Breastfeeding Experience

Hello fellow friends and mamas! I wanted to write this post to share my breastfeeding experience with you all but also for my own memory. It is nice for me to be able to look back and read my own thoughts about my pregnancy, birth, and adjusting to life with my baby girl!

During pregnancy, it was always in my plans to breastfeed Ella. I was hopeful that it would work out and be a good experience for both of us. I had heard many mamas describe their experience as difficult, exhausting, stressful, painful, etc. This left me feeling somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing. I knew it would be best for my baby girl, and I wanted it to work. However, I also didn’t want to place pressure on myself in case for some reason it did not work out. I know it doesn’t work out for every mom so I didn’t want to have my heart set on it and be devastated if I was unable to. I think the lack of expectation or almost expecting it to be a challenge, made it a lot more stress free when we started.

I will never forget the moment Ella was born. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and didn’t cry right away. She was taken away from me quickly and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. (You can read my full Birth Story blog for more). However, she was quickly cared for and given back to me as a crying little baby. We did some skin to skin and she was immediately ready to eat. With a little help from my awesome OB nurse, she latched like a champ. She was a good eater from meal one!

We ended up having to stay a few nights in the hospital due to Ella being jaundiced. I saw a lactation consultant each day I was there which was very helpful. It took Ella and I quite a bit of practice to get the latching down. She would get it, then re-latch incorrectly. And let me tell ya, an incorrect latch is painful. My nipples were cracked and bleeding within 48 hours and this was no fun at all.

When we got home, I was a little worried that this would not get better. However, I gave myself a little break and pumped a couple sessions then went back at it. She quickly learned to latch correctly and things were pretty smooth after that!

We never put a ton of pressure on ourselves as parents that Ella could never get formula. In fact, in the hospital they gave her quite a bit of formula when my milk hadn’t come in yet because she needed it to help with her jaundice. We always had formula on hand and just knowing that it was ok if she had to get some really helped me relax. And I think the relaxing helped with the whole process.

Milk supply was great! I never struggled there. Ella was a great eater and my body kept up with her demands well. Overall, the process came pretty naturally to us both. I am so grateful it did. It has been quite a journey and experience. I loved all the little moments and hours spent holding her and feeding her I got to do. The bonding experience has been great. I expected breastfeeding to be filled with pain and stress and instead found it to be primarily filled with bonding and happiness!

We have had our struggles though. There were periods of time where Ella would scream at my breast and not want to nurse. She wanted the bottle. This was distressing to me and seemed to occur if something else was bothering her. A couple times I thought it might be the end of our breastfeeding journey, but it was always short lived.

We have breastfed now for just over 7 months. Now we are starting to wean her down with the plan to stop soon. She has started eating a few meals a day of pureed foods and she definitely prefers food to milk or formula. I have enjoyed feeding her and honestly didn’t want to stop until recently. It feels like the right time for us now. She is eating well, starting to drink other fluids at meals, and I just am ready to have a break from it all. Even though I feel it is the right time for us, I have a feeling of sadness that it is coming to an end. I did not expect this feeling. I am sad that it’s ending soon but also that she is growing up so fast!

Overall, it has been an amazing experience that I am so thankful for. I really will treasure it forever.