I am amazed at how I survived breastfeeding. Looking back at my experiences it’s interesting how each story was different. I am still actively breastfeeding my youngest child whose 21 months old. Everyone’s story is different but follow along to see how I survived breastfeeding.
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How I Survived Breastfeeding My First Born
My oldest daughter, Naima is six years old and I breastfed her for two months. She was my first child so I wanted to do everything right and that included breastfeeding her because everybody made it out to be “THE RIGHT THING TO DO”. I didn’t know much about breastfeeding at the time I was just happy not having to buy formula.
Well to my surprise, Naima was born three weeks early due to me having low fluid. Pretty much because of my small physique she had no more room in my belly so they admitted me immediately. The hospital started my induction process on a Friday afternoon and she was born that Sunday morning.
She weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces. After giving birth due to her weigh she had issues latching on. I worked with a lactation consultant while in the hospital and still was unsuccessful at getting her to latch. Started pumping right away and pumped two to three times a day if not more.
After being home from the hospital I wasn’t eating properly which caused my supply to decrease. Due to my lack of knowledge about breastfeeding I switched my baby to “Gerber Gentle Powdered Milk”. I thought to myself if I have more kids I have to tell how I survived breastfeeding the next time around.
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How I Survived Breastfeeding My Second Born
My middle child is Braxton, my son is three years old and I breastfed him for twelve months. With having a little bit of knowledge on breastfeeding I knew I wanted to make this story completely different. I did my research and learned more about breastfeeding which came in handy. Before giving birth to my son that I would breastfeed again. I knew from experience that if he didn’t latch on immediately I would have to work harder.
Baby boy was born five days before his due date weighing 7 pounds and 4 ounces. After giving birth the nurses cleaned him up and he immediately latched on and started to feed. He was a very demanding schedule. He had to eat every two hours like clockwork and even sometimes every one and a half hours. I was a tired mama but I was determined to provide him with my liquid gold.
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Back To Work
While being home EBF (exclusively breastfeeding) for twelve weeks before returning to work.; I froze some milk while home but it wasn’t a lot of it. I made it a habit to pump three to four times a day to build a supply for the next day and so forth and this continued every week. My pumped milk took over the fridge.
Braxton started daycare at three months due to me returning back to work at the time. While returning back to work I sometimes had thirty minutes or an hour lunch break. Within that allowed time I had to pump and eat lunch which sometimes meant no time to relax a bit. Also, it meant I had to store my milk in the work refrigerator. I would have preferred my own mini fridge, but oh well.
While at daycare I made sure to take four bottles each five ounces for him to drink. some days he would drink all bottles and some days only three. It all depended on his appetite and sleeping patterns that day. At one point I thought my milk supply was decreasing so I purchased oatmeal raisin lactation cookies from Toys’R’Us. Out of a pack of 12 cookies I ate two. I wasn’t a fan of the taste. I realized shortly after my milk supply didn’t decrease.
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Transition To Bottles
I remember a week before him starting daycare trying out a bottle for the first time. Yes you heard me right. A week before starting daycare. He took to it just fine so I was happy about that. I had purchased the “Tommee Tippee” bottles. Feedings at night were not so bad because I prepared myself to wake up three to four times until he got on a sleeping schedule. Once he got on a sleeping schedule he would wake up one to two times through the night.
I will admit I did co-sleep so during feedings I would just roll over to feed him until he fell back asleep. When he turned four months he started eating baby food which decreased a little of the milk intake. Around this time he would consume about three bottles in addition to baby food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Sounds like a lot huh?
Yes baby boy was a greedy boy and still is. Around nine months he as more vocal on when he was hungry so it was easier with feedings. He was still EBF (exclusively breastfeeding) but around this time it was only one early morning feeding.
At this point I had surpassed my goal of three, six and nine months so the only thing left for me was to hit my twelve month goal of breastfeeding. Due to traveling plans just one day away from his birthday that was the last time he was breastfed. Once he turned one I switched him to whole milk. The transition was not bad at all. At this point I knew I survived breastfeeding this time.
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How I Survived Breastfeeding My Third Born
My youngest daughter, who is currently 21 months old is still breastfed. During the week she feeds at night/overnight and on the weekend on demand. Baby girl was born two days before her due date weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. As she entered the world and the nurse placed her on my chest she was smacking her mouth. We did skin-to-skin immediately and she motioned to feed on my breast. She latched instantly and that began our very demanding schedule where she ate every two hours unless she was sleep.
Sleeping for three to four hours after feedings sometimes and she fed one to two times during early mornings. Around six months she was feeding three to four times during the days and eat about two to three times through the night. She was attempting to sit up at this time as well. She spent a good amount of time in her rocker and she also her a walker. At this age she was smiling and laughing all day everyday.
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At about 11 months my milk supply was getting funky and at this time I stopped pumping. She was eating full meals so I started to only feed her at night on the weekdays and on demand on the weekends. She is now 21 months and we still do this routine.
I’m sure some of you are wondering when will this journey end for me and baby girl. To be honest I am not sure. I am amazed at myself at how I survived breastfeeding. We have been away from each other weeks at a time and she can’t shake mama’s liquid gold. Let’s just say I’m not ready to cut ties yet either. I love our bonding moments.
Moms I would love to hear about your breastfeeding journey. Leave a comment below let’s chat!!
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