My name is Stephanie and I became a mom to my beautiful daughter Mia in March of last year. I was able to breastfeed her for eight months and what a wild ride it was!
Determined to Breastfeed
When the birth of my daughter Mia didn’t go the way, I had hoped, I desperately wanted to make a success of breastfeeding her. Mia was born by a cesarean section because she was in a breech position. Starting to breastfeed is often more difficult after a C-section because milk production usually sets in a little later. During the first two days at the hospital, I did everything I could to start lactating as quickly as possible. As many times as I could, I held Mia against my breast. And fortunately, it worked! On day 3, I was ready for it: real milk started to flow!
Engorgement and nipple fissures
Although I was extremely happy to be finally producing milk, I was completely unprepared for the severe engorgement and nipple fissures that came with it. We found out that Mia’s tongue web was too short, so she couldn’t latch on properly. This caused me a lot of pain. When I say my nipples were a battlefield, I’m not exaggerating…
Lactation specialist, pumping and lots of support
A visit to a lactation consultant, a pumping device to relieve the enormous pressure and with the support of my dear husband and my sister, I managed to get through the first week. Even though according to conventional wisdom breastfeeding shouldn’t be painful, I can only say that this was definitely not true at all in my case.
"If you don't want to breastfeed but feel that you have to or should do so, then you have to stop right away".
Breastfeeding isn't easy, but it's worth it
If you had told me in the first week that I would continue to breastfeed my baby for 8 months, I would never have believed you. Looking back now, it was really the most beautiful and hardest thing I have ever done. Was it easy? No, certainly not. Did I always like it? In all honesty, no. Would I do it again? Any day! Because what are 8 months in a lifetime?
While the world was asleep
Those precious moments in the middle of the night, when I held her in my arms and nursed her, while the entire world around us was asleep will be with me for the rest of my life. The fact that my body first nurtured her for 9 months and then fed her for another 8 months, is an absolutely stunning realization for me. The enormous amounts of energy it took – as well as the mountain of snacks I ate while breastfeeding…, well, let’s not go into that right now, ha ha.
Advice from one mom to another
Whenever I was at my wits’ end in the first week, my sister said:
“If you don’t want to breastfeed but feel that you have to or should do so, then you have to stop right away. Because the best mom is a happy mom. But if you really want to breastfeed and you are thinking of giving up now because it is difficult and painful, then we will do everything we can to get you through it, because it really will get better!”
Here’s my tip for you: choose what you stand for. Even if that means you don’t want to breastfeed at all. And if you really want to do it but just can’t? Even then, you’re still a great mom!
