My own contribution to #WorldBreastfeedingWeek . It makes me sad to see that women have had such negative experiences with IBLC’s as mine was nothing but helpful. Here’s a story about our breastfeeding journey (a thread)

If you’ve followed me for any time, you’ll know that my daughter’s birth was anything but usual. We spent 19 days on antepartum due to preeclampsia followed by a c-section and a 37 day NICU stay this spring. We’re all healthy now and my 3 (!) month old daughter is doing

Since my daughter was so early, I was JUST starting to research breastfeeding so it was baptism by fire. I couldn’t see my baby until after I got off magnesium, so our hospital’s IBLC Kathy came to help me start pumping. She took this picture to remind me where we started:

Kathy told me, “your baby is coming home eventually. This is something you can do to get her there.” That gave me a goal to work for. So I kept pumping, and every day I went to the NICU with a lunch bag full of milk bottles, pumping enough for all the babies on the floor!

Every day we worked at getting her to nurse. A good friend of mine had gone through the #NICU experience a few years ago and her daughter never really got the hang of it. She advised me to insist that when I was there we’d try, even if it put her feeds schedule off a bit.

One of the hardest things about having a NICU baby is that during this crucial bonding time, you don’t get to bond in the privacy of your own home. You hold your baby of course, do little “mom” things, but all of those things can be interrupted by alarms or staff walking in...

... and as much as they can make it somewhat home-y, you can’t sit comfortably like you would at home and nurse. All in all, I never was able to get a good latch. Even with the aid of what I leaned to lovingly call the:

Honestly, we didn’t figure out the latch until we got home. And even then, my daughter had a lip and tongue tie so it was always uncomfortable and awkward. (We eventually had it revised)

In the meantime I grew to be particularly spiteful to those who said “have you thought about formula?” Or my least favorite, “well, once you start breastfeeding...”

Not formula shaming in the least, btw. We still fortify a lot of our expressed milk to boost her calorie content and I find that this helps her sleep a bit longer. I am a big proponent of “fed is best”, even though I will always support a mother who wants to breastfeed.

By the way... If the milk came from your breast, you are breastfeeding!!! Don’t let anyone suggest otherwise. #NationalBreastfeedingMonth #WorldBreastfeedingWeek

My struggle to nurse at made me feel like I was less of a woman. The more women I’ve talked to about this, the more I’ve found others who’ve felt this way. Motherhood can be so isolating; it’s helpful when you can relate with others in your struggles.

Eventually with a lot of practice and patience, we figured it out. Our newest challenge will be adapting a schedule for work. I’ll still pump to/from the office, luckily I have a very supportive work environment that I’m able to pump in my office.

I guess my point with this thread is to help #normalizebreastfeeding. We should all support milk producers in whatever challenges they encounter. Honestly, I think it’s pretty cool that my body does this, and despite our challenges, it’s been awesome to see our kiddo grow!