoon who explained Sam wasn't taking enough of my areola into his mouth (he only seemed to want the top of my nipple). So my nipple was rubbing against the roof of his mouth near the front, and it was scraping the skin and allowing the thrush in his mouth an easy way into my breast. Even if the thrush were cured,my nipples would still be rubbed raw.

For the next five months, I fought with Sammy at my breast, and he continued to want to nurse the old way.

I got a prescription for Nizoral cream but every time I stopped, the thrush came back. By the time the cream ran out, I still had thrush. I personally suspected the infection was hiding in a lump in my right nipple, where he had caused permanent damage earlier.

I started unilateral nursing, using only my left breast, which Sam always preferred anyway. Periodically I tried the right one, but it always seemed to start another bout of thrush or clogged ducts or mastitis. Now he only nurses on the left, which works quite well for us. The thrush infection has been gone for a while and we both continue to enjoy our breastfeeding relationship.

I fell like nursing is as intimate and physically close as sex. I found nursing went best when we were both naked or as close to it as possible, with him snuggled right into me, usually lying down with me focusing just on him, or reading about breastfeeding.