Breastfeeding...the good, the bad, the ugly

Are you thinking about breastfeeding? Let me tell you that in no way am I telling you what to do or am I medically trained. I'm just giving you tips of what I've learned jn hopes that one day it will help you.

The Good...

It's amazing. One of my favorite parts is our bonding time. My husband doesn't get to experience this. I love just being able to look at baby W and know I'm providing for him. Providing for your baby is one of the most satisfying things. I am extremely grateful that I can because I know how hard it is. It's also stressful but it's all worth it. 
I also love that Baby W will hold my hand. At 2 in the morning when I'm exhausted and he's hungry and you just want to sleep---having him hold my hand makes up for the fact that I am going to pass out while breast feeding...
I also love the fact that the first time I saw baby W smile was when he was breastfeeding. Okay...I know, he was probably farting or pooping but it was still a gumless cute smile! <3 (Btw...my munchkin poops 6-10 times a day. When he's eating- he poops during. I know this is weird but it makes me happy that he is pooping because I know he is healthy and his digestive system is working)
I lost so much weight. So my entire pregnancy I only gained 23 lbs. Baby W came out 5 lbs 13 oz. Once I started to breast feed, I lost all but 5 pounds! I truly despise exercising so it worked out really well that the breast feeding helped lose the weight!
  

The Bad...

He will bite you. He's not being vindictive and biting because you are not producing enough milk. Honestly, he only bit me when he was extremely hungry and wanted food immediately. 

Have you heard about the growth spurts? I will blog about that completely a different day. However, let me tell you this- when you are breast feeding and your munchkin goes through a growth spurt and they are feeding every HOUR [but feels like every minute] you will need to persevere and say I will get through this! It's only 24 hours!! I CAN HANDLE THIS! The growth spurts suck but there is great reasoning behind it. They eat every hour so they can get your body to produce the amount of milk needed for them.

Boredom. I know this is selfish of me but I have the slowest eater. He goes so slow that he falls asleep. He also could fall asleep as he's waiting for milk to come in. What do I do while he's breast feeding and my husband is sleeping? I play solitaire. I try not to play with baby W because then it will wake him up and out of his dream feed which is exactly what I don't want.

Are you doing it correctly? I had some complications after the birth and I was in the hospital for one extra day. Because of that I had 14 nurses between me and baby W. Not one nurse said I was nursing baby W correctly. One lady finally told me that I was producing colostrum. [YIPPEE] But one hour lady the next nurse told I would NEVER be able to breast feed. [I cried for an hour]. She said my nipples were "weird" and his palette was far back that he would not be able to latch. She told me I would be exclusively pumping, and I did for almost a week. I give credit to those moms who exclusively pump.  I would pump, and turn around and he would eat. Finally his pediatrician told me about the nipple shields from Medela. Guess what...they worked!I am happy to say that I am up to 5 oz each pump!!! 




Thirsty. I don't know if I'm crazy but I am so thirsty all of the time. I get even thirstier when I am feeding him. I have no idea if it's normal but I drink a ton of water and a ton of gatorade. I also know that in order to make milk you need to drink water or gatorade. Try to cut caffeine out or limit it to a small can. By all means...remember to eat! You will get super dizzy and sick because you're not eating.

When your baby cries...your boobs will feel it before you possibly even hear it. All of the sudden they will feel very tense and you may feel them leaking. If you don't get that baby on or pumping the pain will intensify. 




The ugly...

Your nipples will bleed or crack. I have not had this because I used several things to not allow this. I go to European Wax Center to buy their Slow It Body Wash. It's a hydrating product and it is amazing. Even if you don't get waxed (you can't in your 3rd trimester) you can still use the body wash. This helped me avoid bleeding and cracking along with Earth Mama's Nipple Butter.Click here to buy from Amazon. You can get it form Target, Buy Buy Baby, and Babies R Us.

The judging. I am going to add in there the "mom-shaming." I've been out in public several times and I am a mom that breast feeds and I also supplement. When we were in the hospital, they told me I was not producing colostrum so I had to supplement. Because of that when we are out in public, I am able to give baby W formula or a bottle of breast milk. Do you know that women [yes, plural] have walked past me and made RUDE comments about what I'm doing to my child. Mommy shaming will be brought up in a different post but watch this amazing video by Similac.

Mommy Shaming by Similac






There will be times you will want to cry, scream, stomp your foot and give up! 

Don't! You can do it! Don't be embarrassed, don't think you can't do it. Trust me! You can do it! If you put your mind to it, you will be able to do anything. Will it be stressful? Duh-having a baby is not easy! However, you can do it.




I hope this helps you realize you are not alone when it comes to breast feeding. Do you have any thing you would add to the Good, Bad, and the Ugly list? Leave it below in your comments box!