If you’ve read my blog for a while you may have come across posts about my struggles with breastfeeding Lamb when he was born. He just couldn’t latch and no midwife or health visitor could get him to.
BB has been totally different and I’m beyond happy about it. I fully prepared myself for just expressing again. I got pumps, sheilds and plenty of bottles. All in case I couldn’t breastfeed.
When BB was born he latched straight away and fed for half an hour during our first ever skin to skin contact. Beautiful.
While I was in the hospital he was super sleepy so wasn’t that interested in feeding. So I assumed all was ok and didn’t get much support with latching etc.
After our first day at home I realised my nipples were extremely sore and cracked. Yes that quickly. The first midwife checked my technique and was happy with how we were feeding.
But the pain continued. Toe curling pain. What were we doing wrong?!
On day 2 we had an early visit from a health visitor who spent an hour showing me positions to help with latching. She could see I wasn’t doing it right and that was the reason I was in so much pain. Such a shame the midwife hadn’t picked up on that the day before.
Day 3 saw another midwife visit who checked our feeding technique again and was extremely happy with the position and latch.
Day 4 and 5 were great. A strong latch and good position, even though my nipples were still on fire.
Day 6 however is a different story. BB seems to have completely forgotten how to latch! It’s taking me multiple attempts to get him on and reminds me of exactly how Lamb was when he couldn’t latch. I’ve worked so hard at getting this right I’m not letting him give up, because I’m certainly not!
Yesterday I fed in public for the first time, which was a little scary, but I had my huge toTs by smarTrike muslin cloth ready for a bit of privacy and it really wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately BB struggled to latch so was getting a little stressed, which stressed me out but we got there in the end.
Feeding him outside for the first time in the warm sunshine, with his little delicate face shaded under a muslin cloth was a beautiful moment I will always treasure.
So far I’m thoroughly enjoying breastfeeding and hope it continues smoothly. The first few days were a little rocky, and I’m sure we will have some more challenges but I’m so, so pleased my breastfeeding journey has been easier this time round.
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