Hi friends!
I had such different experiences with breasting Charlotte & Liza. I didn’t have an older sister to tell me all about breastfeeding and my mom didn’t breastfeed, so I felt like going into it as a new mom I had no idea what I was doing or what to expect! So I wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone else!
With Charlotte, breastfeeding just didn’t come super naturally. She never seemed full, she was always wanting to nurse more and I didn’t ever feel confident that she was getting enough. I had an app (Baby Connect) that I recorded my feeds on and I would be literally nursing for 8 hours a day for the first 6 or so weeks. I felt useless to get anything else done, sick of just sitting all the time and it was a huge struggle for me!
I stopped nursing Charlotte after 3 months, and honestly our whole house was so much happier! I was able to feel more like myself again and it was truly the best decision for my family at the time! I have no regrets whatsoever, FED is best!!! There is so much pressure to breastfeed and I definitely felt that pressure so much when I was a new mom with Charlotte.
With Liza, I hoped I could breastfeed for longer but wasn’t sure how it would go while also taking care of an 18 month old! In the hospital I drank SO much water and my milk came in super fast, it was amazing! I’m sure it also helped that it was my second child. I highly recommend seeing a lactation consultant while you’re in the hospital. She helped me so much with Liza, even as a 2nd time mom you still need help! Every baby is so different.
After the first couple of months, nursing was really a breeze with Liza. To be honest, being home so much with the pandemic is a huge part of why I think I was able to nurse Liza for so long. I have hardly been separated from her, so that has definitely made it much easier. The more “on the go” I am, the harder and more stressful it is for me to keep up my supply.
The main thing that helped my supply the most is drinking a TON of water! The other thing I did this time was take a lactation supplement from Legendairy Milk Supply. I took the “Liquid Gold” for around 9 months and stopped taking it as she started eating more solids and since I knew I wanted to stop nursing when she turned one. They recommend taking it 3x a day, which I did at first. As my supply got better as time went on, I cut it down to just taking it once a day.
A few other things that helped to get me through the first few weeks were nipple cream, a nipple shield for when my nipples were literally bleeding, and the Elvie pump was amazing!
I made it a whole year nursing Liza & truly cannot believe I did it! She started to wean herself the week of her 1st birthday and has done great transitioning to milk. It is bittersweet to be done but I am so happy to have my body back. That is my journey!
xo,
Laura
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