Overcoming breastfeeding challenges - what's your story?

Many of you have overcome significant challenges to make breastfeeding work.  I hope that you'll share your story in the comments section!

Yesterday at the breastfeeding clinic I had a really pleasant surprise.  A mother whom I'd worked with for months came in for a visit.

This mother had given birth to a 3 lb, 13 oz baby four and a half weeks early.  From the beginning the baby had latch-on difficulty.  The mother had three bouts of mastitis, one of which landed her back in the hospital, vasospasm of the nipple, injuries from pump use, recurrent plugged ducts, and ongoing breast and nipple pain.

None of these problems are that unusual, unfortunately, but what made her case unique was that it went on, and on, and on.  She made at least 20 visits to the breastfeeding clinic, and every time we solved a problem another one would rear its head.  It took two and a half months before they achieved a comfortable latch.  By the end I would see her approaching the clinic and we would both crack up.

Everyone told her to quit.  Her family, partner, friends, doctors, and nurses all told her she'd be better off if she threw in the towel.  One health care provider actually delivered a case of formula to her home unsolicited.  I never lost hope, but my faith was definitely tested at times.  We must have had half a dozen conversations in which we affirmed her decision to stop and discussed how to wean.  We'd then part ways with the understanding that she was stopping.

But there she'd be at the next clinic, still hanging on by her toenails.  Through it all she maintained an incredible sense of humor, and a fierce if not irrational determination to make it work.

So I was thrilled to see her and her beautiful 7 month old baby on Saturday - still nursing.  She says that she's trying for a year.  And, to my amazement, she said that she'd do it again.

When I asked her why she kept going through all of the difficulty she said, "It was the bond we had.  And we had to work so hard for it that once it was established I couldn't give it up."

I hope that you'll share your stories - however they end.  What was challenging, and what kept you going - or let you know that it was time to stop?  What advice would you have for mothers who are struggling now?

Comments

[Jessica]

I am still overcoming many little things with my daughter; but my biggest feat was getting her to gain weight to be discharged from the NICU. When she was born, they told me that she needed formula to be mixed with my breastmilk because it didnt have enough calories to help her gain the weight she needed to go home.

That was not true I later found out. I brought her home in Jaunary and have been breastfeeding her ever since. She is now 10 months old and breastfeeding strong. She started to gain when I started to feed her on demand and not on "their schedule". She went from 3lbs 5.5 oz at birth, to now a whopping 16 lbs+.

I am proud of myself for sticking with it. I am surrounded by formula feeders and had almost no support (my hubby has been great though).
Now once we get through her biting phase, I will feel like super mom...LOL...

Watching her grow and knowing that I gave her that gift makes me feel so good inside. I love to know that all the hard times were definitly worth it.

[Mya's Mommy]

After taking breastfeeding and childbirth classes and reading several articles and books about breastfeeding, I was still unprepared for how difficult it would be. My beautiful daughter tried to latch on during one of our first nursing sessions and bit me instead. That was the beginning of horribly sore, bleeding nipples and other difficulties with nursing. My 8 lb. 6 oz. baby's weight dropped to 7 lb. 11 oz. and did not go up after a month. Her doctor told me that I needed to begin to supplement with formula and instructed me to do other things that I knew would decrease my milk supply. I left the office crying, feeling like a failure. On the drive home I toughened up and decided that I WAS going to overcome this obstacle. I talked to friends and family who had nursed their babies. I called a lactation consultant who visited my home that evening. The advice and instruction she gave me was invaluable. Although she could tell that Mya was latching on properly and taking in milk, she could not tell me why her weight gain was so slow. She prescribed a rigorous pumping and nursing schedule (some days I nursed 9 - 10 times and pumped 5 times) as well as an herbal supplement and Mya began gaining weight. As the months passed, I was able to decrease the amount and length of my nursing and pumping sessions. Nursing became a great bonding time with my daughter and now that's she's one year old, it's hard to believe that in a few weeks (we're weaning) nurisng will no longer be a part of our relationship. I'm very proud that I committed to breastfeeding and I'm so thankful for everyone who helped and encouraged me. Sometimes you get poor information or conflicting information so you really have to trust your instincts. Mya is smart, healthy, and beautiful and I know that nursing her for this long has been a major factor!

[MKMom]

After hearing that story, I guess my breastfeeding struggle isn't half as bad. My baby Charlotte was 8 lb 1 oz two weeks early. She was a lazy nurser and dropped down to 7 lb 11 oz and wasn't gaining any weight. It took 3 weeks for my milk to come in and once it did I was barely producing teaspoons worth. I nursed, pumped, and fed Charlotte a supplement bottle with what little milk I produced every 2 hours around the clock for 2 weeks straight to get my milk supply up. Needless to say, I was utterly exhausted and stressed, which probably caused the major breast infection I got. Just when I was at my wits end, I started producing and Charlotte started to gain, but it took about 6 weeks. By two months, I stopped supplementing completely and Charlotte is now a healthy 4 month old who is exclusively breastfed. It took A LOT of work, and I still think I don't have a massive milk supply (as Charlotte remains in the 25 percentile for weight), but I am very glad a stuck with it. Good luck to those who struggle!

[Kassandra]

For me breastfeeding was not easy through any of my children. We always started with the usual engorgement, nipple pain, latch problems, etc. But with my 2nd DD it was different. In the last trimester of the pregnancy I got a kidney infection, so I had to be treated with an antibiotic. I got a yeast infection immediately and kept it for 6 weeks! I thought it would never end. I went on many many trials of meds to cure the yeast, but it was just too much and out of control. By the time I had my DD we thought it was under control. I began nursing her right after delivery and noticed some nipple pain, but thought I just had to work on getting her latched correctly. Then I noticed alot of swelling, and I told nurses that I thought my milk had come in on day 2, they refused to listen and sent me home. By the time I got home, I was engorged with MILK and had bleeding nipples with tons of pain. So after many visits to the Lactation Consultant we found I had yeast on the nipples, which caused all the pain, but then they cracked and I got impetigo of the nipple. I had to pump every 2 hours for the first 6 weeks and feed my baby bottles because I had to strain the milk before feeding it from all the things falling off of my nipples. It was horrid! On Christmas Eve 1998 she was 6 weeks old, and we were away from home at a family members house. I had no more bottles of milk, and thought maybe I should just try putting her to the breast and see what happens. SHE LATCHED. She nursed for 10 months, she never had another bottle! 6 weeks doesn't seem like much now, but it felt like an eternity then. Looking back, it was so worth it and I did go on to do it again! I am now a nursing mom to my 4th daughter and she is 10 months, 24 pounds, all nursing and going strong.

[Tanya Lieberman]

These are really incredible stories. Thanks so much to everyone who has shared so far!

One of the things I think is so interesting about these stories - and others that have been posted on this site - is that sometimes when we are told that we can't breastfeed, or are discouraged from breastfeeding, it can actually strengthen our resolve to do it.

Of course, this is certainly not to judge a mother who doesn't react in the same way. And there are definitely times when a change of plans is necessary.

I just think it's interesting that sometimes being told 'you can't' is what turns it into a 'can.'

[Camille]

My daughter was only 3 weeks early but she still had latch on difficulties. While I was in the hospital before I even talked to the breastfeeding consultant, the nurse gave me a nipple shield to use. Well it worked but both me and my daughter got very dependent on it. I wanted to wean her off of it so badly, it was embarrassing to me that she needed this "training wheel" to nurse. This went on for almost 4 months but I continued trying to get her off of the shield and one day she didn't need it. I was so happy that I never gave up because I really love breastfeeding. She is now 5 months old and we haven't used the shield since. I really wished the nurse wouldn't have given that to me because I know she would have learned to latch on eventually and if I wouldn't have had that thing which I had never even heard of before I would have never used it.

[Ethel]

Wow! My story isn't as impressive as anyone else's here. I have six month old twin girls, exclusively breastfed. We actually started off great - I was able to tandem nurse my daughters the first time I tried, less than a half-hour after they were born by C-section! It was my first time ever breastfeeding. However, I had a great deal of support. Also, my babies were full-term (37 weeks) and had good latches at birth. I was lucky - many twin mothers struggle with prematurity, NICU time, and latch issues due to immaturity.

After that great start, I thought the hard part was over. However, two days after their birth, they had already lost 10% of their birth weight and my milk hadn't come in. I was sent home with formula and a couple of finger-feeding kits. I spent the next four days pumping regularly, nursing, and supplementing with formula by either finger feeding (usually done by my husband) or at the breast through a tube. My milk came in on day 6, and what joy - I was making enough for both babies by the end of the day!

Then at six weeks, the babies started fussing at the breast during letdown, pulling away and screaming as milk spurted out. This would happen every five to ten minutes - it got so bad one of my babies went on a short nursing strike a couple of times! They also were having gas pains and green diapers. The problem was oversupply, and the accompanying overactive letdown and foremilk/hindmilk imbalance.

I was shocked - who knew having *too much* milk could be so heartbreaking? But imagine having a full breast, dripping milk, and a hungry baby. You try to give her what she needs, you *have* what she needs, but instead of snuggling and nursing she screams at the top of her lungs, and then refuses to nurse for the next six hours! I ended up block-nursing: I fed both babies off of the same side all morning long, than switched sides and nursed on the other side all afternoon long. The problem cleared up within days - but it took me over a month to figure out what the problem was and how to fix it. There were some days when I offered the babies formula . . . because I was making too much milk to nurse! Fortunately, they generally refused the bottle - so we *had* to work out the nursing issues.

We had some other problems - a couple bouts of mastitis, low supply due to illness or mastitis, thrush (the medication bothered us worse than the problem, though), colic caused by too much lactose (milk sugar) in my milk because of how much sugar I was drinking, and excess lipase causing my pumped milk to sour after less than 24 hours no matter how it was stored - fridge, frozen, whatever - unless I scald it right after pumping.

My main motivations were the health benefits and . . . I didn't want to wash bottles for a whole year. Nursing is so much faster, especially with twins! Tandem nursing is much simpler than tandem bottlefeeding, and cleanup is a breeze! Plus, getting out of the house is easy. Through diapers, wipes, and spare outfits into a bag, grab the babies, and go! No formula, no bottles. I feel very comfortable nursing in public. I've never had a rude comment, but a lot of women have stopped to tell me how glad they are that I am nursing, and to let me know about their own nursing successes and challenges. I've heard some amazing stories that way!

[momefarley]

Actually, I feel spoiled that I really have had very little trouble in my breastfeeding. But I really wanted to share another woman's experience. She was in a LLL group I attended for a while. Her baby was born via C/S and was in NICU for some time (2-4 weeks?). They encouraged her to pump for the baby in NICU, so she got her supply going immediately, and her baby would take it just fine from the bottle. But I don't think the NICU was supportive of trying to latch early, and by the time she got her baby home, he wouldn't take the breast. She kept pumping and giving him exclusively breastmilk (I'm fairly certain he had NO formula at all, unless it was in NICU), and trying at least from time to time to get him to nurse directly from the breast. She never quit, and sometime between 4 and 7 months (I forget the exact detail), he finally took to the breast and she was able to get rid of the pump and bottles! We were all so amazed and encouraged by her persistance -- reminds me of your story!!

[Sarah's Mom]

After a 17 year break, I just had another baby 2 and a half months ago. I'd had no problems whatsoever with my first baby, so I naively assumed that this time would work out as well. Not so. I started breastfeeding my little girl and it was so painful each time that it made my toes curl up and I had to use my labor breathing techniques just to get through it. At Sarah's 2 day checkup, she had plummeted from 9 lbs. 3 oz, to 8 lbs, 6 oz. I felt so inadequate that I started to cry and couldn't stop. The lactation consultant at my hospital saw me immediately after the check up and her first priority was to take my hand and soothe me the best she could. She quickly identified the problem as incorrect latching, and showed me some ways to fix it. Three days later, I had to return to the hosptial for a follow up visit because of the large weight loss of my baby. By then, she had gained half of it back. The lactation consultant saw me again, and we worked on fine tuning the latching. I left feeling much more confident in my abilities as a mother. My sister, who is also a lactation consultant, was able to provide me tremendous support over the phone. I had thought briefly about quitting, but I resolved after that not to quit, that breast feeding was way too important to the health of my baby. The care and support that I received from the lactation consultants was, I feel, the most important factor in my resolve. I could not have done it without them.

If that were not enough, a few weeks later I felt a lump in my breast which turned out to be a clogged duct. I tried everything that my "What to Expect" book said to try, but it did not resolve. I went back to the hospital when I started to feel extreme pain and flu like symptoms. The lactation consultants assisted me and had a doctor write a prescription for an antibiotic. Unfortunately, it did not resolve, and after being blown off a few times by the labor and deliver department at my hospital, again the lactation consultants intervened and got me a referral to a surgeon. By the time I was seen, I had developed a tennis-ball sized abscess. The surgeon told me I would probably not be able to breast feed from that side ever again, but I refused to give up. After my surgery, the lactation consultants brought a breast pump to my hospital room and helped me to very carefully pump from the side that I'd had surgery on, as well as the good side. We had to throw out the milk from the bad side because it had too much blood in it, and the good side we had to toss for the first 24 hours after the surgery (the anesthesia was not good for baby). But the next day I pumped good milk from both sides and took it home with me. While I was in the hospital, my husband had to give formula, because all the milk I had pumped prior to my surgery was all bad, since I had mixed the milk from both sides, and apparently having an abscess turns the milk salty and it's not good for the baby. I did nurse her as much as I could in the hospital and luckily she had no problems switching from breast to bottle, formula to breastmilk. I have continued to pump during my so-far 6 week recovery, and just two days ago I was able to get my daughter to nurse from the bad side. She has a little trouble, because the nipple still does not shape correctly, but I am hopeful that as the healing is complete, that problem will resolve itself. Again, the support that the lactation consultants have given me has made the difference. I will not give up on breast feeding, ever!