First Foods

This past week another "first" milestone occurred, one that is bitter-sweet for me: Silas ate his first bite of solid food. Until last Sunday evening, Silas was exclusively breastfeed since birth. While this is exciting to see him do something new and experience more of these firsts, it is also the beginning of the end of a very long, difficult, often frustrating journey of nursing which has since transformed into my favorite moments of my days.

While I was still in the hospital I thought that nursing was going well, but the first afternoon we returned home Silas wasn't latching on. We returned back to the hospital for a weight check and to test to see if his biliruben levels had gone down. They hadn't and he had lost almost a full pound down from his birth weight. He was admitted to Children's Mercy hospital to be placed under the photo therapy lights to bring his biliruben levels down ( he had an extremely high reading, and his jaundice was causing his skin to look very reddish/orange.)

He also was hooked up to an IV to help replenish his fluids, watching a three day old get hooked up to an IV is not a fun thing to watch. I was devastated. Since he wasn't feeding regularly, the nurses wanted to start him on formula supplement, again that was a crushing blow to me. I had planned to nurse him. I thought that nursing would be easy and natural, but it wasn't. Instead of offering formula, the hospital let me pump and give him milk in a bottle. I wasn't planning on pumping or giving him a bottle for a while. He started eating through the bottle, gaining weight and his biliruben levels started to lower. He was able to come home the next day.

The next few weeks were an exhaustive period of pumping, bottle feedings and trying to get him to latch on. I worked with a lactation consultant through the hospital where he was born. She was a great help, resource and advocate for me. I probably would not have continued if it wasn't for her.

After many tears of frustration, a month later we were happily nursing. There have been several bumpy spots along the way, including three different nursing strikes. Both Brett and I joke about how Silas is a very strong willed little boy! Looking back now, I am grateful for the challenge that we went through. I feel like an expert on nursing due to all the resources and research I read. Pumping also allowed Brett to be involved in the feedings. Many times he would take Silas in the middle of the night and give him a bottle so I could sleep. Cuddling with Silas after nursing is now my absolute favorite thing.

So now he almost 6 months and eating his first taste of solid foods. He enjoys eating his rice cereal and is evening opening his mouth when I bring the spoon near his mouth!

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