In need of some encouragement ππ
Hey ladies! I have a son, who is now 3, that was primarily formula fed. I tried breastfeeding for a short time, but they had supplemented with formula at the hospital because of his weight and it made me feel discouraged from the get go. I ended up just switching to formula very early on. I also feel that I gave up so quickly because I was not educated enough about breastfeeding. My daughter was born almost two months ago and breastfeeding has been the only option for me. I've refused to give up. We've had tons of issues already, from only being able to pump the first week because I was so engorged and couldn't get her to latch and due to flat nipples, to finally being able to get her to latch but only with a nipple shield, to getting mastitis twice within 3 weeks, to now having HUGE chunks out of my nipples missing. I still use the nipple shield to feed, my nipples are completely flat and my lactation consultant had said to continue using it if it's the only one I can get her to latch. I thought maybe we still had a latch issue with the shield because she has wanted to eat every hour since birth, but her mouth goes completely over the nipple of it. I also go to a breastfeeding class and weigh her before and after feeding, and she takes in 2-4oz a feeding going by the scale. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong! I've had problem after problem and really don't want to give up, but it's become so stressful that I cry about it constantly and it has really affected my every day life. Right now I can't get my nipples to heal because she nurses every hour. I lather myself in lansinoh, but it doesn't seem to be helping too much. I try to make her wait a little bit longer if possible, instead of every hour on the hour. But it seems as if that has had an affect on my supply because of me waiting! She'll want to constantly nurse and doesn't seem to be satisfied, this just started the past 5 days (I have not been to my breastfeeding class since I've thought my supply was an issue, so I haven't been able to confirm this is one of the issues) I'm really concerned that waiting has put a dent in my supply, I'm also concerned that my nipples are going to get to be so painful I stop, and that I might have a bad latch that's not obvious to me. As I said before, her mouth goes completely over not nipple of the shield. I've tried giving BM bottles to give myself time to heal a bit, but she absolutely refuses to take it. I've tried 4 different kinds of bottles. I really just want her straight on the breast. I just don't know what to do. It doesn't help that my husband is completely unsupportive, he thinks formula and breast milk are one in the same. If I get frustrated or am hurting he blames me because "I should've just given her formula by now," even though he knows how important this is to me. Well, I just realized I've typed almost a novel. Lol. That's what happens at 6am, when your baby has been awake since 2am eating, and doesn't seem to be getting full. This was mainly to vent, but I would love to hear suggestions or success stories!
Achieve your health goals from period to parenting.