Friday, April 07, 2017

Our Breastfeeding Journey



Over our five year journey to become parents, one thing I was always very sure of was my desire to be able to breastfeed.  The benefits of breast milk, the bond between mother and child, the fact that it's free, that all appealed to me and it was something I knew that I would set out to do, no matter how challenging it might be, once I got pregnant.  

Struggling with infertility and having to go through multiple rounds of IVF and eventually use an egg donor to get pregnant, I was very skeptical about my bodies ability to produce milk.  If my own eggs could not produce a baby, what would make me think my own breasts could produce milk?   Once I was finally pregnant thanks to the beautiful gift of egg donation from our known donor and I realized my body could carry and sustain a healthy pregnancy, I realized the same would go for my ability to produce milk.

Throughout my pregnancy I did tons of reading and researched and prepared myself as best as I could to nurse as soon as our baby girl arrived.  I was very clear in my birth plan that I wanted immediate skin to skin following my unmedicated, natural, water birth so that I could start nursing right away. As most mom's know, labor and birth doesn't always go as planned.  After 36 hours of unmedicated labor I was told I would have to have a cesarean section due to the positioning of the baby.  I was devastated and knew that I wouldn't be able to experience what I had always imagined and that my milk coming in was now being threatened by the fact that I would have to undergo a C-section.

Two long hours after Georgia was born I was finally out of recovery and able to meet my baby. Although I was in quite a blur from lack of sleep and anesthesia, baby girl was placed on my chest and immediately took to nursing all on her own!  I couldn't believe that after all we had gone through for our baby, there I was laying in the hospital bed with her on my chest breastfeeding like such a natural.  It was such a surreal moment for me and one I will always treasure.  Nursing continued to go well in the hospital.  We spent the next day with the lactation consultant in the room for her morning feeding and she showed me some tips, but said overall her latch was good.  

On day two we were sent home.  I continued to nurse Georgia and although she was gaining weight and eating often, I was experiencing a lot of pain, cracked and bleeding nipples, and feeling utterly discouraged.  Because of these things I desperately wanted to quit, but also kept reminding myself of the immense benefits she was getting from my breast milk so I pushed through the pain and fought through the tears.  I knew in the back of my mind based on all the research and reading I had done that this type of pain was not normal.  Eventually, after a night of agonizing pain and lots of tears I called the lactation consultant to reevaluate her latch.  She told me to  pump on the painful side for a couple days and treat the gouge in my nipple with triple antibiotic and hydro-cortisone.  She also found Georgia had a lip-tie but that we could probably forego surgery.  

After a few days of pumping and treating my nipple the pain subsided and I began to enjoy nursing again.  Although we had some really hard days in the beginning, especially as a first time mommy, I am so glad that we continued to nurse.  Luckily with the support of my husband, family, lactation consultant, doula, midwife, and OB, we were able to overcome the obstacles and have continued to have a very successful breastfeeding journey so far.   

Breastfeeding truly is one of the hardest and most challenging parts of being a mom that I have experienced in my short 6 weeks as a parent, but it has also been unbelievably rewarding and I love the bond that we are able to share.  In the long run what it really boils down to is that our babies are healthy and fed, no matter what or how.  A healthy, happy, baby is the most important thing in the end and as long as our babies are fed, then it really doesn't matter where their food comes from.  If at some point I end up having to supplement with formula then so be it.  I think the key to success for moms who want to nurse is to eat a well balanced diet, take the necessary vitamins, surround yourself with a support system, seek help if you're feeling discouraged, but never be hard on yourself for the choices that you have to make to keep your baby healthy.

We have been very fortunate that nursing has gone so well for us.  That isn't always the case for everyone.  It is easy to get discouraged, caring for a tiny human is real challenge, but being able to produce the milk needed to sustain that tiny human's life is truly a beautiful thing and one that I'm so thankful I am getting to experience.  

11 comments:

  1. Yay! So happy to hear that your body honored you & gave you that experience you so wanted. And good for you for seeking help when needed. I will say tongue & lip ties can be a big deal, aside from breastfeeding, so it wouldn't hurt to get second opinion about surgery. One of the big things is milk will pool near their teeth (once they come in) and can cause some serious rotting) due to a lip tie.

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  2. So happy you've been able to nurse like you wanted!! It's an amazing bond. I never thought I'd love it as much as I do. And here we are 16 months strong! xoxo

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  3. Breastfeeding is truly a difficult, yet immensely rewarding experience. I find it to be more painful and difficult than natural birth. I am so proud of you for pushing through! Now with an 8 month old, breastfeeding is a snap. SO quick, convenient, easy.
    Georgia is sooo cute, by the way! -Kristin :)

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  4. I always have said I rather give birth ten times over than breastfeed for the first time! It was so damn PAINFUL!! At first! I used a shield for the first two months and that helped immensely and we went on to have a beautiful 13 month long breastfeeding journey! Love seeing you as a mama E!

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  5. I'm so glad you overcame these obstacles Elena! Such a strong mamma! We didn't have the same outcome at Team Baby Bun but I'm a happy mom and that is what is important!

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  7. so happy you were able to breastfeed, even with a few bumps in the road at first - that's amazing that she latched immediately and you had such a wonderful support system to help you when things went wrong.

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  8. I am glad everything turned out good for you! Nursing your baby is the most beautiful feeling I have ever had. :) Mine is now 9 months old and still gets breastmilk. Only at night I support a little with good night formula from Hipp (you can check out it here, if you want to: myorganicformula.com/hipp-organic-formula), it is really a blessing for nights, which should last longer than 4 hours. :D

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  9. What is ovulation?

    Ovulation is the release of an egg from one of a woman’s ovaries, pushed down the fallopian tube, and is made available to be fertilized. Every woman is born with millions of immature eggs that wait to be released

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