Nursing didn't go well for me the first time around. Bella and I both had our own issues, so I pumped exclusively for 4 months. It was horrible. I felt so trapped by the pump! I felt like I couldn't leave to go anywhere because I would have to turn right back around to pump again. Add a colicky baby to the mix, and I was just a mess.
Experience is a great friend. It can help you learn if you want to learn from it. I look at things so differently now. I was so determined to nurse Bella. It was one of my greatest disappointments not being able to. I felt like I was less of a woman and a mom, even though I knew I wasn't. I still felt like it. Everything I had read before her birth told me that it was supposed to be natural. Well, it's not! My body naturally produced it, but getting it in her was a new experience for both of us. I finally read one little book (it came with the formula diaper bag they gave me at the hospital) that said that it could take up to 8 weeks for a baby to learn how to latch on correctly. Why hadn't anyone told me that!?!
After 4 months of pumping, we went to formula. Life became so much easier!! Sure we had to mix it and make sure that we had it, but I wasn't trapped at home anymore. She is a happy, healthy girl. She really is hardly ever sick.
Now, Brennan is nursing well. It hurt really bad at first. For a while. I'm glad that I stuck it out, though. Now my concerns are if my milk is ok, if he's getting enough. He eats every 2 hours during the day, no matter how I try to get him to go longer. At least I don't have to pump. And he goes a lot longer between feedings at night.
Before I know it, this nursing stage will be over. He'll be running around with Bella. I want to enjoy this experience.
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