5 Things Nobody Told Me About Breastfeeding

Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I am 1 person, with 1 baby, and I've nursed all of...You guessed it. 1 child. I am not a nurse, a La Leche League consultant, or a professional by any stretch of the imagination. I can only share with you my personal experience and what I learned through consulting with my pediatrician, breastfeeding specialists, and independent research.

Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, let's start.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful lactation consultant at your hospital to help you when you first start(ed) breastfeeding. I didn't. My "lactation consultant" was a nurse that popped her head in the door right before I was discharged from the hospital and said something to the effect of "You want to make sure she latches on correctly and wash your breasts often".

Well OK, then.

After months of fumbling around in the dark and a little trial and error, here are things that nobody ever told me before (or after, for that matter) I started nursing Cali.

1. It's not actually supposed to hurt. I say this with trepidation because it is going to be uncomfortable and you'll probably be sore because your breasts (more than likely) have never seen that much action. But I had searing pain for 3 solid months and everyone kept telling me that it was normal. I finally got my butt in gear and spoke with a La Leche League consultant that informed me that it actually wasn't normal. Thank you. I wasn't crazy. Our problem ended up being Cali's latch. She wasn't getting enough of my boob in her mouth and it ended up causing us some very painful problems. As soon as we fixed that, the pain was completely gone within a couple of days. If you've had pain for more than a couple of weeks, it wouldn't hurt to seek out help.

2. Speaking of latch, it's uber important. A bad latch can cause a ton of problems. 2 of them being pain for the mother, and poor milk consumption for the baby. It would take Cali up to an hour to nurse in the beginning and I was also told that was normal. It wasn't. Newborns will nurse for longer periods of time because they're learning too. But if your baby is nursing for an hour and still hungry, you might have a bad latch.

3. It might not actually help you lose all of the weight. This is really still up for debate but from what I've gathered, it varies from woman to woman. What is proven is that your body produces a hormone called prolactin while you breastfeed and this slows down your fat metabolism. But don't worry. Most women report losing the last few pounds shortly after their baby weans. Even though weight loss is a debatable side effect of breastfeeding, there's still a ton of other benefits. 

4. It was the most difficult adjustment of having a newborn. People will warn you about the sleepless nights and possibility of colic but nobody ever told me that breastfeeding would be such a huge adjustment. For me, it was the timing of everything. It seemed like as soon as I fed Cali, changed her diaper, got myself ready, and headed out the door, she was either A) ready to go back to sleep or B) ready to eat again. It definitely took a couple of weeks to get a rhythm down.

5. What you eat can effect your baby. When Cali was 2 weeks old, she started crying uncontrollably at random times (mostly at night). My pediatrician told me she probably had colic and that I had to wait it out and that most babies outgrew it within 3 months. After some independent research, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and eliminate dairy since it's the most common food allergy of babies.  After about a week of eliminating all (even traces of) milk/dairy from my diet, Cali's symptoms disappeared. She was a different baby. Then around 6 weeks old, we noticed blood in her stool. Our pediatrician said it was probably a fissure (DON'T GOOGLE THAT) and it would go away within 2-5 days. After a traumatizing moment (that I'll spare you the details of), and our first ER visit, we spoke with a GI doctor that suggested taking out all gluten, eggs, and soy (along with the dairy I was already avoiding). 2 weeks after I did this (by the way, soy is in everything),  we had no more issues of blood. I'm not saying that your baby doesn't have colic but if they're crying and you feel helpless, it's an easy fix if that's the problem. 

So there you go. I hope that your breastfeeding experience is all rainbows and unicorns but if it's not, it's OK. With a little research and patience, it's probably fixable. And if all else fails and you feel like it's best for you and your baby that you switch to formula, that's OK TOO. Do you need me to repeat that? IT'S OK. You tried and that's all anyone can ask.

Do you have any other surprising facts about your breastfeeding experience? Share them in the comments!

Keep up with the family by following us on Twitter & Instagram!

10 Surprising Things About Being a New Mom

I've known my whole life that I wanted to be a mother. I've always said that I'll take as many kids as God is willing to give me and I can provide for. You see, my parents are "houseparents" at a children's home called the Big Oak Ranch and we've lived there since I was 5. So my entire life I've grown up with at least 10 people in the house, but often times more. The noise and chaos can be a bit much sometimes but you're never bored.

Or, you shouldn't be. 

Even with having grown up around a large family and always knowing that I wanted children, I was never around too many babies so there have been a few surprises! 

OK. There have been a ton of surprises but seeing as how this post would be never ending if I listed them all (since I'm surprised on a daily basis), I'm only going to list a few. 

But here you go. A few things that have surprised me about being a first time mother:

1. How interested I would become in *cringe* bowel movements -  It's inevitable. You're 100% responsible for this tiny, living, human and so therefore you'll be in charge of it's poop. I knew I'd have to change diapers, that's a given, but I didn't realize just how interested I would become in it. I've Googled pictures of it, smelled it, observed the color of it, saved it to show the doctor. Yes, I've walked around with a cloth diaper full of poop in my purse. For someone that used to like to pretend that poop didn't exist, I've become somewhat of an expert.

2. That I would actually enjoy breastfeeding - Look, I know the research, I know what's best for my child, I know it's natural. But never did I ever (HA!) think I would breastfeed. Much less enjoy it. I said up until the day I gave birth that I couldn't imagine doing it. I knew she'd need my milk so I thought I'd just pump it and bottle feed her (which is a totally hard and amazing thing to do for you moms that choose to!) but when the nurses laid her on my chest for the first time, there was an instant change in thinking. She latched on, and we never looked back. We were extremely blessed not to experience any problems so this probably has something to do with why I like it.

3. The fact that I could love my husband more than I already did - T and I have been best friends from the start. We enjoy hanging out and spending our days together and I loved the life we had built with just the two of us. I thought I loved him to my fullest capabilities but, obviously, I was wrong. Watching him and Cali together has expanded my capacity to love more than I ever thought possible. Loving him as a husband and loving him as a dad are two completely different feelings.

4. How much I would miss sleep -  This is another one that you think you're prepared for, but you're not really. At least I wasn't. They say you'll be tired, yada, yada, yada. I had no idea. There was a while there that I started seeing things that weren't there I was so tired. I felt like the walking dead... literally. Like a haze over my eyes where I was living in the world but not completely computing everything that was going on around me. It's brutal. And a form of torture in war. I get it now. But at least I get to stare at her adorable face while I'm sleep deprived. Totally worth it. 

5. The fact that I could think fat rolls are so friggin cute - Seriously. Have you ever seen chunky, baby thighs? Cutest. Thing. Ever.

6. How much I would get peed/pooped on - And not think anything of it. Really. It's like she waits to urinate and blow that nasty crap (literally) until her diaper is off and I'm leaning in. And how do I react? I just wipe it off and keep on keepin' on. Just another day in the life of...

7. How hard it would be to leave her - This one was a doozy for me. I'm not positive if it's because we spend so much time just the two of us during baseball season or if it's something that all moms go through but leaving her in nursery for the first time was BRUTAL. And it wasn't even real nursery. We were at the gym and it was 30 minutes and I was less than 50 yards away. By the time I went to get her I was convinced she liked the nursery worker better than me and that she was mad that I had left her. Obviously I'm crazy but the feelings were there no matter how many times I told myself they were irrational. I can only pray I don't scar her for life with my insanity.

8. How absolutely terrifying it is - From the moment I found out that I was pregnant (and convinced I had a brain tumor), to this very minute I have been terrified. I worry about how she sleeps, how much she sleeps, how she poops, how her hand moves, whether she's laughing enough, whether she's socializing enough, will she like me?, does she know me?, am I going to teach her right from wrong, etc. Again, this probably isn't normal (and definitely not healthy... I know that) but the fact of the matter is that it's a constant struggle for me. I have always leaned towards expecting the worst (which is also something I need to work on) and that didn't change with having Cali. It only intensified. All I can do is hide my fears from her and - once again - pray that she's not as crazy as I am.

9. How hard it is - I'll admit something to you: I probably judged you before I had a kid. I probably criticized the way your kid slept, was dressed, how they behaved, how clean/messy your house was, your relationship with your husband, etc. I read a few books and thought I knew it all. BOY, WAS I WRONG. So here I am... Apologizing to all of you. I'm an idiot and a reformed know-it-all. It's freaking HARD. I'm lucky to make it out of every day with both Cali and I in tact. 

10. How little time I would actually have to myself and not mind - Because even when you're physically by yourself, you're not. You're listening for them to wake up, you're cleaning up after them, you're thinking about their well-being, you're wondering how you'll ever get all of the spit up stains off of your best shirts. It's never ending and I can only imagine it only gets to be more as they get older and mobile. Crap. I'm not even close to being prepared for that. I need to child proof everything now. But you know what? I love her so much that I don't miss the alone time. I didn't see that one coming at all. 

Anyways, as tough and hard and exhausting as it all is... I love her to my very core. 

I'm going to go give up some very precious alone time to stare at her while she sleeps.

Until next time.