My Nursing Story

Probably the biggest difference between newborn life with Samina and newborn life with Sofia is the fact that I am successfully breastfeeding this time around.

It was my greatest goal going into this. In the hospital after Samina was born, the nurses and visitors and doctors all had a nice chuckle about how she was *always* attached to me, every time they came into my room, as I took the advice I'd been given to make sure my milk came in right away. I went into Experience #2 prepared for my nursing battle - I was determined not to end up the way we had with Sofia: pumping my milk for 9 whole grueling months, walking down that angst-ridden road of "EP" (Exclusively Pumping, as all the breastfeeding forums refer to it). 9 months of waking up at night not only to fill her bottle with a freezer stash of expressed milk and heat it up to feed her (Andrea's job), but to pump in order to take advantage of the milk-making hormone, Prolactin, which is produced by our bodies at ungodly hours of the night to ensure your body makes its maximum milk quota (my job).

Exclusively pumping is probably one of the most stressful prospects that a new parent can face. Andrea and I were exhausted, as we both needed to be up at night to take care of this whole milk thing. I wish I could find the picture I'd taken of the enormous white board on which we kept track of all her feedings and times and amounts I'd pumped. Leaving the house, being prepared with sterilized bottles and pump contraptions and cords...plus trying to time our outings with just when Sofia would want to eat, because a warmed up bottle of breast milk (aka "liquid gold") is only good for a certain amount of hours....

This time, I was prepared. Andrea and I spoke to our pediatrician and met with an expert lactation consultant who talked us through what we should expect and how to deal with the problems I'd encountered last time: engorgement, mastitis, severe nipple pain. We realized the number one cause in my case had been stress, caused by exhaustion and an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. We spoke with breastfeeding friends to get advice, I bought new nursing tops and psyched myself up for success. Andrea designed a "side bed" and had our trusted carpenter build it for us, so night-time would mean a seamless transition from sleep to nursing and back to sleep again.

And, it worked. Samina is an A-class nurser. When she nurses at night, I only have to open one eye to pick her up out of her side bed, feed her and put her back to bed (or lull her back to sleep a bit first). Without ever feeling the need to put her on a scale, her pudgy little cheeks tell me she's gaining weight like a pro.

And me? I am tired but not rundown. I don't feel guilty asking Andrea to give me a break because we can actually take turns this time. I feel relief that I can leave the house at any time of the day with Samina and know I don't have to mentally and physically prepare for when she might have to eat next. And, mainly, I look down into Samina's gorgeous little eyes and feel proud that I faced the challenge and won. One of my greatest parenting triumphs thus far.