"I will have a natural birth, with a private midwife, in a natural birthing room!!" Everyone already knew, because I took the trouble to proudly tell everyone."
\nAnd I already knew, right after the birth, the midwife would place my chubby baby on me and I would immediately put her to my breast.
\nYou know the saying: "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans"? How true.
\nI wrote Omar's breastfeeding story when she was 5 months old. Today she is already seven. For those who have patience, I warn you that it will be long. In addition, I am a little scolded because I am a pediatric dietitian who made countless mistakes that I previously taught other parents not to make. But \u2013 about life and death:
\nFirst pregnancy, week 34 has arrived, I feel wonderful, a little annoying swelling but no complaints, I simply didn't have time to get to the Tipat Halav nurse, so I asked a friend at my work in Tel Hashomer, the nurse at the institute, to measure my blood pressure, check for protein in the urine and weigh me to finish with my duties for the month.
\nFrom here until the birth, the story was short: preeclampsia, a small baby girl one week pregnant, an emergency cesarean section, and three long, long weeks in the Tel Hashomer neonatal intensive care unit (with the wonderful team).
\nAnd this is where our complex breastfeeding story begins:
\nEven before I met my tiny baby (1.6 kilos), my sister explained to me how to express the first milk, colostrum, from the breast (not easy, but surprising and happy to suddenly see the liquid come out little by little).
\nI met Omar the day after my emergency C-section. My husband rolled me into the correct incubator and \u2013 very pleasant, a tiny, hairy, threadbare baby claiming to be mine. I believed them.
\nAnd what now? Am I allowed to touch? Pick up? What do you feed? Is it okay to breastfeed? How do you breastfeed with a green tube coming out of her mouth?
\nSo: In the first stage, milk is usually pumped and fed from a bottle: then you have to buy\/receive the parts that connect to the hospital pumps, learn to pump, live next to the pump for a significant part of the day, and wash and disinfect all the dishes endlessly.
\nLater, when medically possible, those who want to breastfeed, no problem, the staff encourages and is interested in this and if possible will even remove the tube during the meal. At the time when Omar was born, it was customary to weigh before and after breastfeeding so that we would know that the little premature baby would breastfeed enough.
\nSo within a few days I dared and asked to breastfeed our little Omar. A kind but very busy nurse tried to help me and at the end of a short and stressful attempt suggested that I use a silicone nipple. Miraculously, Omar nursed and nursed and surprised us all over the weeks with her great appetite. The doctors say 20 ml at each meal, the little criminal nurses 35, the doctors increase it to 25 ml \u2013 and she is already at 50 ml, and so on until the long-awaited day of discharge.
\nWe were discharged home with a baby weighing 1.950 kilos and with instructions to give Omar 4 bottles of breast milk enriched with a terribly expensive supplement a day and the rest of the meals through breastfeeding.
\nIn my heart, I began to hate the silicone nipple. For me, it was a barrier between me and Omar, preventing me from connecting with her and keeping my dream of natural breastfeeding away from me. In addition, I was afraid that I would forget to take a nipple when I left the house and would not be able to feed Omar. I saw my friends easily remove a breast and I kind of forgot the fact that my baby only weighed 2 kilos.
\nAfter about two weeks at home, where I followed the doctors' instructions and Omar gained weight according to all the books, I started faking the bottle feedings and was already plotting to get rid of the silicone nipple - I wanted a "normal" baby (even though secretly I was skeptical and couldn't imagine how it would work).
\nMy sister offered to give me a gift for the birth: an appointment with a lactation consultant. I searched, consulted, and researched, and that's how I ended up with Dalia Avni. We spoke on the phone, I described our troubles to her, and we arranged to meet the next day. The appointment lasted three hours, during which Omar cooperated wonderfully. I learned how to attach her to the breast and breastfeed in comfortable positions in different situations and places in the house.
\nOf course, as in many situations, when the doctor\/mechanic\/computer guy\/lactation consultant is present, everything works perfectly, and when we're left alone, not exactly.
\nDalia told me that the transition to breastfeeding without a nipple could take time, but I was impatient and tried to rush things. I thought I could breastfeed without a nipple, even though in reality it was very uncomfortable for me and Omar slipped off the breast a lot. At the same time, I didn't weigh her as often as I should and ignored the signs that she might be hungry (crying a lot, sleeping intermittently, and maybe diapers that weren't "heavy" enough).
\nSo it happened that when I weighed her after two weeks, I thought there was a mistake, but after another week I discovered to my dismay that Omar had not gained as much weight as desired, the truth is \u2013 she had barely gained any weight!
\nThe next step was to go to a pediatric dietitian who heard the developments, considered, examined, consulted, and finally informed me in no uncertain terms that I currently had to give Omar bottles instead of most of the breastfeeding, and that it would also be a good idea to add some baby formula since she thinks it is exhausting and unreasonable to pump all the meals.
\nI've already imagined how I'm losing the dream of breastfeeding.
\nI called Dalia, told her what was happening and how worried I was that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed. Dalia told me about a bottle that was supposed to be less disruptive to breastfeeding and could help us if I wanted to go back to breastfeeding more in the future (a new Medela bottle that doesn't drip into the baby's mouth, but the baby has to pump the milk out of it, similar to breastfeeding). I immediately purchased two and we went back to pumping and washing and disinfecting the bottles and pumping equipment.
\nIt took Omar a few tries to figure out how she was supposed to get the milk from the bottle, a few frustrations, and finally \u2013 success.
\nThis time I did what I was told and in the following weeks, to my great joy, Omar gained weight and at the same time, her development: she cried less, started smiling, and slept better.
\nAt the same time, I continued to let Omar nurse without the silicone nipple after the bottles, and she continued to nurse. It was easier for her to latch on to the breast when she was full. I also noticed that the bottles did help her understand how to breastfeed.
\nBut I still wasn't ready to give up on the dream of breastfeeding.
\nI called Dalia again and asked her about something she had told me half-heartedly before: inserting one end of a tube into the baby's mouth after it is attached to the breast, and the other end into the bottle, so that the baby is essentially sucking and at the same time drinking, as if through a straw, from the bottle. She sent me a video demonstrating this and brought me a tube.
\nAfter two very entertaining times (it takes serious circus skills: attaching Omar properly to the breast, inserting the end of a tube in the right place in her mouth without irritating her, finding a comfortable place to put the bottle with the other end of the tube so it doesn't spill... and then not moving...) I realized that even though I eventually succeeded, it wasn't for us.
\nAnother step in our ordeal was to return to a silicone nipple along with 2-3 bottles a day.
\nI decided to try to go back to breastfeeding with a silicone nipple because at least that way I wouldn't have to stop breastfeeding. We were weighed before and after breastfeeding by the dietitian and decided that we could continue breastfeeding this way.
\nNow Omar was stronger, had gained weight well, and was alert and in a good mood most of the time.
\nI managed to breastfeed with the nipple and I thought we would continue like that. Then my sister-in-law told me that she also used a silicone nipple, but before each feeding, in the first stage, she breastfed without the nipple and only then attached it. I thought there was nothing to lose and I tried.
\nWithin a few days I noticed that Omar was perfectly attached to the breast and I didn't need to add the nipple. After a few more days I also noticed that instead of nursing for 45 minutes, the duration of breastfeeding was reduced and Omar was becoming more efficient.
\nThis time I wasn't complacent and did an experiment for several days while monitoring my weight with the dietitian, and the results were indeed impressive.
\nAt 5 months old, Omar nursed wonderfully, but I continued to give him 2-3 pumped bottles every day just to be on the safe side, while monitoring his weight with a dietitian. Later, under close supervision, we stopped giving him these bottles as well. Omar nursed until he was 1 year and 3 months old (when I was already fed up, I think if it were up to her, she would have continued until she was 4).
\nMy message is not that it is always possible to breastfeed premature babies, absolutely not. Sometimes it is not possible, especially when there are other children at home and personal\/medical challenges for each mother\/premature baby or family.
\nI wouldn't have been able to reach the full breastfeeding stage without the professional guidance and support of my husband, family, friends who volunteered to hold Omer while I was connected to the pump, and a little\/a lot of my extreme nature...
\nMy path was full of bumps, I made mistakes along the way, many times I almost gave up, and each time Omar showed me that if I was willing to continue trying the creative ways offered to us, she was willing to work with me to get her white gold\u2026.<\/p>\n
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