Where's the Chocolate Milk? Part 1
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My Story
This is long. Bear with me.
When I gave birth to Nugget 8.5 months ago, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. But that's all I knew. Due to me giving birth 3 weeks earlier than planned, I didn't get to finish my birth and breastfeeding class. After almost 2 days of nursing in the hospital (which went fine for HER, we had no jaundice, moved all her meconium, only lost 5 ounces), my nipples were completely raw, cracked, and one side even bleeding. Hubs wanted me to "rest" myself and give formula, but breastfeeding was do or die for me. I did not want my child drinking formula, it was kinda the one thing I refused to budge on as a mommy. [DISCLAIMER: I am not judging any mother who chooses to formula feed, or combination feed, but these are my personal convictions. There was no medical reason for me to not nurse.] The hospital lactation consultant came in before discharge, saw baby girl had a bad latch, gave me a nipple shield, and told me to use it while allowing my nips to heal. Nipple shields are a double edge sword; great in the short term, but can cause issues down the line. She said she didn't like giving them, but I was in such bad shape I needed it until I could meet with a consultant outside the hospital.
When I gave birth to Nugget 8.5 months ago, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. But that's all I knew. Due to me giving birth 3 weeks earlier than planned, I didn't get to finish my birth and breastfeeding class. After almost 2 days of nursing in the hospital (which went fine for HER, we had no jaundice, moved all her meconium, only lost 5 ounces), my nipples were completely raw, cracked, and one side even bleeding. Hubs wanted me to "rest" myself and give formula, but breastfeeding was do or die for me. I did not want my child drinking formula, it was kinda the one thing I refused to budge on as a mommy. [DISCLAIMER: I am not judging any mother who chooses to formula feed, or combination feed, but these are my personal convictions. There was no medical reason for me to not nurse.] The hospital lactation consultant came in before discharge, saw baby girl had a bad latch, gave me a nipple shield, and told me to use it while allowing my nips to heal. Nipple shields are a double edge sword; great in the short term, but can cause issues down the line. She said she didn't like giving them, but I was in such bad shape I needed it until I could meet with a consultant outside the hospital.
Once home, she began clusterfeeding. Clusterfeeding is probably the point that makes or breaks a breastfeeding mother. On the baby's end, they're growing rapidly, always hungry and building up the mom's milk supply by constantly wanting to nurse. Breastmilk is the easiest thing for babies to digest, and as such they get hungry quick. Old school, uneducated thinking is that breastmilk is too "thin" and moms are out here starving babies and not producing enough.
[can i pause here to say to breastfeeding mommies, YOU ARE ENOUGH. unless you've been determined to have Insufficient Glandular Tissue disorder (IGT), removal of breast ducts via breast reduction or nippleplasty, or taking contraindicated drugs (and that's yet another post), only 2 to 4 % of women don't make enough milk. ]
Anywhooo, ya girl was TIIIED honey. tieee- erd. TIRED. Here come the formula police again. Again, I decline. Somethings gotta give. I pump sometimes. Clean the nipple shield. Find the nipple shield. WHERE IS THE NIPPLE SHIELD? I tried finding a breastfeeding support group, La Leche League, something. I needed someone to help me. Her pediatricians had technically deemed her failure to thrive, although she was meeting developmental milestones. My baby, as cute as she was, was having a hard time gaining weight. But I found nothing in my immediate area. I went back through my discharge papers to try to get in contact with someone at Holy Cross and came across the contact info for the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington. They were a godsend, and three consultations, 4 months of support groups, and two bras later I emerged as a confident nursing mama. But as wonderful as they were, I had to travel all the way to K Street in Northwest DC. I live in Upper Marlboro, 7 minutes from the PG/ Anne Arundel line, and its a 40 minute trek by car or train to that part of the District. Why subject myself to that? Because Prince Georges county is seriously lacking in postnatal breastfeeding support. It took four one- on- one appointments and just as many weight checks to ensure Nugget was transferring milk effectively, gaining weight, and keeping it on. We discovered that she did have a slight posterior tongue tie and a high arched palate, this is what made feeding her so incredibly painful in the beginning. She had to be taught how to latch properly. Funny how something so "natural" is really "unnatural" and has to be a learned skill for so many. After discovering the ties it was recommended that she get clipped, but daddy isn't a fan and learning proper latching techniques helped a lot of our issues. So as an alternative we started chiropractic treatments and craniosacral therapy (CST). Yes, my baby has a chiropractor. No, she doesn't crunch her back. I also cant really explain how CST works, it just DOES. By January, Nugget went from not being on the growth chart at all to being 3%. [#hallelujerr]. From there, her growth and development exploded. She currently is about 17 lbs, from a low of 4 lbs 15oz and was exclusively breastfed until we introduced solids at 6 months.
[let me also give her pediatricians a shoutout. Heyyy Drs. Brown and Perdue!! They were extremely supportive in my decision to keep breastfeeding. It was Dr. Perdue who told me to nurse whenever she wanted, how long she wanted and to not let her go more than 2 hrs without eating. Y'all, that ish was exhausting. But it saved me from having to supplement. Dr. Brown was constantly assuring me that she was growing on her own curve, and while they used the charts, not to tie myself to numbers because she was perfect. Every visit, "your baby is perfect". As a new mom, struggling to hold on, I held on to his words. They are the real MVP's.]
I was determined. I was also blessed. Under protocols laid out by the Affordable Care Act in 2010, my insurance covered lactation support visits 100% as part of breastfeeding support and preventative care. A lot of carriers, especially state and independent ones try to skirt this, but it IS supposed to be covered, the number of visits allowed and the time frame may vary from one plan to another, so it's best you contact your benefits hotline. I had an awesome benefits coordinator at my OBGYN's office who told us this before baby girl came, and that we should be eligible for replacement parts (for your FREEE pump, also to be supplied by insurance) for up to three years as well. Had I not already been armed with this knowledge and knew that I could ask for help and it not come out of pocket, I most likely would've given up; if not from accessibility it definitely would've been cost prohibitive. Consults in the DC area often start around $150, unless they accept insurance or use an income based sliding scale (that I don't qualify for). But I'm kind of the exception, not the rule. I hear all the time how moms wished they could've nursed longer but they didn't make enough milk/ it never came (lack of support and education), or it hurt too bad (bad latch, ties, no LC support), or their job (you have rights). Sometimes I feel guilty that I have been able to go this long, it breaks my heart to hear that another mom struggled and essentially just didn't have support. It was my story and the hundreds everyday that don't get told, the moms that started formula out of desperation and sometimes necessity, the desire to break cultural and social stigmas that I truly want to undergo training to become a Certified Lactation Consultant and Infant Feeding Specialist.
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| my little chunk |
Stay tuned for part 2 with breastfeeding stats as it relates to home.
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