What every mom needs to know about lactation before the baby arrives!

There were a few things that I thought momma’s should know about lactation and I’m not talking about just breastfeeding problems, I’m talking about making milk!!! As an exclusive pumper for seven months, I am no genius but I do have a good amount of experience now! Plus, with a few hints from other moms, I have created a list of a must know for lactation.

1. Milk doesn’t just magically appear after you have the baby. You aren’t a milk-making machine right after birth. Don’t be alarmed if you milk doesn’t come out in “spurts” after the baby is born, it won’t! It also doesn’t come natural to every mom and every baby. So, do not be afraid to ask for help.

2. On my fourth day of pumping, my boobs got extremely hard. It hurt. They were rock hard and tender to the touch.  It honestly was one of the most painful things I experienced. (This is called engorgement people! And it is no easy task!)

3. Your milk just doesn’t come out of one hole in the nipple. It comes out of several. Nipples often look beat up at first, too. Mine were bruised a lot!

4. Breastmilk tastes like sugar water. Honestly, I know why I preferred juice over cow’s milk as a toddler. Going from breastmilk to cow’s milk would be rough for anyone used to the sweet goodness from our mama’s!

5. Not all lactation consultations are the same. The lactation consultant at the hospital was no help to us, neither was the one through the WIC office. If you are having trouble producing milk or breastfeeding, do not let them dismiss your troubles. Find a new lactation consultant, stat! Even if you have to pay, a lactation consultant that does not ignore your problems and helps you find a solution is priceless!  
(Note: some mom's swear by LLL, so if you have a group near you, go to meetings before having the baby to find a leader!)

6. It’s not completely free. There are accessories to breastfeeding.  Nipple shields, Lact Aid’s, and pumps to name a few.  Not to mention you still eat like a cow!!!! Well, I did.

7. Read up on breastfeeding issues online before the baby comes. If breastfeeding is a goal for you, you NEED to know about all the issues. I assumed that if I was motivated enough that I would be able to breastfeed! I took the classes, I knew that I needed to have a drugless birth and I thought I would be set with skin to skin time. I was wrong. A few things to read up on to be prepared:

                        -tongue ties and lip ties
                        -inverted nipples (if you have them, be prepared!) 

                        -pumping  and hand expression how to’s

                        -herbs and foods that may help boost supply

-healthy newborn eating habits (wet and poopy diapers, and how much they really need to nurse in each stage of life!)          

                        -introducing the bottle and what kind of formula

                        -basic “booby” traps!

                        -the hospital/birth center policies on feeding babies

9. Prepare to be an advocate for yourself and your child. As soon as your baby is born, YOU are in charge. If you want to breastfeed, say so! If you want to formula feed, say so!

10. Breastmilk is different every feeding! As a pumper I can see my breastmilk; if you are breastfeeding you may not know that your milk comes in several colors and sometimes comes with blood! From blue to creamy white to yellow to red! (This causes your babies poop to differ in colors and consistency as well! Although please do not ignore bloody stools in your baby!)

Finally, lactation is a learning process! Even at seven months I am learning new things every day! The links I included are just starting points for you. 

When feminism can not help...

With feminism, comes choices. A lot of people believe that feminism is a bunch of man-hating lesbians complaining about life. And maybe, some of it is that.

For me, feminism means the choice to do what you want with out judgement. Our society is created in a way that creates women to be weak and mindless. When a women is not weak and mindless, she is less of a women. I know a lot of my readers do not believe in this structure.

I encountered myself believing in some of this structure through out my beginning of motherhood. Not the weak and mindless belief, but the belief that all mothers should breastfeed. I am sure most of you have heard that "breast is best". You know, breastfeeding is better for the baby and the mother. There is scientific proof that medically, it is better for them.

However, society doesn't leave room for exceptions. You see, I wanted to breastfeed. I was going to school full time and work full time and there was no way that I was gonna leave my son and not have this way to bond with him afterwards. I wanted him to know who his mother is. Sadly, I wanted to finally be able to "use" my god given boobs for what they were given to me for.

I researched everything. I went to the labor classes. I wanted to do everything right to set me up for breastfeeding. I was upset when I had to schedule my labor. Induction sometimes leads to the inability to breastfeed. However, the doctor ended up breaking my water instead of giving me medications to start contractions. So I thought my relationship with breastfeeding would not be affected for that reason.

My labor and delivery took 5 and a half hours. I was not exhausted at the end of it. I was revived and ready to start breastfeeding. I withheld the urge to depend on pain medications to not have the reminder of the contractions getting closer together and the birth of my son coming closer and closer. Pain medications sometimes affect the babies ability to latch and feed.

Simon Caleb was born at 1:15pm; he was 5 pounds and 12 ounces. Due to his size, nurses explained to me that he may be too weak to latch, but I tried breast-feeding every time they wanted me to feed him. Also due to his size, they wanted to supplement his attempts of nursing with a bottle. Something that I did not want to do until nursing was well established.

But his health was more important then my attempts at nursing, so I did not let them. The lactation consultant (we had one for a very large hospital) was no help even though I called her to my room 3 or 4 times in my 2 night stay. She just explained that "some babies do not latch and that I needed to pump every three hours to build my supply."

After two weeks of attempting to even get him to latch, he would not. He was already off formula as I was making enough breast milk to feed him. I  decided to cut out the stress and move to exclusive pumping. So every time I fed him, I pumped later. It is exhausting.

People ask me if he is breastfed and I have no idea how to answer. "Uhm kind of...he didn't actually ever latch...BUT he still gets breast milk." Society makes me feel like a failure for not being able to breastfeed. I know other mothers who did not get the chance to breastfeed may feel the same way. Some moms who were able to nurse may feel that women who can't, gave up or they may feel that they were forced to breastfeed because society told them that is what was best.

It really struck a chord with me that I could be so upset with no being able to breastfeed and how society has "pushed"  me to think that it was the only way I could have fed my child. Feminism taught me that society should not speak for my life and how I make my choices. And yet, here I am tears falling as I write this. Still upset that I can not whip out a boob and feed my son. 

Feminism never told me that sometimes the choice is not yours to make. With motherhood, sometimes feminism can only tell you to do what you feel is right. For me, that was to give my son milk that I made because he decided he didn't want to breastfeed. For other mothers, it may be to give their child formula. For other mothers, it may be both.

Society has made me feel guilty that I was not able to breastfeed. Well screw you society. You are not the one staying up even longer than when my son needs to eat to make him his milk. You are not the one paying for his diapers, his insurance, driving him to his doctors appointments or watching him grow. You may make generalized statements about what is best and you may have scientific truths to back you up, but you don't know me. You don't know every mother.

You also do not know that I am still making sacrifices to feed my child. I can't wear normal bras, I can't eat spicy foods, I can't go places with out my pump or planning around pumps. You do not know me. You do not know each and every mother and what they have given up in order to meet your demands.

For mothers who nurse, you are feeding your child. As mothers who pump, you are feeding your child. As mothers who buy formula, you are feeding your child. Shouldn't feeding your child be the most important thing, not how to do it?

Finally, not breastfeeding and going through this struggle has made me realize that I am not weak and mindless. I am strong and I have opinions. Well, I kind of knew that already, but this has certainly helped affirm this.