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We hope you all enjoyed our first guest post on breastfeeding. Here I will be introducing our third guest post of the month.
Guest Blogger: Rachel Scott
3 facts about Guest: She has a 9 month old little girl, started her own blog to become a work at home mother and she is a wife of a veteran.
When I was growing up, and even when I was pregnant, all I heard was how important breastfeeding was for your child. Breast is best. That’s what they always told me. Breastfeeding was also the cheaper option (which was great for a family of one income and an Army Retirement). I expected that everyone would be open to me breastfeeding my daughter, but I was wrong.
I will never forget the day I was talking with my coworkers about being pregnant and everything that I needed before maternity leave. My boss, who is a women, looked at me and said, “You’re not planning on breastfeeding, are you?” She said this like it was a bad thing, like it would inconvenience the office if I did. I smiled and said that I was, but I was confused since this was supposed to be the best option. Our HR department still found a place for me to pump and I planned out when I would pump through out the day.
Once my daughter was born, she had no problem latching. In fact, she was a cluster feeder. This meant that she would nurse every 30 to 45 minutes day and night. I thought for sure that I wasn’t making enough milk, but then I ended up with mastitis because I was producing too much. I expected this to mean I would be pumping enough at work for my daughters 4oz per bottle. I was wrong.
Turns out, you pump less than your child would eat. By the time I stopped nursing, my daughter was eating 30oz a day and I was only pumping 6oz to 8oz. We were having to supplement so much anyway that I just decided to stop breastfeeding. My healthy 9 month old is doing just fine on formula and weighing almost 21 pounds. It’s not that breast is best, fed is best.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Rachel!
Check out Rachel’s blog: www.tryingnottogocrazy.com
Check out Rachel’s blog: www.tryingnottogocrazy.com
