Going into my third pregnancy, I had no doubt that I would breastfeed this baby too. Afterall, I breastfed my older two for a total 5 years, and over three years each. I shouldn’t have any issues with breastfeeding; I am leaking colostrum and a certified lactation counselor. The number of times a person can be wrong should be capped.
My waters broke spontaneously at 1PM that day. Contractions didn’t even start until closer to 2:30PM. I ate a full meal first and then moseyed my way to the birth center. Driving myself the 10 minutes despite everyone wanting to drive me instead. This was a much more relaxed transition than the first two labors. Baby came into the world at 8:07PM after just 7-8 minutes of pushing. I thought this was going to be sunshine and rainbows, home before midnight and to sleep in my own bed.
Baby had another idea of what to do. He decided that low oxygen levels was on the to-do list; you can see in the picture his 75% oxygen saturation level despite the added oxygen. I would hold him a little bit; his cord still attached to the placenta. He wasn’t crying, but his mean mug was definitely there and crazy. I remember being absolutely terrified and not sure of what was happening. Around 30 minutes after his delivery, the midwives decided they needed to call EMT services in order to transport us to the hospital. I was terrified, the transport plan was for him to go and me to just be there with him.

I stood up, and nearly fainted. I was losing a vast amount of blood. My world was spinning out of control, how could my perfect birth be going so wrong. It was at this time that we opted to have me transferred to the hospital as well.
Holding him for the whole ride (via ambulance), we arrived at the hospital without latching on at all. The golden hour, as they call it, is considered key for a successful breastfeeding relationship. As soon as we arrived at the hospital, he was taken straight to the NICU and we were separated. I immediately advised that I need an electric breast pump. Unfortunately, no milk was coming out at all. The trauma from hemorrhaging was causing a lack of fluids, combined with the stress of having my baby in the NICU. I wasn’t even able to hand express, even though I was leaking like crazy the week prior.
Finally they were able to stop the hemorrhage, but I couldn’t get out of bed until they removed the bakri balloon. That wasn’t able to happen right away either. Baby would have to stay in the NICU alone for the time being. Alex showed up at 3AM and was able to go check on him, but not hold him at that time. He received IV glucose in place of oral feedings in order to keep him at a steady sugar level.

22 hours after being born, my boy and I were reunited. He latched on the first try without much of a fuss. We were able to remove the IV glucose shortly after our first feeding and I was transported between the postpartum recovery room and NICU. He was nursing amazingly. He had all sorts of cords on him and we had to adjust our feeding techniques to that. Moving this way and that to make sure that his top lip could flange out despite the nasal cannula (oxygen tubes) being in the way. Then, on day three, he just stopped peeing as often as we expected him to. We would expect three pees and two poops at this time. I started to pump every hour to ensure that my milk was maturing correctly and on track for him. As an experienced mom, I was terrified that my supply would fail. As a CLC, I knew that increasing my supply was possible.

I started pumping out a combined 7mL at 5AM. By the time he was weighed, near noon, (200g lower than the day before), I was pumping 15mL per hour. I would nurse him for 10 minutes per breast, then bottle feed him the pumped milk every two hours. This triple feeding was exhausting, but my little guy really needed the milk. Thankfully, at the end of the next day I was able to begin storing an ounce every hour as he no longer needed the top up of the bottle after each nursing session. His diaper output increased as expected (they weigh the diapers in the NICU). I could hear him swallowing during each let down and the milk was officially matured and no longer the liquid gold of colostrum.
Finally, he started breathing much better, his oxygen statistics improving daily, and on day 9 of the NICU, he ripped off his tubes and decided it was time to be done with extra oxygen. The following day, we were cleared to go home, the day before his official due date. Once we were home he began sleeping better, and continued on our nursing journey as if his time in the NICU never even happened.