Whew

I wish that doctors and professionals wouldn't tell new Moms that breastfed babies eat every two hours. It is a bold-faced lie--at least for the first few weeks. Yes, there are times that James goes 2, 3, 4 (one glorious night, even 6 hours) between feedings. But much more often, it is one hour, or a half hour.

And there are things called growth spurts--and again, I'm glad for all my research on breastfeeding that makes me know that these things are totally normal, because otherwise I would be doubting everything about breastfeeding . . .

There is supposedly a growth spurt around one week--and yesterday, at exactly one week, James started to eat NONSTOP. Like, here were the times he ate in the evening:

5:05-5:30--left boob
6:05-6:35--right boob
6:50-6:55--left boob
7:40-7:45--left boob
7:50-8:20--left boob
8:30-8:50--right boob
8:55-9:05--right boob
9:15-9:25--left boob
10:45-11:10--left boob

Then he FINALLY went to sleep for three hours, before waking up again and wanting to eat from both sides between 2:30 and 4, and then he went back to sleep for two more hours and then was up from 6:30-10:30 and ate 4 times for a half hour each.

WOAH. My nipples are FREAKING sore and my boobs are like two deflated balloons. THIS IS NOT EVERY TWO HOURS. That is why it is a lie and they should just tell new parents to expect their baby to eat every hour on the hour for at least two weeks.

Because I have done my own research I know that these frequent feeding times have the specific function of bringing up your milk supply. After one week, the baby's stomach is getting bigger and able to hold more milk at a time. So he eats non-stop so that your breasts understand that his stomach has grown, and they can start making more milk for him.

Breastfeeding is an absolute perfect system (though unfortunately it can be very difficult for some Moms/Babies), but so much of it working, I think, is trusting in that system. I could be panicking right now and think my milk isn't there and that my baby is starving. But my milk IS there and my baby ISN'T starving. He is doing exactly what he needs to in order to have as much milk as he needs in the future, so I'm glad of that.

I'm also glad that he finally settled down for a longer nap and I can have a break, because my mind started bending around 3:45 this morning.