Some news...

[bunique]

Check, check, check and check. She really is a little bugger

[bunique]

I have got to the point where I'm not feeling the need to take paracetemol and ibuprofen every couple of hours, so it must be getting better. Small steps!

[bunique]

Sadly I think that's what I have to wait for. Tedious though!

[Katster]

How many weeks is she now? I was ready to give up after 5 it was awful. I persevered but was still ready to give up at 6 weeks. I decided to give it until 8 weeks and if it was still no better then that was me done. Something clicked at 7.5 weeks. Phew!

[bunique]

2 weeks today. It better click faster than that!!

[midnight]

Jesus midnight! I'm amazed you came through all that and kept feeding! Puts my woes into context. 2 weeks old today and it's getting better but still not great - no idea how you're supposed to heal cracks when the baby feeds every few hours!

Thanks. I'm bloody stubborn, if I think it's worth it. And I didn't like messing around with the formula (although, like others said, switching to formula really isn't the end of the world, I was raised on it, and whilst there are a few things wrong with me they can hardly be blamed on nutrition. )

As for the pain, I started using the Lansinoh stuff after a week and the rest was just grinding teeth, showering and getting on with it. Toughened up after about 4 weeks, if I remember it correctly. It's weird, but even bits that looked almost unmendable healed perfectly in the end, took a few days.

[greenfairy43]

I'll get shot for saying it Bunique, but have you tried a nipple shield? Just for the short term?

[bunique]

I haven't, mainly because I've had to work so hard on her latch that I'm a bit worried it would set us back. I'm block feeding so the worse side is getting a really good break between feeds. I managed to get out today using the Jelonet stuff to stop clothes rubbing which was a godsend! Trying the whole moist wound healing approach...I'm not sure how much difference it'll make - in reality all it needs is time and a consistently good latch I think - it'll get easier as she gets bigger. I may have to chop off her left arm though as she always tries to shove her hand in her mouth just as I'm about to latch her!

[Katster]

I had similar issues Bunique Willow was so keen to feed she'd rush things and there were arms thrashing and a head bobbing about making it so difficult for me to guide her on. That's why I started boobie club, I wanted advice on how you go about feeding in public with a baby like that?! (They do calm down eventually, and you get better and more confident). I also had a tear in one nipple (no idea how, bad latch initially I guess?) so had to block feed from the other side whilst it healed. Ouch. Keep going, even the worst of wounds will heal...it just takes time as you say.

Something to bear in mind - I was told if the tear was really deep boobie milk might be too acidic so lansinoh would be better initially.

Keep going

[Katster]

How are you getting on Bunique?

Willow is teething but handling it like a trooper (for now).

Going back to what you said about breastfeeding benefits being minimal Barry which bit do you mean? Because it's not just future benefits and it's not just benefits for Willow....breastfeeding has helped me to return to my pre-pregnancy weight with ease and I am getting far more sleep thanks to the hormones released through feeding and the fact I don't have to get out of bed to make a bottle. Now that we are through that initial learning period life is much simpler knowing wherever I go I can feed her, I don't have to worry about having access to clean water and sterilised bottles etc. She may well still end up obese and prone to ear infections, but right now I can already feel the benefits for myself.

[feral chile]

How are you getting on Bunique?

Willow is teething but handling it like a trooper (for now).

Going back to what you said about breastfeeding benefits being minimal Barry which bit do you mean? Because it's not just future benefits and it's not just benefits for Willow....breastfeeding has helped me to return to my pre-pregnancy weight with ease and I am getting far more sleep thanks to the hormones released through feeding and the fact I don't have to get out of bed to make a bottle. Now that we are through that initial learning period life is much simpler knowing wherever I go I can feed her, I don't have to worry about having access to clean water and sterilised bottles etc. She may well still end up obese and prone to ear infections, but right now I can already feel the benefits for myself.

I can't really articulate this, but I always thought there was a benefit in the fact that your baby has direct skin contact with you. I know you can still have that, but you don't even have to think about it while breastfeeding.

Edited February 2, 2015 by feral chile

[Katster]

Actudirect?

[Katster]

Ah. Lol. Yeah I'm inclined to agree. I'm not very maternal and I really worried about bonding. I didn't feel that huge rush of love for Willow until about an hour after she was born and she got herself in there and started feeding. I know it sounds silly but I just couldn't believe someone so small and new could be so alert and switched on with what they had to do, and how much they needed me. We didn't get any photos of me after giving birth (we both forgot lol) but I have a very precious photo of that very precious moment and the intensity in her eyes is incredible. Yeah yeah, she's turned me into a soppy doting mother.

[Katster]

Can you see it here?

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152620767986711&id=542541710&set=a.10150199081341711.307503.542541710&source=48&ref=bookmark

[feral chile]

Can you see it here?

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152620767986711&id=542541710&set=a.10150199081341711.307503.542541710&source=48&ref=bookmark

No it's protected.

I wondered what you meant with actudirect lol then I realised I'd badly edited actual/direct.

[Katster]

Here?

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/forums/gallery/image/4746-temporary/

[bunique]

That's a gorgeous pic Katster. I have very few photos of me with my first as a newborn so have tried to take a couple more this time around. I have a couple of lovely pics of me feeding R on my wedding day which she loves looking at too!

Feeding is doing better - I rested one side completely over the weekend and just expressed to keep my supply up. It means at least one of the cracks has healed on that side. So as of today we're back to feeding off both sides - one is absolutely fine, the other is still a bit sore but infinitely better than it was (I was having to hammer the floor with my feet through the first 30 seconds of more of every feed just to get through it!). I'm hoping another week and we'll be on our way, pain free! She was back up to within 20g of her birthweight on Friday so we were discharged from the midwife which was a relief

[feral chile]

Awww!

That is a lovely pic.

Hope you're pain free soon bunique

[Katster]

That's sounding very positive Bunique, well done. I'd rather go through labour again than those initial weeks of breastfeeding. It hurts, they lied when they told me it wouldn't!!

[Katster]

How are all our efestival babies doing?? Willow is fab, I'm still loving every minute. She's teething though, poor girl.

[Katster]

Oh don't, I'm already fretting about having to go back to work, I really don't want to

[bunique]

I'll be asking for part time/job share when I go back and looking elsewhere if it's turned down. Nothing like maternity leave to make you realise how little it's possible to live on (having just done our budget for the year to see how long I can eke before going back. I was hoping to scrape by til January using annual leave but will play it by ear.

Littlun is good, feeding well and sleeping not too bad as long as it's right next to or on me! We've gone full on cloth/reusable nappies which Is working out pretty well! And they look so cute on the bum!

Off to meet some sling-y mums tomorrow to share my stash!

[midnight]

Sorry I was on holiday when you posted this.... I missed it

I was talking health benefits for the baby in modern day Britain. That was the prospective.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/10/breastfeeding-best-debate

I stumbled over this as part of the bf debate (when I was actually looking for something quite different), but at the end of the day, evidence or not, the fact that I didn't have to get out of bed much in the middle of the night, and didn't have to mess with bottles when out & about was reward enough for me.

[midnight]

Oh don't, I'm already fretting about having to go back to work, I really don't want to

How old will Willow be when you have to go back?

[Katster]

About ten months. I'm lucky that it's going to be my dad who looks after her and they've already bonded quite well, but I wish it was me or her dad ideally, as my parents don't fully understand or respect our decision to practice attachment parenting and think I need to 'let her fall asleep by herself' ie crying to prevent making a rod for our own back. My dad kinda gets it and we are working hard to make sure he fully understands for when the time comes. I just don't want her left crying, it goes against my instincts to let a baby/child cry, even if I know they are crying because they are tired.