Our feeding journey

2/24/2020

As a new mama, I was completely oblivious about breastfeeding. I honestly thought it would come "natural" and we wouldn't have any issues. Let me tell you that was a complete and utter naive thought. I wouldn't say my breastfeeding journey at the beginning was challenging but we've definitely hit many obstacles along the way.

Calvin's latch was pretty solid at the beginning and I was definitely an over producer. I was able to save a lot of milk and get that stored in our deep freezer. I was so engorged from the beginning and was leaking a ton. My best friend bought me a silicone letdown catcher so I used that at every feeding on the opposite breast.

You pull the flange back and attach it onto the opposite breast and the natural suction just pulls your milk out. This was so convenient because I didn't need any addition pieces or anything and it just pulled all my milk out. Like I mentioned, I used it at EVERY feeding. It would catch 3-4oz of milk on average and I would still be able to switch him to feed on that side.

Since I had to feed him so frequently my nippies became raw and scabbed. We tried so many different brands of nipple creams/balms/butter.

Relieve the nippies

They all felt amazing but he preferred the two above the most. I would say try and get some small samples before buying the actual jars because it can get pretty expensive. I would lather these on after EACH feeding.

Nursing pads

Disposable vs reusable

I didn't like the thought of having to wash reusable ones ALL the time so I tried disposable nursing pads. Welp, I hated them! For some reason they all made me itchy. I tried Medela, Lansinoh, Bamboobies, generic brands and more. I just didn't like them. I actually loved using organic reusable nursing pads. I bought 2 sets and just washed them about every other day.

Breast pumps
check your insurance

Many of my friends were able to purchase their breast pump through insurance prior to delivering baby. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with me. My insurance allowed me to "choose" a pump but they wouldn't ship it out until baby arrived. This meant my husband had to call the day we had Calvin.

I stared longingly at the list of breast pumps available that my insurance would either fully cover or partially cover. I had no idea which one to get. I did extensive research and decided on a Spectra. Some things I looked for in a breast pump were: suction level, attachments (ease of replacements and price of replacement parts) and quietness. I liked the size of the Medela breast pumps but I heard they're a little louder so I went with a Spectra instead. When I was choosing it, they had a pink (S2) or blue (S1) breast pump. The only difference between those was the fact that the blue (S1) was portable so I didn't have to be plugged into the wall to pump. I chose to upgrade to that pump and pay an addition few dollars for convenience.

Using the breast pump

I wanted to be able to bring the pump to the hospital but since they wouldn't ship it until he was born, we didn't have that option. I would highly recommend you to bring your breast pump to the hospital and work with a lactation consultant before going home. This way they can help you navigate all of the settings and making sure everything fits nicely so you maximize your milk supply with it.

When I finally pumped at home it hurt so bad and I honestly made about 1oz on each breast. I eventually gave up and only used the silicone milk catcher. It wasn't until weeks later that my best friend came over and helped me with it. She watched and helped me figure out my fitting and realized my flange size was too large so it was pulling more of my areola. Our friendship definitely hit another level at that point- haha! So if you can, get fitted properly because this makes a HUGE difference!

Freeze the milkies

We have a deep freezer so we ended up freezing the milk. I bought plain rectangle 6oz milk bags and froze them flat. When I had 10 bags of frozen milk, I stored it in a gallon size ziploc. I was able to fit 10 bags of milk in each gallon size bag and stored it in our deep freezer.

What happened after 4 months
of feeding for us?

I was able to breastfeed him for about 4 months when I had a surplus supply of milk. I noticed that my letdown was slowing after 4 months and my breasts got a lot smaller. TMI but I noticed my nipples were smaller too. This was around the time he stopped latching and didn't want to be breastfed anymore. We were bottle feeding him at night so my husband could feed him and I could get ready for bed. We also wanted to be able to physically see how much he ate before bed and also give him some probiotics. Welp, I think he got use to or preferred the flow of the bottle nipples and he started refusing my breast. That was fine since he was still eating. The only pain is now I'm exclusively pumping and washing all the pump parts.

Well if you noticed above, I have the S2 Spectra. The pump itself is pretty large! I hated having to lug it around for the day when we're out and about. So I actually purchased a second pump. I had to find one that was comparable and adaptable with some of my Spectra parts. I definitely needed something much more compact because I hated bringing a second large backpack or tote to carry my pump.

I opted for the Motif Duo breast pump. The suction isn't as strong as the Spectra but it definitely does the job. It's also very quiet. The best part was it fits in the palm of my hand! I can also stick it in my pocket if I needed (from my jacket or leggings with the side pocket for your phone).

The Motif Duo tubing also fit on my Spectra bottles which meant I didn't have to buy any additional flanges or pieces.

To be honest, I still try to breast feed him once or twice throughout the day. It's hard to explain but I miss being able to breastfeed him. He'll take for about 10 minutes before he unlatches because my milk isn't coming as fast as he wants.

I'm honestly just thankful that I produce enough milk to feed him and that he's fine with taking a bottle. This is great because anybody can feed him without a fight. If my milk runs dry and we run out of our frozen stash and need to use formula, I'll keep you guys posted!

Our feeding journey has been such a rollercoaster. Nothing is every consistent with a baby! Everything changes once you think you've got things figured out. So if you're a new mama or soon to be mama, know that things probably won't go as planned! Just go with it and do what you think is necessary and don't be afraid to ask for help! Remember, fed is best!