The High Tech Way: Baby slings, nipple shields and a new LC system

"Now you have nothing but time to shop," my husband said to me as he dumped another UPS package in front of me yesterday. I paused briefly, thinking about smacking him and his damn 8 hours of sleep. But instead I opened the package. It was the new Maya Wrap I ordered. I had one with Jack, and I still have it. Somewhere. In all these remaining boxes that have not been unpacked as we awaited the completion of the kitchen and home offices.

My thought was that if I had another Maya Wrap, I may be more likely to be able to unpack some of those boxes while on maternity leave. Because James likes to be held all the time, and who am I to deny the boy what he wants when he is two weeks old. And at the same time, must counter the impression I am leaving that I have nothing but time to shop...

So I slipped on the wrap at 5 yesterday, awkwardly put the youngest boy in it, and began to make dinner for the rest of us. James was loudly complaining that he was hungry too. But if I stopped to feed him then Jack wouldn't be eating until 8 pm (recipe required an hour in the oven), which is way too late for my favorite toddler.

So I awkwardly shoved the nipple shield into the wrap and got James latched to it. After a while he took a break. The shield fell off. When he was ready to go back to eating, he did not whine about the shield being gone. Rather, he went right back on the nipple directly, much to my surprise. And this was the problem nipple -- the formerly inverted one. Later, while Daddy and Jack ate dinner, I sat with dinner in front of me, unable to eat because our newfound shield-less nursing seemed to require me to use both hands to get everything positioned just right while leaving an air passage for the boy to still breathe in there.

I was reluctant to let the boy try to nurse sans shield on the other nipple -- the one he turned into something that looked like ground beef back when we were both still in the hospital. I've felt sort of protective of that nipple since I saw pieces of it hanging off. Not to mention the pain. I called it "the swearing nipple "back then because even with the shield it would cause tremendous pain when I put James on it after it had been damaged. But slowly it has healed, although it is still much more sensitive than the other.

But I got him on that nipple too, without much pain at all.

And, not surprisingly, after he nursed on both nipples, skin to skin, the subsequent pump session (as prescribed by the pediatrician) yielded a scant quarter oz of milk. Still, although this wasn't surprising, I was surprised. Even more interesting, after the direct nursing the next morning (today) the subsequent pump session yielded a scant quarter oz of milk. (While yesterday's morning session post-nursing yielded I think 2.5 oz.)

Probably this is not so interesting to most people. But how revealing it is about the effects of using a nipple shield. Baby does not get as much as he should and supply is (most likely) affected. This is one of the things that happened to us with Jack. As it gets harder for baby to get enough milk, he/she is less motivated to try, especially if there is a bottle supplement available after he gives the nursing the old college try, or just screams that he is hungry in a way that breaks momma's heart so that she breaks into the stash of formula the hospital gave her. (not exactly what happened to us with Jack, but I can see that happening in so many cases)

I think the whole lactation consultant system would work better if women got one GOOD person to work with them for several weeks. A crack in the current system offered by hospitals seems to be that a new mother, who is hormonal as hell and who only has book knowledge about breastfeeding, not practical experience, is presented with a parade of nurses and lactation consultants, each with her own unique recommendations about how to solve breastfeeding problems. Does the sleep-deprived mother follow the advice of Nurse A, Nurse B or Nurse C? Or does she end up following the advice of Lactation Consultant number 1 or Lactation Consultant number 2? Does it depend on how knowledgeable her husband is? Does it matter whether he is in the room to hear one expert's advice but not the advice from the others? And, you know, it's his baby too, and his wife/partner is currently impaired by sleep-deprivation and a giant hormone crash. Is she in the best position to make decisions?

So maybe the best approach would be -- if you were having a baby and concerned about breastfeeding -- to hire an awesome lactation consultant to be your guide and advocate as you and baby find your way. Someone who your husband trusted too. Someone whose only goal wasn't to get the baby latched, but who also cared about good latches, building and maintaining supply, ensuring proper baby weight gain, etc. While I met many committed individuals who really wanted to help me succeed, I don't feel like there was a unified strategy for that success. One didn't want to give me a breast pump to use. Another brought a pump in right after I requested it. One pushed the nipple shield. The next day the head of the program asked "Why are you using a nipple shield?" No matter what you did you felt like you were fucking it up. Well, I felt that way last time. This time I was more emotionally ready for the chaotic approach of hospitals towards helping new moms learn to breastfeed their babies.

James has another weight check early this afternoon. I didn't talk to the pediatrician so I don't know what they will do if they don't like the number, or if they think he is still too yellow. But, on the positive side, James seems happy to switch from nipple to bottle to nipple again. And less than 24 hours after ditching the nipple shield he has expressed an intense dislike for using the shield ever again. So even if the pedi pushes formula, I'm pretty sure James will go back to the breast too.

Comments

Well yayyy for it not hurting as much and for losing the nipple shield!

The skin to skin thing I think will increase your supply over a few days. (It always did for me) Right now I guess James is eating all the extra supply you are making?

I'll bet he has gained some weight anyway.

Posted by: Aurelia | August 10, 2007 at 12:37 PM