My breastfeeding experience

Well as some of you know this week is world breastfeeding week. So I thought I would take a moment to write a post about my own breastfeeding experience.

Things for first time moms don't usually go as planned when we don't know what we're doing. But it was a little more then just difficult. We didn't realize my son had a pretty good tongue tie going on. So once we discovered that this may be impeding things we went to see a lactation consultant. Other then getting the tongue tie reversed my time with the consultant wasn't as helpful as I would have liked.

After a very quick examination I was told that I had insufficient glandular tissue and probably wouldn't ever produce enough to exclusively breastfeed my son. This was a hard blow. Other then suggesting a prescription and pumping 5 times a day she didn't offer any other options. On top of that it took a while for what little milk I had to come in, so we had to start my son on formula. Thankfully we had received some samples from companies so we had some on hand.

Formula comes with its own learning curves. There are so many different brands and versions out there to choose from. Unfortunately they are all rather experience. Then you have to play the waiting game to see if the formula you've chosen agrees with your little ones tummy. For us the first couple of kinds we tried didn't agree with our son. We later discovered that it was because he has a slight lactose intolerance. This wasn't a surprise as I also deal with dairy issues. Once we made the switch to a soy formula things went smoothly.

At this point I was still trying to follow the strict pumping schedule the lactation consultant had given me. Pumping had easily become the most stressful part of my day. I dreaded it and the sound of the pump just brought bad feelings. After sticking it out for 3 months I made the decision to stop pumping all together and let my supply dry up. As hard as that decision was I would do it again in a heart beat.

Focusing on my son instead of pumping was so sooo freeing for me. I felt like I missed so many precious moments of the newborn stage because my focus was on something other then my son.

I was determined that next time I would do things differently. Selling my electric pump was the most liberating thing I've done. Not having it around as a crutch the next time around will be so nice. I am currently expecting my second child and have so much positive anticipation for the future breastfeeding experience.

Though my first experience with breastfeeding didn't go well, instead of giving up on the idea all together I decided to get educated. Through my education as a Doula and my own research I had my eyes opened to a whole community of women who deal with a low supply or other medical reasons for not being able to exclusively breastfeed. This has been the most beneficial finding.

My plan this time around is to keep my baby at the breast as much as possible. My plan to do this is by using a SNS (supplemental nursing system). This will give me the option to supplement with either donated breast milk or formula, all while giving my baby all the breast milk I can produce. I know this plan will come with its own set of struggles, but there is so much more hope in it.

Well that's all for now from me. But I will write an update once this new baby arrives and we start on our breastfeeding journey. Thanks for following along with me. Feel free to contact me if you have breastfeeding questions or would like some resources about anything I have talked about.