Wow! As I sit here typing this all out, I have come to realize that I will begin yet another breastfeeding adventure in 2 days! I haven't nursed a baby in...5 years!! At least I know this time the challanges that may lay ahead of me.
Thinking back to 2004 when I had my son, it was so unfamiliar. Thank GOD that I had taken time to actually sit and read up on breastfeeding. The La Leche League Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book was on my coffee table, and I used it religiously. Everytime my son would squeak or fuss at the breast, I'd have to thumb through the book to see what could be wrong.
"Why is he eating every 5 minutes!?" (running to consult the infamous book). Of course, I didn't take everything in that book seriously. I mean, even for me, that book was a little too serious and even ridiculous at times.
Why am I making this blog? Well, as a huge pro-breastfeeding mama, I wanted to sort of document my breastfeeding trials and tribulations. I wanted a place where people can read about the ups and downs, and get straight forward answers to questions from a 'real' person and not medical mumbo jumbo that has been Googled.
I am taking classes through Childbirth International to become a breastfeeding counselor. I am studying the composition of breastmilk, how breastmilk is made by the body, and everything else that comes along with it. It's sort of become a passion or obsession (if you want to call it that) to expose others to breastfeeding.
I wasn't always a breastfeeding mama. In fact, my 1st two children were bottle fed, formula babies. I was 22 when I had my first child. I didn't read up on nursing, but I knew that I wanted to do it because afterall, its best for babies! Yeah. I made it maybe one day in the hospital nursing, then cried desperately to the nurses to give me formula. My baby was big ( 9 lbs 2 oz) and was seriously crying at the top of his lungs, even right after feedings. As soon as he got that bottle of Similac, a hush fell over the room, and this first time mama was happy!
Because of that experience, I didn't even attempt to nurse baby #2 19 mos later. Eventhough by the time my milk had come in after having her, I could've probably fed an entire small village somewhere, I wasn't about to try it. I was scared.
Baby #3 was a breeze. Now, I will admit, I did have my 'Oh my God, he's wanting to eat every hour' freak out moment. I did call my husband from the hospital at 1 am crying because eventhough the baby had just eaten, he was crying again to eat. I was 7 hours post partum. I needed sleep! In reality, what was my husband going to do? Come to the hospital and nurse the baby? I just needed someone to vent to. Someone to gripe to. At 1 am, who else was I going to call (that wouldn't mind me calling at 1 am)?
After my new mama again freak out mode passed, I was able to successfully nurse him for 16 months. I am sure we would've had a longer nursing time, but it was my desire to persue becoming a surrogate mom, so we needed to wean in order to begin that process.
Speaking of becoming a surrogate mom- after I had my surrogate daughter, I did pump for a short time for her. I was able to ship her 480 oz of frozen breastmilk!
Now that I am getting ready to give birth in 2 days to my 4th child, I want to be sure to document every moment of our nursing experience.
My blog is entitled "Breastmilk is the best milk". I have bought a domain that I will also be making to encorporate a link to my blog, as well as post email questions and answers to breastfeeding questions onto the website. As I sit around "nak" (nursing at keyboard) when time allows, I plan on creating a website for new and seasoned breastfeeders to come to, to get advice, to chat with other nursing moms, to obtain the answers they are looking for, and possibly even find a needed milk donor or a milk recipient for their breastmilk!
I ask you, to make this a success, PLEASE pass on the link to my blog! Please become a follower! If you have any questions related to breastfeeding, please email me and ask me. I will take all emails and compile them into a Q&A session where I will post my answers every Friday for the week.
I hope you enjoy following my journey!
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