Fangirl post: Dr. Jack Newman

Okay, so technically I guess a fangirl is an obsessed fan of an actor or character, not a breastfeeding doctor.  But I have to say that, while not obsessed with Dr. Newman in that particular way, I do love his breastfeeding information. 

It all began with my first baby, Hannah, the baby who introduced me to breastfeeding difficulties in a big way.  I developed a nipple crack, and spent three MONTHS trying to get it treated.  Nobody, but NOBODY knew what to do with me.  I would sweat when I even thought about nursing, it was so painful.  Of course, I couldn't wean, thank God, because Hannah wouldn't take anything that even thought about being a fake nipple -- I managed to get her to take a nipple shield a couple times, but that's as close as we could get to it.  So I spent three months sweating, crying, and trying to figure out how to deal with a cracked nipple.

Then a friend of my sister's pointed me to Dr. Jack Newman's recommendation for All-Purpose Nipple Ointment.  I could not convince my OB or my usual PCP to prescribe it for me -- "You don't need that.  Have you tried tea bags?"  Dude, I have an open wound on my nipple.  We're WAY beyond tea bags here.  I took a recommendation from another friend about a family practitioner in our area who saw me (and commented that it was the worst nipple crack she'd ever seen -- sometimes I really don't want to be the one who inspires superlatives) and heard my history and decided it was worth a try.  (Needless to say, I switched over to her, and she's been our family doctor for nearly 10 years now.)

People.  I am glad that I didn't meet Dr. Newman right then, because I would have embarrassed everyone in the room with my protestations of love and never-ending devotion and lifetime supply of homemade cookies in gratitude for his unwitting help.  In less than a week -- less than a week!!!! -- that crack healed, never to return again.  Although I do still have a scar. 

So, he won my undying devotion at the beginning.  Since then, I've explored a bunch of his materials, and I can't say enough about the great stuff he's got going on.  He posts videos of babies nursing correctly and improperly so that we can look and compare and see the difference.  He says things that make sense, like, "The whole notion of feeding a baby by the clock makes no sense at all." 

Recently, I read again his recommendations on blocked ducts in a book of his that I have.  He said that some people recommended evening primrose oil for recurrent plugged ducts.  He mentioned that he has only anecdotal evidence that it worked with some people, and he doesn't know why it works.  But he took the time and energy to mention it despite that.  I love that, because we all know that every body is different, and why not mention it so people can try it? 

So...if you're looking for breastfeeding information, try Dr. Jack Newman's books or website.  I heart Dr. Jack Newman.  :)

In Which I Encourage Moms to Get Help When They Need It

My first daughter was born to parents who had it all figured out – we’d read the books about parenting styles, natural childbirth, breastfeeding, Baby Sign, the list goes on and on. She took very little time to whip us into shape and teach us that we knew absolutely NOTHING about parenting, including, but not limited to parenting styles, natural childbirth, breastfeeding, etc. Baby Sign didn’t matter, because she wasn’t going to sign to us at age 3 days, no matter how much desperation drove us to pray that she would. IF SHE WOULD JUST TELL US WHAT SHE NEEDED! Hannah, the high-needs baby, wanted to nurse. She did NOT want to have a bottle. Ever. Ever. Ever. She wanted to nurse. We began pretty well in the hospital, but began hitting bumps when we got home. I couldn’t figure out how to latch her on really well, because that thing that I’d heard about how it wouldn’t hurt if they were latched on correctly turned out to be not as true as I’d hoped. And engorgement threw me for a loop – I had NO IDEA. I hit a fairly large bump about three days in. I, in my sleep-deprived, middle-of-the-night stupor, let her latch on improperly. I developed a crack in my nipple. It didn’t heal for over three months. Those three months contained pain for me every time my baby nursed. Every single time. Finally, I got the help I needed. And I realized that there had been warning signs in those first few days of small bumps in our breastfeeding road. Had I recognized that I didn’t have a clue and needed some serious help, my breastfeeding journey might  have been really different. Because of my determination to soldier on and not ask for help, I ended up having about 9 months of major breastfeeding problems. Hannah helpfully encouraged me to continue breastfeeding by not ever taking a bottle with any degree of success at all (until, at 6 months old, she figured that I wouldn’t switch over to pumping full-time if she occasionally took a bottle), but I know in my heart that, had she been willing to take a bottle, I would probably have given up the breastfeeding struggle. I often feel guilty about the friends who saw me during those days, because I’m convinced that I made breastfeeding a far more frightening experience than it needed to be for them. It turns out that most people don’t experience 9 or more months of major complications when they’re breastfeeding, starting with a crack at 3 days and mastitis at one week. When I feel tempted to wallow in guilt about all of that, though, I realize that perhaps I set them up for success by reinforcing the idea that they should get help as soon as possible with any breastfeeding problem. So maybe my pain has helped someone. And I hope it helps others, too. Get the help you need – early and often, if necessary. La Leche League is a fantastic resource. There are lactation consultants and all kinds of medical professionals who help women with breastfeeding. Dr. Jack Newman has a fantastic website with all kinds of helpful information.  Feel free to call out other helpful sites that you like, too.  Books abound! The trick is, nobody is going to come and demand to help you – they won’t know! You have to be proactive in this.  Please, for your own sake and the sake of your baby, ask for help! 

How it all began

I first learned that I had overabundant milk supply and overactive letdown when I was trying to nurse my first baby.  Boy, can first babies be humbling!  I learned a lot from Hannah -- and a lot of it was how little I actually knew. 

Breastfeeding classes encouraged me to nurse my baby fully on both sides -- 15 minutes, 10 at the very least.  Have her empty both sides. 

Hannah would nurse for 3 minutes or so and be done.  I'd encourage her to get back on, and she would scream and tense and scream some more.  I felt terrible, as if my baby was going to die of malnutrition because she wasn't getting enough milk. Never mind that she was back up at birthweight by her 3 day checkup and never looked back.  I'd been told how much she needed to nurse to get enough. Seeing the scale go up didn't get through to me.  I attribute this to lack of sleep and abundance of hormones, besides being entrusted with a new baby.

See the Lansinoh in the background? 

I would spend the first minutes of our nursing time praying that she'd fall asleep before letdown, because if she did, she'd nurse fully and well.  If she didn't, she'd pop off and scream.  I'd latch her on and anxiously wait to see her eyelashes slowly lowering...darn, letdown came too fast. 

By three months old, besides all of the other breastfeeding problems we endured, Hannah had enough.  She refused to nurse.  She wouldn't take a bottle.  She was unconcerned about the idea of malnutrition, she just didn't want to deal with the huge quantities of milk shot at her whenever she ate.  So began our 6 months of getting her to sleep and then nursing her.  Humbling doesn't begin to describe this experience.

I can't remember exactly when I learned about overabundant milk supply and overactive letdown, but I do remember the sense of relief -- I finally knew what was happening.  Of course, I could find almost no information about it anywhere -- my health care professionals didn't know much, nor did anyone else I approached.  There was lots of information about too little milk, but not a lot about too much.  It was a lonely, lonely time.

I have scratched the surface of our nursing problems in those early days. I'll talk about mastitis, plugged ducts, enormous cracks in the nipple, and thrush in other posts. Looking back, I think how miraculous it is that I didn't give up.  I'd like to share some of my hard-won knowledge about this with others so that we don't all have to reinvent the wheel, and so that others know that they're not alone with this difficulty. 

Why "more like a firehose than a faucet"?



When I had my first baby, I was clueless about a lot of things.  (I'm still clueless about a lot of things, but I've gotten a few clues about some things along the way.)  Breastfeeding -- that mysterious, wonderful, rewarding, beautiful, frustrating, hair-raising, tiring, glorious, painful experience -- was one of them.  And I happen to be a person who has overabundant milk supply, as well as overactive letdown.  Okay, I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I have read the descriptions and nursed 4 babies, and I have an idea about this now. 

I tried to explain the difficulties my baby and I experienced day and night for ages to a man who was not familiar with breastfeeding -- at least, he knew about breastfeeding, but he didn't know about breastfeeding.

**As an aside, why try to explain my breastfeeding difficulties to someone -- a male acquaintance, no less -- who didn't know anything about breastfeeding?  The answer to this question remains lost in the haze that (perhaps blessedly) surrounds postpartum times and tough breastfeeding times.**



As I described (hopefully in not too much detail, but I don't remember what I said to him -- again, this might be a blessing) the ordeals we faced at each feeding, he had a lightbulb moment, "Oh!" he said, looking pleased, "so it's more like a firehose than a faucet!" 

I owe a debt of gratitude to him for explaining in a short sentence what the heck what was going on.  Too bad I can't remember who it was so that I can thank him.