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I am debating about whether I should attempt to breastfeed. We don't have a match yet, but I am thinking about what type of preparations we want to make now for when we are matched. I don't need to be convinced about the benefits of breastfeeding, but am wondering how likely it is that I would actually be successful at it (even with a low threshold of calling something a success) and how much stress it would cause. Having a newborn is going to be stressful enough and I don't want to add any more to it. Plus I know myself and know I will get frustrated if I try and don't ever get any milk. But if I don't try I wonder if I will always feel that I didn't do everything I could and that is just one more thing I have to "miss out" on.
I think I know where you are coming from, but I can't really do justice to your question briefly. I can't really spend the time right now. If I don't get back here in the next couple days, feel free to remind me!
Darillyn
noelani54@hotmail.com
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scarlet872
I am debating about whether I should attempt to breastfeed. We don't have a match yet, but I am thinking about what type of preparations we want to make now for when we are matched. I don't need to be convinced about the benefits of breastfeeding, but am wondering how likely it is that I would actually be successful at it (even with a low threshold of calling something a success)]
If you go into it with realistic expectations, correct information, and determination, it is extremely likely that you will succeed at it.
[ and how much stress it would cause. Having a newborn is going to be stressful enough and I don't want to add any more to it.]
I can't tell you that it doesn't require more preparation and isn't sometimes less convenient than feeding with bottles. However, the most challenging part is in the beginning, when you are trying to figure out how everything works and getting adjusted to having a baby in the house. I assume you anticipate getting a newborn. Newborns can be very time consuming and emotionally and physically draining, no matter how you feed them. My new grandson and his parents are living with me. It has been a reminder of just how demanding a newborn can be. It varies with the individual child, of course. I suspect that my grandson would have been less fussy and demanding, had he been breastfed, though. Nurturing at the breast, regardless of how much breast milk is being produced, can be more soothing than a bottle or pacifier, especially for some babies. It is also possible to rest, yourself, while you have a baby latched on to your breast, after you have gotten the hang of it. The same can't be said for holding a bottle or even for using a pacifier, in the newborn period. It is usually a few months before a baby can keep a pacifier in his mouth very well without someone having to keep pushing it back it.
[Plus I know myself and know I will get frustrated if I try and don't ever get any milk.]
In all the years I have been involved in this, I have only heard of a few mothers who did not produce some breast milk, just from nursing on demand with the Lact-Aid, and I haven't heard of anyone who did not produce something with domperidone. Just to clarify, I have heard of a fair number who did not get any milk from pumping in advance, without taking domperidone, and very few who have been able to pump ounces in advance, but the majority of those started producing ounces after they replaced the pump with a baby suckling. It is impossible to predict how much milk someone will produce and who will have the best results with what, but I can pretty confidently say that your chances of producing some amount of milk are somewhere around 90% without domperidone and 99% with it. Of course, that applies to those who spend several hours a day nursing a baby (and/or pumping, if taking domperidone).
It is also important to define a "significant" amount of milk. There has been much discussion on how much it takes to provide the immunological benefits. I started my mothering career under the impression that a small amount didn't help. I learned, with my second baby, that even a few ounces a day could make a huge difference. Since then (he is 25 now) it has become pretty well accepted that that is the case. There is argument about how small, some say just 2 ounces.
[But if I don't try I wonder if I will always feel that I didn't do everything I could and that is just one more thing I have to "miss out" on.
I think the answer to that is yes, because that is exactly how I felt. I didn't do that great with my first attempts to nurse my first two babies. I did nurse both of them for a while, with the Lact-Aid, and I have always been thankful that I did that, but every time they were sick or hurt, until they were quite a bit older, I wished I could have done better at getting breastfeeding well established with them. I nursed my first about half the time, for the first few months. I think I could have done a lot better with my second, had he had a decent suck. He had a severe suckling defect, which I was told nothing could be done about. His suck was so weak that the only way he could get much formula was with a standard bottle nipple with a big hole in it.
When we moved to Germany, we talked to the social worker there and, although we were told the chances of getting a baby in the time we were going to be there were slim, I wanted to be more prepared to breastfeed, in case we were lucky. I hadn't found much more written about breastfeeding adopted babies, but I had realized that part of my problem, before, was that I hadn't known much about breastfeeding, in general.
I had also learned, by then, that a few ounces a day of breast milk can make a make huge difference. By the time my second son was four months old, it had been three months since his ears had not been infected. He screamed constantly and was the most miserable baby I have ever seen. He was put on half a dozen different antibiotics, but all they did was hurt his insides. He wasn't gaining weight and refusing to eat. About two months before, I'd asked our pediatrician what he thought of getting some donated breast milk for him, but he'd said no way. Finally, it got so bad that I decided the ped's way hadn't worked and it was time to try something else. In 1986, there was a major AIDS hysteria going on, which had make it so that La Leche League leaders weren't touching the issue of milk donation. I had to find someone on my own. A few days later, I was at the pool, telling a friend about it. A friend of hers was there, nursing her baby as we were talking, and told me that she would be happy to share some milk with us. All she gave us was between four and six ounces a day, but it made an immediate difference! I threw away the antibiotics the same time. He immediately started screaming less, eating and gaining weight again and, a few weeks later when I took him to have his ears checked, they were clear! He never got another ear infection, cold, or anything, until after we had moved to Germany.
After we had been in Germany for a year and a half, a biracial baby was born on our base. He had nearly died and it was quite likely that he would have brain damage. That fact helped make me more determined. If I got discouraged, I remembered how I had regretted not getting farther with my first two. He nursed until he self-weaned, well beyond infancy, as did his three younger siblings.
Well, I have tried to keep this from being too long, but I have so much experience with it that I can talk all day. I hope it has been helpful to you.
Darillyn
Thank you! This was very helpful. I am leaning towards trying, although I think every day my mind keeps changing. It is really great to hear stories from people who have done it.
That is a mental disturbance which can effect our daily life as well.
So i guess it should be avoided as much as we can try to change your focus from things that are bothering your mate.
Alena69
That is a mental disturbance which can effect our daily life as well.
So i guess it should be avoided as much as we can try to change your focus from things that are bothering your mate.
Any comments?
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