Thanks for hopping over from Life With Baby Kicks and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 1 The Start of My Journey sponsors today include Boobie Milk with a £50 voucher, Cherub Chews who are offering a breastfeeding necklace and Loveyush who are offering a breastfeeding scarf for our Grand Prize winner. Over £700 worth of goodies are up for grabs entries via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.
I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I feared that I wouldn’t bond and for me, personally I knew that breastfeeding would help that.
It was hard. Very hard.
I was exhausted after being in hospital for three days prior to delivery and two days after. I suffered from a heart problem that gave me palpitations (217bpm is my record) which decided to trigger when I was already overdue so I was kept in for fear of something happening – apparently heart failure was possible! Recovering from that alone was exhausting so giving birth a few days later was doubly exhausting.
So we didn’t have the best start.
The first few weeks of Oliver’s life are a blur and were mostly spent in bed or on the sofa. I barely even showered. I was so exhausted that R suggested a bottle of formula to ‘give me a break’ – I was heartbroken, but looking back it probably helped.
My nipples bled, my toes curled in pain at each feed for four weeks. It got easier after those four weeks, but I was still really sore, by 6 weeks I was pain free and it felt almost like second nature.
I always feel gutted when I hear about people stopping at 6 weeks because it really is the hardest part, after that it gets so easy, not least in part to the fact that your baby gets more head control and there’s much less bobbing around.
Oliver never lost weight despite me having an (medically ordered) epidural which can make the baby gain fluid weight giving an inaccurate birth weight. He was a little tired though and the midwives suggested using a syringe for colostrum but luckily we managed a latch. I also battled oversupply which affected Oliver’s latch – imagine trying to latch on an over inflated balloon – so I often had to express a little before a feed in order to soften my breast slightly.
We got a lot of well meaning advice, lots of people suggested formula – including health visitors when Oliver’s weight gain slowed down (4 month growth spurt) and he dropped centiles, but I knew my baby and I knew he was thriving and that breastfeeding him was the right thing to do. A few months later he had gained centiles and has met and exceeded most milestones. He is naturally quite small, but neither R’s family nor mine are particularly tall/stocky so it is just how he was meant to be.
In the first 6 months, confidence in my body and biology is what kept me going.
And ignoring all of the bad advice.
Following on from my journey, please do hop over to Baby Foote to see how her journey began and be in with more chances to enter the grand prize draw. Remember you need to earn 50 points to be eligible, full details can be found on the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Site.
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I am really looking forward to starting my breastfeeding journey when baby arrives in 10 ish weeks xx
Good luck Gemma, lanisnoh nipple cream saved me a lot of pain. Check out the videos of the laid back positioning as its more natural for baby and more comfortable for mummy too! It's hard holding a tiny baby up to your boob in the cradle position. As I learned lol.
What I always love is how everyone's journey is different. Even from a guys point of view its interesting to read the individuality to it. 🙂
I had an easy ride compared to a lot of people. But R probably would disagree. Must be hard for men who can only stand by and feel powerless.
I loved breastfeeding – it was worth it, but not when I got mastitis! Ouch!
Ouch! I got it at 18 months, I always thought I'd lucked out and missed it. I definitely recommend expressing sometimes if you're really full. And then you can get a freezer stash too!
I breastfed both of my children until they were 1. With the first it was a total nightmare, with the second, a breeze. With both I knew it was absolutely the right thing for me and them. I only wish every new Mum has as easy an experience as my second!
My friend found her second easier too! I'm hoping I haven't forgotten everything by the time we have another baby. I suppose you learn from your first a lot of the time and if there's no tongue tie/lip tie/supply issues etc you can get off to a breezy start.
I love that you expect everyone's journey practically started off the same and in actual fact almost every story is different.
Yes. Obviously I assume that everyone is recovering from a heart condition when they give birth… Ahem.
You will see from other posts and comments that I actually have used my journey to educate myself about a lot of things that I didn't even encounter. And last week I asked on Twitter for help for a friend who was having issues with lip tie. This was after her trying for three weeks to get milk from her body when there was none.
So, no, I don't expect everyone's journey to start off the same.
Great post. 🙂
Thanks very much 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story.
Anything that can help someone else is worth sharing. Breastfeeding is so individual but so many people experience similar things and they need to know they aren't alone in their journey 🙂
It so interesting to read the start of someone else's breastfeeding journey, and what a wonderful honest post. I totally agree with you that the first six weeks were so must more difficult and then after that it does start to get easier!
I read an article recently about the 'laid back' feeding method and it said that the reason so many people experience pain is because the cradle position is not natural for a new born, the cradle position is something that was brought about by formula. At 6 weeks the head control is much better which is why the pain subsides – latch is better because the baby's head is more stable. Something I am going to learn from next time!
I had a bad start to my journey too (undiagnosed tongue tie). The quality of breastfeeding support in this country leaves much to be desired…
I agree! I got most of my support from my OH and online. Breastfeeding support forums are definitely what kept me going.
My journey started with my daughter unable to cope with my milk as to rich then put on soya she is now allergic to dairy I'm going to show this post to my sister in law as struggling with feeding
Hi Samantha, that sounds like a very tricky start! Well done for getting to the bottom of your issues and getting the allergy diagnosis.
What is your sister in law struggling with,anything in particular? I've educated myself in quite a lot of breastfeeding issues that I didn't experience and I can always ask on Twitter/Facebook for some help if you like 🙂
I'd love to know how you coped those first 6 weeks, I literally couldn't handle it. I don't think having a c section helped me either everything just seemed so painful an challenging. I never knew about epidurals affecting birth weight either- so interesting to read! x
I cried. A lot. But I wouldn't have done it without all of the support, Lansinoh nipple cream and my breast pump. And breastfeeding forums too. I know that C sections make it much harder too..
I was lucky because Oliver is a Dec child R had 2 weeks off then one day back before the Christmas break so I was hardly ever alone.
Thank you for the chance. expecting Twins and so looking forward to breast feed them when they are due later this year. super excited and I cant wait to meet them. xx
Good luck with your twins, I can only imagine how amazing that will be 🙂
Thank you very much, im so excited!! they due on Christmas day too. xx
Wow!! Christmas babies, how exciting!! Oliver was born on Dec 8th and that Christmas is just a blur to me now!
Looking forward to breastfeeding my little boy due in october.
Congratulations on your pregnancy and good luck with the breastfeeding 🙂 There are lots of fab support resources around, it's great to get to know what's available in your local area before giving birth
I couldn't agree more, things were really tough for me the first few weeks with both of mine. Things just get so much easier as time goes on. I'm really glad I persevered. I'm still feeding Lia around three times a day and she's 15 months now. I fed Libby properly until 18 months and then very infrequently after that. She self-weened because I was pregnant with Lia and she went off it when my milk changed.xx
Amazing!! I've heard that your milk changes and often reduces when pregnant. Obviously I never experienced that! It's a bit weird when you think of the "I've been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for this long", In the end I was 'pregnant or breastfeeding' for 2 years 8 months! I can't say I ever felt like I needed 'my body back' either. Just a lovely experience!
I love breast feeding it's the best! I really dont want to give up but Im feeding until 2 years as we want another baby!
Good luck with trying to conceive, my friend stopped when she got pregnant too.
That doesn't sound much fun, well done for getting through it.. I was lucky that breastfeeding was so easy for me after the blood clot, footling breech baby and C-section. Just as well, I couldn't be doing with all that that sterilising that bottle feeding involves.
Wow!! That's quite a journey! I guess I just kept thinking that the next day would be easier than the last and eventually I saw the other side and soon forgot how difficult it had been! I know what you mean about sterilising, I could not do that!
Happy to be a breast feeding mum.
Happy to be a breast feeding mum.
Breast feeding is a great experience
It really is, it's the best thing I've ever done, and the hardest!
Thank you for sharing your story. I feel the same about hearing that people have given up just as it's about to get easier. It's so important for people to hear that difficult starts don't mean the end of breastfeeding.
I completely agree – everything I read said that if it was painful it meant I was doing it wrong, but it wasn't, it was just how it was for us. I think the support online on forums telling me it would get better soon is what kept me going through it.
I loved breastfeeding but it was very hard
I agree, I always say it was the hardest thing I have ever done. Way harder than pregnancy and labour/giving birth for me!
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