Don't know if you've gotten all the info you were looking for, but there were a couple of things I thought I'd add here.
Quote:
|
Oh! Also! In the first 24 hours the baby isn't that hungry and mostly sleeps. In the next 24 hours they pretty much want to nurse all the time.
|
As with any individual, there are no universals. Each child is different. My first wouldn't let go for the first 18 hours after birth (every time she was pulled off, she screamed)--really,
really painful. Eventually a nurse came and convinced me to let her give my daughter formula, even though I was dead set against that happening, so I could get some rest. My third, though, had to be woken up after 24 hours to begin nursing. Even then, it was a struggle to keep him latched on. And although sucking is a natural instinct for infacts, nursing isn't. Many babies need to be 'instructed' on how to nurse effectively.
Breastfeeding can indeed be quite painful to start, and sometimes that pain never goes away (milk 'let down'--the initial flow can continue to be a painful process long after breastfeeding has been routine. While we certainly have an instinctual thing about feeding our young, not everyone enjoys breastfeeding as a bonding between mother and child. At times, a mother can even feel downright resentful.
I had more than enough for my first two (I think I could have fed a small army of rugrats), but my third didn't fair as well in the breast milk dept. There was no reason for the dry up, and previous experience showed I was capable of generous milk production, but...in the end, the milk stopped flowing. I felt horrible about it. Like Lou Lou, I was disappointed, both at the loss of the intimacy it fostered between my child and myself, and in myself in general. I felt like I had failed at something, and all the logic and medical reasoning in the world didn't lessen that feeling--especially when I would see other mothers happily nursing their babies. Yep, it can effect your feeling of 'womanhood' as well as 'motherhood'. That said, however, I forced myself to find other ways to recapture that bonding--humans are resourceful critters.
Quote:
|
When you say it hurts, um, does it hurt like someone latching on to your nipple with their teeth (gums, I guess) and sucking very hard? Is it just the nipple, or is there pain in the rest of the breast? Is unsucessful nursing physically harder on the mother (in terms of pain, and any chafing or abrasion) than when the child is able to get good nutrition from nursing?
|
I've touched on this already, but here's what my experience was. 'Let down' was painful if I went too long between nursing. It hurt...hmm...behind the breast and moved out toward the nipple as the flow moved. After a short period of time, that feeling went away, but I'd cringe every time I felt it. Until the nipple toughened up, the skin itself was tender from the continuous contact, and anything that touched it felt like steel wool on an open wound. I wouldn't say (for me) it was like someone biting down, but more like a burning feeling...much like rub burn, I guess. And lucky me, my second child gave me thrush! With an assistive device, I continued nursing. Now there's pain!
For me, unsuccessful nursing was no different, feeling wise, than it was with successful nursing.
Point of interest for nursing: When nursing properly, the child isn't just latched onto the nipple itself. When they are is when it becomes exceedingly painful. An infact will actually (gently) push down with their gums on the
areola behind the nipple that that's where the majority of the suction is located--it's less painful that way and stimulates better (goes back to 'training an infant to nurse properly'). Something for the guys to think about--if you're getting the smackdown for latching on too hard or too often in the same place on your partner, try that technique. You're likely to get better results.
She was 9lb2oz but ended up being ceasarean anyway (my vagina was glad about this
)
