Regarding breastfeeding

Everyone talks about the difficulty of getting baby to latch on. Or, lacking milk supply. No one ever talks about how difficult it is to maintain a breastfeeding schedule early on (the first two months), or how painful and rough nursing is on your boobs. I will be the first to admit that I wanted to give up many times. Baby's well being is the only reason I bit my lip, sucked it up, and kept going.

The first four days of Kirdan's life, he drank 15cc per meal (via SNS). I could pump about 15cc total from both sides as well. We got to 100% on direct breastfeeding about day 4, he nursed about 15~20 minutes on one side, then 5 minutes on the second side, every 3 hours, most of the time half asleep. That's about 8 feedings per day. I could produce about 0.5oz per side by about 2nd week. At 3 weeks, Kirdan changed the game and went to 2.5 hours interval and at least 10 minutes on each side. I produced about 1oz per side then. I also started bottle feeding once per day just so he can get used to bottle feeding after I get back to work. He would get 1.5oz bottle. At 4 weeks, Kirdan changed the game again by being unpredictable. Some meals he would nurse only one side but then wants more in 2 hours. Drove my mom and I crazy. I upped his night time bottle to 2oz. Now we are nearing 6 weeks, he is still being unpredictable with his feeding. I can produce more than 1.5oz per side now, with my left boob producing almost 3oz alone last night. Problem? My left boob is larger than my right :( His night time bottle is now 3oz.

The big issue with Kirdan is reflux. He requires burping. And he will usually spit up a mouthful or two of milk with the burp. It took reading What To Expect The First Year, to realize when he arches his back, it meant gas coming, better straighten him up before all the milk comes out of his nose and mouth all at once. Scary.

Usually Kirdan will start fussing for his meal. But, as soon as he got on the breast, he would fall asleep within 5 minutes. There is also the gas problem, which causes him pain and causes me pain (he would bite down and/or pull on my poor nipples very hard). Frustrating.