Kathy & Karly - an Introduction

Hello! I am Kathy, new mom to Karly. And when I say new mom - I mean it. I had never once in my life changed a diaper or even held a new baby. I did know a few things going into this whole 'mommy' business. 1. I was going to breastfeed and 2. I was going to use cloth diapers. So far, only #2 has worked out.

Someone in an online forum had suggested paying to see a Lactation Consultant to get the best start to breastfeeding, while you are in the hospital. I reminded my husband to make sure we set up an appointment as soon as we could. Since I have a pretty awesome tongue tie, I had some suspicion my child would, too.

It all started out great. Karly was born via c-section due to her lovely breech position. We briefly met in the surgery room, while my husband held her close. I didn't get to finally touch her until I was in recovery. The first thing I was asked was "Would you like to try and breastfeed her?". Well, yeah...and so we began. A nice nursing student offered her help, as she successfully fed four kids of her own. Karly appeared to be a champ - she latched decently from what we could tell. It was her first try, you know.

I was moved to my post partum room pretty quickly, and in my semi drugged state, told my first nurse I'd like to see an LC while there. She asked me why - I told her I felt it was important to make things start out right. The nurse told me that they didn't do it that way. If the nurse felt there was an issue with latching or feeding, we could discuss a consult then. The LC's were only there for 'problems'. I figured that was just the way it went, and left it at that. I asked my overnight nurse to take a look at my latch. She agreed it looked great. Ok, fine...she feeds great!

Karly appeared to be thriving already. On the second night there, the nurse came in and weighed her - according to the scale she was up 6 ounces. Which, is highly unusual. Her birth weight must have been off, but my husband watched them do it- TWICE. The nurse viewed our record of her feeding, and she was doing well on paper. But my boobs said something else. I was already cracked and extremely painful. This nurse listened to me - I told her I wanted to see an LC, and I was told "no" previously. This nurse put in the order right away, although it wouldn't be until the following afternoon that I got some answers.

I woke up on morning three to huge, massively engorged boobs. It was unreal. I had never once imagined my boobs could be that big. Or, that painful. I tried to nurse Karly. She refused the right side, which had started the day before. This time, she refused the left as well. I figured, ok, I'll try again in an hour. By then, my huge boobs had grown to DD's. I had no nipple anymore. I knew I would need to pump things down a bit, but was not given any pump supplies. I gave latching another go, with my hubby's help. Karly was screaming, I was crying and my husband was at a loss. Just then nurse #1 (the original one...) walks in, and jokingly asks "Are you killing her or something...". Not even funny. This nurse meant well, but she wasn't helping. She tried to get Karly to latch, but the thrashing and screaming even threw her for a loop. She left to grab pumping supplies, and returned with the LC.

The LC took one look at my screaming baby and had an answer. She's tongue tied. Just as I worried about, yet, discounted because I was told she was latched appropriately. I told the LC to look in my mouth- I showed her my tongue tie. I told her this was why I wanted to see someone sooner! Luckily, the LC was able to get me on the pump to at least deflate the jumbo boobs. Since Karly was refusing to latch, we bottle fed her what I just pumped. It was so much easier. No screaming. No stress. The LC put orders in for our Pediatrician to address the issue asap. Luckily, she happened to stop in and see us. She warned us the tongue tie could be a non issue, and it was just a matter of the 'learning curve', but she would have the neonatologist take a look the next day.

After a night of giant boobs, pumping, and a new found love of ice packs... we were told the tongue tie repair, a frenotomy, could be done that day. Karly was doing great on the bottle and I felt good knowing how much she was actually getting. We went ahead with the frenotomy as planned. It was quick and there was only 15 seconds of crying. A different LC met us back in my room to see how she would latch afterwards.

It made a world of difference. She latched, she fed, it didn't hurt. I thought it would all be ok. Happy parents, happy LC's and a happy pediatrician. And then - we went home. Home was a different story.

She nursed that night, but refused the next morning. I already had a pump that I purchased while pregnant. I'm sure glad I got a good one. My husband opened it up, I pumped a bottle and she was fed. No more screaming and thrashing around. I attempted to nurse a few more times that day, but ended up in tears each time. How did it get this way, what did I do wrong? Why didn't my baby want to nurse from me? I was very upset. I wanted to go back to the hospital. Something was wrong- with me. Karly was only 4 days old, and I thought she hated me.

After a long afternoon of pumping each feeding, I made a choice. I was just going to pump. watching my baby scream at my breast, as I attempt to make her latch was unbearable. Despite the odds of it not working out, I was going to give pumping a shot. And so it began.

The only person who has given me grief is the pediatrician. She tells me she has only known maybe 12 people to make it a full year with pumping. Well, she doesn't know me very well. She challenged me by saying that. She suggested I revisit the LC's and support group, and try to breastfeed her. If she witnessed the stress it causes both mom and baby, she would agree with me. This is what's going to work for us.