Delurking, intro, and questions (long)

Lorraine wrote

| Karlee,
|
| If you do run into problems that you need help up close and personal,
| there is an excellent breastfeeding clinic in Topeka. I know that's
| going to be a drive for you (assuming you're at Riley), but there may
| come a time that the drive will be worth it. If you want more
| information, let me know. My daughter went there when she ran into
| problems and solutions were always found. I never thought to ask her
| where this clinic was or what it cost, but I will if you want the
| information.
|
| Good luck,
| Lorraine
| Grandma to Madison - Feb. 17,2000


Yep we are at Riley...how did you guess? bg I have a fair amount of family that lives in Topeka so I have a little
bit of a clue as to how to navigate the town....all that information wouldn't really hurt to have around in a pinch.
Like I said in my original post, I'm bound and determined to bf this time.

If it wouldn't be that much trouble, I would appreciate the info.

TY
Karlee in Kansas
)

I would say don't stock up on breast pads though because not everyone
leaks alot. I only leaked a few times when I accidentally didn't
switch breasts at night.

KC

"Karlee in Kansas" wrote in message ...
Greetings all! I found your ng after I read about it on another ng. I have been wading through the past 2000 or so
posts over the past few days and have found a wealth of information. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I am 27, married, have a 6.5 yo DS, and a kidlet on the way (EDD: September 22). I was 20 when my DS was born, didn't
have a clue about bfing, but tried anyway. We had lots of problems that I contribute to my age, hospital staff, and
medications. I was young and trying to adjust to what "boobs were really for" and felt rather uncomfortable bfing (my
husband at the time hated the idea, told me it was repulsive and unnatural....I have long ago divorced him....new
husband is encouraging me and wants to help in every way possible, but the story of my ex, and the differences between
him and new husband are long, and way off topic), even though I knew bfing was best for my son. I had made up my mind
when I was pg with him that I was going to bf him as long as I could. Hospital staff popped a bottle in his mouth it
seems, as soon as he was born, much to my objections, and didn't give me a reason for doing so. I was also told by the
LC there, that I needed to get him "on a schedule right away" and "don't feed on demand". We had a noisy house to say
the least. He was NOT a Happy Camper about the 2.5 hour feedings...when he was hungry, he was HUNGRY, but I didn't know
any better then. Medical reasons that I was unable to breast feed him for more than 6 weeks had to do (according to my
doc that is, I very well may be wrong on this) with the fact that after major complications following my c-section (see:
nearly died) the medicines that they put me on temporarily did a real good job of gradually drying up my milk. I had
not been told by anyone that I could start lactating again just by letting him suckle. I tried calling my LC at the
hospital, but she never had time to call me back. I tried getting in touch with the closest chapter of LLL, but they
said I was too far away to help. I was not bf as a baby (I was adopted) so my mother was little to no help. I cried
for days when I had to switch to formula. I knew that bm was best for my son, and was heart broken because I thought
that my chances of bfing him were over. Aside from having the chicken pox, a severe genetic allergy to grapes, and a
little bit of hay fever (very mild compared to mine), he is a very healthy active 6yo.

I have less than 2 months until my due date with kidlet the second, and I have decided that I'm going to bf this one as
long as humanly possible, or die trying. In reading all the posts...I'm getting more and more excited about the arrival
of my daughter, and also more and more excited about bfing her. I encountered a ton of resistance to the "no formula
period" idea that I have, with not only the hospital but also wic (we qualify for wic being that we are a military
family). The hospital here apparently is not very good at encouraging bfing, their solution is to pop a bottle of
formula in the squalling kids mouth instead of working with the mothers to try to bf. WIC said "we don't recommend it",
and I think that it has something to do with the fact that I refused whole milk. (I can't have whole milk because I'm
hypoglycemic and whole milk wrecks havoc with my blood sugar. We drink skim) They told me that "whole milk has more
calcium and more fat, and you need both of those when you are bfing" After talking to my nutritionist (so far the only
one at that hospital that is encouraging me to bf aside from my doctor), she said they had half of it right. WM has
more fat, but not more calcium. She also told me that my body would make sure that the baby got what she needed and I
didn't need to concern myself with the fat content of the milk, because of the diet that I'm on. Needless to say, I
didn't get on with wic. I left their vouchers for whole milk and formula behind. I told them that I would be back only
if I was not able to bf like I want to and am forced to ff.


My questions are more about breast pumps and pumping. I want to get one so that other people can feed kidlet the second
if they wish (DH, baby's big brother, my parents, that kind of thing). My parents live close to us (for the next year
and a half anyway lol) and like to take kidlet the first so that DH and I can have a weekend here and there to ourselves
(we have only been married for a few days over 8 months....I'm 7 months pg....you do the math big grin), and my mother
has expressed a desire to take kidlet the second for an evening here and there for the same reason that she takes kidlet
the first.

Here are the questions, order of them has no relevance to importance...

1) What kind of pump do you recommend and where can I find one (our Wal-Mart has nothing for pumps and the closest baby
store is an hour away....I'm thinking I can find one on the internet)? I had a manual pump with DS, but it was about as
useful as teats on a bull. It only worked about twice, and it was a gift at a baby shower. I threw away the parts, but
kept the bag that it was in (the only useful part IMO). Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it, but I do
vaguely remember that the person that bought it for me is quite tight with her money, so she probably didn't spend a
whole lot on it. On this pump, I'm wanting to spend less than $100.

2) I have heard tons of good things about Avent bottles with the drop in liners and would like to use them. I used the
regular cheap, Playtex bottles with my son (I got only about a million of them at the baby shower) and we had gas and a
spitter-upper for a baby. Rumor has it that for bottles, Avent is more like momma than anything else, and also reduce
the "spit up factor" greatly. Opinions on the Avent bottles?

3) At what age is it safe to introduce a bottle of EBM while avoiding nipple confusion? (We had severe nipple confusion
after DS was born because the hospital kept giving him bottles so I could rest, despite me telling them repeatedly that
I wanted to bf no matter what)

4) What kind of bra inserts do you recommend to prevent leakage through the shirt? With DS, I had a fierce flow of
milk, and it came when it felt like it....like when I heard a baby cry, saw a baby, held my son while trying to get him
on the schedule that had been preached to me....once it let go like the Hoover Dam broke when I was laughing at a
commercial on tv. The first few weeks I had to change clothes more because of milk release than blow out diapers and
spit ups combined. The toilet paper that my mom suggested did NOT work.

I think that this time around, I think I'm going to have better luck with bfing. I have done tons of research and have
set up the nursery accordingly. I have a rocker (same one that I had with DS), a way to play the tons of relaxing music
for both momma and baby, and a lamp beside the rocker with a 25 watt bulb in it for soft light so she won't be blinded
every time she eats. I have cross stitched two signs for the door, and prepared a message for the answering machine, so
that I don't have to worry about being interrupted by the door or phone while she is eating. I have informed family,
friends, and hospital staff (them repeatedly, and in writing) that I will be bfing, and they probably won't be able to
feed her for me for the first few months and that during that time, bottles are a no no. I'm also more relaxed and
really excited about bf this time around (last time I was a nervous wreck, and it didn't help much that my partner
thought it was disgusting).

Thanks for your answers to my questions...I mostly lurk on ng's these days (nesting phase has hit hard), but after the
arrival of kidlet the second, I'll keep you posted as to how the bfing is going.

Thanks!!!
Karlee in Kansas

Melissa writes:
:
: Nursing pads. However even some mother find they soak through the pads.
: Honestly, you should probably not be wearing a bra that often (or going
: out where you need to put one on the first 8 to 12 weeks.

: However, if you're well endowed, you can't possibly go without a nursing bra
: for very long without being in massive pain.

While this statement may be true for you, it is not true for everybody.
Monika is a 42H, and probably wears a bra about half the time. I'm sure
she wore it much less when she was nursing a newborn. Everyone who is
"large" is not uncomfortable braless. Judging from our AP playgroup,
many are not!

: Regarding not going out for 8-12 weeks, I'd argue with that too. Although
: some mothers don't take their children out of the house for that long, we
: chose to do so and haven't had any problems.

I didn't say don't take your babies out, I said not where you need to put a bra
on. You know, a fancy dress up dinner party. :-) We took Clara out on day
three to a soccer practice (I was a coach, then) and we took Niel to our
favorite restaurant on day one (and got a free meal for bringing in the baby :-)

Larry

Karlee in Kansas writes:


: Unless I am out of the "treatment area" I have to go to the
: military hospital located on the base where we live to have
: the baby. I'm going to try to avoid having another c-section
: as that one caused *major* problems.

Yes. I've heard this story before, and it is invariably true!

: The doctors in the
: military hospital were the ones that suggested a VBAC for me
: as they say that I'm a good candidate because of my age at
: the time of the first one, where the incision was located, and
: the length of time between babies. We are keeping our
: fingers crossed about being able to have her by VBAC.

Good. it is very good news that your doctors are suggesting a
VBAC. Now, in order to improve your chances there are two things
you can do. First refuse inductions even if they insist unless
you are at least two weeks over and an ultrasound shows probles,
or unless you develop pre-eclampsia. Second, try to go med free
and refuse the epidural. The latter require you to be able to
be mobile during labor, so you can can't be strapped down to
a monitor or IV or something. See the Goer book I reference
below for more details.

I would also suggest doing two other things to improve your
knowledge base so that you are not railroaded by an unknowledgable
but well meaning doctor into doing the wrong thing.
1. Subscribe to misc.kids.pregnancy. Lurk and post questions.
2. Buy Henci Goer's book "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better
Birth" and read it.

: I was unable to have DS vaginally because, according to the doctor,
: his head was too big. He was 7 lbs 12 oz, and a few
: years after he was born, I found out that if the doctor would have
: waited a little while longer, I probalby wouldn't
: have needed a c-section.

And people wonder why the c-section rate in this country is too high!

: ..., and going to LLL meetings before baby is born is out. ...
: my doc doesn't want me driving by myself unless I'm
: staying on post. The closest LLL is roughly an hour away.

Two questions. Why every would he say that, and why ever would
you obey him? :-)

Good luck,
Larry

E wrote:

the manual ease by medela is good if you don't mind doing it yourself
http://www.babies-shopping.com/Medel...reast-Pump.asp ($40) for
more info.

Ugh, I find the Avent Isis vastly easier to use and more effective than
the Medela manual. YMMV, I guess.

Lara
EPing for Luke, nine months and nineteen days