I decided to exclusively breastfeed my first born. The first week up to the first month was super hard for me and I guess for my baby too. The past 6 weeks and 4 days was a roller coaster of emotion. At first I thought I was not producing milk, but knowing that her tummy is still so small comforted me. She doesn't need so much yet, in fact according to my OB (thankfully, we had a breastfeeding seminar with her when I was pregnant) babies can survive up to 2 weeks without any food intake after birth and that her stomach is smaller than a grapefruit.
Below is the estimated size of a baby's tummy.
Breast feeding is a skill that both mother and baby have to learn. I want my baby and I to be the best breastfeeding partner, so I always seek answers for whatever problem we have on our breastfeeding journey.
The key to a successful breastfeeding is a good latch. However, since day 1, we are already having problems with latching. I really don't know what the problem is. May be my nipple is too big for her mouth, or she just really don't know how, my position is wrong, or her position is wrong. At some point there's this feeling that you are producing too little. And sometimes, I think my milk let down is too much for her to handle. Worst, maybe she doesn't want me, my breast, my smell or my sound. So I am always happy when she latches right away when I offer my breast.
According to the books and other online sources, the proper position is a key to a proper latch. So here are some of the breastfeeding positions. (pic source)
I still don't know what is wrong with me and my baby. She can't latch. Latching had been always difficult at the start of every feeding session. Our routine? She'll cry then I'll calm her down then we will try to latch again. It will usually take us more than 10 tries before she can finally latch properly. Sometimes, after a successful latch, my nipple will just slip out of her mouth and then she'll cry again. It was a struggle and I don't know what's wrong.
I came across Lip Tie and Tongue Tie as possible reason for not properly latching. There's a lot of good resources online, here are some of the symptoms:
I immediately checked Pipay's mouth. Her tongue seems Ok. I followed the instructions here to check for tongue tied. I looked for pictures and examples online, and I thought her upper lip is tied. The picture below is from a mother's blog about daughter's upper lip tie (upper left photo) and their decisions to have it corrected.
Below is my daughter's upper lip and gums. It really looked like a lip tie. So I told my husband, and we researched about it. We learned that it could be operated and that the process is quick and could be done as early as infancy. If not treated it could make breastfeeding difficult (not for some), or there could be speech and dental care problems in the future.
It was heart breaking knowing that your very young child would undergo an operation. We have to make sure, so we have to consult her pedia first. I told my mother too. And when she checked, she said she think it is normal and that she will check my nephew's mouth too. She texted me, Jared's lip and gums look the same.
I asked our pedia (her first pedia) and she said, that is not lip tie. Whew! We are no longer worried and we decided that my baby was just 'Maarte' when breastfeeding. I also asked the new pedia, she did not check it but she told me that lip tie will not affect breastfeeding.
Difficulty latching is very frustrating. However, it could not mean that something is wrong with me or my boobs, there is nothing wrong with my baby too. I would like to attribute it to he process of learning. I am learning. My child is learning. And we are getting better everyday.
