LPT: See 3 lactation consultants for a newborn in the first 2 days

Some prep during pregnancy and then being very proactive to glean what you can while in the hospital from lactation consultants will make for a way more enjoyable first few weeks. Once you figure it out, breastfeeding is waaaaay easier than formula.

Keeping your baby well-fed and the mother's breasts healthy is key to the baby's survival and the parents' sanity. Read the books (I liked 'Breastfeeding Made Simple' by Kendall-Tackett and Mohrbacher), read the evidence-based websites (I loved kellymom.com), collect the at-home question-line numbers (like La Leche League) and go to the class (hospitals offer them) when you (or your partner) are pregnant. It is the MOST important thing to learn deeply about while pregnant, more than the CPR and birthing classes, in my opinion. And yes get your partner involved. You both will be crossed-eyed and too tired to think at some point.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY get hands on help from several professionals in the first 2-3 days. Each lactation consultant gives a piece to the puzzle and some will miss something that another will see. One might finally be the consultant that catches the tongue tie, another will give the mother the best way to avoid shoulder and neck pain, another has a great technique for getting a good latch click, etc. The baby and mom will spend hours and hours and hours feeding that first month. Get professional help - even if its going well. The more you learn those first few days the easier it all will be. Make appointments several hours after you give birth. Most hospitals will have a few different lactation consultants with back to back shifts. Be pushy see at least two before you leave the hospital. Ideally schedule one to come to your house in the first 1-2 days when you get home. There are lactation consultants that work for themselves outside the hospitals and clinics. Leaving the house is SO hard in the first few days. Put some money aside, if you can, and have a lactation consultant come to you. Then see a lactation consultant several more times that first month - day 5, day 8, day 12, day 20, etc.

The first night after my baby was born, he wanted to nurse constantly. I didn't understand what I was doing wrong. He wanted to nurse for 5 hours straight. He was going to be a big baby even though he was an average-sized newborn. He wanted to cluster feed, as I came to learn it was called. Labor and delivery nurses know a lot about breastfeeding but not everything. They gave me some advice like waiting an hour after a start time to start feeding again but it didn't seem right. He wasn't settling. He wasn't in the world 24 hours yet and I was already confused. And the lactation consultants don't work in the evening. I ended up with bleeding nipples within 24 hrs and every single feeding hurt. It took time with three different lactation consultants for me to start to understand. I figured out how to stop the pain, how to heal while breastfeeding 12+ times a day, how to think about what happened and how to make sure he got enough milk while I stayed comfortable. But I had to get one-on-one professional help even after preparing so much. Ask most mothers. That first week with their first baby is a steep learning curve. But less steep with several professionals to help - seriously not just one.

Good luck! The work is worth it.