When I was pregnant with Justin, I read everything I could get my hands on about breastfeeding. I was determined to have a successful nursing relationship with my second child, as I was uneducated about nursing and weaned my first son a little after two months. During my last trimester, my dad sent me an old laptop computer. I logged onto the Internet for the first time.
The information I found about pregnancy, labor and birth (my main focus at the time) prompted me to look for breastfeeding sources on the Web. I was amazed at what I found! By the time Justin was born, I felt very confident that I could nurse him successfully. More importantly, I knew I had somewhere to turn if I was confused or needed help with something.
Our first nursing session was wonderful. All the feelings I had when I nursed my first son came back to me instantly. Justin had a wonderful suck and seemed very interested in the whole process right away. The engorgement came and went by the third day, and I arranged to lounge in bed with my new son for the first week.
Justin gained by leaps and bounds for the first few weeks. By four months, he had doubled his birth weight plus two pounds. He was nursing constantly - about every two hours around the clock. I started bringing him to bed with us, which worked great for night-time feedings.
At Justin's six-month check-up, we were surprised at his weight. He had only gained four ounces in two months. My pediatrician told me to start feeding him solids. As we were concerned with his small weight gain, we tried to give him baby cereal that night. He hated it. He tried to suck it off the spoon, then just cried and wanted to nurse. We tried mixing it with breastmilk, giving it to him in different ways . . . everything. He just wasn't ready. I took him back to the pediatrician three weeks later because I was curious about his weight.
