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Feb 12, 2012

Photo 366 challenge – week 6

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Really, week 6 already? That must mean it’s February, right? My days are in such a muddle now but I am sure that I will start to remember what day of the week, week of the month and month of the year it is soon.

Day 37:

Photo © English Mamma

This is the second time in the past week or so that I’ve spotted this taxi in the city centre. How great is this? He seems to charge the same as most other taxis. The only disadvantage that I can see is that it might not be quite as warm as a modern taxi (he is wearing a woolen hat after all). I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Citroen DS, so I was pretty excited when I saw this.

Day 38:

Photo © English Mamma

After a long day… although I really, really longed for something a lot little stronger at that point.

Day 39:

Photo © English Mamma

Back at Karolinska hospital for the fifth time in 18 days – this time back to Amningsmottagen – the breastfeeding clinic. I feel as if I know the place pretty well by now.

Day 40:

Photo © English Mamma

Every few days, after I collect Little O from preschool, we head to the Central Station and wave goodbye to the 15.17 train to Gothenburg. I found this train by accident but I like the fact that it has only four carriages: 1st class, 2nd class, a restaurant car and the one nearest to me when I took this photo, which, according to the symbols painted on the outside, is a cocktail and piano bar.

Day 41:

Photo © English Mamma

On Friday, we hit the 2-3 week growth spurt. I took this picture of Baby E finally (!) asleep after a feed. However, he had other ideas and woke up about four minutes after this was taken. Sleep was not the theme of the day…

Day 42:

Photo © English Mamma

Husband found a great new cafe not so far from us and so we decided to check it out on Saturday. Although it was small inside, we found that if we uncoupled the carrycot from the stroller and left the stroller outside, we could sit at the bar stools in the window with Little O on Husband’s lap and Baby E safely sleeping in the carrycot under the counter. The brunch was delicious – and I’m sure that Little O would agree!

Day 43:

Photo © English Mamma

Little O sometimes takes a very casual approach to drinking his bedtime drink!

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

The Boy And Me has set up a great linky each week, so head on over there and check out some of the others’ pictures too:
TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

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Feb 9, 2012

One small step for Baby E…

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Photo © English Mamma

…one giant leap for Mamma and Pappa.

Baby E has taken what we consider to be a massive step forward in the past couple of days and is now going FOUR WHOLE HOURS between feeds at night. Sorry for the shouting but those extra minutes of sleep are just wonderful, refreshing, revitalising, perfect! (Let’s hope that I have not jinxed this by writing it down here…)

So, yesterday we had our return visit to the breastfeeding clinic to see the lactation specialist (who I refer to in my head as the boob nazi). Boob nazi said that it’s all looking good but what the hell was I doing waking Baby E every two hours during the day, where did I read that I should do that so late on (err, he’s only two and half weeks old? Late?) and that that was only the recommendation until your milk came in. Well, from what I’ve read, you cannot feed your baby too much and that until you feel breastfeeding is established it is good to wake them every couple of hours for feeds during the day. I certainly did not really feel until now that breastfeeding was established as I was still having problems getting Baby E to take a good feed on the left.

I took her advice yesterday and followed his lead a little more and he seemed content to feed every three hours. However, content was not something you could describe me as being by the end of the day when I discovered blocked milk ducts. Oh joy… A very hot and very long shower (while constantly checking for the telltale little green lights on the baby monitor) later and I think I’ve managed to ease them somewhat.

Breastfeeding – two steps forward, one step back. Really, if they told you all this beforehand, would you really believe it?

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Feb 4, 2012

Breastfeeding breakthrough

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Photo © English Mamma

Well, the appointment that I had at Amningsmottagningen, the breastfeeding clinic at Karolinska hospital, on Wednesday was a very mixed experience.

On the one hand, I left there with some confidence that I could achieve a proper latch with Baby E and that, with some practice, we could actually have pain-free breastfeeding (woo-hoo!). On the other, I am glad that there was a delay in getting the appointment and that I had not gone a week earlier when I was in a much more fragile state…

You had to fill in a form on arrival that asked about how your labour had been, if were breastfeeding fully, partly or not at all, how many formula feeds you had given, whether you felt under stress etc. So I filled that all in but on some of the questions I did struggle to know what to put. Are you under stress – Yes / No. Well, it’s really not as simple as that, is it? Yes, I felt under stress: I’ve just had a baby, I’ve got the baby blues, I have a 20-month old as well and I am struggling with breastfeeding. However, although there are tears (Baby E’s and mine) every day, some days are definitely better than others and compared with some people, I know that I’m not really under that much stress. (Surely a sliding scale of how stressed you feel would be far more appropriate?)

So, I met the lactation consultant and handed over my form, She asked what type of stress I feel under – of course, that was the one question that she honed straight in on. Unfortunately, I got a little bit emotional explaining how it was hard at home with Little O as well and that the two days of the previous week when he’d been unable to go to preschool had been horrendous as he was upset about Baby E’s arrival and was tending towards hitting rather than stroking him. Her response was that it was good for me to cry but that my children were too close in age and that was the problem. Errrm, excuse me? Oh, okay then, I’ll just send one of them back then…

She then examined my breasts and told me that the sores that I have were really nothing and that they didn’t even need to be drained (? – is this an option? maybe something got lost in translation?). We woke Baby E and she showed me how to get a good latch. And, and, and… It worked and there was only minimal pain, caused by those (very minimal) sores. This felt like such a breakthrough. I sat in that chair for the next 20 minutes and fed Baby E and how glad I was about those happy hormones that are released by breastfeeding, otherwise I might just have stood up and clouted her during her discourse into why breastfeeding was the only option, why I should NEVER EVER again give Baby E formula, how that was most likely the cause of his evening crying, how he actually didn’t really even have colic as she’d had one woman whose baby cried 24/7 and had to be carried in a sling and the whole family had had to wear ear plugs, whereas Baby E “only” cried from around 4pm to 1am, and why I am stifling Baby E’s development by swaddling him (despite me explaining that this is a great way to minimise colic, as well as being very comforting for newborns). Oh, crazy lady.

But as I said, she taught me how to get a good latch and that has boosted my confidence considerably. And I’m just choosing to ignore all the other crazy that she came out with.

The only downside…? I have to go back next Wednesday for her to check that I’m following instruction correctly. Bracing myself already!

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Jan 31, 2012

Breastfeeding troubles

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So here I am back in the same situation as with Little O and struggling with breastfeeding. I know that he’s only ten days old but it’s already becoming an issue. We just cannot get a good latch and have tried a few different positions and techniques but it just doesn’t seem to work.

After we left the hospital on Saturday afternoon, we came home and I carried on the breastfeeding that I’d started in the hospital. The first couple of days went fine, but I realise now that was mainly because, like most newborns, he really wasn’t feeding so much. Day three my milk came in and he responded by going on a bit of a feeding frenzy and it was then that the pain started each time he fed. Monday afternoon we had an appointment to return to the hospital where he was born for a check-up. A doctor checked him over and gave him the all-clear and a nurse checked his latch and said immediately that it was all wrong and that if he carried on that way, I’d get a permanent sore. When we tried him on the other side, she asked me if I had had similar problems when feeding Little O – yes, I had – and she told me that I did indeed have a permanent sore on that side from feeding him.

She showed me how to feed him in a different position and that worked so well while we were there and I was able to use my hands to hold down Baby E’s and she was able to push his head into the right position to latch on. Aaah, breastfeeding without pain – something I’d not experienced before, sadly. However, this just isn’t feasible at home as I need at least three arms to be able to do this hold and get him to latch on successfully. So, back to square one.

I called Amningsmottagningen – the hospital’s breastfeeding clinic – to try and get some help but unfortunately for the first seven days after a baby is born, they are still dealt with by the maternity unit at the hospital. I searched around a bit on the internet, growing increasingly sore and tearful by this stage, and then I found Amningshjälpen – a breastfeeding help service. You call a central number for the area in Sweden where you live and then are put in touch with someone who can talk to you over the phone and discuss the problems that you’re having. A wonderful lady called Elisabeth called me back within the hour, coincidentally just when I was reaching a really low point and was considering pulling out the formula and bottles. She talked me through a few different things and although she could not help me directly with the latch problems over the phone, she just made me feel so much better.

On Friday, the day that Baby E turned six days old, I called Amningsmottagningen back to get us an appointment for this week, so Wednesday we’re heading over to the hospital after dropping Little O off at preschool, and hopefully we can get some more help and some advice on how to get a proper latch. Now that I have seen the Holy Grail of pain-free breastfeeding, I want that. Please.

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