Happy World Breastfeeding Week 🌎🤱🏻🤱🏼🤱🏽🤱🏾🤱🏿❤️

To both my current and former breastfeeding mommas, milk makers, nursers, pumpers, breasties…HAPPY WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK! I’m with you on this journey and I SALUTE you for all you do for your babies🤱🏻🤱🏼🤱🏽🤱🏾🤱🏾🍼🍼🍼🍼

-I have nothing against mommas who do not breastfeed! This is just my personal journey and it made me so admirable of all breastfeeding mommas, but I am so supportive of all of you! All that matters is that BOTH momma and baby are happy and healthy ❤️-

I knew when I started No Comma Momma that I would want to share my breastfeeding journey–And what better time than now?!

If you’ve ever breastfed, then you understand how much HARD WORK us mommas have to put in. Even though our bodies were designed to produce milk and feed our babies, I’ve met very few people who thought breastfeeding just came “naturally” to them. Between the milk blebs, blood blisters, creased nipples, clogs, cluster feeding, (at many times) EXCRUCIATING, tear-jerking pain, and mental breakdowns, breastfeeding probably felt like the most unnatural thing I’ve ever done…Well, at least for the first two and half months of my son’s life. And unfortunately, no lactation consultant, video tutorial, or any of the many tips and tricks out there seemed to be able to change that.

I always knew I wanted to breastfeed because of all of the undoubtedly amazing benefits from it, but what I didn’t realize at first was how strong my commitment to it was. No matter what new challenge came my way, I would not give up! First my son was born at 36 weeks, then we found out he had low blood sugar levels, then jaundice, then dropping from 5lbs 5oz to 4lbs 9oz. I had so many people ranging from friends to doctors telling us that it was okay to give him formula– and I agree, it would’ve been okay if we gave him formula (because fed IS best), but that was not what I wanted. I wanted to have a successful and exclusive breastfeeding journey.

At the hospital my husband would hand express the tiniest drops of colostrum from my breasts to syringe feed our son so that he would not fail another blood sugar test. I remember us being over the moon about being able to feed him just 1ml of it. I remember days after that when we found out Eli was continuing to drop in weight because his tiny mouth could not transfer enough milk out on his own. We had to start supplementing with bottles of breastmilk, still my milk, but I CRIED the first time we gave him it. I still consider bottled breastmilk breastfeeding, but it wasn’t what I pictured for my breastfeeding journey. I wanted to nurse him, and I couldn’t wait to get back to that a few weeks later.

Everyone will tell you breastfeeding hurts for the first two weeks, but I was still pumping at the two month mark every few hours at night while Zach would bottle feed him just so that I could recover in time to nurse Eli in the morning. One of the proudest days ever was when breastfeeding started to MAGICALLY stop being such a pain in my you-know-what (nipple!) and I was able to tell my super supportive husband that I would start nursing Eli throughout the day AND night…No more bottles! I was finally able to nurse pain-free and my hard working husband was able to get all of the sleep he needed (though he never once complained).

I’ve been exclusively nursing Eli for the past 2.5 months now, and it is one of my most favorite things. The connection I have with my little boy and the cute smile he gives me when he partially unlatches made all of the pain and tears worth it. I’m going to be so sad the day he doesn’t nurse any longer, but hopefully that day is far in the future! I’m not going to put a time restraint on breastfeeding, there are so many benefits breast milk gives babies, infants and even toddlers. So if he wants to breastfeed for one year or even longer, that will be his choice. Why give him another mammal’s milk when I can give him my own? We can talk more about that later on, though!

It was important for me to share my journey on my blog because I’m constantly sharing little pieces of it with so many struggling mommas. They feel like it will never get better. I felt like that and I was prepared to nurse with pain for at least a year. When Eli was two months old I said to my husband “I just need to get through this pain six more times to make it to the year mark.” But it did get better and it WILL get better for all of the other mommas who are starting their breastfeeding journeys now. We just gotta keep pushing through—I promise it IS worth it ❤️ And now my son will not take a bottle no matter how hard we try, but that’s the least of our worries 🤣

Soak in the pride during World Breastfeeding Week, Mommas—You deserve it.

Latch on(no comma)

No Comma Momma