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Breastfeeding – Scary or Not?

Oct 21

Posted by dcrosbie in A Mom's View, Breastfeeding

I’m sure all you expectant moms have heard the many horror stories about breastfeeding. When I was pregnant I planned to breastfeed but was scared of how painful it might be based on the storeis I had heard from other moms. So, what’s the scoop, is it really as bad as all those horror stories?

The answer is… it depends. I know, don’t you hate those kinds of answers? The good news is, it can be great! My experience was wonderful. In the beginning, yes there were some pains – mostly in the form of dry flaky skin and a slight burning sensation from dry nipples. All in all though, it didn’t hurt that much. The first time baby latched it felt different, I wasn’t expecting that kind of suction, but again, not painful I don’t think. Any initial discomfort passed with time.

The bad news is, yes it can be quite painful for some people. If all goes well, breastfeeding shouldn’t be painful. If it is, then something is probably wrong. One of my girlfriends suffered through thrush on her nipples, had two bouts of mastitis and had three large scabs on her nipples. Needless to say, breastfeeding did hurt for her, but she was so determined that she fought through it and came out the other side still breatfeeding – what a trooper!!

Another common horror story is troubles learning to breastfeed. It can be a challenge or it can be easy as pie! With my first baby it was a learning experience. In the beginning I remember spending 20 minutes each feeding just trying to get him to latch! After a few weeks though, we were both pros. Then with my second, within minutes after birth she was latched no problem, had crazy suction, and didn’t let go for 45 minutes! One of my friends, on the other hand, had a sleepy baby who wouldn’t stay awake during feedings. The nurses in the hospital suggested that undressing her baby for feedings would make her cold and more wakeful. When that didn’t work she was told to get an ice cube and rub it on baby’s back when she wold try to fall asleep. Needless to say she wasn’t too fond of this approach.

So what’s my point you ask? Breastfeeding is different for everyone. Don’t listen to horror stories from your friends, mothers or neighbors because you can be guaranteed your experience will be different (for better or worse). If you want to breastfeed when your baby is born then just give it a shot and you’ll figure it out from there. If it’s easy, great! If it’s not then you can battle through. If you decide it’s not for you then you can switch to the bottle, but at least you can say you tried!

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Thrush and Breasfeeding

Sep 30

Posted by dcrosbie in A Mom's View, Breastfeeding

My 2 month old daughter had thrush. She’d had it for over a month and I didn’t even know it. I always though thrush was supposed to look like cheese curds inside the mouth. In my daughter it was just a white toungue that looked like milk residue.

I first new something was wrong when I was breastfeeding and she would continuously pop off the breast and cry or fuss. It got the point where I could barely get her to eat and sometimes just offering her the breast would cause her to turn away and cry. It was sad that the thought of breastfeeding was so upsetting to her. I took her to the doctor and public health nurse to see if she had acid reflux. They both said that she did not since she was not spitting up at all. Surprisingly, neither suggested that it could be thrush.

For the next month she continued to fuss and cry while eating. I knew something was wrong, but I just didn’t know what. I saw that she had a white tongue but I just thought it was milk residue. Finally I decided to look more into thrush just in case and sure enough, that’s exactly what it was.

For the next 10 days we treated my daughter with the medicine the doctor prescribed. After only a day she was already eating better. She still had the white tongue for over a week though, that took a bit longer to go away.

She’s eating so much better since we got rid of the thrush! And lucky for me, I never got it. She’s a new baby now, so much more cheery and alert!

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No Sit Down

Sep 30

Posted by dcrosbie in A Mom's View

My son is now almost 2 and is starting to talk like crazy! He just says the cutest things. He said his first 3 word sentence the other day – “No sit down”.

Since my son was born he has always demanded that we stand while holding him. Even as a newborn he would cry every time we tried to sit down with him. To this day he still expects us to stand while we’re holding him, of couse we can’t always comply since he is getting bigger by the day!

The other day I tried to sit down with him and he said “No sit down.” He was finally able to express this desire in words for the first time! So cute. Of course I sat down anyway since we are trying to teach him that he can’t have his own way all the time. He wasn’t impressed, as usual.

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My Workout Plan

Aug 14

Posted by dcrosbie in A Mom's View, Losing Weight

It’s 7 weeks after the delivery of my second child. I’m 30 years old and I gained about 40 pounds during my pregnancy. Now, 7 weeks later, I still have 25 pounds to lose. But really, I wasn’t exactly at the right weight before my pregnancy, so to get back to my healthy weight I’ll need to shave off about 40 pounds in total.

I met with my personal trainer. Here is the workout plan she gave me to start. This is my plan for the next 6 weeks when I’ll meet with her again to revise my plan based on my success.

    Cardio

Cardio that makes you sweat – 5 days per week. For me this will be step class since this is my favorite, but it can be treadmill, bike, or anything else you enjoy.

    Weights

Work out my muscles 3 days per week. Do different types of muscle workouts to keep those muscles growing. I’ll be alternating between a “Power” class at my gym (which is basically a 50 minute muscle workout where we do all major muscles) and the weight machines.

Here is the plan for the weight machines. The idea is to work out the biggest muscles since those are the ones that help to keep you buring extra calories even when your sitting.

To start I’ll be doing 2 reps of 15, increasing to 3 reps of 15 once I get better at it:

  • Chest Press – 20 pounds
  • Back Row – 50 pounds
  • Shoulder Raise – 20 pounds
  • Ab Crunch
  • Quads – 50 pounds
  • Leg Extension – 40 pounds (for hamstrings and butt)
  • Triceps – 10 pounds
    Eating Healthy

My Personal Trainer said that getting in shape is 60% eating healthy and 40% working out. Her advice for eating healthy – drink lots of water and eat frequent small meals every 3 hours or so.

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Losing Weight while Breastfeeding

Aug 14

Posted by dcrosbie in A Mom's View, Breastfeeding, Losing Weight

It’s 7 weeks after the delivery of my second child. I’m 30 years old and I gained about 40 pounds during my pregnancy. Now, 7 weeks later, I still have 25 pounds to lose. But really, I wasn’t exactly at the right weight before my pregnancy, so to get back to my healthy weight I’ll need to shave off about 40 pounds in total.

Problem # 1 – I’m breastfeeding.

My number one priority is to maintain a healthy milk supply for my baby. So, I did some research online about losing weight while brestfeeding. The most common thing I read was that while breastfeeding you need an extra 500 calories, so how does that factor in to losing weight? One expert mentioned that not everyone needs exactly 500 extra calories during breastfeeding, some need more, some need less – it depends on how often your breastfeeding, if your supplementing, and many other variables. In the end I got buried with information overload on the internet, there is just too much information out there!!

I made an appointment with my public health nurse who is also a lacatation consultant. I asked her if I was allowed to excercise, eat healthy, and lost weight. Her answer – YES! She says do whatever makes you feel good because that is most important. According to her the three most important factors affecting your milk supply are:

Top 3 factors affecting Milk Supply:

  • Stress – mothers with higher stress levels produce less milk
  • Sleep – mothers who don’t get enough sleep produce less milk
  • Water – mothers needs to consume enough water

Next, I spoke with my personal trainer. Her tops points for losing weight:

  • Cardio/Weights – 3-5 times per week
  • Drink lots of water
  • Eat frequent small meals

Check out my full workout plan.

Combining this advice here are my thoughts on losing weight while breastfeeding (keeping in mind I’m not a professional, just a regular mom trying to lose some weight):

  • Excercise as much as you feel comfortable
  • Eat healthy but don’t starve yourself
  • Drink lots of water

I see all these factors working together. Working out makes you less stressed and less stress means more milk. Drinking lots of water is important for losing weight as well as for milk supply. Excercise helps you get better sleep which helps you produce more milk. And lastly, eating healthy never hurt anyone so I’m sure it can’t hurt my milk supply!

So, I’m off to losing weight… hopefully! I’ll keep you posted.

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