My breastfeeding journey

This could be a sensitive topic to some and others would find it interesting, so if you would like to know more about breastfeeding and my journey please do read till the end else you could skip

My baby has been so cranky lately that he has refused to eat his meal as much, he has been relying more on breastmilk thanks to the teething phase.

image source

So on Sunday, I had to go to the car to breastfeed when a passerby commented.

This old man is still sucking breast, madam tries to stop him so you can rest.

It wasn't funny because she was very loud about it but I had to reply with a smile

he is not old o, he is not even one year yet, we still have a long way to go.

She smiled back and waved goodbye

my 7-month-old is getting so big that most times he could be mistaken for a year-old baby, maybe that's why she made that statement but still, it wasn’t pleasant.

This incident got me thinking about my breastfeeding journey, all the pains and struggles about to come to an end, even if I Intend to breastfeed till he is 1, one year just feels like tomorrow, so close yet so far.

My first time breastfeeding

After my C-section, I couldn’t move for over 24hrs so my baby relied on one water solution, can’t fully remember what it was called.
Day 2 they had to get me to stand up to feed but I still couldn’t, so the water continued but my baby was crying non-stop, he was so hungry 48 hrs no food, I had to plead with my mum to get him formula milk. We got the first brand and he reacted so badly to it, he poops when he eats, we tried 2 more brands till we found one that was fairly ok.

DAY 2 bottle feeding	DAY 3 bottle feeding

My mother is completely against formula food for babies, you could see the anger on her face every time she had to make food for him, I felt so bad we had to start this way so I kept trying to produce milk.

I got an electric pump to try and express but it wasn’t working, made some calls and I was recommended to get lactation cookies and tea. I ate it so much like no man's business that my milk came running 5 days after.

I got a manual pump and it worked so well it was so hard pressing the pump all day but I was excited I got milk for my baby. I was so lucky latching was never a problem, the moment he tasted breastmilk that was the end of bottle-feeding for my baby till now. He rejects every bottle even if it contains breastmilk.

manual pump	first expressed milk

Rocky start

In his first few months, My baby was a cluster feeder, meaning he eats every one hour so imagine me sitting every hour for over 30min feeding, it was exhausting, my nipples were in pain, they cracked and started bleeding at some point because I had mastitis

mastitis is when your breast has produced more milk than it is letting out, then the breast duct will get blocked by the milk, causing pain. I guess took too much of the lactation product, I had to pump out milk just to relieve pain, even when pumping was more painful. If I didn’t do that I go to bed cold and shivering.

I wasn’t sleeping at all, feeding round the clock, even when I had a family to help I still had to breastfeed because he won’t take a bottle. I couldn’t complain but eventually, I got used to the pattern. Good thing I didn’t have a job to get back to else it would have been a problem.

OVERALL

breastfeeding can be a difficult ride but very purposeful, once I got the hang of it, I forgot all my pain and it was worth it.

Will I miss it? YES
will I do it all over again? YES

but maybe next time I would make bottle feeding seriously so I can get help from time to time.

My 7 month old CHAMP

Wondering if the ending/weaning process will be as tactful as the start of my breastfeeding journey. A few months to go, when I get to the bridge, I will cross it.

Although I miss not leaking everywhere, having braless days, and wearing any clothes I wanted to wear without considering breastfeeding.

I support whatever feeding method anyone chooses to use for their kid, exclusive pumping, formula feeding, or breastfeeding. What matters is our babies get to eat and get enough nutrients daily. no matter the method you are doing so welL mama

All pictures are mine except the cover which was rightful sourced.