Stephanie's Story

During my pregnancy, my husband and I talked about the feeding options and money was pretty tight then so we originally were deciding to try to breastfeed because it was free. But as my pregnancy went on and I started talking to a few mothers I know who have breastfed, I started to learn more about all the benefits of breastfeeding and I truly knew I wanted to do what I could to make our breastfeeding journey a success.

Not many people in my hometown back in Ohio breastfeed and if they do they don't really talk about it. My biggest motivator was my aunt, who breastfed her youngest for a year. My initial goal was 6 months but I think in the back of my mind I had a goal of one year.

Once I decided this was what I wanted to do, I wanted to make it the whole year without any formula (a goal we did achieve!)

After she turned one year in mid-April, I decided to start slowly introducing a little cows milk to some of my pumped milk in her sippy with meals. I also switched to meals first then nursing afterwards if she wants. Right now she only nurses about 4 times a day so I am hoping we can slowly wean the daytime feedings and then eventually wean the morning. I'm a little torn on the bedtime feeding since I really like our bond and she does sleep amazingly (12 hours straight) when we nurse at bedtime.

Eventually we will wean entirely, which I have mixed feelings about, but we plan on trying for a second baby at the end of the year and I'm pretty sure I want her to be weaned by then. I know people nurse through pregnancy with no issues but I also hear a lot of people have a dip in supply and some even have pain so I would just rather deal with pregnancy on its own. This is what I am going to try to do but obviously this all depends on how well she does with the transition to cows milk.

I would say our breastfeeding journey has been fairly easy in comparison to other stories. Luckily! I mean in the beginning it was tough because of the learning curve. She latched at the hospital well but it hurt getting used to it. We had an amazing support system through the hospital with knowledgeable LCs. They even offered a program called Wee Steps. Which we attended a couple of one on one sessions with one of the LCs to help with positioning and holds well as making sure she was getting enough to eat. It was nice to ask all the questions I had at the beginning. Then I started attending their support group up until my daughter was about 6 months old. I loved going because we could weigh her before and after the feeds, ask any questions, plus I met so many other moms and their babies!

Anyway, I do remember at the beginning sitting in bed, sore and tired in the middle of the night after Hubby brought her to me and just crying because it hurt so badly. That eventually got better and she started sleeping longer stretches which helped me heal a little more.

Around 4 months I got a bleb/milk blister and the pain had returned but the LC gave me advice on how to help it heal and encouraged me to nurse through it. She told me to rub breastmilk on it and let it completely dry before buckling up my nursing bra, try some lanolin and keep nursing since that will help it break free. I also used coconut oil and tee tree oil, I believe, because I read that somewhere those help. 

Then around 8/9 months. I woke up one morning with a sharp burning pain in my nipple which kind of reminded me of when I had the bleb but then I nursed her and it was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life (I never experienced labor since I had an emergency c-section so I don't have that to compare to).

It hurt so bad that I remember screaming and then crying and my husband running out to the living room wondering what was going on. My daughter looked at me concerned but continued nursing. I suffered through that feeding but later when I tried the left side again it was even worse and I couldn’t bear it.

I messaged my LC and she told me that I should try to nurse through it and get in to see my doc but if I absolutely couldn't take nursing that I could try to pump or hand express. Well this was a Friday late afternoon and I knew I wouldn't be able to get in to my OB until Monday and I just couldn't wait that long so I called and made an appointment with my regular doc for Saturday morning.

I couldn't even stand anything touching it so I found these shield things I had at the beginning and wore that under my nursing bra so nothing touched it! I was thinking thrush but the next day the doctor told me that wasn't it and that it was the beginnings of mastitis. I was shocked since the pain was only in my nipple and I didn't have any other symptoms like fever or lumps but she gave me a prescription for it.

I didn't nurse on the left side for a couple of days and couldn't pump either since that hurt just as bad so I was only hand expressing which wasn't doing much because I was getting so engorged. I ended up having the Hubby help me hand express after a hot shower because it was getting so bad and I didn't want to get a clogged duct. I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband! Anyway, that helped and the meds started kicking in so luckily I was able to start nursing on that side again. Pain was still there for a few more days but more tolerable so I nursed through it because I knew that was the best thing for me.

My aunt also helped and it was nice I had someone to talk to besides the husband. The badass breast feeders Facebook group also helped as I read almost everyone's posts and have even asked for advice a couple of times myself. Other than physical support, my husband also helped me mentally too. When he sensed any stress he would offer a message (or buy me one) and he would really help with house duties as well as doing everything he could for our daughter to help give me a break. That was and still is huge because it helped me from getting so overwhelmed at times!

I am so thankful of how supportive he is, especially because we are new to Colorado and all our family is in Ohio. Being out here has definitely helped a ton too because I just feel breastfeeding is so much more acceptable and supported here! There is no support groups in the area we are from and I wouldn't say my family is against it, they supported me in my decision but I have never felt comfortable nursing around them as I don't think they are comfortable with it.

It is always nice to hear my husband stand up for it and talk about all the benefits of breastfeeding to everyone while I'm in another room nursing and he thinks I can't hear him. And if someone does ask me about it, I find myself doing the same thing. I try to advocate for it without shoving it down people's throats because I try to remember that everyone can make their own choice and you never know their reasons behind their choice so I don't judge!

I love the immediate bond I felt with her the day she was born and latched for the first time. I love rocking her to sleep while she fills her tummy! I love how natural it is and how it keeps her healthy. We went 11 months without an illness and I truly believe it's from the antibodies she gets through my milk! I love that when she is sick or hurt that she can come to me and nurse and she is instantly calmed down.

At the beginning I was very shy and was always hiding and covering. I did feed her once standing up in the bathroom when we were out to eat when she was about a week old. That was the first and last time I ever did that! Looking back I can't believe I was ever that shy about it! I wouldn't say I'm brave enough to just whip it out in front of someone but I hardly ever cover up now.

I am still modest about it and usually do the two shirt trick and kind of tuck my shirt down to cover as much as possible. I would say our nursing photography session was the first time with so many people around and it was kind of liberating. Focusing on my daughter and the pictures made me forget about all the people around and not care what anyone was thinking. I definitely started feeling more comfortable with nursing in public (cover or not) or even just in front of family, the longer I breastfed and now that we are past a year in I just don't really care as much anymore.

I would highly recommend finding a support group to attend weekly! It has been a huge part of my success. It is nice knowing you are in a room full of mothers in the same boat, that you can ask the lactation consultants any questions or concerns that have come up during the week, it's nice to be able to do a weighed feeding to know how much baby is getting and it's also nice to just get out of the house and be social. It's especially helpful if you don't have any other form of knowledgeable support in your life. I mean, my husband was/is very supportive of me but he just didn't know anything about it. 

I would like to thank Colorado for being pretty breastfeeding friendly. If I were still living in northwest Ohio I'm not sure we would have been as successful as we have been. The multiple ways of receiving support out here is incredible. If we ever move back to our hometown in Ohio, I would love to set up a support group to help encourage other mothers.

Feel free to comment below with complications or successes you have had. If you would like to share your story with images and a blog (you can write it or I can) please contact me here. I can’t want to meet you and your littles.