Feeding

"Breastfeeding is a skill which must be learned" is something that we'd heard from classes, midwives and books. At it is a skill that Genevieve and I are still learning every day.

As she is still very new, she hasn't established a routine or habits yet, so each feed is different.

One of the big things is that she does have a tendancy to fall asleep during her feed, which means that we need to work at ways of keeping her awake long enough to feed from both sides. One technique that seems to work with a high degree of success is the half-time nappy change, before swapping sides. While he is still off work, Cory has been in charge of all things South of the Border. I take care of the input and Cory takes care of the output. Only fair really...

Back in hospital, they had us vigilantly keeping track of when feeds were, for how long and of course, which side she was feeding from. This, I carried on, once home, in my work diary. However, middle-of-the-night feeds tended to go unwritten and so consequently come morning I'd have no idea. So now I just try to remember each time. I do feed from both sides each time, so I try to mix it up which side goes first a couple of times each day.

She also has a tendancy to 'play with her food'. She can spend up to 15 minutes each feed mucking around. She's cute when she's gently holding on, but not when grasping or scratching. If she hooks a little fingernail in, it can be extremely painful.

It still feels a bit wierd at the moment, but we're working on it and getting there.