For fun- how about a question for all to ponder?

[BC-GoMom]

So...
Do you plan to breastfeed?
Why did you choose to/not to?
How long to you think you will b/f?
If you plan to do bottles- what brand? Does price matter?
What is the beast breast pump these days?

Do you know someone close you can go to for help if it doesn't work like you expect?

I look forward to your answers! They will help others!
JenC

[AmyLeigh]

Good questions Jen... I especially like the "beast" breast pump... LOL !!

Do you plan to breastfeed? yes
Why did you choose to/not to?think it is vital for the nutritional and bonding aspect
How long to you think you will b/f? no more than 6-8 months
If you plan to do bottles- what brand? Does price matter? no idea yet...
What is the beast breast pump these days? no idea yet...

Do you know someone close you can go to for help if it doesn't work like you expect? I have 2 best friends who have 3 children and 4 children respectively and live within a 5 minute drive from us. I also have 2 older sisters who have 4 children and 2 children respectively and will be at my every whim !! heehee !

I am curious to see others responses to the Bottles/brand and the Breast Pump questions...

[DeeNa]

Do you plan to breastfeed? Absolutely.
Why did you choose to/not to? Best for baby and for me.
How long to you think you will b/f? At least 9months to 1 year
If you plan to do bottles- what brand? Does price matter? - I use Avent bottles. They are not too expensive.
What is the beast breast pump these days? Medela Symphony - only available to be rented because it costs over $1k to purchase.

Do you know someone close you can go to for help if it doesn't work like you expect? The lactation consultant at my hospital where I will deliver. But this is my third, so I'm not expecting any surprises.

[guslisa]

Good questions!

Do you plan to breastfeed? YES
Why did you choose to/not to? BETTER FOR BABY, IMMUNE, ETC (AND MORE AFFORDABLE )
How long to you think you will b/f? AT LEAST 3 MONTHS, BUT LONGER IF ALL GOES WELL. WE'LL SEE.
If you plan to do bottles- what brand? Does price matter? DON'T KNOW YET
What is the beast breast pump these days? LOOKING FORWARD TO ANSWERS HERE

Do you know someone close you can go to for help if it doesn't work like you expect? NOT REALLY, MY SIL IS THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW THAT DID IT, BUT THE HOSPITAL OFFERS HELP

[BC-GoMom]

Great responses so far! Keep them coming ladies! We are suppose to be wiser..... b/c we have seen more!

I thought you might be interested on my history- so here goes... remember my "baby" will be 3 in September.

Do you plan to breastfeed? I PLANNED ON B/Fing all my children
Why did you choose to/not to? THE BENEFITS FOR BABY AND ME-AND COST!
How long to you think you will b/f? I REALLY DIDN'T HAVE A TIME LIMIT BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD TRY FOR ATLEAST 6 MONTHS
If you plan to do bottles- what brand? Does price matter? I PLANNED TO USE AVENT WITH EXPRESSED MILK
What is the beast breast pump these days? IN MY DAY IT WAS THE MEDELA PUMP IN STYLE... IT WAS GREAT....

Do you know someone close you can go to for help if it doesn't work like you expect? I THOUGHT I DID... THE HOSPITAL AND A CLOSE MOTHERLY TYPE FRIEND THAT HAS TAUGHT MANY TO B/F

NOW FOR WHAT REALLY HAPPENED- I started b/f at the hospital with all my children. My ds did not latch on correctly, I was pumping b/c he was in the nicu for a day... my milk didn't come in until day 4... he was starved, so I gave him a little formula at first along with the breastmilk. I then had plenty of milk- to feed several children- he still didn't latch well(I think I was too big for him) so I pumped and he was bottle fed breastmilk exclusively for 6 months and I had another 2+ months in the freezer. I used Carnation Good start and at 1 year started milk. He loved b/m but tolerated the formula and milk.... to this day (age 6) he will drink milk but doesn't really like it.

With dd #1 tried b/f at the breast- again day 4- no milk- she cried- a caved gave her Carnation GS for a day (she was a little jaundiced too) pumped and I pumped with her 6 months with several months in the freezer... when we went to formula she loved carnation GS and she loved milk at a year... she is still a good milk drinker...

with dd #2 I brought Carnation gs to the hospital along with a few bottles... I was ready. I let her try to nurse like the others, get the colostrum, then fed her a little formula.(happy baby).. until day 4 when my milk came in and I pumped for her too exclusively for 6 months.... she too transitioned to Carnation GS and milk beautifully... and still loves milk.

I was happy all my babies got breastmilk, and in a bottle allowed dh to feed and take some of the night shifts.... for our family... that worked well. My first 2 babies were jaundiced but with a day or two of formula and sunshine, it cleared up.... the third didn't because I gave her the formula early... she didn't lose alot of weight at first like my two older ones did. I accepted that a bottle or 2 of formula wasn't going to "harm" my babies....

Moral of the story is.... breastfeeding rarely works like you expect it, but if you work at it, most can succeed. And yes- I confounded all those experts who said I should have been successful at b/fing- I consulted everyone around me... but at least my babies got what they needed, just by using a little different method! BTW I could pump 3 times a day and produce 30+ ounces a day! Pumping worked for me....

That's my story...
I want to hear more plans....

[DeeNa]

Originally Posted by BC-JenC

Moral of the story is.... breastfeeding rarely works like you expect it...

I wouldn't say THAT, Jen. Breastfeeding is a confidence game. You can ONLY do the things you BELIEVE in your heart that you can do. The better you believe you are at it, the better you WILL be at it; does that make sense? I'm not trying to pick an argument, but you bought formula with you to the hospital - so you had a "alternative" ready and waiting. Where was your motivation to really work on your nursing relationship when you had formula and bottles in your birth bag? My milk didn't come in until day four either - day three/four is normal for most people and you're EXTRAORDINARILY lucky if you get it before that. Did you see the hospital LC at all?

My ds was combination fed because he went back into the NICU at 7 days, and I had planned to go back to work when he was older. I didn't work as hard at nursing him as I did with my dd because I wasn't going back to work with her and I wanted her to be exclusively bf'd - does that make sense? When I didn't allow myself an out (formula), we had an exclusive bf'ing relationship that lasted for 9months - when SHE started to lose interest in it.

You did what worked for you, and that's wonderful. Your kids got breastmilk, and that's outstanding. With the next one will you try to pump only and not offer formula at all? Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had just hung in there and not offered the formula?

I'm FAR from a "nursing Nazi" - I'm not slamming you at all and I sincerely hope it doesn't come across that I am. But a lot of time we convince ourselves that we're not "normal", or that we're "defective" in some way (not getting milk "until" day 4 - when most people don't get milk until day 3-4 anyway) and we look for the "quick fix" - when there's absolutely nothing wrong.

I am enjoying this thread too...

[BC-GoMom]

dnadjkovic and all,
I am not feeling slammed! too funny... I probably needed to clarify a bit.

I will restate that b/f is rarely what you expect... until you have b/f and had that experience, you really have no concept. You can read, study, be instructed, but when you actually do it, most women I talk to, admit that it is very different (not necessarily bad or good) from what they imagined!

I am a breastfeeding advocate.... a big one! All my babies got b/m for six months + exclusively.... I just pumped it all..... except the few bottles of formula right at the beginning( due to c/section babies, wet lungs, in the nicu 24 hours, jaundice, etc). And yes, on the third child.... I did expect for her not to take my breast... so I did take the bottles to the hospital... I had learned. .. I had a much more laid back relaxed attitude by the time I had the 3rd.... It just wasn't going to stress me to give her a bottle or two of formula before we got the pumping going! and yes I was still letting her try to b/f.

And yes, I had LC consults at the hospital and at home.... One of my closest friends is some big wig in LLL - LOL! You would not believe the time and energy and people that tried to make it work. I was just a rare one!

As for that next one.... hmmmm... I still have 2 frozen embies left that I plan to transfer in a few months.... it depends on the outcome of these last ones.

OK.... I am looking for more responses....
JenC

[DeeNa]

Jen - Oh, okay, I see now. I thought you did formula all along. Gotcha. The LC at my son's hospital was absolutely ADAMANT that I NOT offer formula in the hospital. I felt like it would "offend" her personally if I did it! So she basically pushed our nursing relationship, and got it going. But, then he turned around and went back into the hospital, so there went all that work. But we made it. And I'd do all over again (except for the part about him being sick and back in the hospital...)

I hated my pump in style! I could get NO MILK out of it and ended up engorged, so I had to rent a hospital grade pump to resolve all my milk issues.

Thanks for explaining! Good luck with those embryos!
Love,
Dianna

[jan21]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...

I absolutely "planned" on exclusively bf my twins before they were born. I went to classes, did lots of reading, had LC lined up...

But as Jen C wrote above sometimes things don't work out the way you plan it and you have no idea what BF is like til you do it.

Here's what happened to me - I had a SEVERE postpartum hemorrhage after delivery - alomost went into shock, needed a total of 4 units of blood over 2 days, oxygen mask, the works. Meanwhile, my babies were extremely sleepy from being born a bit early (36 weeks) and the mag sulfate I was on for pre-eclampsia. For several days I could barely hold a pen much less a baby to nurse. And they ended up needing to be tube fed formula because they couldn't be woken up the 1st night - and at only a little over 5 pounds the ped. did not feel it was safe for them to not get nutrition. One was also jaundiced. Even when I was strong enough to hold my girls, they had great difficulty latching on, and when they did they fell asleep after maybe 5 min.

I went home with a hospital rented pump. I would try to nurse, then feed them via a little cup (I was trying to avoid bottles) either EBM or formula if I didn's have enough. Then I would also pump. After 2 weeks of 1-2 hours/night of sleep, the LC told me it really would be "OK" to use Avent bottles. My health was important too. I was constantly almost passing out. I ended up doing about 3/4 nursing/EMB and 1/4 formula for about 4 mos. After that, one of my dd started refusing to nurse - I tried suggestions from the LC but she wanted no part of it except 1st thing in the AM (she was sleeping thru the night by then). So I ended up mostly pumping and alternating which baby got the formula, which one got BM, only nursing 1st thing in the AM or overnight when my other DD woke up. They were getting about 1/2 and 1/2 by then. I kept this up until about 10 mos, when it was just becoming too much work to constantly pump.

So, the moral of my story is to educate yourself, but go easy on yourself if things don't turn out as you plan. I am still made to feel guilty by breastfeeding nazis, none of whom have twins and certainly didn't almost die after delivery. You just have to do the best you can.

Good luck!
Janice