Express Colostrum Prior to Birth:

About 4 days before Alana’s due date, I started collecting colostrum so we could bring some to the hospital incase my milk supply didn’t come in and prevent the possible need for formula. I used the Haakaa Colostrum Collector Kit.  Using hand expression, you are able to collect small drops of colostrum into small tubes. We packed some of these into our hospital bag with an ice pack on delivery day. 

Even though we did not need to use the stored, colostrum, it did help my supply increase from a from a few drops to a few teaspoons per expression prior to birth. Because we did not need to use this for feeds, we were able to use this “liquid gold” on her cuts on her face which helped heal them within hours.  Having stored colostrum is also a good “insurance policy” to have because newborns  will likely loose weight during the first week and it could be used as a supplement as your waiting for your m milk supply to come in.  

Start Pumping:

While many lactation consultants advice to wait a couple weeks before starting to pump to establish a supply and prevent oversupply (which could cause clogged ducts, mastitis, etc.), I did try pumping after she had a drop in weight. My husband will be the first to tell you this took some convincing on my part, but it did really help. After pumping with a hand held Haakaa pump and trying the Spectra electric pump for the first time, I had milk the next day. When your supply starts coming in, it starts changing from the colostrum gold color to milky white and the volume significantly increases. When first using an electric pump, I recommend being gradual and starting on low suction. 

Eat Well:

I was fortunate enough to have my mother-in-law staying with me the first week to help share her wisdom on postpartum nourishment, but you could also have some of the following recommended foods ready in your freezer. The first would be warm nourishing bone broth based stews, such as caldo de gallina vieja, that are easy to digest and contain collagen. It’s also great to have warm drinks throughout the day that are healing, nourishing and hydrating. Some I had were atole, hot chocolate with fresh ground cocoa, ginger honey tea, goji berry and jujube tea or red raspberry leaf tea. In the mornings I enjoyed high protein and calorie packed meal, such as cauliflower and dill omelet with vegan banana bread or scones. 

Rest:

It’s also extremely important to stay in and rest and sleep as much as you can do your body can heal, recover and produce milk. If you do need to venture outside, it’s important to not walk too far and keep warm with extra layers or hats. You want to safe your body from working too hard so it can work hard making your milk supply.

The post How I Went From Pumping 1 oz to 8 oz Overnight appeared first on Feeling Yum.

Lesson 1: Things may not go as planned. I had painted a beautiful picture of how I would experience the “golden hour” of skin-to-skin right after my baby’s birth. However, after some glorious moments of holding my baby girl in my arms after the delivery, I was quickly passing her off to my husband to hold her safely as my midwife focused on controlling my excessive bleeding. It took about an hour until I was able to hold her again. With the help of a labor and delivery nurse, Alana was able to be guided to the breast, latch on, and take her first feed. Alana was not provided the opportunity to find the breast herself, but she was nourished with colostrum as her first feed, which was most important.

Lesson 2: A deep latch is key. When it becomes time for skin-to-skin, the nurse helped me guide Alana to the breast, aligning her nose to my nipple to encourage her to open her mouth wide to get a deep latch. She also helped align her head straight (her neck was not turned, which would make swallowing milk more difficult)

Lesson 3: Help the baby find the breast. To help the baby find the breast, I was provided the tip to express some colostrum with gentle hand massages and squeezes before guiding the baby to the breast.  It also helped to hold the breast “like a sandwich” and hold it to the baby’s mouth until she latched on. 

Lesson 4: Take breaks from breastfeeding. I learned feeding “on demand” does not mean baby should be sucking indefinitely on one or both of the breasts. My nurse explained Alana was losing valuable calories being kept on the breast making non-nutritive sucks, meaning she was not gaining milk when sucking. To remove the baby from the breast, I was taught a to sweep the pinky finger in her mouth like a hook, which helped remove the nipple from her mouth without any pulling. 

Lesson 5:  Your baby won’t follow a strict schedule. Newborns eat 8-12 times a day, which is about every 2-3 hours. Feeds should last about 30 minutes, or 15 minutes per side. However, these feeding timelines are a guide and timing them with a clock or an app just caused added stress. Every mom and baby dyad are unique and feeding times may vary greatly. Babies may be full after a short 5 minute feed or require much longer feeds when they are very sleepy.

I hope these shared lessons can help you avoid some of my first difficult moments with feedings. Please share any tips you learned during you first week of feedings!

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