CAI JING’s gallery

It’s a normal physiological response to lactation hormones. Breastfeeding feels good! If it didn’t, very few mothers would do it. It might help to understand just what hormonal responses are taking place.

As your baby nurses, prolactin — known as the “mothering hormone” — stimulates the body to manufacture milk. This hormone gives you a feeling of relaxation and well-being. Oxytocin, another hormone secreted during breastfeeding, causes the alveoli to contract, releasing milk into the ducts, the milk sinuses, and your baby’s mouth. This hormone is responsible for the tingling sensation some mothers feel before a milk ejection reflex, or letdown, and the postpartum uterine cramping felt while breastfeeding.

Oxytocin also causes labor contractions during childbirth and pleasure contractions during orgasm. Varying amounts of oxytocin are attributed to these different contractions. The arousal you describe while nursing may also be the result of the empowerment and satisfaction you feel knowing that you are meeting all of your daughter’s nutritional and emotional needs at the breast.

Hiccups - are sudden contractions of the diaphragm caused by irritation or stimulation of that muscle.

Fontanels - Most babies have two of them, one on the top of the head and one a little further back. The rear fontanel usually closes within four months, while the front one does not close until the child is at least a year old. Don’t be afraid to touch these spots gently; they’re covered with a tough membrane to protect the delicate contents underneath.

Open-eyed sleeping - called nocturnal lagophthalmos in medical-speak. Sleeping with the eyes open happens during REM, which is a more active sleep cycle. Babies spend much more time in REM sleep than adults, about 50 percent of their total sleep time.

Temperature readings are different from different parts of the body (rectum, ear, mouth). Your child has a fever if her temperature is above:
• Rectal 100.4° F (38.0° C)
• Oral 99.5° F (37.5° C)
• Axillary (armpit) 98.6° F (37.0° C)
• Tympanic (ear) 100.0° F (37.8° C)