Tristin and Isabella: To "B" or not to "B"?

This may be TMI (too much information) for most people who read this blog but in the life of a breastfeeder, there comes a time when a bottle must be introduced. For some, this bottle comes during the early days. For others, it comes much much later. For baby T., it came at the end of week 3 for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, despite my lactation consultant visits, I was still feeling more pain than I wanted to endure. Right before Baby T's hungry cries would ring through my ears, I would dread the upcoming feeding sessions. Nights were especially bad because Baby T. would be especially hungry and would tug, whine, push and pull himself away from me. It would take a while to get him to latch and then once he did, it was a fight to keep him happy.

Second, I was noticing that even after each feeding, baby T. was still hungry and unhappy. And last but not least, I was getting consumed by the whole notion and act of breastfeeding. I was living, breathing, interneting breastfeeding and I needed some form of sanity back (as well as flexibility). So, I introduced the bottle and decided to pump. I still wanted baby T. to get the benefits of breastmilk...just not at the expense of mommy pain.

So, here we are at the end of week 3. It's not a perfectly harmonious relationship because pumping is still painful and even with the flexibility of bottlefeeding, I am still up every 3 hours. Yet, I am grateful for the decreased night "fights" with baby T and the increased "lower-pain" bonding with Tristin.

And of course, am loving the fact that he's getting the amount of milk he wants and well-deserves (4-5 ounces per feeding every 3 hours!) and he's putting on some double and triple chins which C. and I find absolutely adorable. Can't wait until he's one big ball we can bounce around!