Hi everyone! My name is Meghan I am 27 years old, and I am blessed to be the mommy of 18 month old, Molly! I am proud to say we are still breastfeeding and there are no signs of stopping right now. Our blog(and YouTube channel) is called Mollysworld525. I decided to name it that because I am a first time mom and well, Molly is my entire world. Life does completely change after giving birth and I find it hard remembering what it was like before Molly made her entrance! I blog about anything from breastfeeding to toddler crafts. It is really just my online journal of mommy hood.
My decision to breastfeed was not an easy one. I didn’t really have any support in the choice other then my OB and my husband. Both my mother and mother-in-law did not breastfeed, so they had no advice to help me in my decision. I found myself flip flopping back and forth until I really started doing my own research. I have to give a lot of credit to Judy and Benji Travis from YouTube’s “”It’s Judys Life””. I learned so much from their journey and their updates and it really helped me with my decision to breastfeed. Through them I found an entire mom community on YouTube that I am so grateful for!
I am still breastfeeding Molly on demand. In the beginning it felt she was constantly attached to my breast and she couldn’t get enough. My insurance covered my pump but they didn’t send it to us until she was almost 3 months old, because of this Molly never took a bottle or a pacifire. It was like she didn’t know what to do with them. OH and did I mention the reflux? That was another added stress because I was always afraid that she wasn’t getting any nutrients because she kept throwing it up! I thought it was my fault, I just had to be doing something wrong. That really made things even harder for me. I felt weak, tired, and extremely emotional. I constantly wanted to give up so, I decided to set goals for myself starting with one month, then one month turned into 3 months to 6 and now we have made it 18!
For me that has been the most challenging and rewarding part of my journey. Considering the obstacles we faced, making it to 18 months is a huge deal for me. I am proud of myself ! I thought once she turned one that we would be done. I don’t know why I thought that would be the magic number it obviously wasn’t and you know what? That’s ok! My girl is beautiful, happy, healthy, and loved. The amount of time breastfed or if I had chosen to do formula wouldn’t change those facts.
With that being said, my advice for any new mom is to take a deep breath and just be proud. Proud that you were able to bring a miracle into this world. Child birth (natural, c-section, epidural, no epidural) is an accomplishment and just know that you will probably make mistakes but you are doing great job. I learned quickly not to compare myself to other moms. That is critical in keeping my sanity. Every parent and child is different. How long someone breastfeeds their child is not a competition. Breastfeeding for 18 months does not make me a better mother then someone who only did 6 months. No matter then length be proud! Try hard not to beat yourself up over every little thing.
In closing I would like to address all the parents out there who, for what ever reason, chose formula. It’s ok! I offer you the same advice I offered breastfeeding moms. Be proud! It doesn’t make you a bad parent. I do not judge you and I hope that you do not judge me. I am passionate about normalizing breastfeeding but, I have come across a lot of moms on social media bashing each other. We can not expect results if we are bashing formula using mommas or mommas who supplement. We all have choices and we should support each other. Being a mom is tough stuff and I encourage all moms to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story, as I enjoy reading all of yours . I look forward to making some new mommy friends!
Be sure to catch up with the rest of the Breastfeeding Diaries at the top of my navigation bar.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to share my story with your readers!