31 Days of Breastfeeding Journeys | Day 3 | World Breastfeeding Week 2016
"My oldest son is technically my step-son so I never thought twice about breastfeeding and learned all about formula. With my first pregnancy I was asked, “Are you going to breast feed this time?” I didn’t know anything about breastfeeding so I decided I would try, if it worked great, if it didn’t work out no problem. Well he was jaundice from the beginning and the hospital immediately pushed me to supplement with formula. With no experience or knowledge on how breastfeeding worked, I did just what they told me. I never exclusively breastfed my first born because I started supplementing and had a hard time stopping, and found out that I was hypothyroidism. My milk dried up by the time he was 4 months old.
Between my 2nd and 3rd son I was around friends that were breastfeeding and I had a strong desire to have that relationship. I prayed that it would work out. Well it sure did! I breastfed my 3rd son for 13 months. He refused bottles and that was fine because I was a stay at home mom and breastfeeding was working so great I didn’t feel the need for a break. As soon as I weaned him I knew I wanted to breastfeed again.
My 4th son, Dellen was born February 2016. I thought for sure after going to the lactation support group for a year, a year of experience, more friend’s stories I was educated on everything related to breastfeeding and it would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong! First Dellen had low blood sugar and the hospital wanted to supplement. Then he had trouble gaining weight. He was nursing every hour to hour and half. I felt so drained and exhausted physically and mentally. I kept saying to myself, “get to 1 month Lisa, it will get easier after 1 month”. It did, but not much. Around 5 weeks old found out he was upper lip and tongue tied. After his revisions at 6 weeks old it did get much better. He was nursing more effectively and giving me longer stretches. He was gaining great, life was grand. Found out at his 4-month appointment he was back to not gaining as much weight as he should. I started pumping to increase my supply, but with 4 kids I couldn’t keep up with pumping. I just started giving him 1 formula bottle a day. It seemed to be working. In July he started to lose weight. After a couple stressful weeks, I feel that our problem is that my milk may be low on calories. I don’t know what I am going to do at this point because it is all so new.
I do know that I am not willing to stop breastfeeding just yet because I do have 4 kids! I know how fast they grow up. I know how easy it is to get carried away with fast pace of life and miss out on moments. Breastfeeding forces me to stop, sit down and spend quality time with my baby and be in the moment. Nothing else can compare." ~Lisa
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