𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗

When I had my first child I was adamant to breastfeed him

He was born a big baby – almost a 10 pounds baby – 4.2 KG

I had a C-Section and I knew that the whole breastfeeding after a C-section wasn’t going to be so straight forward

But I thought babies were born knowing how to breastfeed🤔

In 2 days my nipples were bleeding

I left the hospital and kept persisting but things didn’t get any better

My baby was losing weight and

He screamed from 6 pm to 1 am every day which was exhausting, draining and to be honest it was driving my husband and I crazy…

Every time it was time to breastfeed him,

I would bite my lip because it was incredibly painful…😥

At about 6 weeks I went to see a lactation consultant

Yes I could have reached out for help sooner

(But I am stubborn and I thought I knew best)😬

When the lactation consultant saw me breastfeeding my son…

She told me:

“𝘖𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭?”

I was doing everything wrong…

I spent 6 weeks doing what I thought it was my best

But it was all wrong…

My nipples were bleeding…

My baby didn’t sleep..

And he was probably hungry…

I remember getting in the car with my husband’s dad and his wife who were here visiting and saying…

“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜”

I felt like a failure…

So I dusted my pride off…

I pull myself together…

Bought myself a “nipple shield” and started all over again…

It took about 3 weeks for my nipples to heal…

I breastfed my son for 1.5 years

It was one of the most special times for me as a mum

But the lesson here is…

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹…

𝗪𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻…

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿…

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵…

𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥

𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀🙌🏼

PS: By the way, when he grows up I am pretty sure nobody is going to ask him: have you been breastfed?😂