Got breast milk?

Breastfeeding was how I nourished my son for the first 12 months. It was not easy, but with a ton of assistants from two public health nurses, encouragement from my sister-in-law and a helpful email from a supportive friend, I learned how to do it correctly. After a struggle for about 14 days and some cracked and bleeding nipples, I actually learned to love giving my son the boob.

My milk came in when I was 35 weeks pregnant. I was soaking through my t-shirt. I honestly thought it was my body telling me that my baby boy was going to arrive early. Nope. He didn't. 41 weeks plus 1 day later, via emergency C-section, he eventually did.

Anyways, being numb waist down post-surgery I had no control of my body. Nor did I know how to breastfeed. The nurses would latch Baby L to my nipple every time he needed a feed. They were kind enough to do that for me during my whole four day stay at the hospital; however, once I arrived home it all changed. I no longer knew how to feed him. It hurt. It sucked. I cried. I wanted to give up and wanted to give him formula. We gave him formula the first night because he didn't poop. He had jaundice, so I had to feed him hourly to get him to put on weight (he was only 5.9lbs), and to get his liver working to poop. You can imagine my ordeal with painfully sore nipples, no sleep due to the hourly feeds and in post-partum caesarean pain. I remember a ton of sleepless nights, sadness and confusion. But one day, after tons of research online, talking to nurses, sis-in-law and friends, I figured it out. I was only giving him my nipple, not the entire boob. Ha ha, oops. My bad.

After that, it was awesome. I could snuggle and cuddle him and enjoy nursing. I finally felt that I could feed my kid and not feel like a failure. Over-time, we both got used to it and it created precious moments for the two of us to share.

Now, it's done and I miss it. I was shocked how fast his transition to whole milk was. He didn't even notice the change. But I did. It was and still is a little sad for me that my little bundle of joy is now a toddler. Not only is the closeness that I miss, but the ease of clipping his claws is gone too!

Lastly, breastmilk was not only used to feed my son but I also used it to bathe him as well. A few friends recommended a milk bath for his dry skin and cradle cap. It helped a lot. I squirted breastmilk onto my sore nipples and let it air dry too. It created a shield over them, which helped.