My breastfeeding story…
When I discovered that I was pregnant, one of my first thoughts was that I was going to breastfeed my baby. It seemed like a natural thing to do and it did not sound all that hard. Through the pre-natal courses that I attended, I realized that maybe it is not as easy as I thought..and yes, as I have discovered over the past 9 months (and still counting), breastfeeding is not the easiest thing to do as a new mummy.
I attempted to latch my baby on within 15 minutes after she was delivered. It didn't feel too difficult and she seemed to enjoy it too. I thought her loud sucking noises were a great sign. How wrong was I!!! The loud sucking noises as I learnt was her not latching on correctly.
One of the challenges in the early days was that my baby kept falling asleep at my breasts. In fact, she still does it now alot except that she can sleep and drink at the same time now. =) So I was constantly trying to wake her to nurse. I found that running my fingers lightly along her spine helped to jolt her a little hence "waking" her to continue nursing.
And I am quite sure that no matter how prepared one is, the question "is my baby getting enough milk??" will pop in every mother's mind in the early days. I had the thought running through my mind every single time I nursed her during the first few weeks. In fact, I was squeezing my breasts every day for the first week to check if there was actually milk coming out! The way God designed our bodies is truly amazing. The body somehow knew that there was a hungry and thirsty little baby that needed feeding and just created and produced the milk accordingly. And if you are a new mummy reading this, yes, I am repeating this again (even though you have probably read and heard it many times by now), you will have enough milk for your baby. You just need to focus on getting ample rest, keep hydrated and tell yourself that you have enough milk (even if it doesn't seem like it).
Just when your supply has stabilized and you thought that the more challenging part is over, more challenges comes up. My baby is one curious and active little girl. Everyone noticed how observant she was even when she was just a very young infant. So when she was about 4 months, she started getting distracted at every little noise, light, person walking by whenever she nursed. So you can imagine the countless times she got a milk "face spray" whenever she heard or saw something. Even the cute wallpapers in public nursing rooms would distract her from nursing properly. I used to nurse her in public with a nursing shawl until she took my shawl as a toy for "peek a boos" and flashed my boobies! There were occasions when I got really frustrated at her and threatened to stop breastfeeding her. However, over time I just learnt to not take it personally and that it was only because she is not able to focus on more than one thing at a time. So now, whenever she gets distracted I try to give her a toy to hold on to while feeding or try to offer the other breast. If all else fails, just try again later.
Nursing wear is hardly glamorous, but I have found some very good nursing bras that allows me to still wear some of my regular clothes. And with the many nursing rooms that are available at most major malls, you don't have to change your entire ensemble. Maybe skip the super tight fitting tee for now though. You don't want to be scrambling with a tight tee with a hungry and anxious baby in tow.
If you are a working mummy like me, you will need to be prepared to express at work to maintain your supply and so that your baby is still able to continue taking breast milk while you are away at work. This can be tricky especially when the work environment is not very conducive. Do speak to your boss about your intentions to continue to breastfeed and get his or her support to express milk in the office before returning to work. If you are one of the lucky few to have a nursing room at work, that is the best. If not, find out if there is a meeting room or store room that you can use. I simply used a small corner in the office that had a partition. On several occasions, I simply sat in a corner of the office pantry and pumped with a nursing shawl on!
So yes, breastfeeding may not be the easiest thing for any new mummy. Nevertheless the rewards are priceless. You form a special bond with your baby and the satisfaction knowing that you are the main provider of your baby's nutritional needs is tremendous. Looking back, there were many instances when I was considering to wean her off breastfeeding especially after 6 months (which is the recommended minimum period to breastfeed). But now, I can't bear to think about weaning her off. And I intend to carry on even beyond my initial goal of one year as long my little princess enjoy it. Here are just some tips which I hope to-be and new mummies would find useful;
~ Do moisturize your nipples with nipple cream prior to delivery date and pack it in your hospital bag. You will find it very useful to soothe sore nipples in the initial weeks
~ Invest in good nursing bras
~ Have plenty of breast pads available at home. You may find that your breasts leaks easily and a lot in the initial phase.
~ If returning to work, invest in a good electric pump. That way, you can work on your laptop, reports while expressing.
~ During the initial months, do try to make an effort to express every 3 to 4 hours in the night if your baby is already sleeping through the night. This prevents engorgement and maintains/increases supply.
~ Drink lots of fluids
~ Let your spouse and family know of your intentions to breastfeed and get their support. This is so important especially for first-time mummies.
