Breastfeeding at the very begginning

There are lots of different kinds of Mom's.  There are those that want to breastfeed and those that don't.  Those that will breastfeed if it's easy, those that will breastfeed with a little work, and if your like me those that want to breastfeed so bad they will do almost anything.  Why am I that way?  I mostly think it's because I really do want what is best for my children.  I also know that it helps with a Mother/baby relationship and I also know that it is the way that Heavenly Father designed for Mothers to feed their babies.  So why is it that some can't do it? Well I'm not going to go into all the reasons but a few woman just plan and simple do not produce enough milk but for some they probably could with a little training on how to do it right.

When I had my 1st I remember thinking that breastfeeding was going to be great and I was going to get this no problem. Boy was I wrong!  I wanted so bad to breastfeed her that I spent 4 months in serious pain and after visiting a few lactation specialists it got a little better.  I dealt with a terrible clogged duct as well and I didn't know what to do.  I also had a c-section with Anna which can delay milk coming in.

Then with Kali I thought I got this I know how to do this and it will be much better this time.  Well  it wasn't!  I was doing okay to begin with but then it never stopped hurting and no one could tell me why.  Well after so much pain it finally hit me maybe this is thrush...well it was and it took lots of antibotics to get rid of it because we kept passing it back and forth to each other.

Then there was Elsie where I felt very pushed and manipulated into giving her formula.  I was so stinken mad and no one would listen to me or help me.  I tried calling lactation specialists and it took forever to get anything set up and in the mean time I was supplementing with a syringe and my finger which was working okay...but I was pumping and giving a syringe and it was taking over my life.  I gave her a bottle and it was all down hill from there, she refused to latch on and I cried and cried every time.  After like a million attempts and days and days of trying she started latching on a few times in the shower, yay for small victories.  Then it wouldn't happen again for a while but then one day she just did it and so I just stopped giving bottles.  It was glorious!  It was A WHOLE LOT OF WORK to get her there though!  I finally switched Doctors and he was much more supportive of my efforts to breastfeed and he supported the fact that I didn't want to supplement anymore which was awesome!  Has life been super easy since then, absolutely NOT.  I got to breastfeed again but she nurses a lot and it really does take away from time I could be doing other things.  I've only been back to the temple once and we take her with us on every date.  In part that is because I don't trust a teenager with my tiny baby but also because she nurses really often.  Why do I choose to give up these things?  Honestly I don't know sometimes but I can tell you that having a baby is a joint effort and if Zach didn't support me then things would be much different!  I also felt like Heavenly Father was okay with me breastfeeding and he would help me through it if that is what I wanted to do.  I have held onto that feeling to help me through.  It is hard being a nursing Mom these days, I get looks almost everywhere I go and I also feel like it is SO MUCH HARDER to go anywhere!  But I know in the end I will be a stronger person for all of this.

I want to say last of all on this post that there are Mom's who breastfeed very easy.  They can nurse in like 5 or 10 minutes and there babies go 3 or even 4 hours in between feedings.  I think that is amazing and I wish that was me!  But it's not and it probably will never be so if I want to breast feed then I have to know that it will be hard every time and it was slow my life down tremendously.  In a world like today though I don't think it would hurt any of us to slow down a little and take notice to the small things that are going on around us on a regular basis, that is what nursing does for me.  Yes it takes time away from things I could be doing but NOTHING is more important than that baby Heavenly Father has given me to take care of and I intend to do my best with what he has intrusted me with.

If you are looking for good information about nursing from the very beginning I would recommend a Doctor Jack Newman.  On his website he has some great videos about nursing that every Mom should watch before they have a baby.  I googled breastfeeding videos Jack Newman and there was a link directly to the videos.   He also posts great ideas about breastfeeding on facebook so you can check him out there are well.  I also like the breastfeeding book the La Lecha League has put out.  I would also suggest going to a breastfeeding class and finding out information about Lactation specialist you can call if you need to, preferably ones who specializes in tongue tie, which that may be another post in and of itself. 

I also want to put out a disclaimer that I am NOT a lactation specialist or a Doctor so No i don't know everything but I have been through a lot when it comes to nursing and I know that those who have had trouble nursing are way more sympathetic to those that have a hard time.  Never let someone tell you that it is easy or that it's not that hard because for you it might be.  If it is easy for you great keep doing it and loving it because you are so blessed to get to feed your baby so easily! 

Why this blog

Well I finally did it.  I made a blog so I can take note of what being a Mom, wife, and Mormon means to me.  I have learned so much in the past few years and I feel like it's time for me to speak out and share what I've learned or experienced.  I have lived in 3 different states in the past 3 years and I've moved 5 times in the last 6 years and life has put lots of learning in my path.