Keep at it Zsoffs! I have faith in you. Make sure he’s latched on completely straight, nipple right in the middle of his mouth. Latch him on in front of a mirror or have someone watch you. You’ll get a horrible sore spot if the latch isn’t right.
It just takes practice. It’s not hard, just unwieldily at first. I nursed one for 2-1/2 years, and then the next one came along 10 years later. In that big time span I forgot how to nurse a newborn. Older babies got it under control and all you have to do is whip it out. With the newborns, they have to be positioned. I’m rooting for you!
Tiny little fingernails!
He still just has no idea what to do with plain old regular nipples. He doesn’t even try to suck on them. I think the nipple shield must go far enough into his mouth on its own that he can feel it a lot better?
I would recommend trying a few different positions. Baby Girl had a really tight latch when she was new so I needed to position her so that she could get my nipple in the right place at the top-back of her mouth. My understanding is that the suckling reflex is triggered on the soft palate. It helped if I was using football hold.
And holy crap, he’s precious! I want to eat him he’s so cute!
While waiting for my niece’s wedding to begin, everyone waited in this social hall for maybe 45 minutes. At some point, I got to hold her soon to be 6 month old nephew, who promptly fell asleep in my arms. Which really disappointed all the wimmen folk there who wanted to hold the baby but knew better to mess with a sleeping baby. When Mommy came over to check on her baby I told her Charlie was a sweet little boy and I had been to the ATM the night before and I was prepared to buy him from her for $60.00 cash right then and there. She said she didn’t think so and I immediately offered $80.00. She said Charlie was a pretty nice baby and wasn’t for sale, but he had an older sister and brother that we could talk about.
So, I guess my point is, in 5 months or so if you’re short on cash, I could probably come up with $60 bucks for Tater. As long as the warranty is transferrable.
MY children will all be potty trained by 18 months - that’s the natural way to do it.
My children will be raised bilingual (even though my husband and I only speak English).
I’m too polite for the evil giggle. I’m much better at the unseen eyeroll.
Zsofia - the contradictory advice of keep trying and don’t worry about it. Make sure you and baby both are getting what you need - you - enough sleep and rest to heal and not go crazy (Post natal depression is a bitch) - him, enough of something - breastmilk OR formula, to not get dehydrated and stay healthy. Keep offering the boob, if he latches, he latches.
(Has your milk come in? - mine didn’t come in for five days, and my daughter latched just fine once it came in. But that colostrum stuff - she wasn’t interested. I had to keep pumping to get it to come in - and it was a long, hard, five days of trying to feed, giving her a bottle, then pumping - and trying to sleep. And you know how I know PND is a bitch?)
What a redonkulously pretty babby he is!! Mazel Tov! (& Yikes! I’m glad you both are ok! I’ve had abdominal surgery & I would NOT want to have to take care of a baby after it. HUGS Hang in there!)
C-sectioners are generally more attractive as newborns because they don’t tend to get as squished and squashed on the way here, and can get straight to the business of being the adorable little stink bugs they are.
So says the mom of 4 C-section babies.
Milk comes in slower when you have a C-section, too. My earliest was day 4, latest was day 9 - I had given up all hope!
My milk actually came in in three days, which I understand is fast. So I had one fantastic pumping session and I was all excited and then the next time I got a lot less and freaked out.
Today we have managed to not supplement with anything at all - he’s taken everything from the boob, if through this stupid shield thing. We’ll see how the night goes. It hurts like a motherfucker sometimes and I don’t understand what’s different then - his lips are flanged, etc.
That’s a great start. I nursed my girls for over two years. Have you seen a lactation consultant? They can help. Also, if you are planning to pump, you will need a good quality pump. I found my electric model invaluable. Beware that nursing can make you feel very sleepy. Also make sure you are getting enough to drink. You should be drinking a lot of water. I also found the boppy pillow very useful.
Oh, hey - I missed this one. Congratulations Zsofia and normal pain and stress aside, glad to see you’re doing okay after a such a rough outing.
And I hope you husband doesn’t take this the wrong way, but your baby actually is a lot cuter than I was expecting before I clicked on the links ;). My own baby shots frighten me.
About two weeks of it hurting like a motherfucker - some of it is just toughing up - some of it is angle or pinching of the shield. And watch for an infection - if it hurts and is warm, you need antibiotics. Then, if you are lucky, you’ll get the bliss. I never did, but some women certainly do. (When the aliens invade, I’m meat, not dairy).
Once they catch on, it usually goes pretty well. Offer without the shield - eventually he’s likely to figure out he doesn’t need it, but it might take a bit.
I missed this too, until I saw your posting in Spice Weasel’s thread.
Congrats, and I’m sorry things got so scary so fast :(. I had HELLP as well, though in my case it was after about 4 weeks of things steadily inching worse, and I was already in the hospital, and they caught me before my platelets started really plummeting - so I was able to get the epidural (not that this worked all that well, mind you… a NICU nurse who was in the delivery room later told me she was surprised they didn’t knock me out).
Tangent, but this is fascinating. If you have a second son by vaginal delivery, does he count as the first-born and have to fast the day before Passover? Or do you just not have a first-born?
Zsofia, I hope all you guys are well and Tater’s got the hang of breastfeeding!
Eh, sort of. He’s eating all from the breast but we still have to use the nipple shield. I did get him to latch twice today and feed from Lefty (but only Lefty?) - that’s gotta be progress although it hurt and his latch sucked.
Congrats - that’s huge progress! You already know this, but since he’s not even officially born yet, it’s fair enough that he doesn’t have all the newborn stuff figured out. It sounds like he’s getting there!
