Every Baby and Every Journey is Different

*NOTE: I wrote this post a couple months back before our little Alice girl arrived. Our nursing journey this time around has already been quite different from with my other two children, but I’m thankful I had a plan in place to help us through some of these challenges. Many of the things I’ve mentioned in this post have been really helpful to us and hopefully they can help someone else as well.

 

I have officially reached the point in this third pregnancy where I can count the number of weeks I have left on one hand and even though I’m no stranger to it all, it still feels a little bit crazy. There’s just something about the impending arrival of a new baby that fills a mama-to-be with ALL the feelings…excitement, anxiety, relief…no matter how many times she’s done it before. Each baby and each experience can vary widely in different ways.

With my first child I had a fairly straight forward pregnancy, a pretty great birth experience and a whole lot of postpartum challenges (trouble with healing, emotions, breastfeeding, the works). With my second I had the easiest pregnancy imaginable, a super challenging birth and a magical postpartum where I bounced back quickly and got a champion nurser for a child. Really, you can’t predict how these things are going to go – even though self-proclaimed “planners” like myself would like to try.

As I think about this new baby girl about to enter our family all of my past experiences come flooding back to me. I think about birth and what that will be like. Will it be quicker this time? Will I feel calm and relaxed? I think about this littler person who we’ve never met. What will she be like? Will be bond easily? What will the kids think of her? How will she change the dynamic of our family? And practically, I keep thinking a whole lot about breastfeeding. Will she take to it right away? Will we have to work at it? Will I have a big enough supply?

You see, my nursing experiences with my two kids could not have been any more different.

With my daughter I went in completely unprepared aside from a two hour breastfeeding class I had taken. In my mind breastfeeding was the most natural part of motherhood, so what was there to think about? I figured I would just focus on having my baby and nursing would just sort itself out once she was here, but I was very wrong. My daughter lost nearly a pound in the days following her birth and we struggled to get her to gain – she simply wasn’t getting enough milk.Nursing Journey with Medela // via The Little Things We Do

{Photo by Lisa Warninger}

We tried everything we could think of to get her on the right track. We had her frenulums snipped for tongue tie as well as taking her for craniosacral therapy in an attempt to improve her latch. I took endless tinctures to boost my supply…blessed thistle, fenugreek, goat’s rue…I even encapsulated my placenta into pills. We saw countless lactation consultants and I became best friends with my Medela breast pump while I spent hours pumping and pumping. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts and the fact that some of these things did cause improvements, I did end up having to supplement. Thankfully another sweet mama spent her evenings after her little one went to bed pumping breast milk for our daughter, so she could have the most breast milk possible during those early months of life and we actually ended up becoming good friends…bonded by our breast pumps as I like to say. The entire experience was challenging, but it was also a beautiful lesson for me in letting go and realizing that some things are out of my control and it’s OK to just do my best and be happy with that. We still made it 17 months – nursing half time and I was really proud of that.

When it came time for the arrival of my second child, I mistakenly assumed that my breastfeeding experience would be the same, but it was absolutely perfect.

Nursing Journey with Medela // via The Little Things We Do

{Photo by Caroline Egan of Coeur de La Photography}

My son nursed like a champ from the get-go and would actually never even take a bottle! Talk about night and day. He was a hungry guy though, so I was able to pump for him in the evenings whenever my supply seemed to be dipping in order to give it a boost here and there. We also made it to 17 months with nursing – though he may have chosen to nurse forever – but my third pregnancy gave us a natural time to wean.

This time around, I am holding loosely to my plans, but feeling confident that no matter what comes our way we can handle it. Now that I know what challenges may lie ahead, I can enter this new phase of life with confidence that I have the tools to tackle anything that comes up. A few of these things include:

1. A great lactation consultant – because sometimes a little bit of guidance may be necessary. I thankfully have one I love, but ask friends – they may have some great suggestions!

2. Comfortable/practical nursing bras – I prefer a wire-free option in order to avoid clogged ducts as well as one that is lightly lined to camouflage the occasional leak.

3. Nursing supplies:

 – A breast pump to keep up with demand and help provide relief on those “too full” occasions. I really like the Medela Freestyle, but it’s also nice to have a hand pump available for when you are on-the-go and just need to throw something smaller in a purse or diaper bag. And don’t forget about a pumping bra – definitely essential since as a mom being hands-free is pretty essential.

– Nursing pads. There are great reusable options available, though I prefer disposables.

– Milk boosting tinctures. I liked the “More Milk Plus” tincure by MotherLove as it seemed most effective for me.

Nipple cream, because things will be sore and it’s nice to be prepared.

4. An app to keep it all straight – With my first it was really helpful to write down the times of feedings and notes about things that worked and what didn’t, but it ended up being fairly short-lived because keeping track of a physical book and finding a pen wasn’t always easy. I’m looking forward to trying out the MyMedela app this time around to make tracking easier since I always have my phone on me. It also has some great features for finding help with nursing questions which I’m sure I’ll put to good use!

5. An open mind – It’s easy to forget that babies are different, so I’m going into this with the notion that this new baby and I will have to learn together how to make breastfeeding work and it will be a learning (and bonding) process for us both.

Nursing Journey with Medela // via The Little Things We Do

Thankful for this new chapter in our lives and so excited to go forward feeling empowered and as prepared as I can be to take it all on!

xo

Lauren

 

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Medela through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a posts about Medela all opinions are my own. I am thankful to work with brands that I truly love.

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