I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my babies. In my opinion, it is the healthiest option for baby (and mom). It amazes me that our bodies produce exactly the right milk for each individual baby. If your baby is premature, the milk your body produces is full of what is essential for your preemie baby. If your baby needs a little extra of something, your body will produce that specific concoction of milk. Truly amazing if you think about it, but of course it is because God designed our bodies that way! So there was no question in my mind if I would breastfeed or formula feed my babe once she was born. And it was just as perfect and amazing as I had hoped for… err, at least after we jumped the 6 week hurdle of unexplainable pain!
Can you say ouch!? I never knew my nipples would hurt the way they did. That every time my little one latched on I would curl my toes and every other part of my body as I felt like the skin was being sucked right off! The books all say if the latch is correct there should be no pain… um, I had multiple nurses look at the latch and everything looked just fine, my little one was getting sufficient amounts of milk and no matter what hold we tried the pain was still there. So my advice, don’t listen to the books and stick it out… it will get better! I have talked to every new nursing mom I know and haven’t heard a single one say it did not hurt like the dickens for the first few weeks! Just think about this, you take these soft perfect nipples and attach a sucker fish (times a thousand) multiple times a day and I think no matter how perfect the latch is the nipples are going to get sore (understatement) and cracked! But with that being said this only lasted for about six weeks, at the longest, and then it was perfect! I don’t mean to scare any soon-to-be mommies, but I want the truth to be told. It will hurt, but it’s worth every ounce of pain! And don't forget how quickly you'll loose that baby weight from nursing... At my two week check up I had lost 29 of the 37 lbs. I had gained during pregnancy! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP?!
I think it wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t pumping on top of nursing. I had to build up my frozen milk supply for when I went back to work. So I was nursing non-stop and pumping non-stop, which was a lot for my newly sucked nipples to get used to. Speaking of pumping, I want to be the first to say (well probably not the first, but you get the point!) I really did NOT enjoy pumping and got downright sick of! I stuck it out for 9 LONG months and have it say it was the only downfall to breastfeeding while working. As I said, I loved and I mean LOVED breastfeeding! I just really hated pumping. It’s no fun to sit there for 15-20 minutes hooked up to a machine like a cow multiple times a day. It really started to get frustrating when I had to pump at work… talk about uninspiring! After spending every single break pumping and only getting, on a good day, 5 ounces knowing your little one will sip that up in no time when you could have been cuddling with her instead of holding two plastic receptacles is just heartbreaking!
Maybe if I was in a more comfortable setting, like on a couch in a nice peaceful and quiet room with soft waterfall sound playing in the background (instead of in a hard upright chair, in my boss’s messy office, where I could hear people walking up and down the hall chatting about their next Statistics class) would have helped! So when I have my next babe, I hope the experience of pumping won’t be too bad. Hopefully I can load my freezer up on milk before I head back to work so I don’t have to pump during every spare minute I get at work. And hopefully now that I have my own, nicely organized and decorated, office where I can play whatever kind of music or noises I would like I will feel a bit more at ease when it comes to pumping at work. Did you choose to pump at work? How did it go and were you successful at it? Will you do it again if the opportunity arises?
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