Happy April Fool's Day 2015!

Sam's latest feeding schedule - 16-17 months

By now Sam is nursing just 3 times in 24 hours. His weaning process seems to be gradual and I don't mind that at all. I enjoy nursing more now because it's enjoyable to go to bed and wake up with nursing and the feeding in the early AM hours isn't all that bad (though I hope that's the first of the three he drops!).

7:45-8:15 AM: I nurse Sam whenever he wakes up or shortly thereafter.

9:00-9:15 AM: Breakfast time. Sam eats a bowl of "adult" cereal. Either Cheerios, corn flakes, Corn Chex, or something similar. Nothing sugary, but something tasty nonetheless. Then Sam eats cut up fruits (strawberries, plums, melon - whatever's in season) and often takes a swig of my fruit smoothie as well.

12:00 PM: After his nap, Sam gets a yogurt and some milk (cow's). He doesn't go for drinking all that much so we have to sneak it in.

3:00 PM: Sometime before his second nap (if applicable, since some days he just naps once), he has some bites of a peanut butter sandwich, or pureed fruit/veggie jar (he started liking them after a long break of not touching those jars). Also between naps, Sam gets a snack (pretzels, chips, fruits) and we try to get him to drink some more milk.

5:30 PM: Sam gets a light snack (usually fruit) if he's very hungry and supper isn't ready yet.

6:00-6:30 PM: Suppertime. Sam usually eats what I make for supper. Otherwise I defrost some soup with chicken (which I freeze in single-size portions for him), or he has bread and cheese.

7:45-8:00 PM: Bath and then bedtime nursing.

5:00-6:00 AM: Some time in this range Sam wakes up for a feeding. I don't mind because by then I've already had a good solid chunk of sleep so I don't feel that tired anymore.

Survey on Lactation Support in Hospitals following Childbirth

If you are on my blog, you are interested in breastfeeding, right? Great, now please help me out for a minute as I try to learn more about the lactation support given to moms after having a baby.

I composed a very short survey (it should take you no more than 3-5 minutes to complete) that focuses on the support received in the hospital after you had your baby, if you got any help, that is. I read lots online about "bad" LCs and nurses who think they know how to consult a new mom but offer pathetic, unhelpful advice and I am curious to know how often this is happening. Other moms say that their hospital LCs were so amazing that if not for them, they wouldn't have breastfed longer than a day. So let's see.

Here is a link to the survey.

Some questions we'll consider:

• Do mothers receive lactation support in the hospital after childbirth?
• Do mothers receive help from IBCLCs or non-certified lactation consultants?
• How knowledgeable is that consultant?
• How effective is that help?
• Do mothers receive all the help they need at the hospital or do they require follow-up later on?

Breastfeeding vs. formula-feeding pros/cons for Mom

It's interesting that some of the very pros of breastfeeding are the same as those for formula-feeding, but in different ways! Just goes to show you that either method may work beautifully for each individual mom. At the end of the day it's up to you and your baby to figure out which method to use.

I've compiled a list of some of the benefits and disadvantages for both sides of the debate, from the mother's point of view. I've actually enlisted the help of my mom friends who formula feed so I can get some accurate and useful information from them. Stay tuned because I'll keep adding as I think of more pros and cons!

BREASTFEEDING PROS:

• You can breastfeed almost anywhere, any time, etc. without worrying about leaving bottles and formula at home. 
• You get to sleep more (at least in the early days) because you don't have to go make bottles in the middle of the night, nor do you have to be so on top of burping during and after feedings.
• You lose your baby weight faster.
• You lower your risk for contracting certain diseases (ovarian and breast cancer, for example)
• Lactational amenorrhea can give you months and even years of no periods!
• If qualifying for WIC and nursing a baby, you may be eligible to receive food benefits for a full year (instead of 6 months if you formula-feed).
• No nasty odor on your baby or his clothes (from spit-up) or in his diaper! 
• Baby is protected from lots of illnesses and receives your immunity from even more illnesses so you don't have to tend to a sick child as often.
• Baby may take to solids easier since he is exposed to a variety of tastes from his mom's milk since birth.
• You can use your breastmilk for so many physical ailments (e.g. in ears for during infections, in the nostrils as a moisturizer, to heal bruises quicker, for conjunctivitis).

FORMULA-FEEDING PROS:

• You can give a bottle almost anywhere, any time, etc. You don't have to pull over during car rides.
• You can leave baby with a caregiver for extended periods of time. You're not tied down to the baby's schedule.
• You don't get any of the hormonal ups and downs associated with breastfeeding
• Anyone can feed the baby, like Dad! Especially handy in the middle of the night.
• Easy option for feeding a baby if a mother has a complicated delivery and is unable to nurse.
• You know exactly how much your baby drank in a feeding so no second-guessing there.
• Your figure doesn't change much so you can actually fit into clothing you used to (no automatic boob jobs for you).
• Bottle-feeding is more accepted in public situations so you don't have to leave the room to go nurse.

BREASTFEEDING CONS:

• Hormonal differences - your body might not behave the way it did pre-pregnancy. 
• Physical issues such as inverted nipples, nursing pain, latch issues, IGT (insufficient glandular tissue)
• Milk supply levels can be a concern at times
• You have to pump if you work out of the house and can't nurse your baby.
• Only you can feed your baby, nobody else! Unless, of course, you pump (ugh).
• Not all contraceptives are ok for a breastfeeding mom.
• Mother has to watch what she consumes: no alcohol, unsafe medications, foods causing an allergy in her baby etc.
• It may be impossible to switch to nursing if you haven't early on, or if a long while has elapsed since you last nursed.
• Nursing may make you feel like a "cow" (or like having one!)

FORMULA-FEEDING CONS:

• Formula has a nasty smell and is annoying to prepare the right way (following the guidelines).
• The nasty smell continues to spit-up, diapers, etc.
• Formula stains clothing.
• Formula is expensive! So is a full stock of baby bottles.
• You can't just decide to give your baby a bottle anywhere if you're not properly equipped.
• Washing out bottles isn't that fun.
• Baby may be allergic to some formulas

Nursing at night and milk supply

On a parenting forum, someone wanted to know if she can skip feedings at night (and have her husband give the baby a bottle those times) and still keep her milk supply at a good level. It got me thinking about the ramifications of this breastfeeding "shortcut".

In the beginning, when your baby is a newborn, you start founding your milk supply "factories". Nurse often, on demand, and you are setting up lots of factories in full production mode. Nurse only sometimes, or most of the time (but not each time baby has to eat) and you're leaving out some valuable establishments. In the beginning your milk is just being produced based on your hormones that were set into motion when you experienced labor and delivery.

It's also so important to nurse AT NIGHT especially because your milk-making hormone called prolactin functions at its best during the night. So one nursing session at night can be much more effective in maintaining your supply than a session by day.

Now, at some point your milk supply will regulate. Your hormones that accompanied labor and delivery are phasing out and your milk won't be gushing out like there's no tomorrow. This point varies in women. Some find that their milk regulates at six weeks, while for others (especially those with oversupply issues) tend to find their supply regulating several months later. My supply regulated when Sam was three months old. This can happen overnight, suddenly, or gradually (for me it was rather suddenly).

At that point, your system of supply and demand takes over. Now is when your factory system comes into play. If you have 5 factories in working order versus 15 factories, it'll obviously be way harder to keep up to the demands of your baby. That's why it's so important in the early days to nurse, nurse, nurse. Your baby cannot overdose on nursing.

Some mothers who skip feedings at night will have no problem with nursing later on. But many do. A key difference would be whether the mother is separated from her baby during the day or stays at home with her child. If a mother has to pump because of a separation, it can be a lot more difficult than nursing on demand if she was at home. Say you can't produce enough with the pump, now what? But if you're at home with your baby it's a lot easier since you can nurse several times that day if your baby doesn't fill up with less feedings.

Additionally, lots of mothers have oversupply issues so skipping a feeding might make them uncomfortable later on, but wouldn't really harm their supply. Also, just because a lot of people can manage doing something, doesn't mean that this is the norm and the "right" way to approach something. A lot of people don't wear seat belts and don't die in car accidents, just as a dramatic example.

Breastfeeding, pregnancy and a miscarriage

Here's the story of the beginning and the end.

On the night of December 6, 2014, I took a home pregnancy test because I felt I might be pregnant. My period wasn't really late yet, but I didn't feel any PMS and was curious. It didn't help that I also had plenty of unused tests lying around begging to be peed on. I got a faint positive line! After a few days I retested and got the same very, very faint line. Almost unnoticeable, but it did get darker out of the time frame specified on the package. So there definitely WAS some hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, the hormone released during pregnancy) going on there.

I finally went and got a blood test December 10th just to confirm. HCG measured at 68, which is kind of low, but doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. It was still early on. Progesterone was nice and high. The midwife who ordered the blood test and gave me the results was convincing me that I have to wean if I want a health pregnancy, but since I knew I had no problematic history and my progesterone was fine, there was really no reason to stop just yet. And it's a good thing I didn't. At that time I didn't know it, but breastfeeding would become my healing and coping mechanism.

I never experienced any pregnancy symptoms, just a missed period! No nausea, no cramping, no weird pains, no tiredness and fatigue, nothing! I kept thinking something was off because last time around I was feeling lots of symptoms at this point in the pregnancy. I got some pimples (which I never got last pregnancy). I wasn't curious for too long because on December 28th I started to bleed. First like a period, but then like Niagara Falls.

The next day I went to the ob/gyn office and the midwife who examined me said my cervix is closed so that's a good sign, but she ordered a vaginal ultrasound and blood test to see what's happening. Blood test on December 29th showed an hCG count of only 2300 which is way too low. The numbers have to double every 48-72 hours, and this was way, way behind. December 30th was the day for my ultrasound appointment and the results: no heartbeat, gestational sac inside the cervix, something else on one of the ovaries. So clear, I know. The doctor was also confused.

January 2nd I retake the blood test and the level is now at 568. That's a very good sign. Still bleeding. January 5th I pass what seems to be the embryo or whatever because it's just one big blob of something indiscernible. Finally. After that bleeding tapers off, my levels continue to drop, I breastfeed Sam.

It was so, so good that I was still able to nurse. Imagine I'd have weaned and then after this experience I'd lose that delicious, pleasurable, nurturing mothering bond. Devastating thought! Each time I nursed Sam throughout this ordeal, it gave me renewed strength. I delighted in nursing, more than I ever did.

I did not ignore the midwife's advice completely, though. I did drop two feedings in the span of those few weeks. I felt they weren't really necessary anyway, plus I needed more sleep (less waking up at night). It wasn't difficult at all because Sam ate much better and his sleeping development progressed to allow him to sleep much longer stretches at night.

Some points:

• My supply was not affected by this at all. In fact I didn't have any hormonal drops in supply that I normally got with ovulation. So that's a good thing. People think the day they become pregnant is the day their milk supply vanishes into thin air and they've got to wean ASAP. It doesn't work like that. Most of the time the supply changes occur during the second trimester.
• The myth about breastfeeding during pregnancy causing miscarriages? Well, here's an explanation: For a pregnancy to be able to continue and the fetus to grow and be supported, you need adequate levels of progesterone. That's what thickens the uterine lining every month. Breastfeeding is associated with lower levels of progesterone. In most cases, if a woman doesn't have any history of low progesterone, breastfeeding will totally not cause a loss of pregnancy.

New menstrual changes during breastfeeding

I just got my second period after having a miscarriage. More on that soon. It's weird. Remember I wrote about how ovulation found me experiencing sudden letdown issues, resulting in less output but normal everything during periods? Well, now things have become the exact opposite! They do say that your menstrual cycle can change with each pregnancy you go through, so it makes sense. When I ovulated this cycle, I really wasn't sure if it was actually happening or not. I did not feel any nipple soreness during breastfeeding, no letdown delay, no supply drops, no stomach cramps... nothing! I just saw some extra discharge but that could have been anything. I still marked that day down in my calendar.

Two weeks later to the day I get my period. So I guess something did happen then. I just felt no breastfeeding-related symptoms. However, I got them now with my period! Guess I can't escape it. I feel the soreness, the stunted letdowns, less swallowing on Sam's part, and all that. However, the period itself didn't come with its own symptoms (yay!) like cramping, vaginal itching etc.

So if you're feeling despondent about how your body is running through its menstrual cycles in a way that's much more annoying than it ever used to be, don't despair. It can change yet again, and hopefully for the better.