The first six weeks

[Cheryl S.]

Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
experience it.

Week One
Learning to latch, learning what "hunger" is, learning that nursing
fixes hunger. He latches extremely well and nurses eagerly. Milk comes
in starting on day 2, engorgement hits morning of day 4. I use lots of
massage, a little expressing, nursing as much as possible, and once, a
cabbage leaf to deal with engorgement. Still, it affects his latch and
my nipples get sore. Main issues for me, recovery from birth and
engorgement.

Week Two
Learns that breathing is important. Learns that sometimes it's hard to
breathe and nurse at the same time, and begins fighting the breast.
Pushes away with his hands, fusses, pinches and scratches my poor, sore
nipples (how does a two week old baby have such good aim?!? :( ).
Finally learns to suck, swallow, breathe, repeat. Begins growth spurt.
Main issue for me, still recovering from birth.

Week Three
Growth spurt from hell continues. I am exhausted and totally sick of
bf. Once, I got so tired I cried. The exhaustion makes me not care
enough about getting latch correct. Constant nursing, with slightly
less-than-optimal latch, makes nipples more sore. Harder to get latch
correct on left side than right, so left side is much more sore.
Starting to feel recovered from giving birth.

Week Four
Growth spurt is over. Nipples have healed quickly. Right side doesn't
hurt at all, left side is moderately uncomfortable. Poop "issues"
begin. DS is gassy and this makes him fussy at the breast at times.

Week Five
No bf issues, just DS' difficulty with learning to poop.

Week Six
He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
would never begin to consider stopping now.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 6 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

[Rob & Laura]

I am so glad that you love to breastfeed and dont think about stopping. I
never thought I would ever make it to 8 months. But it seems so easy now.
I never want to stop. I think I will be heart broken when she self weans

--
Laura
Mommy to Izabella **Feb 10th, 2003**
And 2 felines *Ashes(3) & George (5)* ITS THEIR BDAY TODAY!!
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/i/izabellawelburn/

"Cheryl S." > wrote in message
...
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.
>
> Week One
> Learning to latch, learning what "hunger" is, learning that nursing
> fixes hunger. He latches extremely well and nurses eagerly. Milk comes
> in starting on day 2, engorgement hits morning of day 4. I use lots of
> massage, a little expressing, nursing as much as possible, and once, a
> cabbage leaf to deal with engorgement. Still, it affects his latch and
> my nipples get sore. Main issues for me, recovery from birth and
> engorgement.
>
> Week Two
> Learns that breathing is important. Learns that sometimes it's hard to
> breathe and nurse at the same time, and begins fighting the breast.
> Pushes away with his hands, fusses, pinches and scratches my poor, sore
> nipples (how does a two week old baby have such good aim?!? :( ).
> Finally learns to suck, swallow, breathe, repeat. Begins growth spurt.
> Main issue for me, still recovering from birth.
>
> Week Three
> Growth spurt from hell continues. I am exhausted and totally sick of
> bf. Once, I got so tired I cried. The exhaustion makes me not care
> enough about getting latch correct. Constant nursing, with slightly
> less-than-optimal latch, makes nipples more sore. Harder to get latch
> correct on left side than right, so left side is much more sore.
> Starting to feel recovered from giving birth.
>
> Week Four
> Growth spurt is over. Nipples have healed quickly. Right side doesn't
> hurt at all, left side is moderately uncomfortable. Poop "issues"
> begin. DS is gassy and this makes him fussy at the breast at times.
>
> Week Five
> No bf issues, just DS' difficulty with learning to poop.
>
> Week Six
> He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
> continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
> longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
> would never begin to consider stopping now.
> --
> Cheryl S.
> Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 6 mo.
> And Jaden, 1 month
>
> Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
> shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.
>
>

[Anne Rogers]

thats a great summary it's really lovely to hear how over the course of
six weeks everything settled down and is now going smoothly.

-----------
Anne Rogers

[zeldabee]

"Cheryl S." > wrote:
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.
[...]
>
> Week Six
> He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
> continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
> longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
> would never begin to consider stopping now.

Thanks. You're a week ahead of us...it's always good to know that things
will improve.

--
z e l d a b e e @ p a n i x . c o m http://NewsReader.Com/

[JennP]

"Cheryl S." > wrote in message
...
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.

Excellent post, Cheryl. I hope that woman who posted here last week (she was
struggling with the "first six week stuff") read your post.
--
JennP.

"I base my fashion on what doesn't itch" Gilda Radner

[Karen]

"Cheryl S." wrote:

>
> Week Six
> He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
> continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
> longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
> would never begin to consider stopping now.

that's great that things are going so well now Cheryl!! Isn't it great when
all that struggle is over
and things are going so smoothly? Makes it all so worthwhile.

WOW! A 4 hour stretch.....how dreamy (pardon the pun)
I'm thrilled with anything over 2 :-p

We're currently enduring the "I want to suck but not eat but won't take a
pacifier, only Mom's finger
and she can't sleep with her finger in my mouth" issue.
It was a long weekend. Ben had a double ear infection and wasn't a very
happy baby obviously.
Thankfully, his ears are clear today so we don't need a recheck. I can only
imagine how bad he would have been
had he not come from a non-smoking home and been exclusively breastfed.

Karen
Mom to Ben-1 month old today (9lbs 5oz up from his low of 7-4)
and his 5 adoring fans umm....siblings.

[Nat]

Good on you girl great to hear someone is have a good time.
I am just about to give up on breastfeeding. My baby (9weeks old) is a
very unhappy baby cries all the time never smiles for plays and they have
put her in hospital for 3 days only to give more drugs which didn't fix the
problem I just feel like giving up on it all. It seem as the weeks go on
things get worse.

Nat (Australia)


"Cheryl S." > wrote in message
...
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.
>
> Week One
> Learning to latch, learning what "hunger" is, learning that nursing
> fixes hunger. He latches extremely well and nurses eagerly. Milk comes
> in starting on day 2, engorgement hits morning of day 4. I use lots of
> massage, a little expressing, nursing as much as possible, and once, a
> cabbage leaf to deal with engorgement. Still, it affects his latch and
> my nipples get sore. Main issues for me, recovery from birth and
> engorgement.
>
> Week Two
> Learns that breathing is important. Learns that sometimes it's hard to
> breathe and nurse at the same time, and begins fighting the breast.
> Pushes away with his hands, fusses, pinches and scratches my poor, sore
> nipples (how does a two week old baby have such good aim?!? :( ).
> Finally learns to suck, swallow, breathe, repeat. Begins growth spurt.
> Main issue for me, still recovering from birth.
>
> Week Three
> Growth spurt from hell continues. I am exhausted and totally sick of
> bf. Once, I got so tired I cried. The exhaustion makes me not care
> enough about getting latch correct. Constant nursing, with slightly
> less-than-optimal latch, makes nipples more sore. Harder to get latch
> correct on left side than right, so left side is much more sore.
> Starting to feel recovered from giving birth.
>
> Week Four
> Growth spurt is over. Nipples have healed quickly. Right side doesn't
> hurt at all, left side is moderately uncomfortable. Poop "issues"
> begin. DS is gassy and this makes him fussy at the breast at times.
>
> Week Five
> No bf issues, just DS' difficulty with learning to poop.
>
> Week Six
> He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
> continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
> longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
> would never begin to consider stopping now.
> --
> Cheryl S.
> Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 6 mo.
> And Jaden, 1 month
>
> Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
> shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.
>
>

[hobbes]

"Cheryl S." > wrote in message
...
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.
>

Excellent post, Cheryl. I hope it provides some comfort to people who are in
the midst of that first six weeks. And good for you for sticking it out.
It's all downhill from here!

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (2 years, 8 months) & Arwen (6 months)

[Cheryl S.]

Nat > wrote in message
...
> Good on you girl great to hear someone is have a good time.
> I am just about to give up on breastfeeding. My baby (9
> weeks old) is a very unhappy baby cries all the time never
> smiles for plays and they have put her in hospital for 3 days
> only to give more drugs which didn't fix the problem I just feel
> like giving up on it all. It seem as the weeks go on things get worse.

{{{Nat}}} I'm sorry to hear that. I'm too tired to think of a better
way to say this, but, it doesn't sound like breastfeeding is necessarily
the problem. I hope you can stick with bf because stopping is probably
not likely to improve the situation any. I really don't mean that to
sound harsh or offensive at all. What was the problem they gave her
drugs for? Have you posted for help here? (Sorry, I don't get time to
read any ng's very closely these days.)
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 6 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

[Cheryl S.]

hobbes > wrote in message
...
> Excellent post, Cheryl. I hope it provides some comfort to
> people who are in the midst of that first six weeks. And good
> for you for sticking it out. It's all downhill from here!

Thanks, Jodi. I hope so too, that's why I wrote it. It was so much
easier to get through it this time than the first time, because of
knowing that everything was a very short-term, temporary phase. I hoped
to convey that sense of overcoming one hurdle at a time and that each
phase would end. I got through it the first time just through being
stubborn as a mule and too proud to eat my words while pregnant that I'd
never use formula. This time, knowing how much better it would get was
what got me through (and the belief that formula would not improve
anything, and would mean I'd always have extra dishwashing to do.)
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 6 mo.
And Jaden, 1 month

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

[Chookie]

In article >,
"Cheryl S." > wrote:

> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is.

So glad it is working out!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc

[Sue]

Nat > wrote in message
...
> Good on you girl great to hear someone is have a good time.
> I am just about to give up on breastfeeding. My baby (9weeks old) is a
> very unhappy baby cries all the time never smiles for plays and they have
> put her in hospital for 3 days only to give more drugs which didn't fix
the
> problem I just feel like giving up on it all. It seem as the weeks go on
> things get worse.
>
> Nat (Australia)

Nat,

If you really don't want to quit. Make a new post and include as many
details as you can and perhaps some of us can help you. Remember, if you
switch to formula, the baby could get even more fussier and she still needs
to eat. Then you will have to buy and prepare bottles. Even though you can
make many bottles up ahead of time, just popping a breast in her mouth would
still be easier. Hang in there and it does get easier. Also, she might be
going through a growth spurt.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

[KC]

Wow, it sounds like bf went pretty easy for you this time. I was not
thinking it was a breeze until closer to 4 months old. 3.5 months was
pretty good. 6 weeks was just about the worst time for us with my dd
having a huge growth spurt for 9 days. I had low supply, and low
supply is such a drag for baby and mom because nobody gets enough
sleep with all that marathon nursing going on. Even with it being so
bad for so long I never considered quitting. I was dedicated, and now
I am loving it and dreading when she will want to quit some day.

KC -
buy or rent Whittlestone Breast Expressers at:
http://www.alittlestore.com

"Cheryl S." > wrote in message >...
> Today DS is six weeks old - the miracle milestone where bf gets
> infinitely better :-) And it is. I thought I'd post a brief recap of
> the preceding six weeks for others who are still in it, or yet to
> experience it.
>
> Week One
> Learning to latch, learning what "hunger" is, learning that nursing
> fixes hunger. He latches extremely well and nurses eagerly. Milk comes
> in starting on day 2, engorgement hits morning of day 4. I use lots of
> massage, a little expressing, nursing as much as possible, and once, a
> cabbage leaf to deal with engorgement. Still, it affects his latch and
> my nipples get sore. Main issues for me, recovery from birth and
> engorgement.
>
> Week Two
> Learns that breathing is important. Learns that sometimes it's hard to
> breathe and nurse at the same time, and begins fighting the breast.
> Pushes away with his hands, fusses, pinches and scratches my poor, sore
> nipples (how does a two week old baby have such good aim?!? :( ).
> Finally learns to suck, swallow, breathe, repeat. Begins growth spurt.
> Main issue for me, still recovering from birth.
>
> Week Three
> Growth spurt from hell continues. I am exhausted and totally sick of
> bf. Once, I got so tired I cried. The exhaustion makes me not care
> enough about getting latch correct. Constant nursing, with slightly
> less-than-optimal latch, makes nipples more sore. Harder to get latch
> correct on left side than right, so left side is much more sore.
> Starting to feel recovered from giving birth.
>
> Week Four
> Growth spurt is over. Nipples have healed quickly. Right side doesn't
> hurt at all, left side is moderately uncomfortable. Poop "issues"
> begin. DS is gassy and this makes him fussy at the breast at times.
>
> Week Five
> No bf issues, just DS' difficulty with learning to poop.
>
> Week Six
> He's had one night where he only needed to eat once. I am hoping for
> continued progress in sleeping longer stretches at night! So far
> longest is 4 hours of sleep. Breastfeeding is easy and going great, I
> would never begin to consider stopping now.