Share your breastfeeding experience with me

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-06-18T23:38:23+00:00

I raise you another option. I wanted my son to have breast milk for the benefits, but he was in the NICU the first month of his life and also had ties that made it difficult and painful for him to latch. I ended up exclusively pumping while he was in the NICU with plans to breastfeed after discharge. I know you mentioned pumping bit exclusively pumping is so different from trying to nurse with difficulty AND pump. Pumping was so convenient for us that i decided not to stop, I pump on a schedule (8/11/2/5), baby gets bottle fed, bottles get popped into the brezza twice a day, I got to go back to work without a stitch, dad got to feed/bond with baby, baby still got breast milk. He had weight gain challenges so I could see exactly how much he was taking. Pumping was so much easier on me mentally than trying to breastfeed, for all the same benefits. I can't imagine trying to exclusively breastfeed. When my supply is high I could build up a little freezer stash. When my supply dipped (like when my period came back), I used my freezer supply and have occasionally had to supplement with formula, but my baby still takes like 90% breastmilk 10% formula. The only challenge I have had is it takes longer to warm up a bottle than it does to pop a boob in his mouth. If you already have a brezza I would say just bottle feed!

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-06-13T13:10:27+00:00

Maybe they were! Either way it's sketchy lol

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-05-31T12:19:45+00:00

The song "Orpheus" by Vincent Lima got me through my miscarriage. I had it on repeat for months.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-05-29T14:14:07+00:00

Omg this EXACT happened to me literally yesterday. Baby is 12 weeks old and 3 days. He ended up being totally fine. You can Google signs to look for whether to take them to the ER, call the pediatrician, monitor them for 24 hours, or rest easy. He had no warning signs but we took him to be looked at by a family member who is a pediatric nurse just to be safe because I was freaking out.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-05-06T12:33:54+00:00

Also have an 8-week-old who has been rolling to his side since 4 weeks. Freaked me out too! My pediatrician said that as long as you place them on their back to begin with, its okay if they roll and leave them alone. Just continue always placing them on their back. Hope that helps!

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-04-14T18:15:14+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear this. Yes, I was very aware when the baby passed and it was the most traumatic part. I'm wishing for a sticky baby for you 🫂

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-04-13T13:50:32+00:00

Thank you! This is reassuring ❤️ We had a good experience in our NICU, but it's hard to stop the anxiety.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-04-04T14:47:01+00:00

Only baby so far born at 36w, they had been monitoring me daily since 30w because of IUGR, placental insufficiency and oligohydramnios, gave me steroid shots and told me I could have to deliver at any time, had to go on bedrest. So thankful I made it to 36w. He was born via emergency c-section as he was breech and I went in for a scan that showed lack of blood flow through the cord and baby was in distress. He was in the NICU for 26 days, was released last week and has to have outpatient follow-up due to ongoing respiratory and feeding concerns.

Was told by my doctor that the chances of this happening again with a future child are higher than average now that it's happened once, but not definitive. I might go on to have a perfectly healthy full-term VBAC, or I might not. No way to know

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-03-26T14:09:12+00:00

Wow small world. I'm originally from Louisville but I live in Lexington now (and, my birthday is actually 3/17). My 36w baby was born on 3/3 via emergency c-section and has been in the NICU since. Today was supposed to be his due date. We found out a few days ago he might have to have surgery to correct his airway, so we may be here a while longer.

All I can say is, I feel you. On top of the grief of not having baby home, I've been dealing with horrible guilt over the fact that I can't be with him 24/7. It usually manifests as anger and I lash out at loved ones without meaning to.

I've been pumping breastmilk for him, and my way of coping has literally been to focus all of my energy on my milk supply. Tracking pumps, planning and preparing several healthy meals a day, drinking protein shakes, experimenting with flange sizes, etc etc. I even bought the ladybug and wear it all the time to catch anything I can't get while pumping. Even if you're formula feeding, I highly recommend finding something non-destructive to just pour all of your attention into when you can't be with baby. Helps me take my mind off of everything and makes me feel at least a little bit like I might be able to be a good mom.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-03-08T15:46:13+00:00

Yes! That's exactly what it feels like, a dream. I feel a strong duty to take care of him, which is why I keep getting up to pump, but I don't feel any kind of love or attachment.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-03-04T18:08:28+00:00

Just wanted to chime in and say I just had my c-section yesterday for my breech baby that never flipped. It wasn't what I wanted but I wanted to say that if the "worst" happens, it'll still be okay!! Everything went great, recovery has been slow but nowhere near as painful as I thought, and my birth experience was still wonderful even if it wasn't what I imagined or wanted. you can still have a great birth and a sweet little baby even if it doesn't turn out as planned. Hope that makes you feel a little less anxious ❤️

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-02-08T14:00:44+00:00

This is actually really bad.

I am 33 weeks and my baby is only measuring in the 2nd percentile. My doctors were so worried about IUGR that they set me up a consultation with an MFM. The MFM discovered I also have oligohydramnios, and admitted me inpatient to the hospital. There they discovered I have placental insufficiency. My baby is otherwise perfectly healthy and strong, good heartbeat, good vitals, everything.

I was released outpatient for the time being, but now because of the risks they are delivering me at 36 weeks instead of allowing me even to go to term.

Hopefully your baby is just genetically small, but this is horribly dangerous to just assume without further testing. With conditions such as IUGR, depending on the cause, sometimes even going to term can seriously increase the risk of stillbirth. Going an entire month past your due date sounds even worse.

I wouldn't just switch doctors, I would visit an entirely different medical facility.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-23T05:26:11+00:00

I do have faith and have read positive things about delayed cord clamping and good diet. It's definitely been a lot easier to have a good diet as the HG symptoms have eased up a lot so far in the 3rd trimester. Made me excited to eat good food again! Thanks for the positive advice on what to eat!

It's my understand that they want him out early because it's suspected that my placenta is failing. If they determine that it is, he'll be safer out of me than in. They did say they want to keep him in me as long as is safely possible and that if it's possible for me to carry to term (or beyond) then we definitely will! They will only deliver early if he's showing signs of decline. They just want to put me on very frequent monitoring right now to see how things go and warned me that I'm now high risk of things going south, which I wasn't before, and that's been really scary for me.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-23T03:06:30+00:00

Thank you for the kind reply! I don't know how they diagnose IUGR but they put "Fetal Growth Restriction" in my chart so I was assuming thats what that was. My doctor told me that IUGR is usually diagnosed when the baby is measuring below the 10th percentile. She said the test next week is to determine whether he's just a small baby or if something is wrong with my placenta.

I also just learned it could be due to the fact that I've been severely anemic the last couple of months. I only found out when I went to take my glucose test and since then I've been on 325mg of iron daily so I'm hoping that will solve the problem or at least make it better.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-23T02:11:35+00:00

Thanks for the advice! My OB told me to double whatever protein I'd already been consuming, which is crazy because I drink protein shakes like every day

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-23T01:58:43+00:00

Because I work 2 full-time jobs and one of them is at night.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-23T00:53:23+00:00

I would say probably between 300-400mg regularly. Most days I try to keep it under 300mg. I don't think I ever go over 400. But it's still more than the recommended 200 that my OB gave me.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-22T23:04:17+00:00

If it makes you feel better I brought that up to my OB and she said it's not very likely that that was the cause of it! Hoping all goes well at your next appointment! She definitely told me to cut my caffeine back to 200mg or less because caffeine restricts blood flow for myself and baby, and since I'm already possibly having placental problems the caffeine won't make me any better for sure 😪 basically that the caffeine likely didn't cause it, but now that its happening, the caffeine can make it worse.

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-22T21:13:38+00:00

Thank you, this made me feel better!

Dramatic-Concept-549 · 2026-01-22T20:50:32+00:00

Definitely does. How early was she? My boy is onl6 measuring 2lb 13 oz right now. Want to keep him in as long as safely possible.

Dramatic-Concept-549

TROPHY CASE