I've been wanting to start a blog about my adventures in motherhood since my dear son was born ten months ago. But instead I've been overwhelmed and just trying to hang on ever since he arrived 3 weeks early!
My most passionate endeavor since he's arrived has become breastfeeding. I knew due to prior health issues that I wouldn't be able to deliver naturally, so breastfeeding was something I was very committed to doing from a young age.
We had a rough pregnancy, followed by a rough delivery. I ended up on magnesium because my blood pressure wouldn't stabilize, and we did an emergency c-section. Because of the magnesium, I couldn't breastfeed until it had been out of my system for 24 hours, and they made me stay on it 12 hours post-delivery, so I couldn't even begin to breastfeed until 7:00am the morning of the day we were discharged. I was so sad I was pumping and dumping all this colostrum and that my little one was getting formula. I knew it was the best we could do, but that didn't change the fact I hated it. When I was finally able to feed him, it was like we were in sync for the first time since he came into the world! The nurse wasn't the best lactation consultant, and we only got to work with her three times before they were sending us out the door!
Luckily, I can say we've overcome all our problems and we're still breastfeeding strong over ten months later. No one talks about how hard it is, and there's a serious learning curve.
My husband has a good job, so I can stay at home with my little one. I'm a graphic designer, dance teacher and a photographer, so I do some freelance work from home when I get it.
So, I hope you enjoy reading about our trials and tribulations in the days and months to come. We try to live an unconventional life. Most days, we succeed.
Awesome job breastfeeding for this long mama! I can't tell you how badly I wanted to breast feed, I even attempted relactating when Emma was 18 months! Unfortunately hospitals don't always have the best Lactation Consultants :/ (ours SUCKED) but I'm glad you were able to overcome most issues on your own :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy photography also :) One of my many talents lol
thanks for reading! Our hospital didn't even have an LC, just the OB nurses that were "trained in teaching BFing"... I've had mastitis FOUR times, and I had thrush for a few months before it finally cleared up! He also had a shallow latch, and I wasn't taught the right position to put him in, which was hurting my nipples! I made an appointment with the closest LC I could find, which was an hour away, but it was WORTH IT. I would have just kept BFing through the pain, when I didn't have to... I wish the hospitals were better about this. It's so important.
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