[blparent] breastfeeding help

Fri Apr 13 22:59:31 UTC 2012

Wow, Sabrina it sounds like you and your daughter have been through a lot in
the past several months.  Coo dose to you for sticking it out and giving her
all the breast milk you can.  Especially with her heart condition that
breast milk will be just what she needs.  After reading your whole story it
makes sense why your daughter would have nipple confusion.  I would keep
talking with lactation specialists about this issue and if the sucking is
just too hard for your daughter to do then having your milk via bottle works
great as well.  I don't know how easily your milk flows but you could try
doing some gentle massage of your breasts before trying to nurse and that
might help your milk flow easier for your daughter, thus encouraging her to
stay latched longer.  Will your daughter need more surgeries in the future?
I'll be praying for her and that her toughest trials are behind her.

Blessings,

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of sabrina Giles
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 3:47 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] breastfeeding help

Hey Erin,
Wow thanks so much for your message, it was verry encouraging.
Let me give you some background on Cheyenne, as what you said about nipple
confusion might be true.
When she was first born on a newborn bisit the midwives that were with me
through my pregnancy and delivery noticed she had a  heart murmur.  They
told me that some babies have one, so to not give it much  thought, so I
didn't. Well, at two weeks of age, she had another visit from the same
midwives, and the murmur got worse.... so I decided it was time to get her
checked out.
I had been having trouble getting her insurance  Established and so wasn't
able to get her seen by a pediatrician as soon as I would have liked.
Consequently, it was all a case of bad timing, because, that very day on her
two week Birthday, she coded in a grocery parking lot.
She was rushed  via ambulance to the hospital, where we found out she had
five things wrong with her heart.  She had 3 large holes in her heart, and
enlarged  heart, and a  narrowing of her aortic arch So, at  3 weeks of age
she had open heart surgery.  After her surgery nursing was too exhausting
for her, and so she was put on a feeding tube which consisted of my breast
milk along with a little bit of formula.
After her tube was removed a few months later, she began taking bottle and
the fortified breast milk.  So, its been a step by step process for us.  She
didn't really start nursing very well, until like 3 months ago.
So, that's a little more about my precious little one.

..-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Erin Rumer
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 5:24 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] breastfeeding help

Hello Sabrina,

Since your little girl is still so young I'd encourage you to continue
nursing her as much as possible but if you can't after really giving it a
while, pumping and giving her the formula in bottles as her nutritional
fluid intake is key.  This also may just be a phase and you'd hate to stop
nursing and find that she wants to nurse normally again next week or so.  It
could be that she's just board or distracted with other things going on
around you so try stepping away with her and make nursing special mommy-baby
bonding time where it's just you and her and no other stimulation.  Sing
songs and talk quietly to her during this time and she will more than likely
love this time and look forward to it very much.  Since you are feeding with
bottles a decent amount it could also just be that she's having a bit of
nipple confusion and-or just being kind of lazy on the breast since it takes
more work for her to get the milk out.  This sucking stimulates proper
development of the jaw and pallet and prevents ear infections amongst many
other benefits, so I encourage you to continue nursing as long as you can
with your daughter.  At least try to get her to a year if you can because
even though she's eating solids now, she needs lots of fluid and your milk
will be best for that.  The breast milk also aids in digestion of those
solids your daughter's eating and she'll have less bouts of constipation
than if she wasn't drinking your breast milk at all.  Just remember that
once you stop nursing you can't start up again so make the most of it.

Best to you and please keep us posted with how it's going.

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of sabrina Giles
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 2:08 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: [blparent] breastfeeding help

Hi everyone,

So, this question is for those of y'all who have nursed.  I have noticed
since Cheyenne has been on solids she hasn't had much interest in nursing.
She'll latch on, and after like ten seconds she'll stop nursing.  I've
started pumping my milk and giving it in bottles for some feedings and
formula for others when I don't pump enough to satisfy her.

How can I stop producing milk altogether?  It would seem to me that as long
as I pump I will keep producing milk.. But like I said that is my only
choice since she seems to not be interested in nursing .

Any suggestions?

Thankis,

Sabrina

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