How I Learned to Breastfeed
Welcome to the September Breastfeeding Carnival! Thanks for visiting, and be sure to read all the way to the end of my post so you can visit others who have shared their thoughts on Learning to Breastfeed.
When I was pregnant with my first child, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I did some reading. I searched the internet for what I felt were informative articles. By the time my breastfeeding class at the hospital rolled around I felt pretty confident. My confidence increased when I went to the class. She didn’t tell me one thing in an almost two hour class that I didn’t already know! I knew I was going to be able to do it. As a sort of insurance, I found a breastfeeding forum/message board and asked if there was anything else I should do to be prepared or informed. The answers were pretty run-of-the-mill. “Just keep on going!” “Don’t let anyone talk you into quitting.” “You can do it!” I knew that I was set.
When K was born, I had a bit of a surprise. Maybe shock is a better word. He was born nearly 4 weeks early and he wouldn’t latch. He looked at my breast. He half-heartedly opened his mouth. Then, he fell asleep. What?!? This wasn’t the plan. He was supposed to know what to do, because I had done my part to get informed about breastfeeding. Well, after three days in the hospital, we were discharged. I had a nipple shield and a baby who ate for 45-60 minutes every 3 hours. Not exactly fitting my plan.
Fortunately, my mom had breastfed both myself (for around 18 months) and my brother (for nearly 3 years). She was an amazing support. She kept telling me, “Trust yourself. You know best. You know what is right for you and your baby.” She got up with me for the middle of the night feedings and held K afterwards until he had his burp and could fall back asleep. She visited with me when I thought I was too tired to do another feeding. She was wonderful, and that was a major component for my success. I am sure of it.
When she left and I was home alone with my baby, I began to doubt myself, so I went back to the message board where I had asked for help so many weeks prior. I began posting question after question after question. I got wonderful support, and I got great information. There was one person in particular on that message board who I still feel a debt of gratitude toward. Her name was Joan, and she was a moderator of the breastfeeding forum. Sure, other people would answer my question, but I didn’t feel like I had the real answer until I heard from Joan. Over the weeks and months, I gained confidence, and I also gained a friendship. Joan is still one of my close on-line friends. She and I have kept in touch over the past few years, and when a friend of mine had a baby who had nursing troubles (oversupply and overactive letdown, something I knew very little about) Joan was available over the phone to help her out, too. I also began reading www.kellymom.com during any spare moment I had. I loved that website. It was so easy to navigate and so easy to read and understand. It is where I got the bulk of my early breastfeeding knowledge.
Almost two years later, when I had my second son, I was pretty confident again. I had been through so much with K that I thought I should have it under control. But, as almost anyone who has breastfed knows, every baby is different. With A, I had different issues, and again I turned to www.kellymom.com and a supportive on-line community to help me get through the first weeks that were tough.
Now, I’ve been nursing K for almost 35 months, and I’ve been tandem nursing K and A for 14 months. I feel like each day I can learn something about breastfeeding whether it be from a book, a website, a friend, another nursing momma, or one of my kids. I think it’s one of those things where you can keep learning more and more, but I’m not sure that you can ever say that you have “learned to breastfeed.” To me, it’s a journey more than a destination.
Check out these blogs for more thoughts on Learning to Breastfeed (updated throughout the day):