Tuesday, March 11, 2008

My relationship with breastfeeding

Lotus over at sarcastic mom posted today on Breastfeeding, and encouraged her readers to participate. Since I have two kids, I'll give you both stories!

When pregnant with Nathalie I was only 23(for the first month, and then 24) and although I didn't know much about parenting beyond my experiences babysitting in High School, I knew without question that I wanted to breastfeed my baby. At Nathalie's birth she inhaled some fluid, so after a few minutes of holding her, my husband followed her to the NICU. I repeatedly told them I was planning on nursing and please not to feed her formula. Our first nursing session went well, but not great, but I was a first time mommy and I knew it would take work. Despite my wishes, she was supplemented in the NICU. Nathalie and I struggled through a nursing relationship for the following 6 months, at which point we just couldn't do it anymore. Looking back I feel I didn't try hard enough, and I regret this beyond belief.

When pregnant with William I was more determined than the last time to make our nursing relationship work. Almost immediately following his birth he was attached to my boob! (HE is a boy after all). William and I had an amazing nursing relationship, I pumped as much as possible as I had to return to work when he was just 4 months old, which was when the real strain came in Nathalie and my nursing relationship. William was a trooper though, and he loved the booby milk. He and I continued our nursing relationship until he was 17.5 months old, because our nursing relationship was straining our regular relationship.

Please all you nursing mamas out there share your breastfeeding story then stop by Lotus' site and link your post!

1 comment:

Rebecca :-) said...

I was interested to read your blog. As a parent you may be interested in being part of a university study I'm involved with. It’s about how infants and children develop. It wouldn’t take much of your time, and it’s a great way to contribute to knowledge by reporting on your own experiences. For more details go to the following address after copying it into your browser window, www.babysleepstudy.org or go to www.milestonesresearch.org and click on "Baby Sleep." Best wishes, Rebecca