I was given Milk Snob cover in exchange for my honest review. All opinion expressed are my own.

 

I can’t believe it’s been one month since I gave birth! Soon, I will post Dahlia’s birth story which was everything I hoped it would be for but for now I wanted to give a quick update on how our first month of breastfeeding has been thus far.

I feel like I didn’t try hard enough with Ji so this time around I want to give it my all. I’m especially adamant about it since Dahlia is a Winter baby and there are lots of viruses going around that I don’t want her to catch. Yes, I’m that paranoid mom that doesn’t want their baby to get sick! I know that she will be even more exposed to germs since big sister is going to school now.

Week 1: Breastfeeding and First Growth Spurt!

The first few days of breastfeeding were great but then on day four my nipples started to crack, and I was in so much pain. I hadn’t realized she wasn’t latching on correctly and was I so ready to give up! The hubby was great and took me to see a lactation consultant. It made such a difference because while there, I sat on a chair and elevated my feet. I hadn’t been doing that at home, and I realized that it helped a lot.  Later that night, my husband went out for groceries and on a secret trip to Babies R Us. He is so sweet! He came back with different nipple shields for me to try to help relief the pain. He wasn’t going to let me give up! The shields were perfect because on day seven she started nursing every 45-50 minutes. She was going through her first growth spurt, and I could have never done it if I was still in pain. She eventually got her latch down on one breast, and it healed enough where I no longer needed to use the shield on both sides.

Keeping germs away at our first check-up with our Milk Snob cover

Week 2: Growth Spurt #2

I started feeling very confident about breastfeeding. I was no longer in pain and loved that I had enough milk supply to get her to sleep 2-3 hour stretches at night. She had another growth spurt on her 14th day birthday and ate by the hour, but even so, I was feeling back to normal and getting my energy levels back.  I even took Ji to the park a few times and nursed in public. I got this!

Week 3: Dahlia’s First Cold

Right when I thought I had this new life with two kids down my poor little newborn catches a cold. I was so nervous about it all week but thank goodness that even though she was congested and had a pretty bad cough she still nursed normally. This week I also noticed that one of my breasts was making an insane amount of milk and the other about half the amount. I started latching her on to one that makes the least milk in hopes that it got the message and started producing more. I’m not sure that it was such a great idea because week 4 got tough!

 

Week 4: Plugged Duct and Growth Spurt #3?!

Did I make a mistake by latching her on to the least productive breast first? She was feeding at one breast per session but now I’m using both and the one that soaked 3-4 nursing pads a day has not leaked at all! I feel so weak, I have the chills and I definitely caught a cold too. I also noticed that my most productive breast has some red streaks and feels engorged on one side. I started to suspect a plugged duct so I jumped into action and started using warm compresses and massaging the area  before each session. By morning I felt better but she started every 30-45 minutes for the next four days. Either my milk supply went down or she is experiencing another growth spurt. I’m thinking and hoping that it’s the latter!

Getting some much needed fresh air

Daddy Duties

Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do. It’s especially difficult when you are sleep deprived and have a three-year-old whose new favorite phrase is “I want” and has discovered tantrums. As difficult as it is, I don’t want to give up. I initially gave myself a short goal of six weeks, but after seeing how well and quickly my baby recovered from her first cold, I can’t help but see the benefits and want to continue for as long as possible. However, it has been a difficult first month filled with different physical and emotional feelings and as much as  I wish that I could end this post by saying that all is great and that I am going to continue until she one year old, our breastfeeding future will be foreseen on day by day basis. That’s all I can commit to right now, and I’m OK with that.

Do you have any breastfeeding tips for me? I would love to hear anything you have to share! It can be a quote, a supplement you took, your favorite nursing related product, position. Anything!

I’m currently loving the Milk Snob cover. The material is so soft and it comes in tons of different colors and patterns. You can use it as a nursing, carseat, shopping cart, high-chair and swing cover!

-Ruby