Eight Weeks – by Lisa Kelly
Here we are heading into the 8th week of motherhood at 45 years old. Time is flying!! It seems my days are a never ending cycle of all things baby. I have 8 more days off from work and no idea how to get back into a routine that includes showering every day and actually getting dressed. Since I’m still pumping and continuously trying to get her to latch, I usually don’t bother putting a shirt on. And fixing my hair again?? It’s been in a ponytail since late August and my flat iron is buried somewhere back behind the bottle sterilizer and pile of burp rags.
Speaking of latching, she still won’t do it right and the result is the most incredible pain I’ve ever suffered through. This includes having surgery to reattach a severed finger, a broken nose and surgery to fix it, and the C-section. I’ve never had a piranha attached to my nipple but I bet it feels the same! Even if she does attach correctly, she will fix that silliness in quick order by settling down right on the end and chewing. It’s almost cute because it eventually makes me cry which then makes her cry. It’s almost like she knows I’m hurting and is empathizing. The truly troubling thing is that she always spits up my milk with such a force that it’s alarming. We changed her formula to soy and she keeps that down aside from a little stinky spit up here and there but with breast milk, it’s a guarantee that she’s going to give it right back within five minutes. Has anyone else ever experienced this? One of my friends joked that it’s because I’m so old, my milk has expired. I’m going to keep at this even it means continuing to pump every couple of hours. I’m not sure how to fit that into a work schedule either. A public bathroom just seems like a gross place to drag the pumping supplies out.
I know countless other moms figure out how to return to work and I will too. I just hope I remember to wear a shirt.
5 Responses to “Eight Weeks – by Lisa Kelly”
She could be lactose intolerant? In that case, you’ll have to cut dairy out of your diet for a while. Try it and see if it doesn’t work.
I’m not sure what kind of pump you’re using now, but if you plan to do it often I recommend the Medela Pump in Style Advanced. It can run off batteries or an electric outlet and has attachments for two pumps, so you can do both at once, and a plug if you prefer to do one at a time. I find that pumping only one side gives a stronger pull, and that helps encourage flow if your supply is already small. Also, and this may be difficult to get out of bed at 6 AM after a 4:30 feeding, but leave off the caffeine. I tried drinking a couple cups a day for a few days last week, and nearly lost my supply. I’m still struggling to keep it up now.
By Heather Bowles on Oct 24, 2012
Oh, and you know what? Don’t sweat the latch. I know it’s what you want. I wanted it too. But it shouldn’t hurt. Just enjoy the time to be close and feed her. Hey… at least we tried it. No sense crucifying ourselves over it, am I right? That baby is beautiful!
By Heather Bowles on Oct 24, 2012
I think that the milk proteins, even in breastmilk, may be too large for her to digest. My son had the same problem. He also was diagnosed with gastric reflux. We had to give him a pre-digested formula like Nutramagen or Alimentum. Even when I tried to give him a mix with the formula and pumped breast milk, he constantly vomited, so I eventually had to stick with the formula. In fact, he couldn’t even digest even cow’s milt until almost age 3.
And I agree with Heather’s breast pump suggestion. I had the same one. I ended up giving it to a friend who used it with both of her children, so at least it didn’t go to waste.
Keep an eye on the vomiting. By age 10 weeks, my son had to go on baby zantac because he was becoming dehydrated from all of the vomiting. Write down when you give breast milk, when she vomits and approximately how much, to present to your pediatrician.
And, yes, your daughter is absolutely precious!!
By Cara Meyers on Oct 24, 2012
Thanks, everyone. My hubby did go out and buy the Medela pump after my cheap one failed to do much. I also bought the manual Medela which seems to do more but takes more time. She seems to be doing great on the soy formula but wow, does it ever stink. My sweet little darling smells like potato peels!
We have continued with feeding from the breast a couple of times a day and it remains incredibly painful but I have read that it sometimes takes weeks to get past that. She keeps the breast milk down better if it’s not from a bottle.
Dairy and caffeine are not an issue for me as I steer clear of both. I just don’t like dairy and I gave up caffeine quite awhile ago.
Yesterday I ordered a “hooter hider” and another nursing bra. Spending money on breast feeding keeps me motivated to press on.
By lisa on Oct 25, 2012
So glad to hear you are persevering with the breastfeeding. You can do it mama! It took us three months before it started to go more smoothly. We used a nipple shield to help with our latch issues and it made a big difference. I hope you have some good breast feeding support!
By allison on Oct 27, 2012