breastfeeding a preemie, will there come a time when it just CLICKS? and will it be soon..? <whines>

[Aitch]

dd2 is 12 weeks now, and it seems as hard as ever it was tbh. she just doesn't seem to 'get it', doesn't latch on for very long without coming off etc etc. i go to a bfing clinic once a week, they say her latch is fine and tbh normally she feeds quite well in front of them. (the one time she behaved like she does at home they sent me home with thrush treatment).

does anyone have anything encouraging to say, something along the lines of 'she's six weeks corrected, it will all click next week...'

oh yes that's right. as far as i'm concerned though you can't scrub that south side off your soul. even if it was strathbungo.

the one with the fancy wooden tables, ruined by insetting some weird fruit mix into it? yep, that's nice. but deffo go to the botanics place. cail something. gah. used to be the parthenon greek place. (you know we live in paperinos for the most part so am most excited by A New Venue).

for TM. that's really rough.

Aitch - she sounds like she's growing well to me...don't let her grow out of the pink suit until spring though.

Find myself wishing DD1 was still a little mite instead of a stroppy 4 year old. Would rather be constantly bfing than making a snowman outfit out of loft insulation .

Quote from DD2 in the car yesterday that really made me smile 'Mummy, I really am quite desperate for booby'. Wait 'til your DD2 is asking so politely!!

Aitch - I've no advice but I was thinking about you just yesterday and wondering how the bf was going. I'm afraid I've been completely ignoring you - which is terrible after everything we've been through together on the bf threads in the past. Truth be told I've blocked the whole sorry experience from my mind, and I couldn't give any useful insight into your particular situation anyway.

Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you, and I think you're doing brilliantly to be still going strong. Hang on in there!

next time, twinkle... next time...

okay, i think i'm done now. we're still struggling and she's 19 weeks, every feed's a pita of super-switchung and yowling. i think i'm okay about it... i will hopefully be able to enjoy these last few feeds as my boobs will be fuller for a wee while as we make the move to formula.

thank you to everyone who helped me get this far.

aw aitch

but, well done for persevering this far inspite of all the problems.

I missed this thread first time, but can soooo relate to the slippery nipple thing. DS is 10 weeks now and still isn't latching well, and he was a bouncing full term bruiser. It's so frustrating.

I hope that you take some good memories of this time with you, as I know from previous threads how important it was for you to BF this time.

maybe next time, eh?

can't believe how quickly time is flying either!

omg LOOK at your beautiful babies, lacka! thanks, and do you think we've coined a new bfing term in 'slippery nipple'? mine did get better, actually, who knows whether it was the thrush meds or simply her getting bigger? i hope it all works out for you, thank you for your good wishes.

Oh Aitch.

I wish there was a magic boob fairy who could actually explain the inexplicable and wave her little wand to fix things. I'm frustrated for you. I hate when real life lets us down. You'd think with all the knowledge and videos and stuff that there would be An Actual Answer to the question. I'm so sorry that it just didn't click for you after everything you did.

And you did so immensely well, Aitch, and endured so much. You must feel very, very proud of yourself.

I hope you have some good memories of this time amongst the strugglier moments. Have you taken some photos or videos of you breastfeeding?

i'm not sure i have, will think about whether i wish to commit to celluloid. what i do have, though, is a photo of dd1 bfing her dolly. which means the world to me, tbh, as prior to dd2's arrival dd1 was a bottle-feeding mother.

Commit it to a digital image and hide the file away if you must. But please take a photo. You will want to look at it one day, I'm sure.

Oh and well done on the 'conversion' of dd1.

thanks aitch

I agree with vlc that you should get a few photos while you still can; you'll enjoy looking back at them someday.

vlc, I had my first ever milk blister the other week, and though of you

19 weeks is amazing Aitch, you can totally say that your DD was properly BF. But really just wanted to say that i think your blog is great too.

ooooh, thanks! i am of coures whinging about bfing over on thr blw forum as well...

Ugh - the 'corrected' weight!

At one stage, I flipped out, and walked out on the Paediatrician and said, 'let me know once y'all have worked out: 1) how old DS is and 2) what percentile he's on....

lol. i went to see a pal of mine today with a four-day-old born at 9lbs 13oz and feeding BEAUTIFULLY. and there's dd2, probably eight and a half pounds or something (haven't had her checked in ages) at nearly five months. lol. the photos are ludicrous.

Well done Aitch. 19 weeks gives her a great start to life .

Well, when we saw the Paediatrician a few weeks ago, he said, 'remind me what you're doing here?'

And then he reassured me about the charts -- not sure if it's true or not, but he said that the charts represent a hypothetical baby, and therefore if a baby is on the 2nd percentile, it would represent 2 babies out of a hundred (if such a population existed in the first place)

I got rather confused, but was acting as if it all made sense.

Statistically (in my head anyway) meeting biger babies is good. The 5oth centile means that half of healthy babies are above and half below - yours is below but the bigger baby is above so the balance is maintained.

I met Aitch's dd2 yesterday and she's bloody gorgeous. And can confirm that LowerCase Aitch 1 is a hardcore doll breastfeeder. It's one of the loveliest things I've ever seen. Esp the breastfeeding cushion!

it was good, better than good, GREAT to see you yesterday. thanks for the encouragement, in a freaky way it made it easier to draw a line under the whole bfing thing.