my bounty!

12 days in.

yes im sad she isnt at breast.

but look what i did!

this is my positive!

:)

5 good minutes.

i hadnt tried @breast since Friday at my last LC appt because of two things: the fear of pain and the fear of failure.

today i put her on after she had worked some at the Haberman (which she seems to do VERY well with! her suck suck swallow pause is very consistent!), and she and i had 5 good minutes of nursing with only minimal pain (before she fell asleep and started to gnaw with her jaw) :) she got some milk out, and im now in the room to pump the rest out. she didnt even make a dent really, but at least we got 5 minutes in. she wants breast, and i want to give it to her!

heres hoping for future success!

tips for pumping mamas!

on one of my mom boards someone posted a thread about tips for BFing moms. i reposted with some for pumping mamas, because we have some dilemmas too! heres what i posted. feel free to add any!

for the pumping mamas:

get a drink EVERY time...you will be thirsty.

make sure you have a stash of collection bottles and bags. you dont wanna run out.

consider a pumping station, the same spot every time in which to pump if possible, makes it routine for you, and for the older kids.

invest ina GOOD pump. i had 3 50$ automatic double breasted pumps with my son and they werent reliable. this time around, spending extra for the medela didnt seem so bad. youre saving an estimated 1500.00$ a year by not using formula not to mention the other costs, so spring for a good pump. my LC recommends Medela Pump in Style and the Ameda Purely Yours.

get yourself some good breast pads and some good creams. Lansinoh and Medela make great lanolin creams, and the first years has a cream lanolin free called Nipple Butter (is made with almonds and but oils...so read the ingredients for sensitivies).

if youre planning to try and go back to breast get a good LC to give you advice and support. it can be rough. my hospital gives unlimited visits for the first 30 days. ask yours!

along the same lines, look at some good breastlike bottles to avoid confusion or preference if you are using bottles. i like adiri, but im also using a medela specialneeds feeder (formerly known as haberman feeder) while we get through the tongue tie. Other options are Supplemental Nursing Systems with tubes and syringes to help baby until feeding@breast can be reestablished.

its hard to use a laptop for typing while pumping, at least for me, so i set my laptop up with netflix. my pumping usually takes me about 20 minutes and then a few extra to cream up and let some bmilk dry on the nips: just enough time to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother :).

having pumped milk is fine and dandy to let daddy feed some too, but consider having his feedings be at night. and you can give day feedings to bub, so the awake baby knows milk comes from mom. may help when going back to breast if you can. besides, it's nice to be able to hold her close in a breastfeeding position, and look into her eyes :)

set alarms in the nighttime to pump. yes its hard on the brain and body, but your supply will thank you.

pumping doesnt have the same effect on the body as baby, so ask your doctor or LC about fenugreek or Blessed Thistle or Mothers Milk Tea if youre concerned about your supply. but dont try to fix what isnt broken :)

bringing baby in the room with you may help your release of oxytocin, by seeing baby's face :)

have support! I go to a group on Facebook (Breastfeeding-give it a go!) and i talk to those ladies all the time about my concerns and frustrations being attached to the pump. its nice to have support worldwide!

and remember, youre still giving breastmilk. youre making a really good choice in the midst of undesirable circumstances, be it going back to work or school, or a medical reason for not being able to have him or her at the breast. remember your reasons, you are succeeding!

Positivity.

today im choosing to look at the positives.

yes im bummed things arent how i want them, and my baby isnt at my breast.

but im looking at the positives. positivity is huge, and i know positive thinking gets people places :)

today im feeling great because:

first of all, i have supply. this fact is not lost upon me, and i am very pleased to have milk that my daughter can drink. with my son, my supply ran low due to a couple of factors, and i know there are lots of women who have babies at the breast that want so much for supply...and i do not take that for granted.

i pump every 2 - 3 hours depending on day or night. - this guarantees me alone time to reflect, watch something on the laptop, blog, or do homework or research. guaranteed quiet time. how many moms get that?

i can hold my daughter any way i want during a feeding, and i can look into her eyes without craning my neck to see her :)

expressing breastmilk means that i can easily slip my son some breastmilk in his cup when im preparing baby girls bottle, and he gets some of the goods too without a problem!

if i were only feeding at breast, i might not have the overflowing "we need to get a deep freezer" supply in the freezer that i do have right now for a rainy day :)

i get to have frequent trips to the lactation consultant...seeing as how i want to be one...its nice to be immersed in the culture i want to work in.

Tongue ties are a pain, and having multiple babies with it is rough! but ill have experience with it to help other struggling mothers when my education is over and i am working in the field of breastfeeding.

i have really nice breasts right now :) and after a pumping i get to spend a few extra minutes letting them airdry with my cream and chillin topless.

skin to skin doesnt have ulterior motives. my baby is loving my skin time...not just searchin for a boob. :)

and im feeling great because even though it looks bleak right now...there is still hope. and as long as i do NOT give up...there will be hope.

and more than anything...im thankful she is HEALTHY and well. even if i had no breastmilk - that fact alone would get me through.

just my thoughts for the day.

Tongue Tie Diaries 02/24

THIS IS NOT GOING WELL.

by tuesday our plan was over. my nipples hurt SO bad and she wasnt latching or suckling right. i had to resort to the small syringe for EVERY feed since Tuesday.

so today we tried a nipple shield. (go figure when the LC did it it worked wonders. and every time after that i tried, it didnt work out so well.)

She latched well, but didnt suck well. in 20 minutes she took 26 ml, nearly a 3rd of what she did Monday.

its so frustrating.

thats an understatement.

im sitting there, looking at my sleepy daughter on my right breast, not getting enough as my left one leaks all over my shirt but is too blistered for latches.

the LC asks me about my emotional state.

i tell her flat out, im frustrated that i want to feed my baby of my breast and i cant.

she gets a larger syringe and a tube to use to finger feed.

the small tube runs along my finger and into her mouth (with the pad up against where the soft and hard palate meet). she shows me how by doing it first, and Little gets a good feeding in, then she has me try and little gets so frustrated she turns all red and cries all over.

LC gets out a special kind of bottle, thinking that might be the better option for exercising her tongue.

its a Medela SpecialNeeds Feeder, intended for babies with problems maintaining pace, suction or flow.

I can see her tongue curl around the nipple on the bottom, and i think i see her tongue move under her chin, but i see dimpling of her cheeks, and i worry she is mastering feeding with suction, and not working her tongue and thats the whole idea. if she doesnt work her tongue and figure it out and strengthen it....then im pumping for as long as the pump lets me. ive been let down with pumps before. and i only have this loaner until march second!

i wont lie. im just frustrated. so many women in the world dont have the same passion for breastfeeding, and that is their choice to make...but it frustrates me that those women are capable...and ive faced two babies with troubles, and i want it more than anything. :(

my mantra right now....She is getting my milk. She is getting my benefits. She is getting all the things that make me need to breastfeed.

i just hope theres still a chance.

more later.

The First Years Nursing Care Cooling gel packs

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE these. thats an understatement. ive used them ONCE. tonight. and i fell in love with the cooling calm on my sore nips. did it heal them? no, they arent magic and it was use number 1. but as soon as i put them in the freezer i wished they were cold already so i could use them again. they felt so wonderful!

ill keep you posted on if there are any changes as i contijnue to use them.

Nipple Creams: Part 1

this is an ongoing thing. I have very little faith any cream i try will be a one hit wonder, otherwise, why would they come in oz tubes? no, youll certainly need more, and youll need to try a few to find the one you wanna swear by.

as ive mentioned previously, i have tried some lanolin creams, and havent been too impressed, but the severity of my nipple damage is high, so i dont fault the creams. i can only say MY experience and who knows, maybe i just have really difficult nipples.

The one im using right now is The First Years Nipple Butter. Lanolin free made with nut oils and organic butters. I like thatg its a lot softer, silkier to put on, not as thick as lanolin, and its not tested on animals. which makes it a little bit of a WINNER! :) but the true test is the nipple test. and my nipples right away felt more comfortable during my pumping sessions. i havent tried many times with baby at breast because im scared, and i can still feel pain, but the pain of pumping has been reduced for sure within a day. also, after a particularly bad feeding at breast i found a huge crack on my nipple, and went out to buy supplies that night. i started using this one, and the crack seemed to close overnight, even though pain was still evident, it appeared much better. im guessing these things need time.

im gonna try a little more, and also let them air dry a bit here and there. things can be a bit rough on the nips, so i gotta make sure im giving the product full opportunity to succeed. believe me, i WANT nothing MORE than to feel BETTER in my nipnips.

ill keep you posted!

Nuk Breast Pads Ultra Thin

Ive tried my fair share. honestly, the fact i need to use nipple creams make breast pads unloveable because moist nips and cotton make for uncomfortable removal. but i like these best. they are thin, and right now my supply doesnt need Heavy Flow Breast Pads :) they feel slightly more discreet than some other ones ive tried.

just my 2 cents :)

Breast Supplies: Reviews

i went a little crazy at the local Wal*Mart. my nipples have been SO sore, cracked bruised and broken that i was desperate.

im feeding Daughter with the syringe, and starting tomorrow after my lactation appt, with a finger feeding tube system. until hopefully my nipples heal, she latches correctly, and we can start and finish a successful breast relationship.

I indulged. Needed new bags for milk (ended uip having to buy a freezer too....more to come on that), needed Breast pads and i needed treatment. I found a couple things: Medela Lanolin (since the Lansinoh didnt help me as much as it has helped other mothers), First Years Nipple Butter, Medela Storage bottles 3 oz size. and First Years Nursing Care Soothing gel packs.

ill be using and reviewing these so you know how they worked for me! hopefully i dont have to branch out further than this... :)

BReastfeeding and Cancer Risk

Breastfeeding Can Reduce Cancer Risks

Children who are artificially fed or breastfed for only 6 months or less, are at an increased risk of developing cancer before age 15. The risk of artificially fed children was 1-8 times that of long-term breastfed children, and the risk for short-term feeders was 1-9 times that of long- term breast feeders. Source: Davis, M.K. Infant Feeding and Childhood Cancer. "Lancet 1988 Others studies have shown that for both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer, women who were breastfed as children, even if only for a short time, had a 25% lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who were bottle-fed as infants Sources: Schwartzbaum, J. et al. An exploratory study of environmental and medical factors potentially related to childhood cancer. Med & Pediat Oncology 1991; 19(2): 115-21. Freudenheim, J. et al. 1994 Exposure to breast milk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer. Epidemiology 5:324-331. Website Source:

http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_cancer.html

Breastfeeding and Pumping: Anecdote :)

So today my son saw me pumping milk for my daughter.

He is three. and curious. My daughter is only 7 days old and im still slightly engorged and my supply is still all over the place.

here is some of the conversation we had while i pumped.

he sees the pump going and my swollen nips.

"mahmee, are those your fingers?" he asks.

"no baby those are my nipples."

"oh. your nimples. so those nimples are for your boobies?"

"yep."

"oh. ok. hey mahmee. so you put your boobies in there and when you squeeze them the milk comes out?"

"Yes they do. very good buddy."

I realize here that the bottles im using to collect are filling too fast and i try to pour it into a breastmilk bag to contijnue pumping for her meal.

He said "can i put the milk in the freezer for you?"

"i can do it honey thank you."

"no, can i please put it in the freezeR?" i give in.

"do you know where to put it?"

"yeah, with all the other booby milk in the freezer."

TOUCHE!

sometimes he is smarter than i even realize.

Breastfeeding and Sids: One Study (reuters)

as a super paranoid momma, this kind of statistic is what kept me sane when id have to go seclude myself from the world every 2 hours and pump. when i would cry oer sore nipples, when i would cry oer supply and consider going all the way to formula with my son because he only got one breastfeed a day. its a statistic like this that makes me think: its something i can do, een if there isnt an exact reason as to WHY the statistic is lower, it just IS. and that is enough for me.

website:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/us-breastfeeding-sids-idUSTRE75C2V220110613

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK | Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:25am EDT

(Reuters Health) - Babies who are breastfed - especially those only fed breast milk, and not formula as well - are less likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, suggests a new analysis of past studies.

While the findings can't prove that breastfeeding causes the lower risk of SIDS, the authors write in Pediatrics that other explanations seem unlikely.

"Breastfeeding is the best method of feeding infants," said Dr. Fern Hauck, the study's lead author from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.

SIDS, also known as "crib death," is defined as a sudden and unexplained death - usually during sleep -- in a baby less than one year old. It's most common in infants between two and four months old, according to the National Institutes of Health, and kills about 2,500 infants in the U.S. each year.

Researchers aren't sure what causes SIDS, but they known that African American and male babies are more likely to die from SIDS, and that parents can cut down on their baby's risk by making sure infants sleep on their backs and don't get too hot.

One theory for the cause of SIDS, said Hauck, is that it happens in babies sleeping with their faces down or heads covered who don't turn their heads or cry like most babies would, and slowly suffocate.

Breastfeeding could be linked to SIDS because it protects infants against minor infections that have also been shown to make sudden death more likely, the authors note. The World Health Organization, among other medical groups, recommends that mothers breastfeed their babies for the first six months of life.

In the new review, Hauck and her colleagues combined data from 18 studies that asked mothers of infants who had or hadn't died of SIDS about whether they breastfed the infants.

Combining the results, the researchers found that the rate of SIDS was 60 percent lower among infants who had any amount of breastfeeding compared to those who didn't breastfeed, and more than 70 percent lower in infants that been breastfed exclusively - without any formula - for any period of time.

That led the authors to conclude that any breastfeeding helps protect a baby against sudden death.

They note, however, that more research is needed to see if the duration of breastfeeding affects the risk of SIDS - specifically, if babies who are breastfed for longer get more protection that those who are only breastfed for a short time after birth.

The analysis doesn't definitively show that there's a cause and effect relationship between breastfeeding and SIDS risk, but Hauck said she is "fairly confident" that's the case.

"We found a protective effect even after controlling for factors that could explain the association," Hauck said. For example, the link remained even when the authors took into account the fact that women who smoke cigarettes are less likely to breastfeed, and also may be more likely to have an infant die from SIDS.

Hauck added that along with breastfeeding, babies who sleep in the same room as their parents - but not in the parents' bed - and those who use a pacifier while sleeping also have a smaller risk of sudden death.

The findings, the authors write, underscore the importance of promoting the positive effects of breastfeeding for both moms and babies.

SOURCE: bit.ly/kSEGVh Pediatrics, online June 13, 2011.

Breastfeeding is BEst - Oregon Environmental Council

source: http://www.oeconline.org/our-work/healthier-lives/pollutioninpeople/report/breastfeeding

something written by the Oregon Environmental Council. nothing too incredible but at the same time, its nice that public works are recognizing this to be normal.

Breast Feeding Is Best

Breast Feeding Is Best. Despite concerns over the presence of environmental contaminants in breast milk, breastfeeding is still by far the best option for the baby’s health and mother-baby bonding, when possible. Infants who do not breastfeed or do so for only a short time have more acute illness such as ear, lung, and urinary infections. Exposure to foods other than human milk in the first few months of life can increase the risk of life-long autoimmune illnesses. Without breastfeeding, infants do not receive optimal nutrition, important hormones, protective immune factors, and promoters of brain development. Formula feeding does not eliminate children’s exposure to toxic chemicals and may increase exposure due to contaminants and leaching of chemicals from plastic baby bottles. According to the World Health Organization, “the accumulated data overwhelmingly support the positive health value of breastfeeding infants.” For more information, see Why Breast-Feeding is Still Best for Baby, by Physicians for Social Responsibility. [PDF]

Breast Milk odor Independent Study

unsure of the author of this post, found it online and thought it was interesting. not very many facts to back it up, but it is thought provoking.

source: website: http://babytipz.com/breast-milk/beneficial-effects-breast-milk-odor

Here are the list of its beneficial effects that I had summarized from the journal authored by Shota Nishitani, et al.:

• In the study, the measured variable are crying, grimacing and motor activities during heelsticks to assess infants’ pain responses from breast-milk odor.
• infants exposed to their mother’s milk odor showed less crying, grimacing and motor activity after the heelstick.
• mother’s breast milk odors have soothing effects on infants, because it can suppress salivary cortisol levels in infant (for your information, cortisol will be secreted when baby stress).
• It is not only breast milk odor that have soothing effect for baby, but also amniotic fluid odor and maternal odor seem have soothing effect on baby.
• There’s no soothing effect from other’s breast milk odor. The possible explanation for the restriction of the soothing effect may be major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-based odor differences. MHC genes, which are involved in the adaptive immune response, also produce odor information about individuality and influence social behavior. Babies, therefore, may discriminate MHC-based odors included in the mother milk and respond exclusively to their own mother’s milk.
• Different with breast milk odor, other’s (mother) body odor have soothing effect by decreasing spontaneous crying not only in her own baby, but also in other baby at 2 days of age.
• While formulae milk odor doesn’t have calming and pain relief effect on baby compared to breast milk odor. Newborns were attracted to mother’s breast milk odors more than formulae milk odors, and this preference was independent of postnatal feeding experience.

Caffeine while Breastfeeding?

Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News. "Can consuming caffeine while breastfeeding harm your baby?." ScienceDaily, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — Babies are not able to metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, so a breastfeeding mother's consumption of caffeine may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability, according to an interview with expert Ruth Lawrence, MD, published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

Caffeine is found in a wide range of products in addition to coffee, tea, and chocolate, including soft drinks, sports drinks, and some over-the-counter medications. In a provocative discussion with Dr. Ruth Lawrence, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Jack E. James, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Caffeine Research, asks a variety of probing questions. Is there a safe level of caffeine intake while breastfeeding? Are there potential long-term effects of caffeine exposure on development and intellect? Can a baby whose mother consumed caffeine during pregnancy experience withdrawal if she then abstains from caffeine while breastfeeding? Dr. Lawrence bases her responses on the scientific and medical evidence related to caffeine exposure in breastfed babies, and distinguishes between what is and what is not well understood in this developing field of study.

"Usually a mother, particularly if she is breastfeeding, is cautioned to limit her caffeine intake," says Dr. Lawrence, who is Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Breastfeeding Medicine. After giving birth, mothers "should consume all things in moderation and try to avoid the excesses that might really add up to a lot of caffeine."

Tongue Tie Diaries 2/20

went to see the LC today.

had very good luck with nursing for some reason.

maybe she is magic! (im excited to get to be magic too when im one :) )

baby girl got 70 ml! nearly 2.5 oz! in one sitting, that was perfect and right on track.

we discussed me coming back on friday. since i had little pain today we decided to forgo the tube finger feeding until friday at our next appt and alternate one pumping session with the small syringe feeding Little, and then one on the breast.

im hopeful! she seemed to be getting a little better at the latch.

i love seeing her little face close to me. i worried about not getting the bonding and security of mommy.

also we decided to try soothies yesterday because then i could see what she is doing with her tongue when she sucks. still not strong enough with her tongue and the thing falls out and she gets so frustrated! i feel horrible. she just wants to suckle for comfort and with the pain of her poor latch and tongue, i cant have her suckling at my breast like that for comfort! i just want to give her comfort! such a strange and scary place the world must be the first few weeks until she realizes its the new normal for her.

ill update how well our plan works out soon. :)

a brief review...

im 25. currently a stay at home mother who just delivered her second child, going to start classes back up in Summer to pursue being a Board Certified Lactration Consultant hopefully within 3 years. im wife of a wonderful man who works hard for our family. I have a son and a daughter and i love breastfeeding.

im not one of those "im an advocate and will force it down your throat" kinda people. i have my facts in order, im make educated decisions and choices and all i care about are healthy babies.

i have a beautiful 3 year old son who i breastfed for 11 months with a helluva lot of trouble. he had a complete lingual tongue tie. as a naive new mother i thought "hes perfect the way he is!" and didnt clip it (frenotomy) until he was 3 months old. damage had been done, and nursing had already begun to deteriorate. i went back to work at 4 months postpartum and it further crumbled. by 6 months we were supplementing some formula along with breastmilk, and shortly after i stopped producing milk in the evenings. I had lactration support for one month post partum, but didnt know who to call or where to turn for help when i needed it, and my dream of Exclusively Breast Feeding (EBF) for one year were replaced with a cruel reality i didnt know how to change because i was uneducated.

my daughter was born 02.15.2012

it was only 1 day before my Lactation Consultant (we'll call her T), noticed she also had a tongue tie, while not as full it was tight, and we clipped hers at 2 days post partum, but by that point, my nipples had taken a beating. she also did not know right away how to use her tongue, and we began a regimen of pumping on a loaner pump from the local health dept (thanks T for helping!) and feeding her through a syringe. i craved her at the breast and wanted a functional relationsip with nursing her. we eventually went to finger tube feeding (more on that later) and i tried everything under the sun for my nips: lanolin creams, hydrogel pads, breastmilk applied to the nipples and let air dry, purchased a Latch Assist to help with my inverted nips, and started lookingat different creams online to try. Im sure they worked for many, but pumping every 90-120 minutes put a cramp in the healing process. more on that as it unfolds and hopefully the story ends in EBF to one year at least!