{"id":284,"date":"2016-02-11T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poohnuggets.com\/?p=284"},"modified":"2016-02-21T04:48:14","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T04:48:14","slug":"nursing-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.relentlessmoms.com\/?p=284","title":{"rendered":"Nursing Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Nursing Struggles<\/strong>\n

Andrew had my heart from the very moment I saw him. He was precious and has the most beautiful blue eyes you will ever see. His mother, daddy, big sister and golden retriever Maggie instantly loved him. What we were not prepared for was why he had such a hard time with feeds. Andrew would latch, nurse for 5 -10 minutes, pop off, try to re-latch, painful forceful letdown of my milk, gag and repeat. This would continue for 6 months. \u00a0He had a love\/hate relationship with my breast. He wanted to nurse constantly but would not nurse for long and often scream during feeds. I fed on demand because I always felt he was hungry. He would fall asleep after some feeds but the instant I would try to put him down he would scream in pain. He woke frequently and we never got him to sleep through the night. There were many many nights I slept with Andrew sleeping on my chest and I sat upright. It was sometimes the only time we could get any rest. Andrew would grow to have reflux and I did everything I could to keep him comfortable.<\/p>\n

I tried everything I could to help our feeding sessions. I tried every nursing position available, I tried pumping round the clock, I tried tips on dealing with what I thought were oversupply issues. You name it, I read about it and tried it. I had read about other moms that gave up nursing with similar symptoms and still had issues with formula. It was my biggest fear to give up nursing and still have feeding issues.<\/p>\n

My body was depleted at this point. I nursed Andrew almost every 1.5 -2 hours for 6 months trying to make it work. I nursed through clogged ducts, cracked nipples, three separate 9-day stomach viruses and with minimal sleep. Andrew was hospitalized for having 2 strains of the flu virus at the same time, battled Roseola virus, Hand, Foot & Mouth, and Croup during those first 6 months.<\/p>\n

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Now and again we would have a good nursing session and I would get hope. He was gaining weight very well, almost too well so his pediatrician didn\u2019t have any concerns. He actually called him a \u201cmeatball\u201d. I had been told very early on we would not treat my son\u2019s reflux due to the fact that he was gaining weight. For a kid with feeding issues he never had the weight gain issues others described.<\/p>\n

While we struggled with nursing issues we also struggled to keep down eczema flare-ups. It started with cradle cap then moved to eczema in his neck, behind his ears, in his ears, in his elbow and behind his knees and upper thigh creases. There were times Andrew would wake clawing himself at night and we would have to hold his arms so he didn\u2019t hurt himself. It all got to be a little much for me and I made the decision that I had to give up nursing at 6 months. I would try to write his symptoms down so I could explain it at wellness visits. I had nursed my older daughter for a year and wanted so badly to keep going like I did with her. I knew I had to write things down so I could remember and to understand why I gave up so I didn\u2019t blame myself later on. It was at this time that my family begged me to stop nursing because of all the issues we had been having. I would constantly re-describe what we were dealing with at wellness visits. Our doctor would assure me I had done a great job with nursing and would tell me it was ok if I wanted to give up. What no one around me could understand was that I didn\u2019t want to give up. I wanted to know what was wrong and why were having such trouble. My son\u2019s reflux caused him to scream in pain every car ride, after only 10-15 minutes into each nap, each time he was in his swing, each time he was in his crib. I held him round the clock. I slept with him many nights on my chest and he would wake frequently to eat. The nurse from the hospital was right, he was a child that \u201cAlways wanted to be held.\u201d But why I would ask myself? I was encouraged to introduce solids early at 4 months. Maybe he was just hungry I was told. This didn\u2019t change things for him. It only made things worse and more confusing as we went along. Andrew would grow to having constipation issues.\u00a0\u00a0 He would scream in pain for sometimes 4 hours straight leading up to a BM and once it passed he would be a changed child. I would describe him making \u201chorrible poop faces\u201d because you could tell he was in miserable pain each time he went.<\/p>\n

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My husband would call me to check on me over lunch and I would tell him Andrew had just screamed for 3 or 4 hours straight. Then he would poop and the day would change. Andrew\u2019s poops would be hard balls and when you looked at them you couldn\u2019t believe something so large had come from something so small. Sometimes, he would pass a ball and then 5 poops would come quickly following after.\u00a0\u00a0 One time he had as many as 9 poops in one day after passing one of these pooh balls. I would keep reminding whomever I saw; remember these issues all started when he was born.<\/p>\n

This was really hard for me. It was a whole different nursing experience than I had the first time around. It was so confusing that as I would try to rock Andrew to sleep he would scream. Why wouldn\u2019t he look into my eyes as he nursed and we both go into that blissful peaceful feeding session? Why didn\u2019t he want to be rocked to sleep? Why did he hurt?\u00a0\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t I put him down? Why couldn\u2019t I nurse this time? I was tired, I was depleted and as we were up at night I would research and I would write. Was it my fault? I learned about something called \u201cleaky gut\u201d and started blaming myself. Did a poor diet during pregnancy cause this? Did me deciding to drink 1% milk instead of 2% milk not help seal my gut? These are just a few of the many things I would read, question and blame myself for. I just didn\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"