Whether you breast feed, pump or bottle feed as long as your baby is getting what it needs that it the most important thing.
Whilst other areas of my pregnant and birth didn’t go to plan I was very lucky that breast feeding eventually became easy for me… but it wasn’t always that way.
When I came out of surgery the first thing they did was to put Leo on my breast – it was weird because not only was I coming round from major surgery after an all night labour, there was an urgency to get him fed, which scared the hell out of me. He latched on and had about 20 minutes on and off.
The first few days were strange as I was feeding on demand, and it’s not like my baby was a normal size baby – he was 10lb 3oz, so with my very fresh c section wound, holding him in the right position was really difficult, not to mention picking him up.
After proving several times more than I needed to, to the midwifes at the hospital that I could feed my baby properly, I was allowed home.
The first week was the worst. It was a mixture of post birth exhaustion, waking up for night feeds, recovering from surgery and my nipples had never been so sore in my life.
It took a little while for my milk to come through, so Leo dropped to 9lb 9oz in the first week. I felt down about that as I knew I had been feeding him enough, so it felt like a bit of a fail on my behalf.
The visiting midwife was great, she taught me how to breast feed in a new position laying down – which made it easier with my c section wound.
Why they didn’t teach me that at the hospital is a mystery! It would have been so much less painful.
After two weeks one of my boobs was to sore to feed on, so I enlisted the help of my new best friend Elvie. This just relieved me for a few days until my breast had recovered.
This wonderful device is also a life saver if you are running out of time, as you can feed on the go, plus also I was never sure about the glass of wine rule? They say you can have 1 glass and then you have to wait 2 hours until you can feed again.
Elvie is also good if you want to pump in advance so that you can store feeds in the fridge – then if you have to go out and leave your baby with a sitter or if you want to have a few drinks you can.
See my Elvie post here > http://mamaduk.com/the-elvie-range-pioneering-smarter-technology-for-women/
As I found my own routine, I started feeding Leo every 3-4 hours (and currently still do). I found this method of feeding most helpful, as it gave me 3-4 hour windows where I could get things done. It also put Leo in more of a routine and he was less demanding – but every one is different so you have to do what works for you.
I feel incredibly lucky that I am still feeding Leo at 7 months – as it is what I wanted initially, however, I prepared myself for a different outcome, and if that had of been the case we would have adapted. Who knows maybe next time it might not be so easy?
No matter what way you end up feeding your baby – my best bit of advice would be to not let anyone pressure you. This is your journey so make your own choices.
