Adventures in breast feeding. Part 2, but really part 1.

for some reason, labor never really interested me.  i didn't do a ton of research to prepare myself.  i didn't have a specific birth plan.  all i knew is that i wanted an epidural and i would leave the rest to my body and my medical team.  breast feeding, on the other hand, was a whole different story.  i was kind of obsessed with this topic throughout my pregnancy.  you see, i knew it was going to be hard and i was determined to breast feed my baby no matter what.

if you recall,  i took a breast feeding class before gabriella was born so i could prepare myself.  this helped me out a lot.  i highly recommend any new mom to take advantage of the breast feeding class that is provided by your hospital.

i made it clear to my medical team that as soon as possible, i wanted to put gabriella to breast.  once the nurses assessed her, they placed her on me and gabriella latched on like a natural.  she latched on for almost 2 hours. apparently, right after birth babies are the most awake and it is the optimum time for them to be placed on mama's breast.  after that, they pretty much sleep for the next few days.  once the marathon of sucking was over, my nipples took a turn for the worst.  they were cracked, bleeding, and they hurt like heck despite diligent applications of lanolin cream.

the class helped me because i had an idea on how to hold gabriella during breast feeding.  i also knew what her lips should look like, how deep my nipple should be in her mouth, and the way her jaw should look when sucking correctly.  it is because of this baseline knowledge along with the help of my nurses, particularly the night nurses, gabriella and i were able to feel somewhat comfortable with this new learned behavior.

i don't care what anyone says, breast feeding hurts.  my nipples were on fire for the first few weeks.  what surprised me was that my hands started to hurt as well from holding my boob and her.  it does get better though, i promise.  because breast feeding hurts and you (the mama) have to wake up every 2 to 3 hours to feed your baby and sometimes your baby may not latch on right away...you have to want to breast feed.  you have to have the mindset of wanting to be successful and of not giving up.  if you have that, then you and your baby will be a winning breast feeding team.

next up...pumping...