Breastfeeding Basics

I checked online to see when there was a class about breastfeeding available. I have seen people do it. I have heard of the positive impact it can have on a mother/child bond. I have heard that it can help a child build more of an immune system. BUT, do I really know much more than that? Not really. So I signed up for one. 

On Tuesday night (6/12), I headed off to a breastfeeding class. When I walked in, I saw a couple from our birthing class. That's right, a COUPLE. Man and wife. I start talking to them and the instructor asking if Preston should have come with me. The guy tells me his brother highly recommended it to him so that is why he was there. The instructor tells me that lots of guys really take a lot of good information away from the class and tend to remember more since the mom is drained from the whole delivery aspect. All the while they are saying this, I am sending Preston a text that says, "You were supposed to come." The instructor also says that she has guys show up after the second portion because they were called to come by their wife. I didn't get a response so when the conversation dwindles I call him. I explain what the people told me to him and tell him it is a test... to see how fast he can get to the hospital! 30 minutes later he shows up {it's a good thing Kinley wasn't on her way out :) }.

I will say that he only missed 1 section out of 6 so he didn't do too bad considering he hadn't planned on coming. He had big plans with Tobie... hanging out with her and going for a walk.

The class went like this:

Introductions, video 1-how breastfeeding works, discussion, video 2-latching on and positioning, discussion, video 3-when to feed your baby, discussion, video 4- how much is enough?, discussion, video 5- breast care, discussion, video 6- breastfeeding lifecycle, discussion, and we're done!

This instructor was more personable than the previous birthing class one. Her jokes were actually funny and she was filled with lots of useful knowledge.

After video 2, we had a break and that is when I saw that our instructor had gotten out babies. These babies were for practicing the feeding positions we had just learned. Luckily, I grabbed a girl baby. I kind of thought the others were teasing when they opened the diapers to check but apparently they anatomically correct. Some even had little hospital bracelets with names on them. Ours did not. At his point, our instructor told us that she would not be taking off her clothes to demonstrate so we didn’t have to take ours off either. Good to know.

As I pick up the baby, Preston says “you better get good positions because I’m going to take your picture just like you did mine with the empathy belly.” Even though this baby was not real, he still didn’t hold it. I mean, I sat it on his lap but he didn’t really hold it. Kinley is in for it when she gets here. She will have her work cut out to make him feel comfortable holding a baby. ;)

One thing that I learned was that on Day 1, a baby’s tummy can only hold a marble’s worth of milk. Day 3 is as much as a bouncy ball and Day 5 it can hold a golf ball size of milk. Holy cow! That isn’t very much for all the diapers that will be changed. We were told (and can read in the booklet they gave us) that she will go from 1-2 wet and 1-2 dirty diapers on days 1 and 2 up to 6-8 wet and 3-6 dirty diapers on days 5-6weeks. Good thing we started collecting those bad boys early!

During one of the discussion times, the instructor said, “Have you ever seen a kitty cat nurse?” referring to how they paw on their momma cat. Hubby looks at me and says, “What the hell is a kitty-cat-nurse (said as a total run-on of words)??” I laughed and said, “She was asking if you had ever seen a kitty nurse. Not a kitty-cat-nurse.” “Ohhhhh.”

Another thing that was funny was when she was telling us times that some babies won’t want to eat, in particular little boys after they “have had their pencil sharpened.” HA! I’ve never heard anyone refer to circumcision as having their pencil sharpened.

Now we know a little bit more to help us be prepared. Does that mean we are 100% ready? I hope so! She will be coming before we know it!