Sunday, September 11, 2011

We made it!

-This is a breastfeeding post, so if you don't want to read about my boobies stop here-

We have hit the 3 month mark and according to BabyCenter that gives me a Bronze Booby Award! I still plan on continuing to breastfeed but making this far is an accomplishment in itself for me.

When we started out Mason was lazy, he didn't want to latch for more than 10 seconds. It seemed like once the milk came he thought he could just open his mouth and let it flow in. Once the milk stopped he would scream and shake his head making it near impossible to get him back on. Imagine how frustrating this was every. single. feeding. We spent way to much time trying to get one feeding it and I was an emotional wreck as he just screamed. I was also tired from lack of sleep.

After he figured out how to eat we hit our next hurdle; pumping. If i was to return to work and we were strictly wanting to breastfeed I was going to have to pump. I asked a few people I knew pumped what was the best way to go about this. I only needed to pump once or twice a day considering my work schedule is just 3-4 hours a day. Of course everybody had different answers as when to pump. I was confused and just went at it. At first it hurt and nothing was coming out. I spent days using the wrong size shields pumping in pain to get zero results. After I did some researching and ordered the right parts things started getting better.

It seemed as though breastfeeding was going to work out until we hit our growth weeks at 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Mason was nursing almost hourly day and night. I was exhausted to say the least, why wasn't he getting enough? Was this eating pattern going to continue and for how long? Not only was I still tired but I no time for anything but feeding Mason. I was at a breaking point. I wanted to give him a bottle. Luckily this past and he slowly got into a routine of eating.

Our last challenge was sleeping at night. Mason was up every 2 hours and sometimes more frequently until just lately, as in days ago. He was constantly getting up to be nursed, obviously he wasn't getting enough. I contemplated supplementing a formula bottle before bed just so I could get some sleep. Everyday when I picked Mason up from my moms we would talk about it and every day i would leave saying tonight I am trying a formula bottle and I never did. I was constantly talking myself out of it. I didn't want him on formula, there is nothing wrong with it and for all you moms who do formula feed that's great, it is what works for you!

I am so happy and proud for sticking with it through all our troubles. I am happy I was not selfish and gave into my needs, although sleep is pretty essential. I can honestly say it was all worth it and I am a proud breastfeeding mama! Here's to more months of mommy-mason-boob time!

1 comment:

  1. I am so glad you stuck with it - and congrats on your Bronze Boobies!
    I went through similar thought processes with Alex. He was allergic to so many things (he was reacting to what was in my breastmilk) and I considered switching him over to formula. Several times. I just reallllly wanted to be able to nurse him, though. And, the only formulas he'd be able to drink were super expensive. Alex, too, was up every 2 hours in the middle of the night and wanted to be nursed back to sleep, and he had colic.
    I was so glad I stuck with it as he loved nursing. He actually nursed until around this time last year! Call or e-mail if you want to talk!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your thoughts about my post!