Hi friends! It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write. It’s been a wonderful 2 months of newborn baby madness and with two other littles, my head has been in a fog most days. But, today I wanted to talk about breast feeding because there are some issues that I don’t see a lot of women talk about on social media.
Disclaimer : I DO believe that fed is best and I completely respect and support your decision to feed your baby with formula. You do you, boo. For me personally, breast feeding is important to me. I was able to nurse our first baby for 20 months, well into my second pregnancy and birth of our second.
** For those that don’t think you can get pregnant while breast feeding… yes, yes you can. **
I broke my leg when I was 36 weeks pregnant with our second baby and she was born at 38 weeks. Between that and the fact that she had a shallow latch, I was able to nurse her (and pump) for 8 weeks until one day I pumped ONLY blood…. aaaaand I was done.
This time, it was really important for me to give it my all. It’s important to me and I know that breast milk has incredible properties for the baby’s immune system and breast fed babies have less chance of tummy troubles since breast milk is made specifically for that baby… and did you know that your milk will change depending on the gender of the baby?? Not to mention the possible emotional support that it provides the mama, of course. Nursing helps my post partum baby blues and I instantly feel better when my babies latch.
Emerson latched on so well right from the beginning. She was nursing like a champ in the delivery room and she continued to do so for the 24 hours we were in the hospital. We came home and within the second day of being home she cluster fed for the entire day and her latch got shallow so needless to say my nipples were TORE UP (literally split open and bleeding). For the next few weeks it was excruciating to nurse her and I would shake in pain when she would latch on. We had a great lactation consultant come over and help me out, but I really just needed to heal and still be able to nurse. I started pumping and bottle feeding and then I started nursing with a nipple shield. The nipple shield helped and I weaned her off about a week later. Our process took an entire 6 weeks.
It does get better and it CAN be magical… you just have to work at it.
I’m convinced that the people that make it look easy from day one are either formula feeding or liars. I don’t believe that anyone’s breast feeding journey in the beginning is as pain free and magical as people make it seem. If that’s how it happened for you, then you are a lucky mama! Some people will just tell us to suck it up and deal with it because we chose to breast feed and others will just scoff and not even want to discuss it because they sexualize breasts and can’t even think about feeding a baby with them. However you swing, lets be kind to each other and mind our own business if we don’t have anything nice to say.
Another thing that was frustrating was anyone telling me just to formula feed and put myself out of the misery. Just give up because it’s hard? No thank you, but thank you for the motivation to keep going.
Some mommy’s have an oversupply of milk which brings on another set of issues and is just as hard as a undersupply of milk. We all have our struggles.
Moral of the story : If you are breast feeding, please know that it’s not always magical right from the start and remember that you and baby are both learning. Your baby is learning how to be alive and you’re learning how to be a mother. Regardless of if it’s your first or third time, your journey is YOURS. Own it.
Here are some of the things that have helped me through the beginning stages of breast feeding :
- Lanolin : I was very hesitant about this in the beginning because, even though they say it’s safe for the baby, I was still skeptical. I’m not saying that it worked miracles but I am saying that it helped.
- Salt Water : I literally poured some in a shot glass and had to soak my nipple in it right after breast feeding. Yes it hurts.
- Apple Cider Vinegar Spray : I would spray this (50/50 water and ACV) on my nipple after the salt water soak. Yes it hurts.
- Breast Pads : In the beginning while my supply was establishing, my breasts would leak like I’ve never seen! haha! I was a little nervous that I’d always have a wet shirt all day every day, so these breast pads were very helpful! It’s also helpful with the lanolin because it can get messy and you don’t want that all over your bra.
- Nursing bras : These are my favorite so far. I’ve tried several! haha!
- Elvie Pump : Y’all. This pump is a life saver and a game changer. It’s absolutely worth the investment, especially if you are exclusively pumping or need to pump often. You can either purchase both pumps or one, so if you’re on the fence I would at least get one!
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
xo,
Crystal
UPDATE : Emerson ripped a hole in my nipple that wasn’t healing and was constantly bleeding. A lot. She apparently ingested so much blood that it darkened her stool and we took her in for an X-ray to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong. Thankfully, she’s ok and I had to pump for a week on that side and bottle feed until it healed (Salt Water soaks and powdered probiotics directly on affected area helped). Happy to report that we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming. A to the men y’all.
** I am not a doctor or a medical professional. These are just my experiences with breastfeeding my babies. **
