Feeding Baby Breast Milk via Exclusive Pumping, One Mom’s Personal Story
by Melissa Cotton Womack, 02/04/10
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are probably well aware that breast milk is the best nourishment for a baby. We all know the advantages of breastfeeding: healthier babies, higher IQ, DHA, immunoglobulins, better attachment, saving money, easier on the environment — but what if breastfeeding just doesn’t work out for you? Despite growing support for breastfeeding and the best efforts of La Leche League, many women experience difficulties breastfeeding for a variety of reasons and often get discouraging messages and bad advice from hospitals, doctors, family and friends which can make breastfeeding almost impossible. And sometimes the parts just don’t fit right (short frenulum) or your baby just can never get a good latch (more common than you might think). There is a growing movement of moms who have turned to exclusive pumping as an alternative to nursing to get their babies the nourishment they need. Here is one mom’s personal story — from our friend Melissa Womack, mom to 10 month old Jude…
MELISSA’S STORY
Before my son Jude was born I had bought a single sided pump, but truthfully, I never expected to use it much. I was going to be a stay at home mom, so I thought I would have the opportunity to actually nurse him through all of his feedings. I had taken a breastfeeding class before he was born and had read most of the available literature on the topic. I, myself, was a champion breastfeeder as a baby/toddler and was not weaned until age 2 1/2. It had never really occurred to me beforehand that breastfeeding might prove to be a challenge. I felt prepared. But little did I know, I was about to embark upon one of the most challenging experiences of my life: exclusively pumping to feed my baby my breast milk via bottle.
My first attempts to breastfeed Jude did not go well. He was sluggish/sleepy and did not seem to be interested in eating at first. Once he became more alert and hungry, he was almost too frantic to nurse. When I would try to latch him and there was difficulty, he would get very agitated and wail. He would get so worked up that I had to stop my nursing attempts to try to soothe him. Every attempt would end with me vowing to never put him through that again. I started to dread trying to breastfeed him.
The baby nurses would come in to our room every few hours to check on our progress, and they offered suggestions and tips, but not one of them could really help him latch on well enough. Everyone said that it would just take more practice and so I soldiered on. In the early morning of the day of dismissal from the hospital, our pediatrician came in and told us that Jude had lost 10% of his birthweight and was also quite jaundiced and would need to be checked again the next day. If his blood levels were not improved by the next day in her office, she was going to re-admit him for therapy. She suggested that I try to nurse him more and/or consider supplementing with formula as a means to help both issues. When she left the room I cried. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally from this entire ordeal.
The next time a nurse came in to check on Jude, I asked her for some formula and fed him a tiny amount. He accepted it right away, and for the first time since right after birth, he slept soundly and peacefully for several hours.
You have no idea how much I needed to read this today! A friend of mine sent it to me, and I just sobbed while reading it. Someone is going through the same hardships that I am! My grandmother passed away last week, and with all the stress and running around that has caused, my supply took a huge hit. I went from pumping 60 oz per day to just under 20 oz. I’ve had to supplement with formula for the last two days. I thought, at 7 months, maybe it’s time to stop. I felt so selfish for thinking that, though!!! How can I deny him this if I can even produce 1 oz a day?! So, back to pumping – feverishly – to build my supply back up. In fact, as I type I am pumping away!! I am so thankful for this article – I will add it to my ‘favourites’ so that I can reflect on it when I am feeling discouraged.