So guys, here we are. Week 5 of quarantine and I gotta say - it's not getting any easier! One day at a time...!
Erin is, in a word, awesome. She's sure of herself and confident and you'll see exactly what we mean when you listen to her story. She had an unmedicated birth in a hospital with her first and decided homebirth was for her with her second. What she didn't plan for was her midwife taking her sweet time and completely missing her birth, but Erin and her husband never wavered and never panicked!
Erin had a few things to note about her breastfeeding experience so I will just include a note from Erin here:
I just thought of something pretty major that effected me. My 1st born didn't latch well. It was hell. I could barely breastfeed because my nipples bled and the baby wasn't happy latching and would just bite down, so I wound up exclusively pumping. Which, to fellow crunchy mamas, you can understand my dismay in not being able to breastfeed. The thought had NEVER crossed my mind. I had a lactation consultant, as well. I later found out that he needed lip-tie and tongue-tie revisions. I didn't discover this until he was 18 months old though. My friend who is a PT (same one who made me get pelvic floor rehab) was adamant that I get him revised even though he is on solids and doesn't need to breastfeed anymore. Her reasoning was because she personally had hers revised as an adult. It immediately gave her more flexion in her ankles and the range of motion in her neck was instantly greater. There's lots and lots of research on this. I had him revised with Dr. Paul Bahn at Infant Laser Dentistry down in Philly.
So! When I was pregnant with my 2nd, I was so much more confident that I'd be able to breastfeed right away, given that I now am the greater Philadelphia's expert and advocate for lip tie and tongue tie revisions and I was a member of every la leche league & IBCLC group. (obviously not really an expert, just crazy researcher mom status) Alas, my second child needed both revisions the first week of his life. He latched and I was able to breast-feed him for 9-10 months.
(soap box)
It was comforting knowing that it wasn't "my fault" that breastfeeding was so difficult. They had told me I had 'flatter' nipples or that my child had a high palate. But in reality, today's practitioners aren't as well versed in this area of dentistry/medicine. In this safe crunchy granola mom world, we mostly all know about this. But outside of us, it's the first time people are hearing about it when I mention it. That's not right! And if people say.. my child has a tongue tie but didn't need the revision because they fed fine.. that's wonderful, but keep an eye out for issues in the future that may lead back to that. (It's an easy fix.) Some identifying things that could pop up later would be speech issues, range of motion issues, etc. Some people even need the laser revisions multiple times! And how the heck would a first time mom having a relatively normal hospital birth know about this? They wouldn't. Just like they wouldn't know that they can refuse the Hep B if they're happily married and not sleeping around. Or that they could ask for more mama skin-time after the baby is more and not to take the child away for measurements, or even delayed cord clamping, .. etc. I hope more people find midwives, practitioners, doulas, therapists locally to help advocate for them. Because doing it on your own is EXHAUSTING.
Some of Erin's favorite items are Weleda Skinfood, Motherlove Baby Oil and Witch Hazel Spray.
Follow Erin on Facebook or Instagram!
Until next time,
Kali + Cait
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