Breastfeeding: Round Two

I don't know if this is the "norm" or if it just depends on the child, but breastfeeding this time around has been SOOOO much easier than the first three months with Delano were!

Ok, so claiming that "it rocks" at 18 days in is an exaggeration.  But for those of you who read my posts about my breastfeeding experiences after Delano was born, you know that I had a bit of a rough time there for a while.  In the second blog post I wrote, which was a few days shy of Delano's one-month birthday, I talked about how I wasn't prepared for the pain associated with scabby, cracked nipples.....and how I wasn't prepared for the long stretches of cluster feeding and how painful THAT was.  The cluster feedings took over for a while, not allowing me ANY relief.  Delano would latch on and I would want to both scream and cry.  I described it as being like shards of glass piercing through my nipples, and that was EXACTLY what it was like.  It would make my toes curl.  But I refused to give up.

When Delano was six weeks old, I discovered the possibility of a tongue tie.  A really rare posterior tongue tie, to be exact.  So when Delano was eight weeks old, he had his very first dentist appointment to inspect his mouth.  The dentist didn't visibly see any indications of a tongue tie, but said he would consult with an out-of-state specialist.  After he spoke with the specialist, he became fairly certain that a posterior tongue tie was indeed the likely culprit.  The problem was, none of the pediatric dentists in town had the equipment to deal with a posterior tongue tie, especially in an infant.  So when Delano was 10 weeks old, I decided I would make an appointment with a specialist at Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital.  But by the next week, before I had even had the chance to set up the appointment (I was trying to schedule it around a work project), everything FIXED ITSELF.  It seriously was like a switch was flipped.  I just woke up one day and there was suddenly NO PAIN ANYMORE.  It was the most fabulous thing ever.  I never made the trip to Vanderbilt.

So that was my experience with Delano.  It was painful, but didn't seem to be nearly as painful as some of the stories that some friends of mine shared.  One friend had a HORRIBLE experience with mastitis that occurred multiple times in a row and made her extremely sick.....yet she still breastfed her baby.  So although my first three months were rough, I'm grateful they weren't worse.

P.S.  Dairy cows often have to live their entire dairy lives with mastitis, with NO vet care for it (unless it affects their milk output).  Can you even imagine how HORRIBLY painful that is???

My experience with Lucy (so far) has been MUCH less dramatic.  I still had cracks and scabs in the beginning, though not as bad as my first go at breastfeeding.  And my nipples were definitely super angry about having a little person draining them every couple of hours, especially since Lucy came into this world with a small mouth and a shallow latch.  She actually cracked and scabbed me before I had even left the hospital due to her shallow latch.  But the cracks and scabs are long gone and we've been working on a correct, deep latch during every feeding.  My nipples are still sore, but that's to be expected.  So all in all, I have no complaints!

Last night and today have been a prime example of cluster feeding, which Lucy has decided to partake in.  She is attached to my boob at this exact moment, and my nipple is pretty much ablaze with FIRE in her mouth.  But she's falling asleep, AND I NEED HER TO SLEEP.  So that I can do something - ANYTHING - else besides feed her!

For the love that is all that is holy........STAY ASLEEP, CHILD!!!!

Just like that.  DO THAT.