Only a few more days!!!

Until the Lil Italian is home with us!  Since yesterday, we are both under hospital arrest...just kidding..but it does feel like it.  We're in a special room in the NICU for babies who are going home soon for a couple reasons.  One: since he's a nursing baby, they want to make sure he can nurse around the clock which he can and he does!  Two:  since he's been in NICU since he was born and we were robbed of that "bonding" rooming in, they want to make sure you have it.  And Three: since he is a nursing baby and not a formula baby, they have to closely monitor his weight in relation to his nursing...it takes alot of energy to nurse and they want to make sure he's not burning more than he's taking in.  So, he has his security bracelet on his ankle so he can't escape and we're on hospital arrest together.   This hospital  DOES have good food so that's a big plus!  And they have free Wi-Fi so I'm catching on my Netflix queue in between nursing sessions. 

His first day in clothes!  It was a big day!

Oh dear heavens, this kid really does sleep like me!!!  This pic explains so much about when he was still in my uterus! 

The kid loves his binky!!! 

So, in my last post, I said that i was going to talk about breastfeeding.  Let's talk boobies which is appropriate because it's breast cancer awareness month! 

When I was younger(we're talking early twenties) and thought about having babies I would have never considered breastfeeding.  Um, that would be a little weird to have some little "thing" sucking on my boobs.  But the older I got, the more mature I became and really wanted to try breastfeeding.  My sister in law breastfed all 5 of her kids and she was very open about discussing it and the more I talked to her the more I wanted to.  And then when we had our little boy, the hospital we delivered at were VERY VERY VERY pro nursing!  The doctors do anything they can do support you even if it means a longer hospital stay for your baby and all the nurses in the NICU are lactation specialists who are available to help you!  They're wonderful!  For preemies, breastmilk is like a SUPERFOOD! 

I have no idea what it's like if you have a term baby and dealing with milk coming in, I only know how it is for preemies.  But I thought I'd pass on some of my wisdom and maybe..maybe help someone else who has questions.


1.  when they say you only get a few drops for the first few days...that's LITERAL.  I thought maybe this was exxagerated and ended up in the nursery a sobbing mess(remember, I was dealing with hormones too) because I was worried about my baby.  But the lactation specialist assured me that you ONLY.GET. A. FEW. DROPS.  We had to pull up the colostrum with a tiny syringe a couple times and run it down to the nursey..that's how little we got. 

2.  Pump pump pump and pump!  Every 2 to 3 hours.  without fail.  don't get frustrated by No. 1 and be tempted to skip because you think you'll get more if you "store up", you need to pump and it'll come....it's like Field of  Dreams....."if you pump them, it will come! "  This sucks in the middle of night but you'll only hurt yourself if you miss a bunch of sessions.  I know this from experience...I forgot to set my alarm for one of my feedings and I woke up looking like Dolly Parton and feeling like my boobs had turned into cinder blocks!

3.  Speaking on pumping, don't run out to Target and buy some economy pump. You'll probably need a hospital grade pump...please don't look at the price tag of these, they're $1000 + depending on the brand.   If you have a preemie, there's a good chance, your insurance will pick up the tab on renting you a pump because Dr's have proven that preemies NEED mother's breastmilk.  The pumps you find at Target aren't going to be good enough to get that milk supply started.  Remember you weren't supposed to be making milk yet. 

4.  Don't turn up the sucking power too high..I learned this the hard way when it felt like I was trying to suck my intestines out through one of my nipples (and then I suddenly considering giving up drinking milk due to cruelty to milking cows)  and read in my breastfeeding book that you start on the lowest settting first...I'll be darned..I get more milk on a lower setting (and resumed drinking milk but okay, that's not half bad and makes me sleepy). 

5.  Don't get frustrated when the little darling preemie won't latch..like the other advice, remember, he or she isn't supposed to be here yet.  They're supposed to be relaxing quietly in your womb and getting all their nutrients from your umbilical cord.  So, you really need to be patient and they'll catch up. 


6.  For preemies, learn to love the nipple shield which really isn't as scary as I thought it was!  The Lil Italian just couldn't grab onto my nipples..which is sad because I thought I had good breastfeeding nipples but I guess not :-(.  But the nipple shield makes it a thousand times easier on them...but you may want to grab the smaller size..  Lil Italian was choking on the normal size. 


7.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  I would have given up in those first few days if it wasn't for the nurses here. They've been absolutely amazing and make me feel normal for all my weird questions. 


And here are a couple things that have helped me survive this breastfeeding. 

• My baby, first of all, it took him about a week to catch up but now he's a champion nurser!! 
• My Boppy, I don't always use it but in the middle of the night when I'm exhausted, it's really helping me out. 
• My nursing bras, I had no idea they reallywould be as handy as they are! 
• The nipple shield for the above reasons. 
• My hospital provided me with a Medela Initiation Kit which has all the supplies for all Medela pumps except for hte freestyle so it's compatible with any hospital grade and most economy pumps made by Medela!  Ask your hospital about it.  If they don't have one, look it up online to see if you can grab one. 

• Hot washcloths...these are awesome for letting your milk come down.  I don't really know what this means...but my milk comes in so I'm assuming I'm just missing it..But I do know the washcloths make them feel better
• Milk storage bags.  I have the Lansinoh(sp?) and I love them because they have exactly the information that the nursery needs labeled. 
• And a husband who is willing to wake up with you at 3am so you have someone to talk to and is willing to take your milk downstairs and let you go back to sleep.  Seriously, having Vinny be so supportive has been WONDERFUL! 

Wow, why is it that all my posts lately are so long and probably boring to everyone else but me :-)

So, what's going on with everyone else?