Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding, oh man what can I say these past 2 months have been quite a journey.  I always knew I wanted to breastfeed even before I was ever pregnant. It was just the vision I had when I dreamt about having a baby. That vision did not include throbbing nipples or milk squirting my baby in the face but oh well. There are so many books & classes that can prepare you for breastfeeding but I think its something that you psychically need to do to learn. It takes practice. I personally didn't take any classes while I was pregnant, I did a lot of online reading. Not " What to Expect When Expecting" reading , real life reading. Blogs with nothing but the raw truth. I think a lot of expectant mamas go right for the text books but to me this was better! Whats better than reading other mommy's experiences. After 9 months of non stop researching & growing to love reading blogs I can finally be one of those mamas that can hopefully help other expecting mamas. Reading blogs really helped me through my pregnancy, it was somewhere to learn that wasn't scary. Medical sites & books can seem scary and are super impersonal. Its boring and bland. So I am going to tell you what my breastfeeding experience has been like so far from birth to 2 months. Hopefully I can help some of you expectant mamas or just give others something real to read. When Hadley was first born they put her on my chest immediately and she stayed there for 1 hour. That was so amazing and such a bonding experience. The crazy thing is right away she started to suck at my chest, she was looking for my boobs. I couldn't believe that right out of the womb like that she knew what she was doing. But hey look where she just came from, I would be looking for a nice meal too. The nurse had me bring her to my breast but she didn't latch on right away, she kind of just explored the area & that was it. While I was in the hospital my experience with breastfeeding was total torture!!! She would not latch on correctly at all & my nipples got sore & cracked. I was sooo emotional because it was not working for me. All the nurses and lactation specialist were working with me but I was in a lot of pain and Hadley was not getting it. Finally the last day I was there my saving grace came in!! Thank goodness, I thought for sure I was going to have to formula feed ! Her fix was to drip a small amount of formula on my nipple to basically lure Hadley in & that was it !!!! The next few days I did that at the begining of each feed & it worked great !! Once my milk came in I didn't need to, my own milk would leak out. For those of you who don't know when babies are first born you have colostrum which is full of antibodies to help fight off diseases. Your milk usually takes a few days to come in. I kept being like "how will I know when my milk comes it." Well it was basically the same as my "how do I know if I'm in labor" question , YOU KNOW. I literally looked like Dolly Parton within 24hours. For me it happened to quickly and I got extremely engorged. My boobs were sore, hard & lumpy. Not fun, I was in pain & literally crying in the shower letting warm water hit my chest. Warm compress, a nice shower, feeding & massaging is what helps relieve engorgement. When I got engorged I had NO Idea what was happening. Being a hormonal new mommy I thought my boobs were clogged and I wasn't going to be able to feed Hadley. I told you I was a nervous ninny, I always think the worst in a situation. Luckily one of my amazing friends had gone through the same thing & my sweet hubby called her to get the facts while I was a blubbering mess. Oh man, he really was the best support system those rough first few weeks. There were many nights feeding her I just cried because my nipples were so sore that I dreaded putting her on them. I also got mastitis about a month into breastfeeding which is an infection from getting a clogged milk duct. How fabulous huh? Wow I'm making breastfeeding sound like a tragedy. I promise you it's not! It is by far the most amazing thing I have ever done & I am so proud of myself for not giving up. Hadley is a happy, healthy, chubby 2 month old who now eats like a champ. Breast is best for us. It may not be best for everyone & that's ok too. Everything I went through has been worth it. I would take all the pain and the emotions all over again to get to this point. I am no longer in pain, engorged or feel like my nipples are being sawed off. Thank goodness! The begining is hard, it's all new to you, its all new to your baby. Those first few weeks you will feel like you are around the clock feeding & you mostly are but it doesn't stay like that forever. In the past few months I have learned so much. I am fascinated with breastfeeding, I think it's so beautiful what our bodies can do. Not everyone's experience os like mine, some boobs & babies cooperate at the same time. Wouldn't that be magical! But like I said I would never go back and change it. My hard time actually made me appreciate breastfeeding more. I think it's soo rewarding. I could honestly ramble on forever about breastfeeding, there is just so much. I have wrote this post over a few days and kept adding more and more, I need to cut myself off haha. But I hope this helps for some expectant mamas or sheds some light on mamas going through what I went through !!!

Have a wonderful day :) 

thanks for reading !! 

- Torie XO
follow me on instagram || @toriebliss


Below I posted some pictures of my little love from the last few days :) She is soo happy & has been smiling up a storm!
 

 

She LOVES bath time