And so my journey begins yet again…

 
Scrap Credits
Crazy Love Partie 5  kit from Digital-Crea
Photo mask from Scrapmalin

With the birth of Hannah, so begins this second breastfeeding journey of mine.  Psychologically, of course I am very prepared…prepared to sacrifice sleep for at least a few weeks or months, prepared for interrupted schedules and definitely prepared to reap the fulfilling rewards.

I’ll be honest.  The first night I spent with Hannah was VERY trying.  And although mentally I knew that this would be coming, fatigue was taking its toll on me.  Coupled with the fact that Hannah nursed VERY frequently that first night, and hardly slept, it would be really easy for any new mother to give up.  Of course, it didn’t help that the hospital I was in had nurses who *gently advised* me not to become a human pacifier, and tried to coax me to use a regular pacifier instead.  Luckily I did not cave in!  You see, I had clearly stated in my birth plan that I would be exclusively breastfeeding Hannah, and that she was not to have any bottles or pacifiers.

Anyway, that was not the end of my worries.  When I came home from the hospital, I started to get sore nipples due to the excessive nursing.  Hannah was latching on correctly, that much I am sure, but my nipples were very sore, and dry, probably because they were not yet *seasoned*.  I was never a fan of using lanolin to ease sore nipples, but I resorted to it a couple of times out of desperation.  I still prefer applying breast milk though.

This time round, hallelujah, my milk came in on the third day, but I still had to grit my teeth when I nursed Hannah then, so I consulted the internet and I was somewhat relieved to find out that the soreness would (hopefully) disappear come day 6 or so.  Hannah’s pediatrician recommended wearing loose clothing to help ease the soreness (and that help a lot).

Thankfully the soreness left from day 4 onwards and I am now happily nursing a happy beautiful baby 🙂

She is definitely a pro at breastfeeding, but sometimes she can get a little bit lazy after nursing on one side, and needs to be woken up for feeding on the other side.  Hannah is fed on demand and usually asks for a feed every 2-3 hours, but sometimes less frequently.

I am taking it easy now and have not started expressing milk yet, although sometimes I feel my breasts are quite full.  I am allowing my body to make just enough (no more and no less) milk for Hannah, so I will probably only start expressing for storage in Week 3 or 4 or later, when my milk supply is established.

So as far as my breastfeeding journey goes, I am definitely enjoying myself and from the looks of it, Hannah is too, as her weight has increased to 7lbs 6.5oz (3.359kilos) at 2 weeks’ old! 🙂