Proud as can be!! [Archive] - Bub Hub Pregnancy & Parenting Forum

Angelmist♥

20-11-2005, 21:17

I'm sorry but I just have to share my emotions right now!!My darling precious girl is 5 days old today and we have breastfed ALL day without need of expressing!!YAY :D She is a tiny bub (5lb 13 1/2) and we had a pretty traumatic birth and apparently my nipples are "flat and crappy" so I had been expressing every feed for her to have in a bottle.

After formula feeding my 2 sons because of my nipples :rolleyes: I really wanted to breastfeed this bubs and with the help of nipple shields I am!YAY YAY YAY!!

But I have one question.......When I was expressing I was getting around 80mls within 8 minutes on each side, so is that how much she's getting now???or is it less??? She's feeding for around 15 to 20 minutes each and I'm wondering if she's getting enough???

Ha ha I think I'm too used to bottles where you can actually see how much they have drank!

Stacy

20-11-2005, 21:21

Dear Nara,

I am expecting my first and just have to say congratulations. I have never done any of this before, but from what I understand it isn't easy. Well Done!!!

Stacy

draught

20-11-2005, 21:43

Well done!!! Big claps for you and baby!! What an effort!!

As for how much she is getting - what you express is not normally a good indication of how much she will be getting in my experience. I have always had big healthy "overweight" purely breast fed babies but have not been able to express much, so their feeding is definitely more efficient than my expressing.

xkwzit

20-11-2005, 21:52

Hi Nara
Good on you both. It took me WEEKS to BF DD1 properly due to my very flat nipples. Isn't it amazing how quickly they grow and learn? Its an amazing time :)

And your baby is much more efficient than a breast pump, so I'm sure she's getting everything she needs. Plenty of wet nappies should also reassure you.

Cheers and ((hugs))

veve

20-11-2005, 21:57

mummycloud

20-11-2005, 22:27

Nara...I just wanted to say that I am all teary reading your post. I know exactly how releiving it is to finally be able to do something after a rough struggle ((((HUGS))).
In the first few days with Aiden, the midwives were trying to get me to express and it was so painful. I could only get 1ml the first time :( I just kept putting him on..he would only stay on for a minute or two, but I knew he was going to bring my milk in faster and less painfully than expressing. Day 3 I was so full of milk (the nurses were shocked that it came in without expressing :rolleyes: ), that I was able to express 30mls in 5 minutes on each side. Babies are much more efficent at getting milk out than pumps and fingers..LOL I bet your bubs is getting 80mls out in 10 minutes ;)
Congratulations! :D

mummycloud

20-11-2005, 22:31

wow- congrats Nara :)

(hugs to you AND bub!!!) - and re: the question about milk quantity - I"m sure that many mums (myself included) wished that breasts came with fuel guages! I would LOVE to know how much my little man was getting!

WELL DONE!

xxx

So long as bubs is gaining weight and wetting nappies, it doesn't matter how much she is getting. If they don't get enough they don't put on weight,they start off hungry all the time and end up lethargic and dehydrated. You would know if bubs wasn't getting enough, by the symptams anyway, so don't worry so much about how many Mls she is getting :)

Imogensmum

20-11-2005, 22:40

Oh congrats to you and to your clever bub who is coping with your 'flat' nipples!! I am also a flatty!!! And didn't realise before having bub that nipples came in different shapes!!! The things you learn!!!

Took my bub 2 1/2 weeks to attach at all, then another 5 with the sheild and now we are sheild free!!!!

Feeding times vary- my little one feeds for 5 mins(tops) either side!!! Bubs manage to get the letdown happening heaps quicker than any breast pump can!!

YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

JnA

21-11-2005, 00:09

Congrats Nara.. and to your little one.. smart going! :)

I would LOVE to know how much my little man was getting!

xxx

I took mine to a CHC one day, weighed her, then BF then weighed her again... it gave me an idea. But I agree with mummycloud, as long as all other signs are good, it doesn't really matter.

Angelmist♥

21-11-2005, 12:50

Well the midwife just visited and weighed our little bundle and she is now 6lb 2!! :p So definitely getting enough! YYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!

H&B'sMum

21-11-2005, 13:04

Just wanted to se YAY Nara, sound like you are doing a great job breastfeeding your little one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bella-Archie

21-11-2005, 13:15

Hi Nara

Congrats .... on the breasfeeding thing .....I'm also a flatty and gave up bf with my first baby and getting there with the help of nipple shields with baby no.2

Just realised that you were from gladstone ...... I live in Calliope !!!!

This may sound really weird but are your parents-in-law Pam and Bob ?????

Milly

21-11-2005, 15:24

Congrats Nara! What a great job! :D

Your expressing sounds pretty good to me actually, and sounds like it is going well in that department and when she is at the breast, she will be able to feed more deeply and will get even more milk again. So, sounds like you are going really well. So, she should be getting more milk feeding directly from your breasts. Just keep and eye in those outputs with the frequent wet nappies. My daughter fed for about 20 mins each side. So, every baby is different and just feed her until she is done (and she will let you know this). Try not to watch the clock and just watch the outputs.

Aren't nipple shields a blessing? They were my friends to when I started breastfeeding and helped me out big time until I got it all happening.

Wishing you continued success! :D

JnA

21-11-2005, 16:35

Sorry to interrupt, but what are nipple shields?

Angelmist♥

21-11-2005, 17:16

Nipple shields are a soft rubber 'teat' that cover your nipples to help make them bigger or protect them if you have cracked/sore nipples.Helps flatties like me get their nipples protruding with the natural sucking of bubs.

JnA

21-11-2005, 17:30

red crayon

21-11-2005, 19:21

hi nara, fantastic to hear how well you and your little girl are doing. i have a flattie on one side and used a nipple shields. i couldn't believe they actually worked and that my baby didn't mind using them. i seriously had thought that there was no way a baby would want to suck through a nipple shield. spencer used one for a couple of months, went through a growth spurt, developed a super sonic suck and no longer needs the shield on my flat side. yay to you and your wonderful baby.

rachdent

28-11-2005, 14:01

Hi Nara

I was so excited to read about your triumph! Congratulations, I hope things continue to go well for you both. In terms of how much your baby is getting - probably more than you expressed, as babies are generally much better at sucking out the milk than breast pump. So I'm sure she'll be fine.

I'd love to include your story in abook I'm currently writing, if you're interested, please email me at Pink.Ink077@gmail.com and I'll send you some more details.

Cheers

Foxymoron

28-11-2005, 14:16

Yay and Congrats! I know how good it feels to breastfeed after a struggle (((hugs)))
Given time she will drain the boob a lot faster, so don't worry too much about time spent at the boob while she is still tiny ( and learning too)

:D well done!

giggles

29-11-2005, 09:24

Yay for you guys!

I got really excited for you after reading this post.....

Good on you for persisiting, what an amazing thing to achieve!

I hope you are really proud of yourself ;)

Angelmist♥

29-11-2005, 16:20

I would like to say thankyou to everyone who has replied!! Thank god for Bubhub hey!!I probably would have given up if it wasn't for this place!

Well she is 14 days old today and still breastfeeding!!YYYAAAAYYYYYY!! ;) (with shields anyway)
We just went for a weight check at our local Child Health Clinic and she now weighs in at 6lb 11 woohoo!! So definitely getting enough!

I'm SO glad to hear that I'm not the only person in the world who has needed shields :rolleyes: Ha ha I have had a fair few people ask me "what are those things on your boobs??"!

Thanks again everyone

Lots of love