A few hours after the delivery, she was brought to my room and we tried breastfeeding. She was able to latch successfully for the first time. She sucked and she sucked real hard. Unfortunately, there was no milk coming out of my breasts. Not even colostrum. This was the second reason why we couldn't have her roomed-in with us. The hospital didn't allow formula feeding on the patient's rooms. The nurse told us that it was okay and we'll just have to keep on trying. Four to five times a day, our baby was brought to us, she'll just sleep beside me and when she wakes up, we try breastfeeding. Then, she was fed formula milk when she's brought to the NICU.We were sent home after a couple of days and during the first two days at home, there's still no milk so had to give her formula. On the third day, I sat for five straight hours with her just changing from one breast to the other, breastfeeding her. I take an hour or two for breaks, then I breastfeed her again when she cries. I had a feeling that she was still hungry but I held off giving her formula and just offered her my breasts with the hope that there will be a drop or more. Twenty four hours passed, no formula milk. Then forty eight hours passed, she was still satisfied.
My breasts were tender and my nipples were cracked and sore for the first couple of weeks. I tried pumping twice just to know for myself if there's milk coming out. I admit there was one point that I wanted to give up because I fear I might be able to give enough. But she didn't give up on me, she latched and sucked every time. That kept me trying.
Now on Euen's third week, my nipples still hurt a bit when she latches, my breasts sometimes get tender when supply is full. Euen feeds by the hour during the day and every 2-3 hours at night. I have adequate supply of milk for Euen. I'm very proud of my baby, of our achievement.
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