Kaden 6 weeks old
Two weeks after giving birth to Kaden I started to have problems breastfeeding. One problem led to another and another. Because of an injured breast and an upper respiratory infection I was forced to stop breastfeeding. It was a very difficult time for our family. I felt very sad about not being able to nurse Kaden. I apologize to all of our friends and family who called to check on us over the past few weeks only to get my voice mail. I have been terrible about returning phone calls and emails. Our feeding schedule was very time consuming for several weeks. Rourke was finger feeding Kaden and I was pumping. Sometimes we only had 45 minutes between feedings.
We worked with a wonderful lactation consultant, Joy. She helped me get through bouts of plugged ducts and a mastitis scare. She even watched Kaden several times so Rourke and I could sleep. Around week four we tried to reintroduce Kaden to breastfeeding. Our attempts were unsuccessful. Joy offered her help a few more times and finally encouraged me to follow my intuition. She told me to do the best thing for my family and for myself. I was so sick of not spending time with Kaden. There were so many tearful moments of wanting to give up. I grieved for this missed opportunity to bond with my son.
Amazingly, Kaden started to latch. His nursing sessions lasted longer and longer. Sometimes I felt like he would look up at me with this confused expression. I will never forget those little eyes looking up at mine asking for guidance. He wouldn't give up - so I stuck it out with him.
I am overjoyed to report that we are exclusively breastfeeding!
During those rough weeks when I didn't have enough milk for Kaden, Rourke began to look for an alternative to formula. Our lactation consultant recommended goat milk - preferably raw goat milk if we could find it. Luckily, Rourke found a goat farm about an hour away. They happily offered us their raw goat milk to feed to Kaden. We were relieved to have this milk full of live enzymes and good fats as a supplement to my breast milk. Kaden responded perfectly to the milk. He continued to thrive and gain weight. Yesterday we visited Deb and Phil at their farm and thanked them for all of their help during a such a rough period in our lives. Kaden had his picture taken with Appledore, the goat that shared her milk with him.
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| Appledore and Kaden. |
Thank you Appledore, Deb and Phil for all of your hugs and jars of milk.
We will never forget what you've done for us.
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| Rourke, Lauren, Phil, Deb and Kaden |
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| Kaden and Rourke with new kids at the Second Bloom Farm. |
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| Kaden and Appledore meet! |
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Kaden really liked the contrast in Appledore's coat.
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| I think they like each other :) |
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| Rourke, Lauren, Deb, Appledore and Kaden |
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| Kaden weighs 9 pounds and 7 ounces. |
