Baby Chai, boobies, et al

As of a few days ago, I've been breastfeeding Chai for about 3x as long as I did with Erin and Orren. It amazes me that we've actually made it this far, and that it's actually going pretty well. There really isn't any pain anymore, even though he still nurses very aggressively (which is ok. It's just how he is.) Supply is still an issue, but we're working on that. I also am hanging onto weight a lot more than I did with the other two. It's just because I have to eat a lot in order to produce milk for Chai, and honestly, I'm just really hungry and I've never been one to not eat when I'm hungry. I've never dieted before, so I wouldn't even know where to begin, but it wouldn't be wise to do that right now anyhow since it can hurt milk supply. I'm not eating junk food or anything like that. It's just normal, cooked from scratch, homemade food, and I pretty much only drink water, except when I drink sweet tea a couple times a day because it's pretty much the only thing keeping me functional on so little sleep. So the weight I'm hanging onto is probably just a reality for as long as I nurse Chai. It's ok. I don't mind. It would be cool to tone up a little, but being only 3 weeks postpartum, I haven't really been able to work out a lot yet. I just walk, which helps, but in a few more weeks, I'll be able to run and stuff like that again, and that'll help more.

I don't know how long I'll nurse Chai. I'm taking it one day at a time, but have no desire at this point to stop anytime soon. Ultimately, I'd love to make 6 months, maybe even a year. We have to make one month first, though, and we'll hit that milestone next week. How long we continue in the end will depend how well I can build up supply. Luckily, it's still early, so I have time to make modifications as necessary, and have them actually work. I see Alyson again next Monday, and I'll ask her what I should be doing, and maybe also go to the Baby Cafe sometime in the next few days to talk to a lactation consultant, too.

Chai really prefers to nurse. He hates formula and isn't big on bottles. It's to the point that he won't go to sleep unless he nurses first, so in the middle of the night, since we still have to supplement, we give him his formula first, then let him nurse after that. That's the only way he'll go back to sleep. He knows what he likes! I'll say that much for him! Sure, it means I get less sleep because Thak CAN'T do the night feedings, but honestly, I was doing pretty much all of it anyhow, so it's not that much of a difference, and it's worth it to give Chai the best and to see how much happier he is to nurse than to have just bottles. In fact, I nursed him through almost all of Thak's graduation ceremony because that was the only way he was happy. (I didn't get any dirty looks for it either!)

I do feel bad for giving him formula, because there is just so much published lately about how harmful it is to feed formula, but at least he's getting fed, and I just hope that the benefits of breastfeeding as much as we can will counteract any potential harm that may be done by the formula. The lactation consultant at WIC said that ANY breastfeeding you do is good, literally even the smallest amount beats nothing by a long shot. I believe that also, so we're going to keep it up as long as we can. I can't believe we're coming up on a month so soon. It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it.