In honor of World Breastfeeding Week I decided to share a personal story about my first breastfeeding experience with Pinky.
I was so eager to feed my little Pinky once she got out the womb. I just knew I’d be a breastfeeding pro! I was wrong, partially. I can’t call myself a pro just yet although I have six months of experience under my belt now. I feel like it is really a lifelong process. Thank God I won’t have to breastfeed all my life though! It’s tough. The nurses and lactation specialists were right, breastfeeding takes practice and it doesn’t come as naturally as you think it would. It took a lot of tries and cries let me tell you. Heck, it still feels like that!
Pinky was as eager to eat as I was to feed. Coming out at eight pounds, four ounces Pinky was a hungry hippo. The problem, Mommy didn’t seem to have that milk in stock yet, it was still on back order and not expected to arrive for another three to four days. What I did have was the colostrum, mother’s first milk. Colostrum has a different consistency than milk, it has a yellowish color and it barley comes out. But this is all babies need to replenish themselves after labor and for a few days after because it is packed with a ton of nutrients. It’s the best milk you’ll ever have! My Pinky, wasn’t having it though, she wanted more!
The first night it was hard for all of us to sleep. I cried, Pinky cried and Daddy tried to console us both the best he could. I tried and tried to breastfeed Pinky. I tried to make us both feel comfortable, especially her of course. I followed all the instructions given by the nurses and still she kept crying. I was in pain, physically and emotionally. To top it off, I was so worried that something was wrong with Pinky. Our nurse finally suggested that maybe she was still hungry so she finger fed her Similac using a syringe with a tiny tube attached to it, and her ‘pinky.’ I was so jealous because Pinky stopped crying every time a nurse would come and get her. She must have felt me worrying.
The syringe became an added tool for Daddy, Pinky and I at all feeding times for a few weeks until my milk came in. We used the syringe to help supplement my colostrum. Daddy literally had to help me every time I fed Pinky. I would put Pinky on my breast, while Daddy filled the syringe up with Similac, then he would insert the tube into Pinky’s mouth carefully, and finally he would have to slowly inject the Similac into her mouth as I breastfed her all because we didn’t want her to get used to the bottle! Phew! Just thinking about it makes me tired. Again, it was all worth it though. To this day, Pinky won’t have it any other way. To her, she strongly believes Mommy’s breast is best!
Stay tuned for more breastfeeding stories on our blog at http://thepinkyproject.com.