Suck

This morning was our baby care and breastfeeding class. After four hours of listening to a woman talk about breastfeeding techniques, I'm pretty sure I could do it too. It's all in the latch, it turns out.

A lactating breast is a lot like a toilet. When you flush a toilet, the tank fills back up until the big rubber ball floats high enough to stop the flow. Likewise, after you breastfeed a child, flushing out your milk so to speak, the milk glands fill back up, and then they automatically stop when they're full. They don't explode like a bladder might. This was comforting. But breasts are also like dairy cows in that they become uncomfortable if they're not milked.

But the lactating breast also operates on supply and demand. The more the baby drinks, the more the mom will produce. And if she doesn't use both breasts, then she can kiss symmetry goodbye.

But! You shouldn't switch the baby to the other breast until the baby finishes with the first one. The reason is that the first milk of the feeding is thinner in order to quench thirst and whatnot. Gradually it becomes thicker and fattier. If you force the switch too soon, the baby misses out on nutrients. It's an exercise in balance, I suppose, for if the baby's like "Okay, Mom, enough" before she's drained both, then you have to start on the fuller one next time. Marking the used breast with a Sharpie was not brought up in class, but I think it would be an excellent way to keep track.

We learned a bunch of other stuff too, like how to swaddle the baby and how to check an overly absorbent diaper for wetness. The instructor did not tell us how to do it without gagging. All in all, we are more ready to take care of a baby. That doesn't mean we're ready, but we're getting closer.