Breastfeeding

I know it's been so long since I have posted here. I will post again in the next few days about updates on Noah along with pictures and videos. But first, I wanted to post an update about our breastfeeding triumphs and challenges.

Basically, Noah does really well as far as latching on. We don't use a Boppy pillow anymore. He doesn't really need my assistance latching on. We nurse on the bed, couch, in the mall, wherever, it doesn't matter. I love the bonding time that nursing brings us. He always looks up at me with those big ole' eyes. I've even caught him smiling while nursing while looking at me. It doesn't matter what else just happened or how upset he was 2 minutes prior, nursing makes everything all better. And there's just nothing better, than Noah falling asleep in my arms while nursing. Those are the triumps and joys of breastfeeding.

The challenges come in with pumping mostly. I am so thankful to have worked for a company who found value in a mom's room, which is basically just a lockable room with a comfy chair, sink, and refrigerator. I was lucky, really lucky. Sadly, I'm about to start a new job that doesn't have a pumping situation quite as good. I'll post on that when I start my new job on November 22. The problem with pumping is that I'm slowly not pumping as much as I used to. I think a lot of this is due to my PCOS which the symptoms are slowly coming back. This affects my prolactin hormone which affects the lactation. When I first went back to work, I could pump approximately 12-15 ounces over 3 pumpings during the day. Around the 6 months mark when Noah started solids, it was down to around 8 ounces a day. That was when I started pumping first thing in the morning before I nursed Noah. That first pumping, I would get 6-7 ounces at first. Currently, I'm down to 3-4 ounces over the 3 pumpings during the day and about 3-4 ounces at that first pumping in the morning.

Noah has gone down from 4-oz bottles to 3-oz bottles as well. So basically he takes 9-oz and I get anywhere from 6-8 oz a day, so I'm always losing. The only thing that really saves me is that I pump first thing in the morning on the weekends. This next week I'll be off so I plan to do some good pumping. I'm taking a week off at the end of December to do some good pumping. Otherwise, I only have 2 more months or so, and then it's not a big deal to stop pumping and give cow's milk during the day.

Once I started breastfeeding, I was determined that this was something I was going to do all the way through the second year. Now here we are at 9 months wondering if I can even make it to the 12 month mark. At this point, I don't have to worry about formula. If there was never enough milk, I can always supplement with solid foods, but I know there is so much benefit in the breastmilk.

I've talked to several breastfeeding experts and they assure me I don't have anything to worry about because Noah is growing (maybe not weight, but definitely height) and that he has good output and he is meeting his milestones. Ok, well that's enough on this topic for now. I will try and be a better blogger in the future.