Last time the boys couldn’t suck, so I had to express and it was all a big pain. After 8 weeks, I gave up!
This time around I was adamant I was going to give breastfeeding a go again. As soon as I got out the operating theatre and reunited with Gavin and baby, they asked my feeding preferences. I said breast. They lifted up my gown and popped her on my chest. She literally latched on like a dream. The midwife spent the first 30 mins with me doing obs, and then left us to it. We had some breakfast and lunch, and honestly she just kept latching on no problem.
Then Gav went home at 10pm, and it’s suddenly got much more difficult. Between 1-3am I just couldn’t get her to relax. She wouldn’t latch on. She just screamed. I was tired and could feel myself getting overwhelmed. I pushed the buzzer. A midwife came in and gave me some amazing tips. She really took the time to care.
By day 4 my nipples were a mess, and my boobs felt incredibly engorged. Every time she feed, I got pains in my stomach and tops of my legs. The stomach is the uterus contracting, but no one seemed to know what the leg pain was. I was on the brink of giving it all up! I took a warm shower to relieve my breasts, and then pumped which helped the pain.
She slept really well that night, and I woke up with the mindset of 14 days. To give it 14 days and that way I’d given it my all. The community midwife recommended using the Haaka instead.
Well by day 9 my nipples were so much better, and the initial 10 seconds of extreme pain disappeared.
One big thing I’ve learnt is, do what’s right for you. Then pretty much every health professional since has contradicted the last person who givens next advice. Express/ Don’t express. Manual pump/ Electric pump. Add top up formula feeds/ offer her the breast more often even if you have to wake her....
I’m certainly not waking her for a feed! I’d prefer to feed her more during the day, and get bigger gaps at night, so we can both get some sleep.
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I never thought about nursing clothes beforehand, so I spent a lot of time in my bra. I popped a question on my Instagram for recommendations for clothes, and lots of you asked me to share the responses. I’ve listed the shop and who recommended them below;
💖 Gap - @mummymannbakes @aisha106
💖 TheBShirt - @justanormalmum
💖 Juno Jacks - @Traceylm85 @beautifulchaos.x @katielouiseryan @cuddles4breakfast
💖 H&M - @living.the.harris.life @lifewiththehazelwoods @3boysand2littleladies @mommabeatrice @littlesweetie10 @josie_jjl @vikkipott21 @laura_mccabe_
💖 ASOS - @jessica.and.jack @ashleighpaigeexo
💖 Lovedgarms - @ourlife_in_colour
💖 Milky tee - @mummataralouise @dream1ncolour
💖 Amazon - @newmummyunleashed
💖 Jojo Manan Bebe - @riosavannah @loving_ethan_and_alice
💖 Altered Apparel - @my.robbins.nest
💖 Latched - @aprilandenid @lifeat.no18
💖 Stylish_mum1 - @Benniebloomw
💖 And then LOADS of you said to buy cami vests from primark and wear underneath your usual clothes. Then one can go up and one can go down.
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