Breastfeeding

So its Breastfeeding awareness month so I thought now was the perfect time to write a blog on breastfeeding.

The meaning of breastfeed is “a women feeding a baby with milk from the breast”.

Seems fairly straight forward doesn’t it?!

Well no breastfeeding is not straight forward and no it isn’t easy either! And some women aren’t able breastfeed at all. So let’s get this straight FED IS BEST!

I thought to myself how many women are actually unable breastfeed so after a quick Google search I’ve come up with such a small percentage that its actually surprised me! It’s a tiny 5% of mothers don’t actually ever produce breastmilk.

I started producing colostrum at 20 weeks. This was a great sign because it meant my body was preparing for the birth of our baby. It was a proud moment. But embarrassing at the same time. I was at work and I looked down because my top felt wet…...Yes you guessed it I had colostrum all over my top. I remember it being a very hot day and I'm the idiot wearing a jacket done up just to cover it up. I went to the toilets and stuck toilet paper down my bra just to soak up anymore that may leak. Talk about awkward!

While Pregnant I was asked the question “So are you going to breastfeed?” I would think to myself of course I would try and breastfeed, but I would keep an open mind. You never know if you can breastfeed or not till after your baby is born.

I still remember the first time Brandon breastfed from me like it was yesterday. It was like it was a skill he already knew. He was put on my chest and he crawled to my breast and just begun sucking it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.

Shortly after his first feed of colostrum he was taken to the Special Care Nursery and had his first tube feed as my milk wasn’t in yet and he was so small that he couldn’t go without food. I had to breastfeed him every 3 hours plus a top up of formula at every occasion just to get him to start putting weight on.

That might sound straight forward and your sitting there thinking oh man how did this chick get it so easy with breastfeeding. Let me tell you it wasn’t easy at all! Infact it was far from easy! I was just lucky in an unlucky situation. With Brandon being a tiny 2kg we had to spend the first 5 nights of his life in the Special Care Nursery which also meant I got a lot of one on one help from the nurses in the nursery they would sit with me every feed and help with attachment. There were even times where I would be sitting there letting the nurses hand express me. That’s right its exactly as it sounds hand expressing. I literally have no boundaries anymore! Because he would tire so fast the nurses hand expressed me a few times to try and get my milk to come in a bit faster and so we could feed my milk to him instead of formula.

At day 3 I remember over night getting these awful sweats……yes you got it my milk was in I looked like I had inpants, I went from a B cup to a D cup overnight! I remember my boobs being so sore and I just couldn’t wait to feed my little man. I was producing that much milk that I had to stick a towel down my top and there would be times where I would spray him in the face with my milk. (Sorry buddy!)

He had a great latch and the nurse in the SCN even mentioned he had perfect lips and tongue for breastfeeding. I was almost suspicious of how easy he seemed to take to breastfeeding. He breastfed like a little champ!

Now my milk was in I was on a strict feed every 3 hours so we would set an alarm even over night for the first 2 months of his life. I still don’t know how I survived I think I was just on a high from having a baby!

I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed for the first 6 months of Brandon’s life. At 6 months I made the choice to wean from breastfeeding to formula due to him becoming so much more aware of what was going on around him and he became so much fussier. You can read this in my previous blog.

I can proudly say I breastfeed! Some mothers don’t even get to breastfeed at all. I just want to say that fed is always best!