I always knew I wanted to breastfeed. Even in college, when kids were a million miles away from what I was ready for, a male friend expressed disgust at breastfeeding, but I could already imagine the peace and bond breastfeeding would bring.
It didn't start out that way with either of my kiddos. My older girl had a tongue it and weak suck that led to poor weight gain. She would sometimes take over an hour to nurse. It took a real toll on my sanity. I cried with relief when an LC told me to pump to build supply and help my girl gain weight, and then heard testimonials from mamas who had been through the same thing and got back to breastfeeding. After a few months, we weaned off of bottles and nipple shield to have a wonderful breastfeeding relationship for almost a year until she weaned abruptly, which is a whole other story.
When my second was born, I knew right away that we had some of the same issues. Luckily, this time I had better resources to deal with them. While my boy had a tongue tie, he had a strong suck and put on weight well. Now, three months later, his issues are all resolved, and I can't believe how easy nursing is with him, and how fast he is! I am so thankful I had the major challenges with my first when I had the time to deal with them and not another little person relying on me. Breastfeeding my son has become easy, which has made the transition to two kids so much smoother than it might have otherwise.
