My Breastfeeding Journey

Today is the first day of World Breastfeeding Week, so I am going to try and post breastfeeding related articles throughout the week. I thought a good place to start would be my own breastfeeding story!

My daughter, Arabella, was born one November evening, and I was ecstatic to start breastfeeding her. There had never been any doubt in my mind that this was the path I would go down - formula feeding was never an option and in fact I was dead set against it. I can't tell you why I felt so strongly - I didn't know much about the benefits or risks either way - I just knew that I was going to breastfeed my baby.

We had trouble with latching in the hospital. It's true when they say that you can't really "practice" before the baby is born - it is a dynamic experience, with both mommy and baby learning and finding their way! So in those first couple days I was calling the nurses station every time she would feed, and they would come in and help get her latched on. They were great! I remember talking to one nurse on the second or third day and feeling discouraged. She said something to me that I still remember. She told me, "Don't worry, in a few months, you'll be able to hang her upside down and she will latch on!" This brought me a chuckle and such relief. (And she was right.)

My milk came in on the fourth day, and oh boy, did it come in. I had a new meaning for the word "cantaloupe". (haha!) By then latching was getting better and everything was great!

At three months, I had to go back to work. I was devastated and distraught at the thought of not being with my baby girl all day every day, but it was just something that had to be done. I started pumping and trying to give her bottles a couple weeks before hand so she would get used to it. When I did go back to work, I pumped 3 to 4 times per day. I was so blessed to work for a company who understood my needs as a breastfeeding mother, and they never gave me a hard time for being "gone" a few times a day and finding breastmilk in the company freezer, although we did joke about it a lot!

There were a few scares when she would drink 20 oz in one day and I would freak thinking, how am I going to make enough for her?! But it always worked out.

By the time she was 1 year old, I stopped pumping during the day and would breastfeed on demand whenever we were together. We had also been co-sleeping since birth, so that made nights easier and harder. Easier because she was right there and could just nurse when she wanted. (Oh and btw, the day I discovered the side lying position was the best day of my life!! lol) It was harder because she would want to nurse CONSTANTLY some nights. I felt like she was attached all night long. But I knew this was important because she was reconnecting with me after being away from me all day.

My baby girl LOVES to breastfeed. She calls them "tetas" and is just in love with them. To this day, mere months away from her 4th birthday, she continues to breastfeed occasionally. After 2 years I really started getting crap from people who would question why I was still breastfeeding and call it "gross" and "wrong" and "not normal". And I struggled with that for a while. But then I read hundreds of comments and stories by moms who assured me that it was normal and natural and perfectly healthy.

I am so so so blessed by my experience breastfeeding my daughter and so thankful for every moment I got to spend nourishing, comforting, and soothing her with my body. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences as a mother and I will cherish those memories forever.