Breastfeeding stories

[Kristin Ahern]

Hi All,

It's been a while since I've checked in! We welcomed Thatcher Reed a little over 2 weeks ago. It's been an amazing whirlwind. Congrats to Michelle who is next :)

I am looking for some positive stories or tips that you all used when some of you struggled with breastfeeding in the early days ( with #1 or #2). I remember there being supply, latch, and nipple shield convos all the time but didn't tune in because nursing Everett was pretty effortless. This one on the other hand is hard!! He has a horrible latch and my nipples are destroyed (cracks that have turned into bleeding craters). He's gaining weight but I dread each feeding because of the pain. Working with a lac consultant but no improvement thus far. I haven't worn a shirt in 2 weeks and looking for any advice/ success stories.

Hope everyone is well & looking fwd to hearing from some of you!

Kristin
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[Nell Reid]

Soak your nipples in little warm bowls of saltwater multiple times a day for healing! Read Kellymom.com - lots of good stuff on there. We had a lot of trouble in the beginning... Terrible latch and he wasn't gaining weight! Was so hard - but worked with a really nice lactation consultant who helped me to relax and slowly it all just started working. Took about 2.5-3 months though before it felt effortless. If it's a shallow latch you can help him get more in his mouth - shallow latch really hurts! but I'm sure the LC has tried to help you do that. Maybe try a different LC if things don't start improving. The nice one that helped me start seeing progress was my second. I stopped working with the first bc I didn't like her! Also maybe let jake do a bottle every now and then when you can't bear it... Give yourself a break. Try to keep your nips warm... Warm compresses. Good luck girl! It can be so hard but after our tumultuous beginning I ended up nursing theo until just shy of two! So it'll pass! Congrats and love the name!!!

Nell Reid

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[Kathy Byfield]

Kristin, I had really bad cracked nipples with Emmet... he even poo'd blood once and I freaked out until I realized that it was because of my nipples. Luckily, one of my breasts was worse than the other, so I just stopped nursing out of that one for a few days and let it heal.  Like Nell said, I soaked in warm water (and salt maybe?) and it got better in a few days, then I began nursing again out of it...Didn't seem to affect my supply. Is one worse than the other? Maybe you could give one a rest? Or just pump for a bit? You might not be able to keep the milk (if there's blood in it), but it'd keep up your supply.

Hope it gets easier. It's funny how different they are, right? Emm was never a great nurser, but Owen was super easy. I'm still nursing him-

Hang in there, Mama. You're doing great. I LOVE his name! Send pix when you can :)

xo kathy

[Jessica Fischer]

Congratulations Kristin! Love the name- saw pics on Instagram.  He's super cute. 

I'm sorry the bfeeding is tough right now but stick with it and it will get better!  

The one thing I learned from my second delivery- (Welles Aiden Fischer was born 8/22/14!) is that even if you think you can't handle it, you can.  Hang in there Mama!!! 

Was in BK yesterday and it brought back so many memories- can't believe how much time has passed since I first met all of you.  Our babies are going to be coming up on their 3rd birthdays! Wild.  

Sent from my iPhone

[Michelle Neuringer]

Congratulations Kristin and Jess!  Jess--Welles shares my birthday :)

And thanks, Kristin, for sharing my news with the group (though most of you already know since we Facebook announced last week)!  We're welcoming another baby girl in about 3 months.  This pregnancy is flying by.

I didn't experience any nipple pain when breastfeeding, but I think that's probably because I have very little sensitivity there.  I had my nipples pierced long before Zoe came along, and I suspect that desensitized me... and allowed me to nurse well into my pregnancy without pain (Zoe self-weaned when I was 4 months pregnant - we had a long run!).  With that said, the one problem we had early on was with an inverted nipple - the LC had me wearing nipple shields to correct the problem, and at one point told me that I may never be able to nurse from that side.  But, with time the problem corrected itself.  Just goes to show that every baby and every set of boobs is different.  Hang in there!

Hope everyone is doing well - maybe we can try to get together (with twice as many babies?) sometime soon?

Xoxo!  Michelle 

[Gabrielle Maxwell]

Congratulations, Kristin!! And what a beautiful name! I don't have any bfeeding advice but wish you luck in these early days. Did you reach out to the novjan Bococa group? They are still great for advice like that.

There are so many new (and not so new!) babies. Can everyone share some pictures? Congrats to everyone! And happy birthday to Margot and Owen, the seniors of the seconds!

I haven't seen the big kids in a while either....send around photos! (Come on - I know everyone is starting to pick out pictures for holiday cards anyway :).

Michelle - are you finding out if it's a boy or girl? How are you feeling?

Love!
Gabi
Ps - I'm due at the end of March!

[Megan Marsh]

Congrats to everyone!!! How super exciting :-)

As for breastfeeding, it was pretty painful for me at the beginning both times. This time though, it turned out that Olive had a tongue tie. Once we got the taken care of, it was relatively pain free. Something to look into maybe....

I can't believe how our group is growing! Would love to see everyone again soon.

Sent from my iPhone

[Lorena Ramirez]

Congratulations, Kristin! And Jess F. (Belatedly).
Welcome thatcher and Welles!

Michelle and Gabi, congrats!!!

Sorry to hear about the breast feeding issues, Kristin. I can completely commiserate. Although Lilliana is effective and a gulper, Arie never properly latched and it wasn't until after the 4wk mark that I swear my nipples grew callouses (or something) and just like that it stopped being painful. Try and do everything to help soothe the discomfort and if you can pump--it will get better. After that despite A's frequent nursing, I loved doing it and we did it until he self-weaned at 20 months.

I can't believe how much has happened and that are babies are little boys and girls.

Big hugs!
Lorena

[Nell Reid]

Theo had a tongue tie too! Had to have his frenulum snipped. Was traumatic to think about but totally easy and might have helped the prob too... Forgot to mention that!

Nell Reid

[Megan Marsh]

Yes, I think the snip was more traumatic for me than it was for her! Her pediatrician was the one who officially diagnosed it (only after I mentioned asked her to look at it) and then I called all the pediatric ENT docs in the area and someone was able to get us in the next day. Super quick and easy.

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[Olivia Racanelli]

Congrats Kristin!
And all the new and expecting mommies! We are a lucky bunch!

I had a terrible time with Celie (Margot a breeze thankfully). I never figured out if there was a latch issue but it was very painful at the beginning and sporadically throughout. Not sure how you feel about lanolin but that helped me with initial dryness and soreness. They also make more natural oil based nipple creams and oils to help heal. Eventually the dry/cracked mess just went away after the first week or so even when other problems persisted so hopefully it's just about breaking your boobies in on a new latch?

Good luck and hang in there.

Xx

[Jessica Sperling]

Yes - many congrats to Kristin and Jess!!

I had a not-great time breastfeeding both Eve and Liddy for the first few weeks, and then things got better. I used Lasinoh and also nursed one side more often if the other was too terrible. But mostly, I just suffered through whatever pain I had - not ideal. I hope you get things in working order!

It's certainly been a while since I've seen many of you- glad to hear a quick update from all. Here's a recent pic of Eve and Liddy. To echo whoever else said it, I think a group get-together with first and second babies is in order!

Jess

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Jessica Sperling
917.797.4678
jessica....@gmail.com

[Dara Webman]

Hi All -

Sorry for the late reply.  We are just returning from a long weekend in Miami visiting Grandma & Papa.

I don’t have much to add on the breast feeding front.  Andi had a great latch but I never produced enough milk to support her fully.  I’m hoping things will be different with her brother who is due April 1st!  That will be a fantastic April Fools Joke, ha ha ha, welcome to the world of TWO crazy children!  Gabi, maybe we will be in the hospital at the same time and we can have a little party?

Anyone around this Friday for a get together?  I am off from work and around all day.  Let me know if anyone would like to play?

I am attaching a recent picture of Andi.  Hope to see some of you soon!

Dara

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[Jessica Sperling]

Congratulations!!! So excited to hear about the impending #2!! How's Andi feeling about it?  Would live to see you on Fri, but I'll be out of town (and am working full-time, so weekdays sadly don't really work regardless). I'd love to get together another time though!

[Kathy Byfield]

Congrats Dara!!! Aww, all this baby news makes me smile :)

We had photos taken a few weeks ago. Owen (Winnie), who is generally very happy, was NOT during the shoot... Here's a funny one. We call it "Baby Blue Steel." Don't go near his cheerios!

[Olivia Racanelli Annicq]

I love the pics. Here are my girls on GoGo's first birthday :)

On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 7:59 PM, Kathy Byfield <kathyh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Congrats Dara!!! Aww, all this baby news makes me smile :)

We had photos taken a few weeks ago. Owen (Winnie), who is generally very happy, was NOT during the shoot... Here's a funny one. We call it "Baby Blue Steel." Don't go near his cheerios!

[Jessica Fischer]

Loving all the pics of the kiddos!  We had newborn pics taken and here is one of the two of them! xx

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[Gabrielle Maxwell]

Dara! Congrats! That's really funny timing since andi and maddie are just days apart.

​ Yes, definitely party at the hospital! ​

 

​I love all of these pictures! Here's one of Maddie from this weekend picking out her pumpkin while we were visiting my inlaws in Wisconsin (and yes, of course she tried desperately to pick it up!).

We aren't around friday morning but would love to see everyone soon!  

​

On Oct 13, 2014, at 4:10 PM, Dara Webman <dweb...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All -

Sorry for the late reply.  We are just returning from a long weekend in Miami visiting Grandma & Papa.

I don’t have much to add on the breast feeding front.  Andi had a great latch but I never produced enough milk to support her fully.  I’m hoping things will be different with her brother who is due April 1st!  That will be a fantastic April Fools Joke, ha ha ha, welcome to the world of TWO crazy children!  Gabi, maybe we will be in the hospital at the same time and we can have a little party?

Anyone around this Friday for a get together?  I am off from work and around all day.  Let me know if anyone would like to play?

I am attaching a recent picture of Andi.  Hope to see some of you soon!

Dara

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