Nursing. Breastfeeding. Something one can only experience as a woman and as a mother. One of the most miraculous things God ever created the body to do.
I haven't been blogging much but I thought a brief write up about my experience nursing Bubby would be worthwhile.
I was fortunate to start off with a lot of support from T and from a very experienced Mom. Also, it helped that most of my muso gal friends were also committed to nursing, and most of them nursed till their kids were 1.5-2 yrs of age.
Bubby was a good feeder from the start. Almost too good. His latch was strong I had to be careful to position him right all the time so I wouldn't get injured. He ate a lot and often, and he has never had any formula milk. The first 2-3 months he would feed for 30-45 mins at a time every 2-3 hours. Unlike most infants that feed often but for short periods of time, he was eating throughout the 30-45 mins. That was how he grew from lanky 3.5kg at birth to being fat 6.7 kg at 2months, and a plump 8.7kg at 5months.
The most of difficult part of the journey was probably the first 4 weeks. I wasn't taugh how to position him correctly so I wasn't straining my shoulders and back. He was also latching in an incorrect way that hurt my left side quite a bit. I tried nipple shields occasionally but they were not easy to deal with. I tried pumping sometimes to avoid his latch, but I was blessed/cursed with oversupply. So pumping was not ideal as it stimulated too much milk flow. After hurting for quite a few days on my left side, I started to dread nursing particularly when he needed to eat so often and so much. I asked a friend for some advice and she recommended a lactation consultant(a few of them actually practice in Taipei). I went to see Dr. Mao immediately. She was lovely and professional, and she told me I had plenty of milk(enough for twins) and I should not over-stimulate my supply. She also organised a lesson for me to learn proper positioning and how to help Bubby latch without hurting me. It helped.
After that tough first month, we both got better at the whole thing.
Then the other biggest problem I faced was blocked ducts/milk blisters. I found that if my diet included too much fried stuff/saturated fat, my ducts would jam up quite easily, and I would have to spend the whole day trying to clear them with Bubby feeding more, and with warm/cold showers. Tight clothes or bras were a complete nono for the first 4 months or I would develop blocked ducts in a heartbeat. Milk blisters were also a common occurrence all the way up till 7 months or so. They were usually caused by Bubby not latching correctly and twisting a milk duct or causing damage to the nipple. When I discovered lecithin supplements, they were a life saver in this area. Blocked ducts were very rare after I started eating lecithin. And they weren't needed after 10 months of nursing, due to my supply being less abundant/muchbetter regulated compared to when Bubby was 4-5 months.
Our second year of nursing was very smooth. Bubby would feed once when he woke up around 8am, once before bedtime and once at around 5-6am, after which he would go back to sleep. He could never shake off that early morning feed all the way up till when he was weaned.
Bubby was weaned on the 22nd of Feb when I left for Vegas+ Canada for the DT tour. T and Bubby went to LA to see his folks, and we were separated for 12 days. That was it. We ended our nursing relationship after 2yrs and 3months (approx 792 days) .
Nursing was very economical for us, as we never had to buy any formula. Bubby started having fresh milk around 1.5 years of age. But it was more of a drink to him and it never replaced nursing. Nursing was also practical, as I could feed him anywhere we travelled. Taipei has many designated nursing rooms which makes nursing while being out and about convenient and comfortable. I could also feed him in the car when necessary. Nursing was particularly handy when he was sick as he would not eat much, but he would always nurse. It was a relief to be able to ensure he was hydrated and also fed some nutrients and antibodies when he was down with a cold, flu or stomach bug.
I was one of the weird lucky ones that never quite leaked even when I had so much milk, so I've never used a nursing pad in my whole journey. Also, I never pumped much as Bubby never took very well to the bottle. The most I pumped was for a 4 day journey to Macau for a concert. However, Bubby only drank what was absolutely necessary for him and made up for it when I returned. I was also fortunate never to really have any loss of supply if I didn't feed for a few days (which happened 3 times). I only needed to be wary of stimulating too much milk as opposed to stressing about making too little. For that I was very thankful.
I was worried about being terribly uncomfortable while I was weaning him, but surprisingly the discomfort probably lasted 3 days. He had probably been drinking much less after he was 2 and that helped me ease out of nursing much more easily than if I was to stop a year before.
So here it is, a rather raw, clumsy record of our nursing journey.
But I'm very grateful that I've been able to give Bubby a great start health-wise. Thankful for all the support and help from people around me and also for all the helpful articles online.
Now for potty training...that will be a good tale to tell next time.
Comments