Right after Josie was born, breastfeeding came quite easily for us and was a totally opposite experience than with my first baby. Of course, it helped that this baby was born at term, without a long labour, without any narcotics in her system and she was able to go skin to skin with me right after birth. All really important factors that relate to the success of establishing breastfeeding. I also knew how to hand express colostrum and would manually express drops of the good stuff so that her reward was instant when she came close to me. Encouraging a suckle right from the start. 
This nursing experience with Josie was in sync right from the very first latch. My 9 pound newborn lost only a minuscule amount of weight by day 1 and started gaining weight by day 2. The nurse always looked a bit shocked when she would weight Josie and the weight was increasing instead of the expected decrease that is often seen. I experienced minor engorgement that regulated itself by day 5, unlike the severe engorgement experienced with Ben (which really was from all the extra pumping that was going on and the unsatisfactory latching).
This time I did not have any reason to pump, cup feed, spoon feed or need to do implement any big feeding plan. The babe latched on, nursed and that was it. What a difference a 38 week old baby is compared to a 36 week old baby (Ben!) at birth. Huge difference in their ability to coordinate latching and suckling and also in their stamina to keep on trying. In our first 24 hours together I nursed Josie 10 or so times. In between I did a lot of skin to skin to stimulate my milk production and I offered up the milk bar on her cue. Even a questionable cue got an attempt at latching.
When I look at the photo above I see my very tired but satisfied self, and I'm amazed at the fact that I am still wearing the earrings that I put on the day before along with my Clinique eyeshadow. 7 weeks later we share a positively sweet rhythm when it comes to nursing and I can actually say that I enjoy each feed, even those at 3 AM.
Looking for something?
Well, Hello There!
Mama in the City since 2008 and blogging since 2009!
My first apartment baby is now a full on boy and we struggle with finding space in our condo for his growing toy collection. I'm also a new mum to our second apartment baby, born January 13, 2012!
I have a husband who is an excellent cook and takes amazing photos. I work as a labor and delivery nurse and really love the work that I do and gave birth to baby #2 at my work place.
I use this space to write about my family and to share my passion about breastfeeding, birth and parenting. I have a fantastic purse collection and have loved watching it grow, mostly lovely gifts over the years from my husband. I currently have a closet full of purses that are too small or impractical to fit a diaper or sippy cup in, and so they are on hold for future years.
Have a question or a comment? Email me! I also love to read comments left on posts, so feel free to leave me a note!
Things this city mama loves
Blog Archive
MITC's Top Reads
-
Back when I had Ben in 2008 I was given an aqua Bumbo floor seat as a baby shower gift; it was a requested gift as I was pretty sure I want...
-
I've got a case of the kindergarten blues and it's not the usual case of, 'I can't believe my baby is old enough to go to sc...
-
This September Ben will be heading to kindergarten and I feel very fortunate to have access to some of the inside scoop on how to help him g...
-
A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how much we paid in daycare fees, $80/day for a licensed at home day care, and it continues to be...
-
What do you do to make yourself feel taken care of? It's so easy to neglect yourself when life gets going in the day to day grind, but u...
-
Life is good when you get to go to parent friendly cafes and enjoy a morning coffee as the tots play. This past week we went to Crumsby'...
Follow Me!
Sites that I read
- A Gift for you (28)
- apartment (29)
- Baby Ben (44)
- Back to Work (38)
- Breastfeeding (22)
- Delivery room (8)
- Dining (15)
- Family (85)
- Favorites (10)
- Gentle Parenting (5)
- Having a Baby (23)
- Hawaii Style (16)
- Holiday Talk (28)
- Hot Topics (8)
- I love purses (6)
- In the News (8)
- Just for fun (25)
- Lazy Weekends (9)
- Mama Reviews It (6)
- Parenting (46)
- pregnancy loss (7)
- Product Wednesdays (11)
- Pure Mama (71)
- PURPLE Cry (10)
- Rainy Days (10)
- Ramblings (63)
- Sisters (12)
- Sleep (23)
- Toddlerhood (34)
- Vancouver (61)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
That all sounds just so delicious! Ha! - not necessarily the milk bar, but the time spent at the milk bar together! ; )
March 6, 2012 at 11:02 PMThat last picture is incredible. Beautiful mama.
March 7, 2012 at 6:33 AMI am so jealous. Breastfeeding at my place is sort of like a battle of the wills. It ain't pretty :(
March 7, 2012 at 12:45 PMOh, it can be so challenging and there are really many variables along the way! With my first, it was really really trying and I felt so frustrated. It wasn't smooth at all and I had to put the call in for one of my friends (a lactation consultant) to come and help me out when I got to the point of tears. This time around it is a different baby, same equipment and more hands on experience.
March 7, 2012 at 3:47 PMAwe! So sweet. Thanks Jenna!
March 7, 2012 at 3:47 PMIt can be such a rewarding experience when it works out well!
March 7, 2012 at 3:48 PMThis baby 7of7 has been a dream compared to any other babies. I'm super happy & happy for you that you're having a wonderful time with it! My difference was this time I resolved not to listen to anyone else & make it work because it was RIGHT. It worked. I have given up in the past or allowed supplement which interferes & eventually led to the rejection of breastfeeding by baby because the bottle is way to easy. Anyway, congrats to you and to Josie on your success!! From @muddero7
March 7, 2012 at 4:35 PMIt's very reassuring to hear it can be so much easier the second time around!
March 8, 2012 at 6:05 PMYou are stunning in that last picture. So glad that nursing has gone so smoothly this time. I
March 27, 2012 at 3:58 PMIl donne fréquemment des lignes de chaussures qui poussent les femmes folles de la nécessité de personnels une paire. La volonté de chaque femme est tenue de gros Chaussures Christian Louboutin discount, la création de leur conception la plus à jour, ils mal pour une dépense à une raisonnable. Christian Louboutin offre un groupe diversifié de collections.ghg
August 8, 2012 at 8:22 PMPost a Comment