Yesterday I learned how to be a more empathetic lactation consultant. I experienced my first bout of mastitis and watched Baby Vanilla have both his lip and tongue ties lasered.
We haven't been having any breastfeeding issues per se, Vanilla is gaining weight and my nipples are fairly comfortable. However, he made a clicking noise with his sucks and would come on and off my breast. Partially he's overwhelmed by my overactive letdown and supply (good problems, I know, especially for those of you who struggle with making enough milk) and his tight tongue snaps back as he sucks. Breastfeeding felt like a necessary source of discomfort for my sweet baby. There was rarely falling asleep at the breast or fluttery eyes and big gummy smiles. It's tough as a mother to feel like your body is agitating your baby instead of bringing comfort.
It took 3 weeks to get into the dentist who is considered the best in our area for tongue and lip tie procedures. The mom in me almost cancelled the appointment a bazillion times, but the LC in me told me to go through with it. I cried as we walked back to our little dental room. The dentist greeted me with a big hug and said "You must be first time parents." Maybe it was my achy, mastitis body or hormones or maybe I'm just overly sensitive, but it did break my heart to inflict pain on my baby.
So far, I have seen some improvement in Baby Vanilla's suck and latch. He's been extra fussy and we have to do post-op exercises that are no fun. I have an antibiotic for my mastitis, but I'm trying to nix it the natural way (rest, water, vitamin c, raw garlic, echinea, ginger, ice packs, and massage/hand express on infected breast) - it's still to be determined if this will be fruitful or not.
In the meantime, we are enjoying extra cuddles with our little man and I'm excited to have him actually fall asleep on my breast.
Breastfeeding, in my experience, is an up and down journey. It's constantly changing, but overall good. I would consider it one of my biggest accomplishments in motherhood, thus far. I am grateful my roads bumps have been ones I can overcome and respect that this is not always the case for all mothers.
Happy Breastfeeding, fellow mamas and friends! Hang in there, all this motherhood stuff gets easier in time.
(FYI, I again called an LC friend/colleague to come check my latch and baby's suck. Even a LC needs to just be "mama" when in the trenches :).
LE's journey:
When a lactation consultant breastfeedsPart 2
