Breastfeeding goals + Baby Micah three month update

We officially made it to our 3rd breastfeeding goal. Breastfeeding goals are so important. Sometimes stopping may not be in your control so being able to breastfeed at all is amazing. Yay for reaching our third breastfeeding goals. Just being able to do this for a month is amazing for us.

Some days I honestly don’t think I would make it here. PCOS sometimes can be a reason you may not be able to breastfeed; due to the differential in hormones. With Avery, I just made it a week then gave up. My milk never came in and I didn’t see the point of feeding colostrum and formula. Breastfeeding for 3 months has its ups and downs. We were so excited about reaching out breastfeeding goals.

Understanding Breastfeeding Goals

The first month of Micah being born was probably the worst. Even with all the research and La Leche League meetings prior to birth I still wasn’t prepared for what came in store.

From losing more than 10% of his body weight in the hospital, not latching, bruised nipples, pumping mishaps, and more. Read on to hear all about how we managed to fix things for this second baby.

When he was born he ended up losing more than 10% of his birth weight. Normally babies end up losing 10% of their birth weight a couple of days after birth but normally get back up to their birth weight shortly. We ended up staying in the hospital for an extra two days. With Covid and it being the weekend, the pediatrician thought it would be best just in case anything were to happen since he just wasn’t gaining back any weight.

Colostrum just wasn’t enough for him. One of the nights in the hospital he was so hungry that he was screaming in pain. That’s when I called the nurse for formula. So we supplemented a couple days until my milk came in. Which, didn’t happen until day 4.

Handling tongue ties in breastfed babies

For the first few weeks, we realized he did have a tongue tie so he wasn’t getting the right kind of breast milk from me. Babies that have tongue ties tend to have a hard time feeding on the breast. He was falling asleep as soon as I put him on. So we ended up having a foremilk and hindmilk imbalance issue. Plus we ended up having to use a nipple shield. After a while it just became tedious.

When I had Avery I had 0 support especially in the hospital. Even the nurses and lactation consultant in the hospital just made me feel not worthy. My mom kept urging me to try but since I didn’t have the right education on breastfeeding I just gave up too quickly. This time around with Micah, they were much more helpful. ( I gave birth in the same hospital)

Learning before about tongue ties were able to get it revised and he was able to latch the same day. This helped things become way better.

As the days went on I just felt like he was always hungry. I was that mom. All I was doing was eating and nursing. Cluster feeding was in full force. I would only be able to go and do errands for an hour or I would become so engorged. So I would mostly opt to do grocery delivery for the most part.

As month two approached our routine seemed a bit more normal. Even now I have to make sure I just slow down. Realize it’s okay to just chill for the day. I still nap when baby naps some days. He doesn’t sleep through the night since he eats on demand. Then colic happened.

Maintaining Colic babies and breastfeeding

I always heard how bad having a colic baby can be but I had no idea. I’ve read articles on where it has to cause postpartum depression. I had to act fast. I had suffered from antepartum depression so I started my anti-depression meds the day he was born so I was doing everything I needed to avoid postpartum depression. I had no idea why he was fussy. Like really fussy. That’s when I started reading in all these September babies groups and dairy allergies.

Breastfeeding babies can have allergies

Consulting with the dr we realized Micah was definitely colic. Normally when you have a colic baby it’s because of an underlying issue. So I had to make the hard decision to basically stop eating dairy everything. Sometimes we still may supplement if he still seems hungry so we had to switch to a formula that is for colic and allergies like Alimentum. It’s been a hard road but I could see a difference right away.

• Less fussy
• Allergy skin rash was going away
• Less spit-up
• A happier baby

Dairy normally can take 3-4 weeks to be fully out of your system.

Until you can’t have it you realize there’s dairy in almost everything out there. Now I have to read the ingredients, think if we order out or go out for dinner. In a sense change a portion of my lifestyle. Like no cheese or milk products. I’ve been able to find a ton of dairy-free recipes without sacrificing my sanity.

They even have dairy-free lactation cookies like Miracle Milk Kookies. They sent me a free pack and even ordered another batch.

All in all giving breastfeeding a chance has been a whole different experience than the first time around. What was your experience like with breastfeeding? Did you make a breastfeeding goal?

Baby Micah 3 Month Update

1. He has become such a happy baby
2. He’s just about grown out of his 3 months sizes
3. He’s sleeping longer stretches
4. He’s sized up to size 2 diapers
5. He has started teething so all he wants to do is put his hands in his mouth. Plus he’s drooling 100% of the time so we make sure he has a good bib on
6. I also did purchase this kit from Nuby to make frozen breast milk pops and he loves it. Plus you can use this when he’s taking in solids and freezing his baby food. CLICK HERE for the kit.
7. He loves his Fisher Price sit me up chair
8. He tries talking and loves making loud noises
9. He basically wants to be grown and sit-up so anytime we place him in his pack n play, bouncer, or swing he freaks out
10. Whenever he’s hungry he tries to suck on your boob no matter if your male or female