my breastfeeding journey
Jude - July 2020
Following a 14-hour labour, Jude seemed to feed well in hospital, sleeping soundly and barely cried while we were there. I had a Lactation Consultant come to me the next morning who observed I had flat and inverted nipples. She taught me to hand-express and syringe feed the baby. Not thinking much about it, I continued to syringe feed and then went home with newly bought nipple shields to assist with feeding my newborn.
As Jude was not able to draw from the breast, I had started to express breastmilk via pump, and gave him formula supplementation because he had high jaundice and was a sleepy baby. On Day 5, I noticed engorgement that was very uncomfortable. Remembering a friend's recommendation, I arranged for a lactation massage. The massage 'cleared out' the engorgement and I felt much better. However, the next morning my left breast was huge, red and swollen - I had severe mastitis. Neither of us knew why it had happened, but I had to start on antibiotics.
Continuing from there was a 3-hourly expressing, formula and bottle-feeding cycle, I was unsure how I would ever breastfeed Jude. At 4 weeks, I booked in to see a Lactation Consultant, hoping to restart my breastfeeding journey. Though Jude was not able to feed in that session, I had some encouragement to try again.
I picked Jude up from bed early one morning and he just took to the breast. Even though it was only for 15 minutes, I couldn't believe it happened! However I didn't know how to continue, and every time I had engorgement I began to panic and booked in for a lactation massage to 'clear' it.
Then I found The Thompson Method. I watched videos as I expressed through the night. Each time I brought Jude to the breast, I began to understand, gained breastfeeding knowledge, experiencing natural and pain-free breastfeeds the program was talking about. It just kept getting better each time and we continued to breastfeed until Jude was 14 months, when he decided he was ready to wean.
Samuel - Dec 2023
Samuel was birthed within 20mins, unmedicated, in the most amazing birth story that I could imagine myself having. Armed with much more knowledge about breastfeeding this round, I assumed that breastfeeding would be much easier than the last.
My breastmilk transitioned at Day 2, meaning the engorgement came very soon after we got home. Samuel seemed to be struggling to get a good seal on the breast with the engorgement. Memories from my experience with Jude and high jaundice filled my focus, and out of fear I decided to express and bottle feed Samuel in order to keep his fluids up.
I had no problems with managing my milk volume, worrying about low supply or dealing with engorgement due to the knowledge I acquired. I assumed that he would easily be on the breast in 4 weeks since Jude had done that. But I forgot that all babies are different! Days turned into weeks and I found myself thinking if I had to give up breastfeeding.
I kept doing what I needed to do to encourage Samuel back onto the breast, even the Lactation Consultant I saw at 9 weeks had no other tips to offer except for encouragement that my baby knows me. At 10 weeks, I was encouraged by a sharing from another mother online on how she got her baby back on the breast at 10 weeks, and another who did at 3 months.
That morning, I prayed yet again with this new found hope that it could happen. As I lay skin-to-skin with Samuel during his morning nap, when it came time for his lunch feed, he simply took to the breast! First it was 15 minutes, then switched over the other side for 1 hour. We went from 100% expressing to 100% breastfeeding and we have still kept going. It was truly a miracle!
I'm not looking out for the day that Samuel weans, I'm simply enjoying each step, going feed by feed, day by day - letting my maternal instincts combined with the breastfeeding knowledge I have, lead the way ahead.
What will your breastfeeding journey look like?
The best time to prepare yourself for breastfeeding is when you are still pregnant! Not to worry, even if your little one has arrived, you can sign up with us to have access to the Beautiful Breastfeeding Program and I'll be here to walk with you through it.
