Sarah from Toronto, Canada has also decided to share her breastfeeding story with us in honour of World Breastfeeding Week. Thank you Sarah for sharing your amazing story!
Here is her story:
I don’t remember much about how I felt about nursing before I had kids but I know that I wanted to do it. I wasn’t nursed as a baby and don’t think I really ever saw it. I do remember thinking that nursing a 3 year old was gross and if they could talk; they shouldn’t be on their mom’s boob. Well, after the birth of my daughter, all that changed.
During my first pregnancy, I was so scared that I wasn’t going to be able to nurse her that I went to see a nurse/consultant. I found it very embarrasing, but she assured me after a good long look, my boobs should work. Due to HELLP Syndrome my little girl was born very suddenly, 5 weeks early, via emergency c-section. Our nursing relationship did not start out well at all. She barely had any latch and no rooting reflex. I was nursing, pumping, finger feeding and had tubes attached to my nipples and nothing was working. The hospital did not allow us to use a bottle. She was not gaining well. I was an emotional mess, all while recovering from the c-section and HELPP syndrome. The first night when I was in the recovery room, still unaware of what was happening around me, a nurse introduced formula to my daughter and explained to my husband that all preemie’s need it. After that, when my husband went to get more from the fridge, the nurses gave him dirty looks for using formula. We got so many mixed messages from the staff at the hospital. I can’t remember how many people grabbed my boobs in those first few days of her life but it was too many. During our third day in the hospital, we decided to shut out all the nurses and consultants and figure it out ourselves; we found their secret stash of bottles and gave my poor boobs a break. We went home on day 4 and that was the end of formula. For the next 4 months, I pumped and we sterilized and pumped and sterilized and nursed whenever I could get the strength both physically and emotionally. During this time, I had mastitis and a horrible case of thrush. I saw doctors for both but never got treatment. I did have a mammogram for a lump which subsequently disappeared. During the fourth month, a quick and determined visit to Jack Newman followed by 2 weeks of treating my cracked, bleeding nipples with his APNO and Candida Protocol and my daughter and I were on our way to 3 1/2 years of a wonderful nursing relation. As much work as it took, it was worth it. In the end, I was sad but at the same time I was so proud that my firstborn self-weaned.
During my next pregnancy, I discovered that the condition that had caused me to have HELLP syndrome was called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and had up to a 90% recurrence in subsequent pregnancies, so I prepared to have another preemie. At 29 weeks gestation, I was diagnosed and decided that there was even more benefits to keeping my first baby nursing. She would keep up my milk supply and save me from THE PUMP! My son was born at 37 weeks and the milk was ample and ready to go. His first feed was within an hour of birth (c-section / failed VBAC). He latched himself on and literally gulped down his milk. When he was 2 days old, the doctors got concerned about his weight gain but I explained to them that he was having trouble breathing. That night they insisted on taking him away to the NICU and tube feed him formula. I did not want this to happen and explained that I had enough milk! They agreed to suction his nasal passage and see. Sure enough he was fine after that. He tandem nursed with his big sister until she weaned a year and a half later. They sometimes even held hands while nursing. He is going to be 3 1/2 years old in a few weeks and we’re talking about weaning, but I think it will still take him a while.
During my third pregnancy, I beat the odds and didn’t get Cholestasis. After a failed VBA2C at 41 weeks (a whole other story), my 2nd son was born via c-section and I was completely unconscious. My husband was well informed and knew exactly what I wanted for our baby. I came out of anesthetic and found my little nursling at the breast where he was meant to be. With the help of the nurse, my husband was able to latch him on. He’s nine months old now and I feel like our nursing relationship has only just begun. He sometimes nurses with his big brother but doesn’t yet hold his hand. They gaze into each other’s eyes. I can’t wait to hear his voice saying, “Mama, I want milk”.
Books that we have really enjoyed and would highly recommend:
- Michelle the Nursing Toddler, A Story About Sharing Love by Jane Pinczuic
- The Womenly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International
- Adventures in Tandem Nursing – Breast Feeding During Pregnancy and Beyond by Hilary Flower and Peggy O’Mara
Sarah’s Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/somedaysarah
