Ashley and her two adorable boys
Welcome to the next edition of breastfeeding stories from our readers. These memories are shared by breastfeeding moms, who like myself wish to spread the word to new moms that breastfeeding can have its challenges, but it is worth practicing, seeking help, asking for support and looking for answers.
We all know the benefits of breastfeeding, but we do not instinctively know how to successfully breastfeed. We need help, advice, support and guidance – even if it is our second, third or fourth baby.
Please let us know if you have a breastfeeding story you would like to share – we will link back to your blog, if you are a blogger. This series will be featured every Monday until we run out of stories!
My oldest was born at 36 weeks after I was induced due to pre-eclampsia. Being a preemie, it was no surprise that he had under-developed lungs. On his transport to our local Children’s hospital, one of his lungs collapsed. While he was in hospital, he was hooked up to many machines, and also had an NG tube for a few days, and then bottle fed. Finally, at 9 days old we tried latching, but he would have none of it…..he screamed and arched his back, and wanted to be nowhere near my breast. I was heartbroken. From the time I was a little girl, I knew I was going to breastfeed my children. It was something that was extremely important to me. It never occurred to me that they may have other plans. That night, Hubby did a gravity feed with him, and then he went to bed. The next day, we got amazing news – he was being sent home for 24 hours! We brought him home, tried to latch with no luck so back to a bottle of pumped milk.
Later that night, when we were out of milk, it was sink or swim. It took a few minutes, however he finally latched. I was amazed. It was an absolutely awe-inspiring moment for me. To this day, I still remember the emotions I felt at that exact moment of time. It is one of my favorite parenting moments. One of my fears was that he would never latch, and he figured it out. We went on to have a wonderful nursing relationship for 14.5 months – when he weaned himself.
When my 2nd son was born 3 years later, I was slightly concerned that we may have issues – however, I was extremely lucky as he latched almost immediately with no trouble. We had a successful nursing relationship for 22 months, asides from 1 blocked milk duct, there were no issues.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story.
Ashley P.