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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.
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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!Darillynnoelani54@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.
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