Breastfeeding: not so obvious after all

Every other week we ask a Real Mom if they would like the NurtureGoods experience. These moms use a breast pump from NurtureGoods in order to describe and share their experiences. In this way, we hope to raise awareness of the NurtureGoods experience and help you make a choice. This week, it's mom Marine's turn. Will you read along?

Marine's NurtureGoods experience (Instagram @just_a_mama).

Breastfeeding: not so obvious after all

The hospital stay
On January 28, 2023, our little girl was born. After a first night in the hospital with at most two hours of sleep and a 20-hour introduction. 

From the beginning of the pregnancy, I was 100% sure I wanted to breastfeed. However, Allicht took a jammy start. Right after she was placed on my bare breast, we tried to put her on. As it turned out, our girl did not immediately master the proper "latch-on" technique, so I had to manually pump first and then feed through a cup. The following days I kept trying to get her to latch on correctly. However, very little guidance was given on this in the hospital, leaving me with nipple fissures and blisters on day two due to a still incorrect drinking technique. I then raised the alarm here. 

Breastfeeding couldn't and shouldn't hurt that much, could it? Every time she drank from my breast I could have jumped to the ceiling in pain. More than that I also let a loud "ouch!!!" escape.

In addition, I was constantly left with a frustrated baby because she was not getting enough nutrition. So on day two I decided to pump for 24 hours straight. This got my production going and my nipples rested. The rest of the hospital course I gave my milk through bottles because my nipples had not yet recovered. On day four we were allowed to go home. Finally, because after five nights in the hospital we were both well fed up. 

The homecoming
Once I got home I decided to continue pumping and offering my milk via bottles for a few more days and when my nipples recovered I would start again to improve the on-hook technique. 

I immediately noticed that Nurture Goods' pump, the Smart 3.0 version, was very breast-friendly. For starters, it is an incredibly beautiful design, combined with great comfort. They didn't have the silicone covers at the hospital, and this makes a very big difference! Especially if you have sensitive breasts and nipples, as was the case with me. I chose to always start with one or two minutes in the massage mode, and then switch to the pump mode. The different modes allowed me to pump gently and comfortably. 

Thanks to the fine Nurture Goods pump, I got a piece of security about my production. I could actually see what I was pumping and I could thus also be sure that my baby girl was getting enough nutrition. In the hospital, she lost almost 10% of her birth weight in 24 hours, which still caused me some anxiety. Was she getting enough nutrition? Was she growing well? 

So I kept pumping at home that first week and also worked with the lactation consultant for a few days on the "feeding technique". This gradually improved. When I got home we only gave bottles, and after three days of working with the lactation consultant I carefully switched to live breastfeeding during the day, and a bottle in the evening and at night to get a good night's sleep.

The second week
So from the second week we only gave a bottle of my pumped breast milk in the evening and at night. The reason why we did this was because we noticed that she drank worse at the breast in the evening and at night, so she often had bad nights. While live-breastfeeding, our girl also always had the problem of continuously dozing off. Live feeding was therefore very tiring for me in the beginning. I had to stimulate her again and again by rubbing her hands, over her ears, tickling her feet etc. And even then she would fall asleep so deeply, despite not drinking enough. Those bottles of pumped milk gave us a lot of rest. Mentally and physically. She drank enough and the three of us slept just a little longer. And rested parents, are worth two! 

What I ran into when pumping
The reason I wanted to switch to daytime live-feeding from week two is because I found it a huge amount of work to rinse and wash the pump after each use. Although the pump is designed so that this can actually be done quite quickly and easily. I was just so tired from the heavy and long introduction that it still lingered in my body. I simply didn't have the energy for it anymore. Not only the pump but also the bottles had to be washed every time, so I quickly cut down on pumping and built up with live feeding. 

What I found a little inconvenient about the Smart 3.0 is that it does not come with a carrier. By itself, the pump is completely cordless (in terms of electricity then, because suction lines are there) to use, but you still have to stay seated while pumping, but other than that I love this pump. It also helped me tremendously (and still does now) to improve my production and also keep it good. It has also been very nice in helping me build up a supply of breast milk. So I am nothing but positive about this!

How things are going now
We are now almost 5 weeks along and our girl is drinking very well at the breast. The feeding technique has improved a lot since we reduced the bottles. She now drinks beautifully with her mouth wide open and has found the right drinking technique which means she gets enough nutrition and is gaining and growing very well! Sometimes Daddy also gives a bottle during the day if I want to sleep in or go somewhere. Daughter happy, mom and dad happy! 

Much love, Marine
Want to know more about Marine? Then follow her on Instagram @just_a_mama