For those who know me, you won't be surprised when I say I've never been a big fan of breastfeeding. I've had legitimate issues with it and I've also had the superficial ones. However, I always push through it for the sake of my babies. I do agree it's the best milk to give them even if there are hurdles for me to get through in order to do it. I've had my fair share of mastitis (NOT a fun time) and I'm convinced my "milking system" is faulty. It works but apparently not as easily as some other mothers systems. ;)
Having said that, this third time must be a charm. It wasn't necessarily smooth sailing but it was BETTER. I'm convinced mostly because I had the chance to nurse Brooklyn RIGHT after she was born. Like within minutes. So she knew how to naturally latch and I was less frazzled (since she is my third) and we got off to a great start. There was definitely still a learning curve for the first month or so before we could say we were old pro's at it. I also went into it telling myself if it works...we'll ride the wave as long as we can....if it doesn't we will switch to formula. Mostly, I assured myself I wouldn't put any "Mommy Guilt" on me (or let others). For the most part it worked. She never forgot her latch, my chest eventually healed from the initial blisters/sore-ness, and she was a quick eater (I was very thankful for that).
We made it almost six whole months! That's a record for me folks! Addison made it three months and Jonas made it to two months. Both of them gave me a couple bouts of mastitis too. Luckily, we escaped mastitis this time around as well. However, about mid-way through the process I did have decreased production on one side and eventually went to nursing strictly from one side. It made for an interesting "proportion arrangement" but hey...it worked! However, by the time I hit 5 1/2 months I started entertaining the idea of weaning. I wasn't entirely sure I was producing enough to keep her full and I was growing weary of only having one side of milk production. Plus, I'm sure there were some superficial reasons in there too. But no "Mommy guilt" this time!
I quickly realized that in order to make the switch to formula we were going to have to go cold turkey. She wasn't a fan of the taste and for a baby who already knew how to drink pumped milk from a bottle, she all the sudden seemed to "forget" how to drink from a bottle when formula was involved. Little stinker. And let me tell you, it was a BATTLE to make the switch. We went for almost a full 20 hours before she finally succumbed to the formula bottle. I literally had to try giving it to her every hour on the hour for 20 hours until she got so hungry she wolfed it down in seconds. I was a nervous wreck. I kept researching to make sure that she wouldn't starve to death. Logically it made sense but I was not in a very logical mindset during this time. Plus, the lack of sleep didn't help. She seemed to sleep fine on an empty stomach. I was the one waking up every few minutes to make sure she was still breathing. Needless to say, I did a silent victory dance at 4:00 am when she decided she was hungry enough to choke down that formula. And she hasn't batted an eye at it since. I'm loving the convenience of formula and the fact that Daddy (and anyone else for that matter) can give her the bottle. I'm grateful that we were able to last so long with nursing this time around and that I pushed through my hesitations and did it so well and so long even considering the hiccups along the way.
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