breastfeeding is a hot topic. You are hard pressed to find anyone without an opinion one way or the other. ...
some say ... you should definitely do it but this is how long you should do it for. and if beyond this age, you are an official freak show. or people tell you don't do it, your boobs are for your husband. or or or. you get it, people have opinions! whether or not you should voice those to an expecting or new mom .... well, let's just say it could come back to bite you one day.
I am not one of those women that breastfeeding just came naturally. To be totally transparent today, it has been the hardest part of motherhood for me so far. I have moments where I'm glad I've done it, and moments where I feel a bit trapped. One of the grandma's is watching him for an hour and I'm paralyzed because // what if he doesn't have enough milk // how long will it take to thaw out the milk, etc. etc. And it's part of my personality; to try to do everything for the ones I love. but here's my philosophy on it - breastfeeding is not synonymous with being a good mother. doing what's best for your child is.
My mother breastfed all of her babies and being that her thoughts on health align with mine, I figured - of course I'd do it. There's this part of me that really cannot stand assumptions and especially so about my body/baby. When I was pregnant and many people would just assume that was my plan ... I'd get a little irked by it. What if I couldn't? What if, what if, what if? To this day when people ask me or my husband if I'm still breastfeeding - we've both felt compassion for the woman who chooses not to. Almost always when I say yes, the person questioning me gives me a sigh of relief. Or an -Oh good! good for you! I've wondered what if I said no ... what kind of response would I get then?
i have my masters in health promotion and over the course of those studies I researched a lot about the benefit of breastfeeding. backed with that knowledge i figured it would be a breeze, it would motivate me to continue.
i considered myself pretty well versed on the literature side of things.
so when tuck was born, i wasn't really prepared. sure, I was prepared on paper, but practically ... not at all. i had a
breast friend (jb would say... but
I'mmmmm your breast friend. lol.), a pump, and nipple cream. but when it came to holding a teeny tiny newborn to breastfeed, i was a TOTAL rookie. was i going to crush him? would i fall asleep on top of him while feeding him? is he latching right? what does that even mean? what the heck is the football hold? and OMG. OUCH. is this supposed to hurt? and if it hurts they say i must be doing it wrong! *@&#&!!
my lactation consultant was anything but a breastfeeding nazi, she actually told me to not worry about breastfeeding. in the very beginning I supplemented with formula for a few days before my supply came in. i can't really describe in words the kind of guilt I felt for it. the baby blues, exhaustion and my lack luster lactation consultant all told me to take care of number 1 // me. today, and while my hormones aren't dropping rapidly and i feel more sane, i don't feel that guilt. formula isn't anywhere close to the devil. the truth is you do have to take care of yourself. preferably, without the weight of mom guilt (which is a guilt like no other). what's best for each family is different, and that's for y'all to decide. but having had a hard time learning to breastfeed, i also feel this crazy desire to support and encourage anyone who chooses that path. Please if you don't have a lot of support, feel free to reach out to me.
Currently my baby is almost always breastfed, but I have started to offer a bit of formula. The main reason being that if I am away, he will have a taste for it. This took a long time though. At first he would not even try it. Little man has champagne taste apparently.
wedding season was hard on little tuck and my supply. after each wedding it would take a week or two just to get my supply up again. And Pumping is hard to do on big wedding days! It always came down to the wire as well, and I was always wondering whether I had left enough milk with my mama or JB.
But I always had. just enough.
Now that wedding season is over and I'm able to spend more time at home with my tuck, nursing is a lot easier. And I'm building up a big supply thanks to some natural products. I wish I would have tried in the beginning! And here's also a little list of all of the things that have helped me. Hopefully they'll help me reach my goal of 1 year.
zulily always has cute nursing covers like the above //
honest company prenatals - whole food based and don't upset my tummy. ps: if you're nursing, you still need your prenatals. //
mrs. patel's fenugreek bars and milk tea chai are spicy, yummy, and kick milk production into gear //
milky's are all natural little shots to increase the quality and quantity of milk. they taste like a strawberry snow cone to me! //
brest friend - though i don't use it anymore, in those first few weeks i'm not sure what i would have done without mine. // water. lots and lots of it. i enjoy being fancy with sparkling water on occasion // oh and oatmeal is my breakfast these days - that helps!
and if you made it to the end of all of this, i commend you!!
ps:
pssssst! i think the above would make a great gift for an expecting mama planning on nursing(:
gotta set her up for success!
