Update that's been cross-posted, just because you've all been so nice to help me:

11/29:

OMG!!! By golly, I think we have it down!!!!! I can hardly believe it!!!!!

My appt was at noon, so I fed her at about 8:30 AM and made her wait, since they wanted a hungry baby. The LC had the time wrong, and didn't get there until after 1 PM. She was super-duper apologetic, but Elise was starving, and I was near tears, as I didn't sleep but 2 hours last night.

HOWEVER, it was well worth the wait...and get this...it's been MY fault all along. I feel so guilty...my first new mom guilt trip. LOL

I wasn't supporting my breast properly, so she couldn't get her poor little chin/jaw under my nipple properly. That's why she was so fussy about latching on.

The LC helped me position my hand, and she latched on immediately. She swallows with nearly every suck, which explains her world-record efficiency. She also latched right onto the left side, which was a FIRST! She nursed for about 12 minutes total (both sides) and was done. The LC estimated that she got 3 oz in that time.

I feel soooooo great! The LC said that we should be good to go, as long as I remember how to support my breast and position my fingers. My milk lets down immediately, and Elise has a perfect latch and suck/swallow. And the best part? It really doesn't hurt when they are latched on properly...no more shooting fire out my nipples!

She ate again when we got home, and it went great. I'm knocking on wood, but I think we just turned the last major corner that we needed to turn!

Oh, and I have a bunch of frozen breast milk that I am going to donate to a milk bank. I'm going to pump until this rental is due so I can get as much as possible for them, since I have production out the wazooooo....

11/30:

The last 24 hours have been amazing. We've had no real issues with bfing, other than it sometimes takes us a few shots to get her latched right, but that's minor at this point.

A few great things about bfing from the last day:

-She's a more relaxed baby...probably partly because I'm more relaxed and partly because she is so much more relaxed when she bf vs. bottle feeds. She lays there with her eyes closed...it's so sweet.

-Last night was awesome. She got up twice to eat...I got her out of the bassinette, into bed with me, she ate, I changed her, and I was back asleep within 30 minutes. I got nearly 8 hours of sleep!!!!

-The two of us were just upstairs working, and she got fussy, even though she had eaten about an hour earlier. I sat down on the bed, fed her, she fell asleep, and I kept right on working. How easy was that!?!?!?!?!

All the struggles the past two weeks were so worth it now!!!!

Amy

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