Thinking "Out Loud"
I am not sure if I've written about this before but I feel like I've come rather full circle when it comes to birth practices and breastfeeding. I'm writing this to process my thoughts - for me.
When things work well (and are not too long), having an unmedicated delivery can be a very powerful experience. It seemed to be for me at the time. In the many years since I did this four times, I've seen many types of deliveries and C-sections that were likely just as satisfying for the women experiencing them. The bottom line truly is having a healthy baby to take home to raise.
After her C-section, my daughter-in-law became a mom and my son became a dad. Helping her through the experience of a slow start in latching, then the wait for a supply, then the apparent delay, then the insufficient milk supply - all made for a bittersweet journey for her. The latch was not a problem, but by Day Three, it was obvious that the baby was going to need more. Pumping yielded drops and she felt no changes in her breasts so supplementing was the obvious choice. We supplemented at the breast with a tube feeding for a few feeds, but this journey belongs to the mom - and the pathway chosen was going to be hers. Some women spend days and weeks in the chase after an adequate supply, and that is their decision - but at times I have wondered what they have missed out on in these early weeks with their new baby. What will they remember in months to come? Their baby or their pump and relentless process of feed, pump, supplement, clean pump, repeat. For some, it is the journey they must make. As Lactation Consultants, we help them make it for as long as they choose to.
Working with newly delivered moms as they begin their breastfeeding journey is always a blessing, but there are times when it is obvious that bottle feeding formula is the best choice for this mom, baby, and family.
When breastfeeding works easily and smoothly transitions through the early days to a bountiful milk supply and contented baby, it can be a peaceful, wonderful thing. The soreness goes away, and it becomes a good thing. I enjoyed it very much. But that is not to say that I always was excited to again sit down to nurse my child. It is a demanding work - among the other demanding aspects of parenting. Like most things about having children enter one's life - there is much that is magical, amazing, overwhelming, and all the rest. There is also the exhausting, the emotionally draining, the tiresome, the times when there is gratitude that this will all change in the days ahead.
So in watching people have a variety of "birthing" experiences, and in breastfeeding experiences that are extremely challenging, I have grown humbled in the years past. My eyes have been opened to the fact that there is no one "right way" for every mom. We fumble through this experience, some aspects of it out of our control, and transition into mothers, day by day, week by week.
When things work well (and are not too long), having an unmedicated delivery can be a very powerful experience. It seemed to be for me at the time. In the many years since I did this four times, I've seen many types of deliveries and C-sections that were likely just as satisfying for the women experiencing them. The bottom line truly is having a healthy baby to take home to raise.
After her C-section, my daughter-in-law became a mom and my son became a dad. Helping her through the experience of a slow start in latching, then the wait for a supply, then the apparent delay, then the insufficient milk supply - all made for a bittersweet journey for her. The latch was not a problem, but by Day Three, it was obvious that the baby was going to need more. Pumping yielded drops and she felt no changes in her breasts so supplementing was the obvious choice. We supplemented at the breast with a tube feeding for a few feeds, but this journey belongs to the mom - and the pathway chosen was going to be hers. Some women spend days and weeks in the chase after an adequate supply, and that is their decision - but at times I have wondered what they have missed out on in these early weeks with their new baby. What will they remember in months to come? Their baby or their pump and relentless process of feed, pump, supplement, clean pump, repeat. For some, it is the journey they must make. As Lactation Consultants, we help them make it for as long as they choose to.
Working with newly delivered moms as they begin their breastfeeding journey is always a blessing, but there are times when it is obvious that bottle feeding formula is the best choice for this mom, baby, and family.
When breastfeeding works easily and smoothly transitions through the early days to a bountiful milk supply and contented baby, it can be a peaceful, wonderful thing. The soreness goes away, and it becomes a good thing. I enjoyed it very much. But that is not to say that I always was excited to again sit down to nurse my child. It is a demanding work - among the other demanding aspects of parenting. Like most things about having children enter one's life - there is much that is magical, amazing, overwhelming, and all the rest. There is also the exhausting, the emotionally draining, the tiresome, the times when there is gratitude that this will all change in the days ahead.
So in watching people have a variety of "birthing" experiences, and in breastfeeding experiences that are extremely challenging, I have grown humbled in the years past. My eyes have been opened to the fact that there is no one "right way" for every mom. We fumble through this experience, some aspects of it out of our control, and transition into mothers, day by day, week by week.