I was surprised at how easy this all became after the initial week or two of discomfort. After she got the latch down and after my nipples and breasts adjusted then it seemed to be smooth sailing. No problems at all! And it surprised me just as much how easy it would be for her to wean. I really didn’t have a set date in mind, only that I wanted to get past her first birthday. I’m so glad we did.
The hardest thing about breastfeeding for me has been the ability to involve my husband. There was literally nothing he could do in the beginning, and that led to many times where I couldn’t leave the house outside of a 3-4 hour window, simply because I was the only one who could comfort her (and of course she would eat through all the pumped milk any time I left, leaving my husband helpless). It led to some frustration between my husband and I, but I was so glad that he provided a supportive environment and never pushed bottles or supplementing on me. I think it’s important to involve daddy in different ways, like bath time, and play time, so that he feels like he is a part of this all. Even during the night wakings, we would take turns waking up and bringing her into the bed to nurse. Now I think daddy is her favorite.
This is great! I'm a teacher, too, expecting my first baby in September. It's comforting to know that other teachers are able to pump at work; that's one of my biggest concerns with breastfeeding.
This is great!! 🙂 I seriously get more obsessed with this feature every week! 🙂
Thank you for sharing Meg! I'm also a teacher, and it's nice to know that pumping at school can be done. I'll have to go back to work when my baby is about 6 weeks old (I"m due beginning of July, and school starts at the end of August) so I"m nervous about it. But your post gives me hope that I too can successfully breastfeed my baby and work full time.
Nice post. It sounds like you had a wonderful breastfeeding experience.Being prepared and having a supportive family make a difference. Thanks for sharing and offering encouragement to other mothers
Thank you so much for having me, Julie!!! I am so glad to be a part of this series and I am glad to help other teachers!
Love this series! It's great to see other moms breastfeeding and pumping and it making it so far! My breastfeeding journey has been going for a strong 8 months and I'm still obsessed! Thank you for sharing!
love this! I would love to do a post sometime!
this is such a wonderful series! two of my friends recently just had babies and i told them how this is a must-read since they plan on breastfeeding. thanks meg for sharing your story!