Because of the blood loss, I was 1-0 behind in terms of breastfeeding, according to the midwife and maternity nurse, so my body had to work extra hard for this.
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 Roos' turn. Will you read along?
Rose's NurtureGoods experience (Instagram @yaarlou).
Would breastfeeding go better this time?
On April 29, 2023, our second daughter, Milou, was born. A very nice home birth as we wished! The first contractions came in the morning. Where at first the end of the day I still seemed to be stuck at 5 centimeters dilation, it suddenly went bizarrely fast. In 1 hour I went from 5 centimeters dilation to full dilation, and with 4 minutes of pushing, Milou was already in the world. What a difference from my first delivery! Perfect if you ask me. Unfortunately, we were kicked off our pink cloud a bit quickly (for a short time). Because it happened so fast at the end, I had unfortunately lost more than a liter of blood and it didn't seem to stop on its own. Which soon followed a syringe in my leg and an ambulance on the doorstep. I felt fine and none of this was necessary for me. But the midwife (understandably) thought otherwise. That unfortunately became a trip to the hospital, with Milou and Dad in the car following.
Arriving at the hospital, I was stable pretty quickly. Thank goodness! Milou was quickly put back with me after arriving at the hospital, which made me a bit emotional. Just born and already having to separate right away. We are lucky that we live near the hospital, so within half an hour she was back with me. But still not how I had imagined it. But on the other hand: A delivery cannot be planned and perfectly mapped out, I always say. After a lot of cuddling, skin on skin and some examinations of me later, finally the question came whether I wanted to breastfeed. "Yes!" I was ready to embark on my second "breastfeeding adventure. With my first daughter, it had been too short - to my mind in retrospect. The whole parenting thing was new to me and I felt too insecure about it, partly because she had lost too much weight. What exactly was going into that tummy in terms of the amount of milk? That uncertainty and the sleepless nights - because she didn't seem satiated - made me make the choice to stop breastfeeding. Which, of course, was fine in the end. Because honestly, pumping full time was not something I was comfortable with. For some this may be possible but I couldn't see myself doing this.
This time though, my goal with Milou was to feed longer because at the same time I think breastfeeding is such a wonderful thing. Watching a baby grow on your own milk! I did resolve myself this time to be less strict with myself to hopefully save myself from feeling guilty. Does it work out this time? Then it's a wonderful thing and every day that breastfeeding succeeds is a beautiful thing. Does breastfeeding not succeed? Then I've tried and it's fine. Finally Milou was latching on to me, she seemed to be sucking and drinking well.
Two days later, back home again at the weigh-in with the maternity nurse, it turned out that Milou had almost reached the 10% limit in terms of what babies are allowed to lose weight. I immediately had a flashback to my first breastfeeding adventure. Is this exactly how it is going to be repeated? Somewhat pessimistic but at the same time optimistic with confidence we continued. Because of the blood loss I was 1-0 behind in terms of breastfeeding, according to the midwife and maternity nurse, so my body had to work extra hard for this. Milou also did not drink effectively and it turned out that she also had a tongue-tie that was too short. Milou needed supplementary feeding (artificial feeding) was the conclusion. How failing this felt but in the end I quickly turned the switch: "This is what she needs now to gain weight.“.
In addition, I had to go for extra follow-up pumping after feedings to watch and boost my production a bit. Luckily, I had the breast pump from NurtureGoods in the house! Ideally, I would have used the pump for another reason, including to stockpile milk later. Now I was so happy to have this pump at my fingertips, right at the right time. Whereas in the beginning I only pumped a few drops, pump moment after pump moment became more and more. The different positions on the pump allowed me to build up slowly. With the handy clock on the pump, I was able to easily keep track of the 10-minute pumping limit and make it longer and longer. This way I could give Milou some of my milk in addition to the supplemental feeding.
Uiteindelijk is mijn borstvoedingsavontuur ook dit keer vrij vlot gestopt om onder andere bovengenoemde redenen en verschillende factoren. Ondanks dat ik meer en meer kolfde, was het onvoldoende om er een volledige voeding voor Milou uit te halen. Het vroeg helaas te veel van mijn lichaam. Deze knoop doorhakken vond ik meer dan moeilijk. Ondanks dat ik mij had voorgenomen mij niet schuldig te voelen, voelde ik dit toch. Uiteindelijk kon ik dit gevoel snel omzetten. In the end heeft een baby en een gezin meer aan een happy mom. Nu ik zie hoe goed Milou groeit van kunstvoeding, maakt het voor mij ook makkelijker te accepteren dat het goed zo is. Op deze manier worden ze ook groot! Ik probeer het positief te blijven bekijken. Ik heb het geprobeerd en ben tegelijkertijd zó blij dat ik mijn eerste melk wel heb mee kunnen geven aan Milou. Dankzij NurtureGoods! ?
Much love, Rose
Would you like to know more about Rose? Then follow her on Instagram @yaarlou