It’s approximately 5 days now since Caitlyn has been born. Being a father has been everything I've expected. The lack of sleep, the constant crying, and the overwhelming happiness I feel when my daughter looks at me.
However, there has been a minor bump in our journey thus far – breastfeeding. Jessie and I have talked about how we want to try to breastfeed baby Caitlyn for at least 6 months, if not longer, but the road leading there is looking pretty bleak.
The first night that the nurse brought Caitlyn back to us, Jessie tried breastfeeding. It was awkward and we both struggled to find a suitable position for her and Caitlyn. Getting her to latch on to Jessie’s nipple was another problem.
To prevent myself from getting frustrated, I made breastfeeding time into a game. I pretended Caitlyn’s mouth was a space shuttle and I was the commander trying to dock with the International Space Station (Jessie’s nipple). Precision and key-timing are the most important factors in both cases.
In the end, Caitlyn really didn’t want anything to do with breastfeeding or space shuttles. I was fine with that, since I knew a lot of newborn babies are more interested in sleeping than feeding.
However, Caitlyn soon took the art of sleeping to a whole other level. It earned her the nickname, “Sleeping Beauty,” from the nurses. She wasn’t to be bothered with feeding. And the longer it dragged on, the more concerned we got. We’d wake her up, get her to take a few licks, and then she’d fall right back asleep with the nipple still in her mouth.
It wasn’t until the third day that she finally came around to being hungry. Every time Caitlyn started crying, I’d run through the usual list of possible things that might be making her cry: wet diapers, insecurity, being uncomfortable, and of course, hunger. When there were no dirty diapers and rocking her didn’t work, I’d tell Jessie that Caitlyn was probably hungry and that it was time to breastfeed.
After a few times of going through the list, and always coming up with hunger as the cause, I eventually jumped straight to breastfeeding as a way to soothe her crying. Jessie and her nipples did not take too kindly to this.
To Jessie’s dismay, Caitlyn’s been devouring her nipples like there is no tomorrow. After just a few feedings, her nipples are already cracked, bleeding, and begging for mercy. To add insult to injury, all of this is caused by a helpless, toothless baby. If they could only engineer a formula that’s exactly like breast milk, then we could save millions upon millions of nipples from suffering the same fate as Jessie’s.
Whenever I’d hand Caitlyn over to her, she’d have a look in her eyes like she wanted to stab me in the face. Look, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just doing my job and telling you what our daughter needs.
Jessie: It’s not fair that you get to sit there and relax while I’m in pain. You have no idea what I’m feeling and going through right now.
Me: Well, what would you have me do? I can pinch my nipples really hard if you’d like. Then, perhaps we can share in this pain together.
With Caitlyn's increasing appetite, supply was not keeping up with demand. We didn’t know if Jessie’s breasts were producing enough milk, if any, or how much Caitlyn was actually taking in. Last night, we tried pumping her breasts with an electric breast pump and a hand-operated pump, but neither one had much of an affect. In the end, all we had was a crying, hungry baby, and an extremely frustrated Jessie.
Eventually, the doctor decided that we should supplement Jessie’s breast milk with a bottled formula to make sure Caitlyn was getting enough. Normally, this is not a good idea because feeding from a bottle is a lot less work for a baby and can cause her to become too lazy to suck on an actual nipple. Formulas are also sweet, which can cause a baby to prefer it over breast milk. But we were left with no other real alternative. It’s either starve the baby or give her formula.
This morning, Jessie finally broke down and started crying after another failed feeding. The pressure and stress from trying to succeed at breastfeeding has finally gotten to her. I tell her not to give up and to remain strong. Caitlyn and I haven’t given up hope yet. Typically, as long as there’s a demand, the supply will follow. Maybe Jessie’s supply just got held-up in a traffic jam.
Keep your head up and don’t lose hope!
However, there has been a minor bump in our journey thus far – breastfeeding. Jessie and I have talked about how we want to try to breastfeed baby Caitlyn for at least 6 months, if not longer, but the road leading there is looking pretty bleak.
The first night that the nurse brought Caitlyn back to us, Jessie tried breastfeeding. It was awkward and we both struggled to find a suitable position for her and Caitlyn. Getting her to latch on to Jessie’s nipple was another problem.
To prevent myself from getting frustrated, I made breastfeeding time into a game. I pretended Caitlyn’s mouth was a space shuttle and I was the commander trying to dock with the International Space Station (Jessie’s nipple). Precision and key-timing are the most important factors in both cases.
In the end, Caitlyn really didn’t want anything to do with breastfeeding or space shuttles. I was fine with that, since I knew a lot of newborn babies are more interested in sleeping than feeding.
However, Caitlyn soon took the art of sleeping to a whole other level. It earned her the nickname, “Sleeping Beauty,” from the nurses. She wasn’t to be bothered with feeding. And the longer it dragged on, the more concerned we got. We’d wake her up, get her to take a few licks, and then she’d fall right back asleep with the nipple still in her mouth.
It wasn’t until the third day that she finally came around to being hungry. Every time Caitlyn started crying, I’d run through the usual list of possible things that might be making her cry: wet diapers, insecurity, being uncomfortable, and of course, hunger. When there were no dirty diapers and rocking her didn’t work, I’d tell Jessie that Caitlyn was probably hungry and that it was time to breastfeed.
After a few times of going through the list, and always coming up with hunger as the cause, I eventually jumped straight to breastfeeding as a way to soothe her crying. Jessie and her nipples did not take too kindly to this.
To Jessie’s dismay, Caitlyn’s been devouring her nipples like there is no tomorrow. After just a few feedings, her nipples are already cracked, bleeding, and begging for mercy. To add insult to injury, all of this is caused by a helpless, toothless baby. If they could only engineer a formula that’s exactly like breast milk, then we could save millions upon millions of nipples from suffering the same fate as Jessie’s.
Whenever I’d hand Caitlyn over to her, she’d have a look in her eyes like she wanted to stab me in the face. Look, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just doing my job and telling you what our daughter needs.
Jessie: It’s not fair that you get to sit there and relax while I’m in pain. You have no idea what I’m feeling and going through right now.
Me: Well, what would you have me do? I can pinch my nipples really hard if you’d like. Then, perhaps we can share in this pain together.
With Caitlyn's increasing appetite, supply was not keeping up with demand. We didn’t know if Jessie’s breasts were producing enough milk, if any, or how much Caitlyn was actually taking in. Last night, we tried pumping her breasts with an electric breast pump and a hand-operated pump, but neither one had much of an affect. In the end, all we had was a crying, hungry baby, and an extremely frustrated Jessie.
Eventually, the doctor decided that we should supplement Jessie’s breast milk with a bottled formula to make sure Caitlyn was getting enough. Normally, this is not a good idea because feeding from a bottle is a lot less work for a baby and can cause her to become too lazy to suck on an actual nipple. Formulas are also sweet, which can cause a baby to prefer it over breast milk. But we were left with no other real alternative. It’s either starve the baby or give her formula.
This morning, Jessie finally broke down and started crying after another failed feeding. The pressure and stress from trying to succeed at breastfeeding has finally gotten to her. I tell her not to give up and to remain strong. Caitlyn and I haven’t given up hope yet. Typically, as long as there’s a demand, the supply will follow. Maybe Jessie’s supply just got held-up in a traffic jam.
Keep your head up and don’t lose hope!
 |
| Breastfeed first |
 |
| Then bottle |
 |
| Don't stop feeding! |
 |
| Keep up the good work, Mommy! |
you're doing great, Jessie! :) don't lose heart!
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