Got milk?

Apparently August was National Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  So in honor of that, I thought I'd share a few tales from our own adventures in breastfeeding. 

All in all, it's going quite well for us. We took a week or so to really get in the groove but now it seems pretty easy for me and my little "boob man."  I knew before he was born that I definitely wanted to breastfeed for as long as possible but I didn't realize how much Daniel and I would come to enjoy having that time together.  He seems so content nuzzled up on the Boppy pillow and will usually drift off to sleep after a feeding.  I like that it's a special job that only I can do for him and that it gives me the power to turn a crying baby into a peaceful one in seconds.  Adding pumping to the mix gives me the best of both worlds, the bonding, health benefits, and cost-effectiveness of breastfeeding with the convenience of bottles so Kevin or someone else can feed him on occasion.  Despite the inconveniences that come along with it I know I'll miss nursing once he weans off of breast milk.

While it has gone well most of the time, we've had a few interesting moments along the way:


A few weeks ago I took a nap one afternoon and woke up with one of the "girls" feeling very sore.  Since it was the side he fed from second at the last feeding I assumed it was just sore from being overly full but the pain remained even though I nursed Daniel on that side first at our next feeding.  Then I started to feel really tired so when Kevin got home that evening he watched Daniel so I could nap.  When I woke up I came downstairs and felt feverish and cold and achy all over.  I thought I must be getting the flu or something then connected the dots and remembered reading about mastitis, a bacterial infection in the breast.  I looked it up again and read that symptoms include pain in the affected area as well as flu-like symptoms. 

I made an appointment the next morning with my midwife and she was kind enough to squeeze me in between a few patients in labor.  She seconded my armchair diagnosis, said my sweet little cherub had given me the infection through germs in his mouth, and prescribed some antibiotics to clear it up.  As promised I felt better within 24 hours but despite the instruction to nurse Daniel on the affected side as often as possible I had to improvise by pumping that side instead because nursing hurt so much I actually screamed at one point.  Fortunately all was better within a few days but it was an experience I'd be glad to never have again.

On a more humorous note, on my first girl's night out to see a movie with Nicole I stopped off at Destination Maternity to shop for some more nursing bras first.  I grabbed a few bras to try on and went into a dressing room.  After undressing I grabbed one of the new bras to try on thinking as I did so, "boy would this be an unfortunate time to start leaking!"  No sooner did the thought cross my mind then I looked down to find myself dripping onto the floor! 

I held the new bra away from me so as not to get on it while frantically digging in the top I'd worn for the nursing pads.  The good news is those covered the leak, the bad news is they're adhesive on the clothes side not the body side so before trying on each new bra I'd have to hold the pads to myself with one arm while maneuvering my way into the bra with the other.  I could have used at least one more arm for all of that but in the end I was able to get it done and even somehow grab the bottled water the saleslady offered me to drink through the curtain.  As all this was happening it crossed my mind that many stores have hidden cameras to prevent theft so if this one did, someone probably got a good laugh out of watching me wrestle with the mischievous girls!  Needless to say, this is one of those things I never imagined I'd be doing.

Speaking of things I never imagined myself doing, this past weekend I had my first out of the house pumping experience.  We took Daniel on his first road trip to visit my parents in Austin and Saturday we made a day trip to south Texas to introduce Daniel to his great-grandparents.  Before we went to dinner that night I tried to get Daniel to nurse but he wasn't very hungry so after we got to the restaurant while everyone else was inside starting the meal I went back out to the car to pump.  Fortunately we have an adapter that allows me to use the cigarette lighter outlet for power instead of just batteries so the pump was at full strength but it was more than a little awkward getting everything all set up in the back seat (where the windows are tinted).  Further, it started getting really hot in there even with the air on so I cracked the window a little to get a breeze, and then of course a car full of people pulled up and parked right next to me.  Granted it was dusk, and I'm sure they couldn't see what I was doing, but given that pumping is usually a private experience I was of course a little self-conscious wondering what they'd think.  Thankfully it wasn't daylight and it was much cooler than it has been most of the month so I had the option of cracking the window.  It was a better option than the bathroom stall but I hope I don't have many backseat pumping experiences in my future, or at least not while it's still warm out.

Wonder what nursing and pumping adventures await...