[blparent] A few thoughts about nursing

[Karla Hudson]

Hi Anjelina, 

I have two children who I nursed.  I am blind and so is my husband.  I had
difficulty with my first child.  I was truly ready to throw the hat in and
give up.  However, my husband gave me lots of support during this time as he
and I both agreed if we could make it work our kids would benefit so much.
I can tell you that having a support system can make all the difference in
this process.  My mom had never breast fed and thought it was sort of
strange.  She had trouble with the idea as she wanted to give the baby a
bottle.  

Just a little note.  If you give a baby a bottle to often in those first few
days it can create "nipple confusion" and cause nursing problems.  The
sucking mechanism for the bottle is much different than the sucking for
nursing.  I new this going into it with my daughter so we used a
finger-feeder with my pumped milk.  What a job!  I also read the book the
"womanly art of breastfeeding."  Not that you want to be reading a book
during this stressful time.  However, if you could skim parts it might help
you with the process.  Others have suggested finding a Laleche group leader
in your area.  I found them to be very supportive more than the hospital
staff.  Lots of blind women nurse their kids and many sighted moms nurse in
the dark at night.  Before introducing any other method of feeding the baby
you should always try nursing if this is the road you want to take for the
baby.  The more you try, although it is exhausting at times, the more you
and the baby will get the hang of it together.  After six weeks of struggle
with my first child we finally just started nursing as if we had been doing
it perfect all along.  I nursed both my kids for the first 15 months of
life.  The bonding was great and the health benefits were tremendous as my
kids have been very healthy.  Plus you always have your milk right with you.
Another thought is trying different nursing positions.  I nursed her
successfully lying down on my side or using a nursing pillow.  I would get
really sore arms from trying to hold her so the nursing pillow gave us that
extra support.      

Let me know if you need more support.  Just talking about the struggle can
help.  Good luck and enjoy your new baby! 

Karla