The Baby-Backed Flip-Flop

I am mostly nursing at night now. Which basically means that I nurse when DD wakes up and I cant (read: haven't the energy to) coax her back to bed. Which means that I spend a lot of my sleeping hours getting sucked on. Now, usually, or at least this was the case with my DS and in the early days of DD, I'll decide when to switch them from one side to the other. Usually I do the switch when I'm tired of lying on that particular side and I need a change. Or sometimes it's because I feel the pressure in the other breast or else that the milk in breast 1 is running out.
What's cute is that DD now does the switching for me. I don't know what prompts it; whether it's the same reason as me, that she is uncomfortable lying on one side for so long, or if it's also because of a low milk supply on that side. Whatever the reason is, when she decides to go for breast 2, she will abandon the side she was nursing on and climb over me to lay her head on the other breast. She gives me a little head-butt if I'm not paying attention or if I am not getting her message. 'Aah, aah' she says and nudges me a bit to get me going.

New Breastfeeding Patterns At 8 Monhs

Whereas baby used to get hungry at about the same time as I would start to feel full, a different nursing pattern seems to be emerging. The above situation still does happen, but nowadays it's rare that I get overfull until a few minutes after she starts suckling. But then --watch out for your eyes, ladies and gentlemen- the geyser erupts at her beckoning and she gets a mouthful-- or I get a shirt full if she gets distracted and raises her head to check out the commotion that her brother and /or cousins are inevitably making in some other part of the room.

The Big Leak

I had a big leak today while teaching. I had to run to the classroom next door and borrow the teaching assistant's scarf to cover up the to huge wet spots on my bosom. My nipples were busting through my bra, t-shirt and thin sweater I was wearing. It got pretty uncomfortable for me. My boobs haven't been this rock hard in a long time. I don't think any of the students noticed or if they would even recognize it for what it was if they saw it. I don't even wear nursing pads that often anymore. Goes to show... you never can tell. Worst thing is that I had to hang around after work for an extra hour because of a staff meeting. BOY, was I glad to see DD when I got home. She was sleeping but she managed to make me feel a lot more comfortable even in her dream state.

Who Knows Breast?

Who knows best? Mother, of course. Mother knows best about breastfeeding her child. The other day I was at my in-laws. Baby had a very sore bottom from a bad diaper rash. She was crying and uncomfortable. This much was obvious to me, and I was trying to help her through it. I tried nursing her but she wasn't going for it. In the meantime, my in-laws and assorted family members decided that the kid was hungry. The kid was not hungry. Having just released a couple of breasts full of milk into her mouth, I was fairly certain of this. I know her eating rhythms and I just knew she wasn't crying for food. My mother-in-law, who I like very much but who is clinically neurotic-- especially when it comes to feeding her grandchildren -- told me that when she was breastfeeding (nearly 30 years ago and then each time for only one month postpartum) she would give a bottle after every feeding and keep giving bottles until she was sure the baby was not hungry. Most babies I know tell their moms when they're hungry. My husband sure does. I'm sure he didn't ever get a chance to when he was a baby. God bless. This was a whole new frontier for neuroticism.
Anyway, I finally consented to let them give her a bottle of formula. I warned them though that just because she drinks it, doesn't mean she was hungry. It just means she's getting a snack that's sweeter and easier to drink than breastmilk. I think of it as baby candy. They fed her a big bottle and she drank it down, smiling. Two minutes later she resumed her writing and wailing which lasted until I put a soothing ointment on her bottom.
I am really a difficult person to offend, but this whole situation got to me. Who are they to tell me whether or not she'd eaten enough? Her sustenance is derived through my body. I would call that a pretty strong bond. I feel my breasts fill up, I feel them release the milk. Would I question them if they told me they'd just peed? Even my husband was begining to doubt me, and he's usually quite good about these things. In fact, it was his doubt that made me doubt myself and let me decide to allow her a bottle. Next time I'll just stick to what I know-- though the only way to get them off my back and keep the peace was to let them try to bottle feed her. (Maybe they all were having secret maternal urges and just wanted to feed her.) She drinks formula about once a week when I'm working, but when I'm around, I'd much rather she gets fed the old fashioned way. Also, that's how I know when she's had enough.

The Need To Feed

When I'm trying to describe the need to breastfeed at regular interverals, I find that the best way to make people understand the feeling is by describing it as the need to empty a full bladder. I don't always mention that the 'bladder' or in this case the milk ducts don't always wait for an invitation from me to start discharging their contents.