breastfeeding??

[littlemansmommy]

My husband and I are expecting our little guy to come in April. He has sb and they think it is around L5 and no hydrocephalus yet. Praise the Lord! We have alot to be thankful for these days. As I think about my delivery, I am wondering what it will be like after he arrives. So many of my questions (I'm sure) will be answered after he comes, but has anyone been able to successfully breastfeed after a c-section and the couple weeks in the NICU?

[Dodger67]

You should do absolutely everything possible (and impossible) to breastfeed him from the start - including in NICU. Don't just accept anybody's "it can't be done". Fight the naysayers all the way!

Who told you he would be in NICU for "a couple of weeks"? Unless there are unforseen complications it should be just a couple of days.

Schedule the C-section for as late as possible because every single day closer to full-term gives him a significant advantage. Is a C-section in fact really justified? IMHO uncomplicated SB by itself is not adequate justification.

[kali]

hi i had no problems with breastfeeding my son, and actually the doctors recomended me too. I rememer after my son had his operation he was screaming and screaming nothing would comfort him, until the doctor said , I think he is crying for his mother he is hungry. and sure enough, he was crying for me. although I was told only to breastfeed him for a few minutes just to comfort him. they were afraid of his stomach running and reaching the newly operated area. by the way I had a natural birth.

[mommy2cnj]

Both of my kiddos were born c-sec, due to the hydrocephalus. Albeit, this was years ago now (12 & 9.....lot of technology happens in a short time), at the time, we were told that both kids, indeed, had hydrocephalus, but they could not be sure of the actual amount of fluid, so they delivered CS.

I did not breastfeed either child, knowing that I would have much going on already, as it was. However, my hat's off to those moms who do.......!!

[lolathechecker]

i plan to breastfeed mine. when i talked to the nicu she's going to stay in, they said they can store pumped milk and feed it to them while you're away, but you should be able to hold him soon after his back closure and start him on a breast then. but they may try to bottle feed him in the beginning and if you dont want to end up with nipple confusion, you can talk to a lactation consultant about what types of bottles work well for babies who are going to breastfeed. mine reccomended second nature nursers because the flow is alot more like a breast. the nicu said they if i leave bottles there with my name on them, then they try to use those instead of the bottles they have.
good luck and stick with it!:D

[littlemansmommy]

Thanks ya'll! So much in my brain...I feel a bit overwhelmed at times. It is so wonderful to hear "non-doctor" words of wisdom. :) I really appreciate our doctors and the knowledge they have but sometimes I just want someone to tell me like it is.

A few responses...

So what requires me to have a c-section?

Should they not offer him a passy in the nicu? And what if I am not there in the middle of the night, won't they have to give him a bottle?

in reference to doger... The doctors have told us minimally two weeks in nicu is standard. I guess we will have to check in on that too.

[Barb]

C was born 9 years ago (WOW, has it been that long) He was in NICU 6 days.

[Dodger67]

Unless there are complications, one would hope that your baby would be home with you by 2 weeks.
The "standard minimum" 2 weeks in NICU sounds a lot like "milking the system $$$!" But then from what I know about US healthcare it is fairly standard to do CAT scans for a simple ankle sprain (more $$$)
Blame the lawyers!

Here in South Africa the practice is to discharge patients as fast as possible.
I had open heart surgery 2 years ago. I was sent home after 5 days and spent less than 48 hours in ICU!

[kali]

after my son was born we both got discharged at the same time. it was recomended that I stay with my son at all times. even after his operations.

[angel]

My son didn't have myleo, Actually since i had sb myleo they did every test imaginable when i was pregnant. The blood tests, i have about 20 sonograms featuring his spine (they did a sonogram on me every single time) and 3 amnios. Yeah 3 of them seemed like a lot to me. All these tests come out normal. No sb. Now the sonograms were done of his spine from the view of his back. The holes are seen from the chest view in my son so they missed it.
My delivery was by c section because i am the size of an 8 year old child. I am only 4 feet tall and weighed about 77lbs when i got pregnant. Because of the SB i had to be put under general anesthia as an epidural was out of the question.
I had planned to brestfeed. By the time i woke up from anesthia (3 days later) I didn't even know he had been born and he had already been whisked off to another state to a children's hospital as they found his problems immediatly after his birth. This was in 1996 i don't know how much has changed since then but he was taken to a NICU unit where he stayed for 7 days. I didn't get to meet my son till he was 4 days old when i was released from the hospital. Against my doctor's orders i was driven the 2 hours to the NICU to see my baby. On his 7th day i was called by the NICU and told to come get him. They had done all the tests and said he is to healthy to be here in a unit full of sick babies. I was SO SO happy. I was 19 at the time of his birth and it was KILLING me not to be able to see him.