Overcoming Challenges of Breastfeeding

My first daughter when she was jaundice.

Getting the supplemental nursing system.

Anyways the lactation consultant tried to set me up with something called a supplemental nursing system. It is basically a way to supplement with formula or your own pumped breast milk at the breast. It alleviates nipple confusion and you can essentially breastfeed when possible. Whereas, if you do bottle feed it might affect your supply.

I tried but failed in my first attempt to use the device and my breastfeeding journey ended. My second daughter had almost the same thing happen except that she didn’t get jaundice.

The same lactation consultant asked me the same question years later.

 “Do you want to try the supplemental feeder?”

“Yes!” I said. I am determined to breastfeed my second. With a 300 dollar pump sitting at home, I had made up my mind I was going to breastfeed, no matter what. I wasn’t going to give up.

So she put on the device for me showed me how to set it up, measure where to tape the tubing, etc. My baby got full it seemed, almost instantly. She stuck her belly out like she just ate Thanksgiving dinner. She was out like a light from her milk stupor.

We still use the device today, and probably will until the end of our breastfeeding journey. I say we have the best and worst of both worlds.

The SNS and my sleepy baby.

As we went along using the feeder I started to get concerned. My daughter didn’t latch right still, I thought maybe it had to do with the feeder. She made an arching kind of backbend when I would try to feed her. She would come right off and cry.

It seemed like she was hungry but also full, like that wasn’t what she wanted. I grappled for a while with what was going on. So when I went to her 2-month appointment I asked the pediatrician what might be the issue. That was when I found out she had GERD and was MSPI.

It was explained to me by the pediatrician that, what she was doing was a sign of reflux. She checked the back of her throat and said it was inflamed and probably sore. This is called esophagitis.

She prescribed a medication (ranitidine) to give her twice a day to help lower the acidity of her stomach acid. This would alleviate her pain and discomfort because you can’t actually help babies to not have reflux. It is something all babies have because of their anatomy. It is something they just have to grow out of.

So a day or two later I started noticing that instead of improving the reflux it seemed to be getting worse. She was waking up in the middle of the night gagging, choking, and coughing. I was terrified, I didn’t know what to do.

I called the doctor back and asked for them to increase the medicine or something. So they made me an emergency appointment.

When attempting to feed her at the appointment we had our daily struggle of me trying to feed her and her wanting to eat but being in pain. The doctor was amazing because he listened to my concerns and took them seriously.

He suggested that I changed my diet to a dairy and soy free one. For her to switch a hypoallergenic formula as well. He also increased her medicine, referred her to a gastroenterology specialist, told us to put rice cereal in her bottle, sit her up for an hour after she eats, and set up a gastric emptying study.

Everything came back negative thankfully and she definitely improved on all of the changes we made.  This presented yet another challenge to my breastfeeding journey. No cheese?! No Chinese food?! The doctor didn’t seem confident that I would continue. Stating that most mothers in these circumstances just go to formula.

Once again I was bound and determined to fight for my bond with my baby at the breast. I went home and fervently Googled about the diet. I found wonderful support groups, recipes, and saw that other mothers had done it and succeeded.

So I went out and bought all new groceries, and made my husband eat the tempting leftover Chinese in the fridge. We boxed up a lot of the other food in our pantry that would stay because our meals are now all MSPI friendly. My daughter and husband still put cheese on their spaghetti but that is the extent of it.

I have actually come to love my new found diet, and I lost weight too. I have an affinity for almond milk and quinoa. Things I didn’t even know how to pronounce before.

I will have to go through these challenges for probably another 6 months, at least until I can try to reintroduce foods.

These challenges are difficult. I would be lying if, at times, I haven’t sat and cried wondering why this has to happen to my baby. Why does this have to be such a difficult thing when mothers have been doing it for millennia. I don’t have the answer to these questions.

All I know is that the bond I have with my baby far outweighs the challenges. Her health is so much better than my first daughter who was constantly plagued by colds from daycare. Which we haven’t had yet (knock on wood). She also had problems with constipation because of being formula fed. Another thing we haven’t had to deal with.

4.5 months into our breastfeeding journey

You can do it too!

My goal for writing this though is to not to pat myself on the back. I don’t want to toot my horn and say “I am doing it against all odds!” My reasons for writing this are to give you the hope. The glimmer of possibility that I got from reading other people’s story. I want to cheer you on your journey, and support you in all the wonderful, beautiful challenges of being a parent. You can do this mama!

This originally was posted on my bestie blogging friends website, as a guest post. She has since changed formats to modernhomesteadmama.com

Thanks, Victoria for all you have done for me!