Breastfeeding my baby!

This has been a fun ride so far! Rex was able to breastfeed really well right after delivery. He latched on well and sucked for several minutes! Then he slept. and slept, and slept and slept! After that he had some trouble latching on well. He really did a number on my nipples. He had developed some kind of bad habit while sucking on his hands and fingers in the womb that he was carrying over to my breast on the outside. It took him quite a while to really get the hang of it, but before we got out of the hospital he had stopped whatever it was he had been doing.

Now, my nipples are almost completely healed and once he's latched on he's a GREAT eater. The only trouble now is that he is having some issues with getting frustrated really quickly when he's hungry and not being able to latch on because he's wiggling around so much and crying. It's almost as if I have to wake him up just before he wakes himself up and start feeding him to avoid him getting hysterical.

He is going a little long between feeding at times. Getting upwards of 4-5 hours between, but when he is asleep there is almost nothing you can do to wake him up. And the things you can do to wake him up make him so angry that he won't latch on, then as soon as he calms down a bit, he's sound asleep again! He's getting better at eating more frequently now that my milk has come in, but I'm still keeping my eye on the clock between feedings and getting worried when he's been sleeping for a while!

He is taking a pacifier because my nipples couldn't handle the sucking just for comfort in the beginning. Also, when he just wants to suck for comfort and I try to put him to the breast, he gets angry when milk starts coming out! It hasn't been affecting how he latches on, so I don't have any concerns about starting him on it so early. If he hadn't torn up my nipples so badly in the beginning I may have waited several weeks to ensure that Rex didn't have any trouble, but things are turning out okay so far!

In the next couple of weeks I will start to pump my breastmilk to encourage a healthy supply and to have a small store of milk for Andy to feed Rex at night and let me sleep sometimes!