Breastfeeding was challenging!

20 Nov 08 (1am to 6am)

Breastfeeding was tough. Milk supply has not set in, Evangeline was not latching properly. I was quite unhappy with the night shift nurses as they did not teach me how to breastfeed Evangeline. I was really feeling down and felt helpless when I tried for the first half an hour to latch her onto my breast but to no avail. In the end, she was pushed back to the nursery with no feed at all. I was on total breastfeed then and refused to introduce formula and bottle feeding. I was determined to try again the next feed. Still, tried for the whole of 1st night, Evangeline was still biting onto my nipples. I was really crying then to see such little one having no milk to drink. Fortunately, I was told that babies do have reserve for the lst 3 days. So, I was encouraged by the morning shift nurses to try again.

20 Nov 08 (8am till 11pm)

The morning shift nurses were very helpful, patient and taught me the techniques of breastfeeding Evangeline. As Evangeline is so small and sleepy, she had problems opening her mouth big and wide and was always in dreamland. It was so tough to wake her up thus most of the feeds failed again. I called for lactation consultant for help. Two midwives, one lactation consultant and Mrs Wong came in at different parts of the day to see me and the condition of my breast. Nipples were sore then and again, they showed me the ropes of latching correctly. I really screamed for help each time Evangeline latches on, she was really biting hard and I guessed it was due to hunger. I was praying hard. At about 5pm, my nipples bled. I really broke down again and called Mrs WOng for advise to see if I should continue latching Evangeline. The advise given was to continue as the sore nipples would soon go away. Perseverance is the key to success.

21 Nov ( Midnight to 7am)
To my horror, the same group of nurses for the night shift again. Same kind of services shown. Super Bo Chap attitude and they even suggested me to just put her on formula since Evangeline was so sleepy and I failed so many times. I just told them off firmly that I insisted on total breastfeeding. How I wished my hubby was there then.

21 Nov (8am - 12 noon)
Finally, I can be discharged and was so excited to bring baby home. However, I needed to go back to my place to pack my luggage bag for my one month stay at my Mum's place. Got a Snuggle Nest bed for Evangeline to sleep from one of the shops at TMC.

21 Nov night - 23 Nov

These three days were challenging for me. milk supply is super low. Only manage to express 40ml from 2 breasts. Baby does not seem to have enough. Nipples continue to bleed and sore. In the end, I cried again cause she is crying for milk and my sore nipples couldn't meet her request. Thus I ended opening Similac formula milk for her to drink. She drank up to 60ml. I resorted to bottle feeding formula milk for two days and decided to see Mrs Wong for help on latching.

24 Nov

Hubby and I brought Evangeline to see PD for follow up and detected she has mild jaundice. Not too bad, just needed some sun tanning. However, Evan's weight dropped from 2.56kg to 2.3kg. My heart just sank and tears just welled up. Then went to see Mrs Wong and got the latching problem settled. So went home to try again and still feel extreme pain but I bit my lips and persevere. Now I totally understand the sacrificial love of a mother's heart. Mrs Wong encouraged me to stop bottle feeding and formula milk and try to feed expressed breast milk through a cup. Fortunately, Evan took cup feeding well. Everybody was so amused at how she drank through a cup. She sucked so loudly as if to tell us how tasty her milk was. I felt relieved that she was drinking well.

25 Nov till now

I am thankful to God that she has latched on properly now though sometimes, I failed again. Milk supply is plentiful that I keep having engorgement and need to pump frequently. She sleeps well during the day and wakes up timely every 3 hours for feeds. However, when it comes to night time, she couldn't sleep well, keeps making grunting noises and wakes up every hour for feeds. HUbby and I are really drained having to wake up so many times to attend to her. Brought her to see PD yesterday and found out she has blocked nose and mucus which I was prescribed nasal drops for Evan. Hubby and I really prayed hard and may you all joined me in prayer for her that she will be able to sleep well at night without breathing difficulties and not be fretful so as to sleep peacefully and calmly like her day naps.

Current Mood: Drained and tired.