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lastweekLemme just say, there is no purer agony than a baby latching incorrectly onto an already exhausted, sore, scabbed-up nipple. Double points if he tugs at it, bites it, or breaks the latch with a big surprise POP! It's a pain that makes you hate all of life and the universe. I was beginning to dread feeding Alden. And on top of that, he was wanting to feed more. And more and more! Fussy for days, to the point where I couldn't even set him down for fear of epic screaming. (He'll scream until he goes several looong seconds between breaths and his face turns purple.) In case he was just really hungry, we even gave him the one bottle of expressed milk I'd managed to save. He gulped it down within a couple of minutes, then wanted to nurse soon after.
Last night no sleep came for me. Everyone warns you about sleepless nights with baby, but I'm pretty sure they're talking intermittent sleep rather than no sleep at all. All he wanted was boob. We lay on our sides, tummy to tummy, and he would nurse and I would silently cry in pain. If for any reason he lost hold of it, he'd frantically root around, desperation escalating at a rapid pace until he'd go off like a steam kettle. Michael, half awake, grumbled about the crying. I moved to the couch where Alden finally slept a bit, draped across my chest. But I couldn't sleep at all and sat up and watched as the light through the windows grew slowly brighter.
I read about causes of clusterfeeding. Like maybe he has acid reflux, or is using me to comfort himself. Maybe he's reacting to any dairy I've been eating (all that oatmeal, and some yogurt). He does need burping, and spits up a bit.
My mom came over today to help out while Michael was volunteering. I managed to shower. She washed our dishes, and helped experiment with ways to calm the baby. We checked his diaper, made sure he wasn't cold, bounced him around a bit, rocked him in the swing. Finally, when all else failed, we busted out the pacifier. I was trying to avoid using it. I am not down with pacifiers in general, and don't like the way they look sticking out of a baby's mouth. Also, the enormous pacifier they gave him in the hospital caused some nipple confusion at first. But today the pacifier seemed effective. I suppose I'm okay with using one on an as-needed basis, if it gives my boobs a break.
Mom stayed with Alden while I went to pick up Michael. Upon our return, I listened for crying before walking into the living room... There was none! As soon as I commented on the silence, however, the crying began. Apparently, he had stayed quiet, calm, and alert the entire 20 minutes I was gone. Hearing my voice turned the tides.
Later after she left, my friend Laura's mother stopped by. She works as a lactation consultant on the other side of the state, and is in town visiting, so she came over to meet with me. What a godsend! She weighed Alden (8 lbs, 7 oz.) and showed me how to properly latch him onto the breast (the way they showed me in the hospital was WRONG). There is significantly less pain with her method. Halle-freaking-lujah! He has a very slight tongue-tie, but his suction is good, so she didn't think it had anything to do with his clusterfeeding or my pain. After he'd nursed properly, and Laura's mother left, we both had a good two-hour nap!
Tonight he's still a bit fussy and feeding often, about every hour or so. But it's not as bad as before, and bonding with baby is so much easier when breastfeeding isn't some special brand of torture!
Last night no sleep came for me. Everyone warns you about sleepless nights with baby, but I'm pretty sure they're talking intermittent sleep rather than no sleep at all. All he wanted was boob. We lay on our sides, tummy to tummy, and he would nurse and I would silently cry in pain. If for any reason he lost hold of it, he'd frantically root around, desperation escalating at a rapid pace until he'd go off like a steam kettle. Michael, half awake, grumbled about the crying. I moved to the couch where Alden finally slept a bit, draped across my chest. But I couldn't sleep at all and sat up and watched as the light through the windows grew slowly brighter.
I read about causes of clusterfeeding. Like maybe he has acid reflux, or is using me to comfort himself. Maybe he's reacting to any dairy I've been eating (all that oatmeal, and some yogurt). He does need burping, and spits up a bit.
My mom came over today to help out while Michael was volunteering. I managed to shower. She washed our dishes, and helped experiment with ways to calm the baby. We checked his diaper, made sure he wasn't cold, bounced him around a bit, rocked him in the swing. Finally, when all else failed, we busted out the pacifier. I was trying to avoid using it. I am not down with pacifiers in general, and don't like the way they look sticking out of a baby's mouth. Also, the enormous pacifier they gave him in the hospital caused some nipple confusion at first. But today the pacifier seemed effective. I suppose I'm okay with using one on an as-needed basis, if it gives my boobs a break.
Mom stayed with Alden while I went to pick up Michael. Upon our return, I listened for crying before walking into the living room... There was none! As soon as I commented on the silence, however, the crying began. Apparently, he had stayed quiet, calm, and alert the entire 20 minutes I was gone. Hearing my voice turned the tides.
Later after she left, my friend Laura's mother stopped by. She works as a lactation consultant on the other side of the state, and is in town visiting, so she came over to meet with me. What a godsend! She weighed Alden (8 lbs, 7 oz.) and showed me how to properly latch him onto the breast (the way they showed me in the hospital was WRONG). There is significantly less pain with her method. Halle-freaking-lujah! He has a very slight tongue-tie, but his suction is good, so she didn't think it had anything to do with his clusterfeeding or my pain. After he'd nursed properly, and Laura's mother left, we both had a good two-hour nap!
Tonight he's still a bit fussy and feeding often, about every hour or so. But it's not as bad as before, and bonding with baby is so much easier when breastfeeding isn't some special brand of torture!
