Nursing

Nursing is the single most important thing and also the toughest. Accompanying the bliss of having a baby is the nursing anxiety. It’s a learning process for both mother and baby. To begin with, the baby has to latch on. I had read some horror stories about it on the World Wide Web and had doubts right from the start. But when the hour came, both Nikki and I were a real pro. He latched on effortlessly. I nursed him for the first time in the recovery room 20 minutes after the C-section. And right then I knew, I could abnegate all my worries about latching on.

With latching right on track, it was the colostrum supply that I started worrying about. After some panic calls to the lactation consultant I was assured that I was making enough colostrum for a baby whose stomach is the size of a marble. They also told me that the supply would increase if I kept nursing him frequently. I did know in theory, the demand and supply thing about breast milk. But it’s just scary when there is scarcity. Little did I know then that the fears would come back every now and then and that milk production would be my topic of conversation to everybody and anybody. I would just scour the Internet on how to increase milk supply. I consumed plenty of lactation agents like Fenugreek, Dill and Oatmeal to increase the supply. But, I have come to realize that when the supply seems to go downhill, all I have to do is nurse (and also rest) frequently and within a few days its back up.

I introduced bottle to my son when he was 3 weeks old. As much as I loved nursing him, it was just hard for two reasons. One, I had to be there all the time which hardly left me any time for anything. Two, my nipples were sore and it hurt. In my breastfeeding class, I was told that nipples wont be sore if the baby latched on correctly. That was total BS. It hurts either way. So, I started pumping and it made my life a lot easier. But one tricky thing here is, my milk supply would reduce if I constantly pumped with out nursing. In order to ensure good milk supply I worked out a routine with both nursing and pumping. I pump four times during the day, with each session lasting about 20 min and nurse during the night.

It’s easier to follow the routine now, as I am on maternity leave. Once I start working, it’s going to be a challenge. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.