Ok, mamas, I'm overwhelmed and I need help.
Thinking about trying to nurse the new baby. He looks no more than 6 months in his picture, so I'd like to give him the good stuff, for both health and bonding reasons. Know anyone who's done this before? Any advice?
He's a peanut, so I'm going to bust out the sling I used with Taly. I'm also thinking of using a wrap carrier - I know you have advice. Please tell me - I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but I definitely want something that will promote bonding, will grow with him, and won't take up room in my suitcase.
I have officially resigned myself to the fact that I have a large kitchen table, surrounded by booster seats and step stools.... my minivan will get the addition of ANOTHER car seat.... I'm not sure when I'll be leaving the house again...
I'm craigslisting for bunk beds and a crib.
I hung his stocking up next to Sy and Taly's, and will soon dig out Sy's baby clothes and try to guess how big my boy is.
What else do I need to do?
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I am sooooooooo excited for you about your newest little guy!!!
I have a friend who did adoptive breasfeeding - she got her son when he was 9 months old and nursed him for a few years. I can put you in touch with her if you'd like. You'd need to start now with pumping to build up your supply - she's actually preparing for their newest baby and in the midst of that so she'd have lots of advice.
I'd recommend an Ergo personally - that way you can carry him on your front or back but it will be a lot more comfortable long-term. Geneva lives in hers, takes a nap in it each day, and it's super comfortable and both you and Ben could wear it easily.
If you want to use a woven wrap I have one I could send you, but honestly an ergo or buckle carrier is so much easier.
For bunk beds, we've been thrilled with our IKEA wood ones (and for cribs, the IKEA crib we have is great and we got it on Craigslist for $35 or something like that).
Anyway, message me on FB if you need/want any of the above stuff. Also if you need carseat advice on what would last you longest with the newest one (off the top of my head I'd say a First Years TruFit or Evenflo Triumph Advance or Britax Roundabout 50 - those are all under $180 and would last until he's old enough for a booster, and would work both rear-facing and forward facing.
You've got it covered! Nursing, food, sleep, wrap, clothes. Maybe a special lovey for him to hold and attach to?
And here's an ambitious thought...In all your "free" time, you could consider doing is his baby book. Lay it out ahead of time, just like Simon's and Talia's, so when he's here and you're snapping pics like crazy, you'll be able to just drop them in and won't have to worry about being creative while nursing him and chasing after the other two!
I found your blog through some other families adopting from Rwanda, my husband & I have adopted twice domestically and want to go through AWAA to Rwanda next:) Anyway, I did try to nurse my adopted babies. You can ask for a prescription of Reglan (used for nausea) and a side effect of using a lot of it is lactation. I also used a Supplemental nurser (look on ebay) and then pumped a bunch prior to getting my babies(I had lactated only 9months prior with our bio daughter). The mother's milk tea and anice work great too! I have a friend who has adopted 9 babies and nursed them all:)I also loved the peanut shell for a sling, fabulous for bonding! We didn't let anyone hold our babies for like 8 weeks..anyway, even though we don't 'know ya'll' we are stoked for you & all the other families! If you have any questions you can email me! Have a great trip! laura blmunruh@yahoo.com
Hi there! we chatted a while ago, when we were adopting from Rwanda as well (or thinking about it anyway) but we switched back to Uganda and are also expecting a 6 month old baby (girl) and a 2.5 year old boy!! I'm also planning to re-lactate for the baby, and maybe the toddler too, if he'll go for it, so I wanted to direct you to the newman-goldfarb protocol for adoptive nursing, if you haven't heard of it already. I recently took yasmin birth control pills for 63 days (3 continuous cycles) and took domperidone for the last month of that. When I stopped the bcps, I kept taking the dom (you can take up to 120 mg/day safely, but here in New Zealand we can get it on prescription and my doc would only prescribe 80 mg/day, but it worked for me)... anyway, as soon as I stopped taking the yasmin, I immediately started pumping with a double electric pump as much as I could manage. That turned out to only be about 2-4 times/day, but I very quickly was producing enough milk that I needed to get up once in the night to pump, and needing to pump every 2 or 3 hours to relieve engorgement. This isn't typical, it usually takes a while to build up that much milk, so I was pretty unprepared -- had to go out and get a bigger bra, and I was really uncomfortable without a baby to nurse -- the pump wasn't really draining my breasts effectively, so I was constantly engorged. I was also taking an herbal tincture for milk production, drinking weleda breastfeeding tea, and eating oatmeal as much as possible.
ANYWAY... because Uganda wasn't looking like it was going to happen for us, and we were switching to Rwanda, which was going to be at least 6 months away for us, I stopped my milk production. I'm hoping to have those same results again, and I'm going to take the yasmin bcps and arrange it so that I stop taking them when I've had baby for a few weeks and she might be ready to start nursing. I'll use a lact-aid supplemental nursing system, and we'll just see how it goes!! I didn't want to be pumping a ton while trying to bond and adjust to two new little ones, so I'll wait to pump until we're home.
also, the sleepy wrap, http://www.sleepywrap.com/ is a wonderfully cozy, inexpensive wrap -- I agree that having an ergo or other structured carrier is good, but wraps are so nice when they're tiny... so cozy!!
really happy for you!!
all the best,
tiffani
This is cool - I've been wanting to nurse our baby too when we get her. I've been looking into it some, and talking to people, and basically it seems like most people use the supplemental nurser bottle thing that hangs around your neck. Hope it works out for you - and for me when it's my turn! If you learn anything along the way, I'd love it if you pass along your tips. :)
You rock, Susie. Your enthusiasm, love and excitement is contagious!!
Kudos for trying bfeeding ... and I have a pattern for a wrap/sling if you need me to point you there (if you sew or know someone who does) but sounds like Rachael has it covered for you.
Blasted smilin' ear to ear for this little itsy bitsy who gets you for his mamma!!
You've got some great advice on here. Here are some local ideas: Emma Davis, Lactation Consultant at Kettering Hospital is the best I've found. Her number is (937) 298-3399 ext. 57584. She can't write prescriptions though. FYI - she shares the office and phone line with two other consultants rotating days.
You can rent a hospital grade pump (Medela Symphony) for $2.50 a day from the pharmacy at the hospital. You can have my tubing for it - we can easily sterilize it.
I have a Moby wrap which is nice for around the house, in&out of the car multiple times, and keeping people from touching the baby. You are welcome to try it out if you want to. I have found varying the carriers helps my back.
You can also have my fenugreek. Once you get lactating - there is no better booster. Emma can give you a plan - but mine was 3 capsules/3times a day for 5 days.
Well, thank you everyone! So much boobage on this post - my brothers and dad are totally freaking out and swearing off my blog I'm sure.
I really appreciate the help and will probably explore this more!
I am a nurse midwife and I really wanted to nurse Zeke, but he was at least 14 months and I couldn't even get him to let me snuggle, let alone nurse. Besides starting to pump right away, there are some meds that you can take to help promote an adequate supply. Email if you need help, Karamidwife@yahoo.com
Susie,
I'm a friend of Sarah Kuhlman's and have been following your journey. Congratulations on the referral!
We used an Ergo when we brought our daughter home from Taiwan (she was 6.5 months old at the time). I love it... it was the best money we spent on baby supplies. She loved it, as well... really helped with bonding, and it allowed me to take her with me anywhere and still have my hands free (instituting the blissfully fun game of "baby looks up and mommy kisses her forehead" that we played for hours in Kroger and Kohl's and anywhere else we bundled her up and took her to).
Best of luck!
Heather
So, my friend Libby who lives in India, gave me your site and said maybe I could come over and say hi since I adopted from Africa and also breastfed our little Selah. Tiffani gave similar advice to what I would have said--I used the Jack Newman accelerated protocol found on asklenore.com. While I didn't have the success that she had, I was able to lactate and had app. 30 bags of milk stored up for when our little peanut came home from Ethiopia about 4 months later (I actually can't quite remember when I went off the birth control and started pumping..I THINK it was around 4 months). Now, I bought a supplemental feeder (medela) on ebay which was essential to my success. I can tell you more about that--or you can google it--if you want. Selah was 6 1/2 months when she came home and she screamed like I was hurting her the first couple of times I tried to introduce the breast. It was so bad, I thought, "This was supposed to promote bonding, not hinder it. Maybe I should give up!" But, after less than 6 times, she wasn't even crying anymore and totally got it. I did both nursing and bottles until she was about 13 months old and am so glad I did. It's definitely a commitment, but our little girl (now almost 16 months) is SO bonded that I can't help but wonder if nursing helped in that process.
On a different note, I really loved reading a few of your posts (Indian Thanksgiving was fabulous!) If you're actually in Ohio like your profile would suggest, I'm actually your neighbor over in Indiana. Feel free to come say hi or ask questions! Oh! One more connection: I knew Jen and Jonathan Lembright (and Jonathan's dad) at Taylor--we graduated together! Small world, huh? Blessings, Danielle
sorry to hijack your blog comment section, but I have to ask Danielle a follow-up question, if she's still around! :)
did you use the lact-aid/SNS right away or get baby used to breast first? did you use any tactics like putting the bottle nipple over your breast or anything like that, or just go for it? I think adopted babies often have VERY strong initial reactions to the breast and usually refuse for a while, but will often come around if you're gently persistent. it's wonderful to hear a success story!!
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